We're going to look to the Lord in prayer. I'm not going to have you stand today because we're looking really at three short words. It's found in 1 Peter 2, verse 17. The first phrase that we're going to review in a few moments, The second phrase, love the brotherhood. And we're gonna talk about what that means today. Introducing it, next week we'll actually talk about the practical side of how do I love the brotherhood. Let's pray. Lord, we ask that you would work this morning in our hearts. We thank you so much for the ministry of music today. Our hearts have been encouraged. And Lord, we've been encouraged not only in being strong in you, but also of being ready and willing to say, here am I, Lord. Lord, I pray that you would work today in this manner or in this area of loving the brotherhood. There's not a one of us that doesn't have work to do, things that we need to do in order to express our love for the brothers. And so we pray that you would have your way now, even as we introduce this topic. Lord, make us a changed church. We know you're not finished with Hillsdale, that we are not what you would have us to be, but Lord, we can become that as we yield to you. And so Lord, may that be our passion this morning. that we would be that church loving one another. In Christ's name we pray, amen. When I get away for a couple weeks of vacation, as I have, I always take time to study every day, several hours in a day. My lovely wife puts up with that. She goes shopping or whatever it is that she needs to do, and I just spend my time studying. But one of the things that I do, having been a part of Hillsdale so long, is that I know that the responsibility rests upon me to evaluate to assess, and I deal with not only who I am as a pastor, and as a believer, and as a husband, and as a father, and as a grandfather, but I also wrestle with who we are. In fact, there are three things that I often will think about. The first is this, as a church, where are we spiritually? Where are we spiritually? That is, what are our strengths and what are our weaknesses? Another question that I ponder is who we are. Are we faithful to God's purpose? And are we faithful to God's mission? If we do not step back sometimes in ministry and assess what we're doing, how we're doing it, and the direction that we're going, we really become a church that just plays church. We go through the motions. That's why this morning after the second hymn, I decided, you know, I want to hear more engagement in worship and singing this morning. I don't want you to just show up and it's just another service. And oh yeah, Pastor Armstrong, well that's another verse. And we think, well that's the third verse. And we lose sight of what we're singing. The message is lost a lot of times because of the attitudes that we bring. The third thing that I ponder is what are we doing? What are our priorities? And are we carrying out those priorities? And so would you allow me this morning, this isn't a business meeting, even though the first part feels like it, okay? But as a church family, as I pondered and I re-evaluated, I asked the question, what are our strengths? and what are our weaknesses? And a central point of those questions is this, how relevant are we in our ministry to believers in the church? How relevant are we to those outside the church? And I want you to consider some strengths, and then I'll talk about the weaknesses just for a moment. But in the area of Hillsdale Strengths, I want you to ponder, I think, some things that are unique about our ministry. The first is this, that we have a godly legacy. Our ministry was founded in 1962. We are now on our 56th year of ministry. The location has changed, the faces change over 56 years, but I believe that the foundation of who we are and what we preach and what we teach, that doctrinally we're still sound. If you go back and you look at the original documents in 1962, you would find that we very much are carrying out the vision of the founders, which I believe it was the heart of the Lord. The second thing is that there's a constant leadership here at Hillsdale, and I say that, I am the fourth pastor in 56 years at Hillsdale. The pastor previous to me, my pastor, Dr. Alan Bradshaw, was pastor for 30 years. I've now pastored, it's hard to believe, I've now pastored 23 years. Can you imagine? And some of you say, yeah, I can imagine it. Wow. He thinks it's been a long time. He ought to be sitting where we're sitting, right? And I understand that things can go that way if we're not careful. But do you realize that as a church, how unique it is that you've not experienced really much in the way of leadership change over most of the history of this church? You don't know what it is to look for a pastor for a year or two years, or like most churches are doing now, three years. You don't know what that's like. You've not experienced that. And don't get any ideas, okay? Don't get any ideas. But let me tell you another area that is a strength here, and that is a dedicated staff. You've got, I believe, the most dedicated pastoral staff that I think Hillsdale has ever had. Let me tell you why. The Petermans, I believe it's their 17th year of ministry at Hillsdale. Now, they're on vacation, but combined with the first time and the second time, they're right at, I believe, 17 years. Not only add to that, he grew up here, right? Where's mom and dad Peterman? Up over here and then up there. How many years have you been at Hillsdale? All right, 81, 82. So talk about longevity. The Barber's, I believe I have this right, 12 years, 12th year here at Hillsdale. The Jarrett's, Pastor Jarrett, a youth pastor, seven years, going on eight now. Tanya Henry, principal of our school, I believe it's 10 years, going on 11 years now. My daughter, Caroline Wetterlin, seven years over the Fine Arts Academy. And then the Armstrongs, the newest ones. But you know the Armstrongs, have you noticed that they fit in almost from day one? And just in the working of the providence of God, just the meshing. of philosophy and outlook, and really, I've seen in that family a heart of servants. Let me give you another strength. Loyal, lay, leadership, deacons. You have deacons at Hillsdale that really are foundational type of men. I could review how many years they've been here. Dr. Eustre, I think 1996 or so you came here. Chairman of the Deacons many times. But what thrills me is I sit down at a Deacons meeting and I look around and half of the Deacons, roughly, sometimes half, were teenagers in my youth group when I came in 1970, or 1985. The legacy that you have, the trustees, their faithfulness, those who teach in our Sunday school classes, just throughout our ministry. So many things I could name, I'm gonna press on. I will say this, children's leaders. I think Johnny Johnson is like 40 years or so in children's ministry at Hillsdale, just incredible. The music ministry, I believe, under Pastor Armstrong, I think it's gonna flourish this year. He is experiencing what I was experiencing as I was directing the choir. I started having to order new music to supplement the music we already had because we were outgrowing the music we had in our folders and in our boxes here. And have you noticed with the orchestra, they're starting to take over the platform. Which is wonderful. I prayed for, I guess, well, almost 20 years that God would send us an orchestra. And in the last few years, it started to grow. Hillsdale Christian Academy, record enrollment. We have more enrolled now than we did at the end of the last school year. We'll have record enrollment this year, three modular classes out there. We're already filling up some of them already, so it's exciting. The Fine Arts Academy, I believe, will have record enrollment this year. Pastor Armstrong's gonna start teaching voice in the academy, so I'm excited about the future of that. Let me give you another strength, missions at Hillsdale. We not only support missionaries, but we send out missionaries. And when I gave the prayer request this morning for Yahavi in Togo, God instrumentally and in a way that only He could orchestrate, brought together Yahweh with this church family. And so this morning as we're worshiping, there's a young guy in Togo, and we are the majority of his support as he is there. Missions, trips, how many of you have been on a mission trip at Hillsdale? Raise your hand. Look across here. Is that not incredible? Very few churches could have that type of energy when it comes to missions. And then I'll give you another and I'm gonna move on. But I believe our Bible Institute and Lifestep classes are incredible. On Wednesday nights, if you don't come on Wednesday nights, you really miss the enrichment of studying God's word. Pastor Barber's often the teacher in the class. Dr. Martin's there away right now, but Dr. Martin's a man of 36 years in the ministry. incredible teacher in the class. Dr. Euster has taught many times in there. I mean, we have been blessed at Hillsdale. The opportunity of studying and growing in the Word abounds here. Now, there are also, though, weaknesses. Now, I've been in ministry long enough to not even help you with a list, okay? But I'm pastor, and I know that there are weaknesses, and weaknesses I'm praying that God will turn into strengths as we address them this year. I could name them, but you will see some changes coming. not in our philosophy of ministry, but changes coming in addressing our weaknesses, because I long that every area of our ministry is being blessed by the Lord. And so we'll deal with that in the future. Let me give you some things that I did on vacation, just surveys. Are you familiar with the Barna reports? Are you familiar with Barna? Been doing surveys for, I guess, And one of his strengths is surveying what is happening, not only in America, but also what is happening in the churches in America. And I wanted to share with you some of the statistics that he has in some of the surveys. Let me give you a few of them. A survey dated September 2016. The state of the church was the survey. And Barna's found the following three things. Americans are attending church less. We know that. But another part of that is that millennials, which is that really roughly about 23 year old to 37 year old young people, they're not only not interested in church, they are, according to the survey, antagonistic toward the church. Boy, that means we've got a hard job, doesn't it, when it comes to outreach. Here's another. While 73% of Americans still identify as Christians, less than 33% attend one religious service a month. We know that is true. It's not true here, but generally speaking, across America, the average, quote, Christian is in church one service a month. Of 35% of Americans who identify as born-again Christians, only 7% believe the fundamental doctrines of Christianity. Think about that. As you rub shoulders with people in public, and at least 35% of Americans would say they are born-again Christians. Of that 35%, only 7% would adhere to all the doctrines, biblical inerrancy, the virgin birth of Jesus Christ, Satan. Only 7% would go down the line with the scriptures, believing what the scriptures teach doctrinally. Let me give you another survey. Priorities and challenges and trends in youth ministry. Six in 10, that is 59% of millennials who grow up in church end up walking away. Let me say that again. Between the age group of 23-year-olds to 37-year-olds, 59% of that age group who grew up in church have already walked away. they're not going to church anywhere. In fact, if you do a little bit deeper research, if you look at Christian college graduates, you would find the same thing is happening. They grew up in Christian homes, they went to good solid churches, they even went off to Christian colleges. But when they get out of those colleges and away from mom and dad, over almost 60% stopped going to church. Another is this, 52% of millennials are unchurched. That is, they have no affiliation with any religious organization at all. Another survey, Christians are not spreading the gospel, is this survey. And I want you to consider these figures. The age at which Americans accept Jesus Christ as Savior. Under 13 years old, 46% of those who are born again believers, 46% accepted Christ before they turned 13. Why is Vacation Bible School such a big deal at Hillsdale? Does that figure tell you why? Because either they come to know Christ as Savior in those youthful years the high school years or the chances of them coming to Christ is almost lost. Here's another, 13 to 17 years old, 22%, 22% of those who are believers came to know Christ as Savior between 13 and 17 years old. So why do we have a youth pastor? Because we know that we are looking at 68% of believers will come to Christ in their teen years or under. And after that, the numbers drop off the cliff. How many of you came to know Christ as Savior before your 13th birthday? Look around, look around. Let's add to that. How many of you came to know Christ 17 years old or younger? Would you raise your hand? So look around. the opportunity of young men and women coming to Christ is going to happen between their childhood to their teen years, 68%. After that, the lust of the world and the pride of life takes away their thoughts and they turn aside I filled it in a little bit more. Between 18 and 21%, only 8%. And I could go down the numbers. I'm gonna end up with the last one. 65 or older. Only 1% of those who come to know Christ are 65 or older. In other words, by the time they are in their late senior years, almost all is lost. And so we have to as a church, we have to emphasize, listen, we have to emphasize our children's ministry. Those of you that work and teach children, you are at the threshold of an opportunity that will be fading away. Those of you that are part of the teen ministry and you're part of that group there, As they are getting older, the tendency is their hearts are growing colder. Let me give you a summary. The most fertile time for the gospel is between 10 and 12 years old. Roughly 20% have accepted Christ, who know Christ as Savior, accepted Him as Savior between 10 and 12. Three out of 10 Christians accept Christ as Savior, between eight to 12. And so we as a church family, let us not lose sight of the value of a children's ministry and a teen ministry. By the way, that's why we have a Christian school. That's why we have a Christian school. It is a evangelistic door to our community. And God has blessed it. We have teachers who sacrificially are working and teaching in our Christian school. And I thank God every day for them as I come to work and I see all those faces that are in our school. We'll be probably at least 170 or more this year. 170 children will walk through those doors. Moms and dads, many of them unchurched. It is our mission field. Let me move on. One other survey and then we'll go to the Word. This survey is titled, Atheism Doubles Among Generation Z. Have you ever heard of Generation Z? Generation Z are those that are born between 1999 and 2015. 18 years or younger, okay? 13% of teens identify as atheists compared to 6% of the general population. We are raising a generation who are atheists. Generation Z teens were asked what the greatest barrier to church attendance is. 29% said they had a hard time believing that a good God would allow so much evil and suffering in the world. 23% of Generation Z observed that Christians are hypocrites. 20% believe that science refutes the Bible. Of course, evolution is the source of that. 58% of Generation Z, 59% believes that the church is not relevant. 20% believe the church is out of date. And so the question I wrestled with while I was away, why have churches in America come to this? Irrelevant. out of date. And what churches have done is try to put a Band-Aid on being out of date by changing the ministry, the music, the lights, the flashing. They've gone to entertainment. And in the process of doing that, they have sacrificed the gospel and evangelism. But at the same time, while I make that observation, I have to look at us and say, are we relevant? Is the teaching and the preaching at Hillsdale Baptist Church, is it applicable? Not am I just teaching the truth, but am I teaching in such a way, and are those who are teaching around me, are we teaching in such a way that there is a passion in our hearts and in our life for the truth? And so I pondered a couple of other stats. 91% of unchurched feel the church is insensitive to their needs. But here's the one that really burdens me. 74% of Christians claim the church is not sensitive to their needs. Let me say that again. 74% of Christians claim the church is not sensitive to their needs. And I thought about this, you know it's bad enough that the world looks and says we're irrelevant. But it is a tragedy that believers are looking at today's church and they see nothing there for them. You have your Bible open, look with me again. First Peter chapter two and verse 17. And I want to submit to you this morning that the reason that churches in America are in the opinion of the lost and those who claim to be saved are irrelevant in this society is that we have failed in our mandates. And I've taken those four mandates in 1 Peter 2 verse 17 as those that we're studying right now. The first is this, honor all men. The one that we're gonna look at today and next Sunday is love the brotherhood. But let me go back and deal with honor all men. What does honor do? Honor ascribes value to another by my words and by my actions. By my words and actions today, let's say, Hillsdale Baptist Church, you came in this morning. I don't know if you smiled or not, but you came in, you are here. Bless your heart, you're here. But is that the beginning and the end of it? Did you or did I this morning, by our words and our actions, did we indicate to other people, you are important to me? Did we show a love? Did we show an interest? Did we show a compassion? Or did we do like so often some of us do? We come in, we sit down. Now what does this mean? Come on, tell me what it means. Leave me alone. If I wanna talk to you, I'll talk to you. That's what it means. And it's a failure to honor. To honor those who are like us and to honor those who are different than we are. To indicate by our words and by our actions, I value you. Here's another thought that goes with that. The command to honor all is universal. Honor is due all. The word men was added there. Male and female. Young and old. And honor is blind. It's blind to race. It's blind to gender. It's blind to economic and societal status. Honor is to show respect. You know, I was raised showing, being taught to show respect. If an elder walked into the room, my dad made us kids stand up. It was expected. And then when we would go and visit Miss Leola Sapp, old lady, wrinkled all over, and my dad would say, give Miss Leola a kiss. And it's like, you give her a kiss? I don't wanna kiss her. But you know, as I grew older, I grew to love that lady. My wife could tell you, I love Miss Leola. When I would come home from college, after seeing my mom and dad, I'd even take my wife, let's go and see Miss Leola. Because I was taught to love. God is purpose then while all are to be honored. Some are to be honored in particular. We shared with you the last time, two weeks ago, that this idea of honor is that there are some that we are mandated to honor. Children are to honor their father and their mother. Husbands are to cherish and honor their wives. The elders are to be honored. I would urge you, and I would love to see this happen at Hillsdale, when those dear saints end up in nursing homes and rehab centers, that there would be families that Hillsdale Baptist Church would do like my mom and dad taught me to do. We're gonna go and visit Mrs. So-and-so today. She's in the nursing home. And I was taken in, my brother and I, we would be taken to nursing homes And those old saints would be there, and we would play the piano, and we would sing. And I can remember going down the hallway, because some of them were quite frightening, quite honestly. There was one guy outside of my granddaddy's room, the only thing he ever said was, Friday, Friday, Friday. You could say, hello, Mr. So-and-so, Friday, Friday. I don't know if he got paid on Fridays, or what was significant about Fridays. But I had to learn to honor. because I was taught to honor. Can I say to you this morning, you're not too old to learn. You're not too old to learn. Here's another though, and it's gonna be my transition point. Would you take your Bible, I don't think it's on the PowerPoint, turn with me to 1 Corinthians, if you would, chapter 12 this morning. And we're gonna transition into this idea of not only honoring all men, but loving the brotherhood. 1 Corinthians chapter 12, 1 Corinthians 12 and verse 23. If you have your Bible, you could turn there with me. 1 Corinthians 12 and verse 23. Church at Corinth was really a mixed bag of believers from all kinds of backgrounds, all kinds of walks, all kinds of wickedness, out of which they had been saved and through the blood of Jesus Christ, not only had their sins been forgiven, but they had become a part of the body of Christ. And Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 12, that whole chapter, is telling the believers you're one, you're one. You're many members but you're one body. And he comes down to verse 23 and he writes these words. And those members of the body which we think to be less honorable, that is ignoble, maybe not as pretty, maybe not as talented or as rich as some others. Upon these we bestow more abundant honor. In other words, Paul's writing and he said, listen, as you look at the church family, as you look at the church body, do so in such a way that you are not putting forward the famous, but that you are in the body of Christ treating one another with an equal value, that you're loving one another. Look at verse 25. Verse 25, that there should be no schism or no division in the body, but that the members should have the same care one for another, one for another. The same care is a mutual interest. That is, I care about you. There rises up within me an anxiety for you when you suffer, when you're struggling. That is now where we're going to go in our study. First Peter chapter two, verse 17. Honor all men within the church and without the church, the brotherhood. The word love there is a self-sacrificing, giving love. Let me say this to you. This may come as a surprise. When you come to Hillsdale Baptist Church, there are no doubt some people that you don't like. And some of you dwell on that. Instead of saying, Lord, give me a heart and a love for the people who are hard to like and hard to love. Now, I'm gonna tell you a secret. This is the heart of a pastor. Some of you are hard to like. Am I right? Look around. Let me give you a little bit of a background. I tell people when they're getting ready to join Hillsdale, number one, we're not a perfect church. Bless their hearts, they're pastored by an imperfect pastor. That's the beginning, all right? We'll begin with that one to get that out of the way. But we're not a perfect church. And when you come and you join, at first everything is like, it's nice. And then somebody runs into you one day, physically or verbally, and you decide there's some people I don't like here. Let me give you a story. I have heard this story so many times in so many ways, but let me, I love it and I wanted to share it with you this morning. I think in the sense of Hillsdale being a perfect church and recognizing there's some things about Hillsdale you're not gonna like if you join the church. It's a lot like the story, and I want to read it to make sure I get it right for you. The story of a man who fell in love with an opera singer. You might have heard this story before. He hardly knew her, since his only view of the singer was through binoculars on the third balcony. But he would come, and he fell in love with her voice, and he fell in love with her. He was convinced that he and that opera singer could live happily ever after married to a voice like that. He scarcely noticed she was considerably older than he, nor did he care that she walked with a limp. Her mezzo-soprano voice would take them through whatever might come. After a whirlwind romance and a hurry-up ceremony, they were off for their honeymoon together. She began to prepare for their first night together. And as he watched, his chin dropped to his chest. She plucked out her glass eye and plopped it into a container. She pulled off her wig, ripped off her false eyelashes, yanked out her dentures, unstrapped her artificial leg and smiled at him as she slipped off her glasses that hid her hearing aid. Stunned and horrified, the man said, for goodness sake woman, sing, sing, sing. Can I say to you this morning, you might come to Hillsdale But there's gonna be times that you're gonna say, just sing, sing, sing. We're not a perfect church. And it's hard to love some of us. But 1 Peter 2 verse 17 says that we are commanded to love the brotherhood. Let me break that down. First of all, the question we ought to ask is, what is the brotherhood that we are commanded to love? Let's take this on your outline. This is the foundation. We'll pick it up next week in a practical way. The brotherhood is a fraternity of believers identified in the scriptures as the church. The word fraternity could be a clan, a family group. And so when Paul is writing and he writes love, or Peter is writing, he writes love the brotherhood, he is saying love the church, love the believers of the church. In the scriptures in the New Testament, the local church, this body of baptized believers, born again believers, we are identified as the church. Let me give you some illustrations of that. 1 Corinthians 1 and verse 2, Paul rides to the church of God which is at Corinth. 1 Thessalonians 1 and verse 1, the church of the Thessalonians. Romans 16, Paul rides to the church meeting in Priscilla and Aquila's house. Galatians 1 and verse 2, Paul rides to the churches of Galatia. Verse 22, the churches of Judea. And so we understand when we say love the brotherhood, it is specifically talking about love the brethren who are believers in the church. Number two on that outline, the church is the visible body of Christ. We are, by who we are, a reflection of who our Savior is. Here's some thoughts to go with that. Believers are members in one body, Romans 12 and verse four. Romans 12 and verse five. Believers are one body in Christ and every one members of another. Ephesians five and verse 30. Believers are members of His body, speaking of Christ. And then finally 1 Corinthians 12 verse 27 tells us that the Lord has joined together, the Holy Spirit has joined together members of the body and we are members one of another. To have a member who we have loved and who have been a part of us suddenly cut off themselves from the church should almost be with the same intensity of pain as cutting off your finger. It is the loss of a member. It is a member that will be missed. But we know we live in an imperfect day. We live in a day sometimes that in our minds and our thoughts, we just get off. And I've had to learn over the years, when people are intent on leaving, sometimes you just have to say, I love you, and my prayers will be with you. It's hard. You've dealt with that, some of you, in your family, where family cut you off. But they were still family, right? And you still loved it. Here's another. Letter B on that outline. The church is a spiritual brotherhood grounded in a mutual love for Christ. The church is unique in this, that I am, as a believer, as a Christian, I am commanded to love others who might to me on a personal level be unlovely or unloving. And I've had to learn over the years to take the hurts and take the bruises and take the sorrows and still determine to love. Now let me say this to you this morning. Love the brotherhood. Well, I don't like so-and-so. I don't like the way they act. I don't like what they say. I've known them a long time and I know what they can be like. And I want to say sometimes, stop it. Love the brotherhood doesn't give you an out. It is a command, it's a mandate, it is a principle that we love one another. On your outline, we love the brotherhood because of God's love for us and our mutual love for Christ. In other words, it is my love for Christ that moves me to love some who are unlovely. I'll read to you a poem. To dwell above with saints we love, that will be grace and glory. To live below with saints we know, well that's another story. Isn't it often like that? You might want to turn and look at these verses. First John chapter three and verse 11. we should love one another. 1 John chapter four and verse 11. Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another. 1 John chapter four and verse 21. Of this commandment have we from him that he who loveth God love his brother also. I've learned this, and this is on your outline, I believe, that as a believer, there is a supernatural spiritual affection that I have for other believers. Let me give you an illustration of that. I can remember a few years ago going to Argentina and being a part of the Greenwoods, and their church was just starting, and I couldn't speak the language. I couldn't communicate. But those people, as they came in, the Spirit within me witnessed the love and the Spirit that was in them. And even though there was the barrier of the language, there was a bridge that crossed the barrier. And that bridge was our mutual love for Christ, that causes us to love one another. How many of you have been to a foreign field where you didn't speak the language? Have you experienced that bridge if you were with believers? There was a witness of your spirit with them even though there was a division. I was up in Canada and spoke at a men's conference. and I thoroughly enjoyed it there. In fact, when I was younger and we would travel, and Sheila and I, and we'd go to different places, I don't think I've ever been to a mission field that I could not, in my love and my care of people, envision myself being right there, that I could live here. I love these people enough that I could invest my life here. That's the way it should be because there's a supernatural bond that we have with other believers because of our mutual love for Christ. Take your Bible. Look with me at Romans 15, and we're gonna look at this next week a little bit. Romans 15, just turn with me quickly, and I want to point out to you Paul's affection that's evidence in his words. Look with me, you have your Bible, Romans 15, look at verse 30. Romans 15 and verse 30. Now I beseech you, brethren. We, in the course of our conversation with one another, I'll see Frank and I can say, Brother Frank, right? or Brother Scott, Brother Roy. And it's not unnatural. You know why? It's because there is often a bond between believers that is stronger than even between brothers and sisters physically. A bond that just, and when that bond is broken, whether it's by death or it's broken by sin, there's a longing and a yearning and a sorrow because we have a supernatural affection for one another because of our love for Christ. Here's another thought. Well, go to Romans 16. I've gotta take you through this. Romans 16, now we don't usually refer a lot to sister, you know, sister Sheila, or sister, well, I'm gonna get in trouble, so I'm not gonna get that, all right. Look at chapter 16, verse one. Paul's writing again to the church at Rome, and he writes this, I commend unto you, Phoebe, our sister. Look at verse three, greet Priscilla and Aquila, my helpers in Christ. Verse 5, salute my well-beloved. Verse 7, my kinsman. Verse 8, my beloved. Verse 9, my beloved. Verse 11, my kinsman. And then verse 16, salute one another with a holy kiss. The churches of Christ salute you. I remember when I went down to, well, Argentina and Peru. Anytime you go to the countries where affection, kiss on the cheek. And I think it's in Argentina. It's not one kiss, it's two kisses. And so you gotta have the timing right, you know? If you don't have the timing right, there could be a disaster. So you don't want a disaster. But for them, that idea here in verse 16 is a genuine, expression of affection. I'm not only commanded to love you, I choose to love you. And then I'm almost finished. Letter C. The spiritual brotherhood. Let me give you three thoughts about the spiritual brotherhood. Here's the first one. The first is this, the spiritual brotherhood is exclusive. It's exclusive. What does that mean? That only those who are brothers and sisters in Christ are the brotherhood. I've caught myself, and maybe you have too, being out in the world and busy with somebody and kind of getting to know them, and I catch myself saying brother to an individual who's not my brother, you know? because it becomes so commonplace. And so this idea of the brotherhood, it's exclusive. It is only those who are born again believers that are our brothers and sisters in Christ. Another is this, it is inclusive. Inclusive. Inclusive is that idea of it's without prejudice. male and female, rich and poor, young and old, that it is an inclusive love. And then thirdly, it is a love that identifies as oneness, oneness. Sheila and I, her husband and wife, we are one, unless I'm in trouble and then we kind of, you know, No, we're one. We're one even in times of trouble. There is a oneness because we are, in the eyes of God, in the eyes of man, we are one flesh. You hurt her and you hurt me. Do you follow that? Let's look at this one. I think the verse is up here, I believe. It's in Ephesians chapter four. Look at this. Here is our oneness as the brotherhood. There is one body, one body of believers. There is one spirit. We are indwelt by the Holy Spirit. Our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit. We have one hope of calling. the call to be holy, the call to be blameless. We have one Lord and that Lord is Jesus Christ. We are of one faith. Our faith is in Jesus Christ and in Christ alone. We are of one baptism. There's a debate over what the baptism is, but I think it's that picture of the water baptism here, not for salvation, but identification. We have, by baptism, identified with the death, the burial, and the resurrection of Jesus Christ. and Father of all. God the Father is not only my creator, but he is also sovereign God of my life. Let me close with two thoughts. Love is the bond of the brotherhood. We're commanded to honor all men. but we are specifically commanded to love the brotherhood. My time is gone. I wanted to read to you a couple of verses. 1 Corinthians 12, 26. Listen to this one. And whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it. One member be honored, all the members rejoice with it. What does that mean? It means in the brotherhood, When a brother or sister in Christ, they're going through hard times. And my heart identifies with their sorrows. Now I can name some off this morning as I'm preaching, it comes to mind. Dealing with hardships, dealing with failing health, children who are heartache and sorrow, my heart goes out to them because their hurts are my hurts because I identify with them. But then that other, the latter part, and one member be honored, all the members rejoice with it. That means there's no room for jealousy, no room for rivalry, that we bear the same heart and we have the same joys. There's so much more and I'm going to close, but I'm going to give you one verse in closing. Galatians 6, verses 1 and 2. It says, Brethren, if a man be ever taken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such a one in the spirit of meekness, considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted. And then verse 2 says, bear ye one another's burdens. and so fulfill the law of Christ. You know what the law of Christ is? That ye love one another. Love the brotherhood. And I close with just a thought. If you're not a believer, then you're not a part of the brotherhood. But you can be a part of the brotherhood by putting your faith and trust in Jesus Christ. confessing your sins and believing He died for you, was buried and rose again. In that we are one. Let's pray. Our Father, we close this morning just having given an introduction of this passage. But Lord, also desiring so much that Hillsdale would know that vibrancy, that energy of choosing to love one another. Lord, let us love those that we like and those who are unlovely. Lord, may we be so intent upon loving one another that we know one another's hurts, we bear one another's sorrows. Lord, that we know what it is that when someone is in need, that we can meet that need, that we do all that we can to reach them. Lord, may Hillsdale be that kind of church. May we be the church that honors all men, that our arms are open to those who come to us, genuinely wanting to welcome them. But Lord, may we in particular this morning choose that love that is supernatural, spiritual, that love that comes because of our love for you. We love one another. And may that love be seen in the things that we say and the things that we do. Lord, may you work a great work in this church that we would choose to love one another. Lord, there might be someone here this morning that doesn't know you. And I would pray that even as we sing, that it would be the longing of their heart to come to you. Lord, draw that soul to you, we pray in Christ's name. Let's stand.