My Brother's Keeper?

I want to greet you in Jesus' name. It's been a blessing to be here this morning and be inspired to live out our faith. Just thinking about the Sunday school lesson there and where we're thinking about the return of Christ, and there are some people that are fearful about the return of Christ. And I guess the way I think about that is I believe Jesus is coming soon.

The Bible talks about life is going to be normal. There's going to be marriages. There's going to be fieldwork. There's going to be grinding at the mill, and it's just going to be like lightning. All of a sudden, it'll happen.

And I think it's close. Well, one thing we do know, it's closer now than it was back in the Apostles' Day. So it is coming, and it is happening. But one thing for sure is our life is just a vapor.

The coming of Christ is for sure. But whether he comes in our lifetime or not, we don't know. But we do know that all of us that are alive, God has our breath in his hands, and we won't always be here.

And I think we need to be prepared for that. And I think that should create a soberness in us to live as pilgrims and strangers and to realize that life can end very quickly. So that's the way I often think about it. And the verse about teach us to number our days, that we can apply our hearts to wisdom so that we make good choices and decisions as we live our life out.

So for a message this morning, something that's been going through my mind lately is my brother's keeper. And I'd like to ask that as a question.

Cain was the one that when he was confronted with God about Abel, he asked, "Well, am I my brother's keeper? I mean, what? Am I my brother's keeper?" So I'd like to, for a title, that's my brother's keeper with a question mark.

Am I that? And I'd like to look a little bit at Cain's situation there in Genesis chapter 4. I'm not sure how they knew that they were to bring offerings to God. If God had commanded them that, it doesn't really say that earlier, but they both brought an offering, and it says Abel's offering was accepted and Cain's wasn't. Genesis chapter 4, maybe read the first 15 verses.

These were the first two children that we know of that were born to Adam and Eve. And I'll just read it here. Genesis chapter 4. And Adam knew Eve, his wife, and she conceived and bare Cain and said, "I have gotten a man from the Lord." And she again bare his brother Abel, and Abel was a keeper of the sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground.

And in the process of time, it came to pass that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the Lord. And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof, and the Lord had respect unto Abel and to his offering. But unto Cain and to his offering, he had not respect, and Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell.

And the Lord said unto Cain, "Why art thou wroth, and why has thy countenance fallen? If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? If thou doest not well, sin lies at the door, and unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him."

And Cain talked with Abel, his brother, and it came to pass when they were in the field that Cain rose up against Abel, his brother, and slew him. And the Lord said unto Cain, "Where is Abel, thy brother?" And he said, "I know not. Am I my brother's keeper?"

And he said, "What hast thou done? The voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me from the ground. And now art thou cursed from the earth, which hath opened her mouth to receive thy brother's blood from thy hand. When thou tillest the ground, it shall not henceforth yield unto thee her strength. A fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be in the earth." And Cain said unto the Lord, "My punishment is greater than I can bear. Behold, thou hast driven me out this day from the face of the earth, and from thy face shall I be hid. And I shall be a fugitive and a vagabond in the earth, and it shall come to pass that everyone that findeth me shall slay me."

And the Lord said unto him, "Therefore whosoever slaeth Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold." And the Lord set a mark upon Cain, lest any finding him should kill him. And then verse 16 says, "And Cain went out from the presence of the Lord and dwelt in the land of Nod on the east of Eden." Went out from the presence of the Lord there.

But being my brother's keeper, I was just thinking in a setting of a brotherhood, in what we know as a church setting, or brotherhood as we like to call it,

just what does it mean to be my brother's keeper?

It says here that Abel was a keeper of sheep. He tended to them. He looked out for their needs. He made sure they had grass. He took care of them. If we take care of something, we're kind of like keeping it. And I think within our brotherhoods, I'd like to go to the New Testament then as well. We're members one of another, and we are concerned for one another. We look out for each other. I'd just like to notice a few things about Cain here.

Abel's sacrifice was accepted. Cain's wasn't. And I'm not sure how that all came about. There's pictures in the Bible story books that I remember of where Cain's sacrifice, the fire and the smoke is going up to heaven, and Cain's is just kind of coming off his altar and going in his face, and it really upset him.

And it's interesting how God confronted Cain about that. He was very angry with Abel, and God confronted him and asked him, "Why are you angry? And why does your face look so angry?" And just putting it in my own words, if you continue this way, if you continue being angry with your brother, sin is right there. I mean, sin is going to take over if you don't deal with this.

But Cain decided not to deal with it, and sin got a hold of him and made him do something that made him kill his brother Abel. He listened to Satan's lie.

Cain felt like it was better for Abel not to be there. If he could get rid of Abel, then he could have freedom or peace. Abel was the problem.

And I think that's Satan's lie that he tries to tell us sometimes. We think if this person would just get out of the way or not be here or something, then things would be better.

But after he didn't listen to God, listened to Satan, got rid of Abel, and then life was a whole lot worse for him. He was a fugitive and a vagabond. He couldn't live in the presence of the Lord anymore.

Things just didn't work out very well for Cain here. And after he had killed Abel, God asked him, "Where's Abel?" And he's like, "I mean, am I responsible for him? I mean, he's old enough. He can make his own decisions. Why are you after me about it?"

And

I think sometimes we tend to almost take that attitude as well that, well, maybe it's someone in our brotherhood or within our families that's kind of, and I hear the world talking this way sometimes. It's kind of like, "He's out in Colorado somewhere. I don't talk with him anymore. We haven't talked for 20 years.

He's just better off out there."

But as Christians, that's not our attitude. And within our families, that should not be our attitude. We care about one another. The decisions we make affect each other because we're members one of another. Recently, in Leviticus 16, Aaron talks about all the sacrifices and things there, but I just want to read a couple of verses there where Aaron was to cleanse or make an atonement for himself that he die not. And then he was also to make an atonement for his household

and then for the people. It wasn't just about himself, but it was also he cleansed himself first and then his household and then the rest of the people.

I'll just start reading at verse 1 here. Leviticus 16. And the Lord spake unto Moses after the death of the two sons of Aaron when they offered before the Lord and died. And the Lord said unto Moses, "Speak unto Aaron, thy brother, that he come not at all times into the holy place within the veil before the mercy seat which is upon the ark, that he die not, for I will appear in the cloud upon the mercy seat." Thus shall Aaron come into the holy place with a young bullock for his sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering.

He shall put on the holy linen coat, and he shall have the linen breaches upon his flesh and shall be girded with a linen girdle. And with the linen miter shall he be attired. These are holy garments. Therefore shall he wash his flesh in water. So put them on. And he shall take of the congregation of the children of Israel two kids of the goats for his sin offering and one ram for a burnt offering. And Aaron shall offer his bullock for the sin offering which is for himself. Notice he's making this offering for himself and making atonement for himself and for his house.

And he shall take the two goats and present them before the Lord at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.

And Aaron shall cast lots upon the two goats, one lot for the Lord and the other lot for the scapegoat. And Aaron shall bring the goat upon which the Lord's lot fell and offer him for his sin offering.

But the goat on which the lot fell to be the scapegoat shall be presented alive before the Lord to make an atonement with him and let him go for his scapegoat into the wilderness. And Aaron shall bring the bullock of the sin offering which is for himself and shall make an atonement for himself and for his house and shall kill the bullock of the sin offering which is for himself.

And he shall take a censor full of burning coals of fire from off the altar of the Lord and his hands full of sweet incense, beaten small, and bring it within the veil. And he shall put the incense upon the fire before the Lord that the cloud of the incense may cover the mercy seat that is upon the testimony that he die not.

And he shall take of the blood of the bullock and sprinkle it with his finger upon the mercy seat eastward, and before the mercy seat shall he sprinkle the blood with his finger seven times.

Then shall he kill the goat of the sin offering that is for the people and bring his blood within the veil and do that with that blood as he did with the blood of the bullock and sprinkle it upon the mercy seat before the mercy seat.

And he shall make an atonement for the holy place because of the uncleanness of the children of Israel because of their transgressions in all their sins. So shall he do for the tabernacle for the congregation that remaineth among them in the midst of their uncleanness.

And there shall no man in the tabernacle of the congregation when he goeth in to make an atonement in the holy place until he come out and have made an atonement for himself and for his household and for all the congregation of Israel." I think I'll stop reading there.

But I just noticed that the order there, he made this atonement for himself.

And if I would be offering a sacrifice and I would know that my life would be at stake, wouldn't we do that very carefully?

And today, this was a shadow of

Jesus and the redemption. And we might not physically die, but if we don't cleanse ourselves or ask God to cleanse ourselves, we can't make an atonement for our household or for our brethren. So I'd just like to notice that order there. He was to make an atonement for himself, then for his household, and then for the people.

And I think that should be our order.

I had to think of Abraham and Lot. When Abraham was looking out for Lot, he told him to, when they were running out of grass, it was getting dry and they needed more land. And so he told Lot to look where he wants to go.

And Lot saw the greener grass and that's where he wanted to go towards Sodom. And it ended up not working out too well and Abraham took what was left.

And then when those angels came to destroy Sodom and it seemed like God wanted to let Abraham know that he was going to do that, Abraham pleaded for Lot's life that if there'd be, if he would spare the city if there were that many righteous.

He was concerned about Lot. He was concerned that he doesn't perish in that destruction. And we know how that kind of came out. Sodom was destroyed, but Lot came out with two of his daughters and lost everything else that he had.

Not a lot of benefit in all the green grass and everything he got there, but all the riches that he was able to collect there. Abraham was concerned about his brother Lot.

And I'd also like to notice Solomon's prayer in 2 Chronicles chapter 6 when he, after the temple was built, he kind of the dedication prayer there, 2 Chronicles chapter 6. It's also in Kings, but I'd like to look at the one in Chronicles if I can find it here.

2 Chronicles chapter 6.

And if we notice here how Solomon, as we read down through this, how Solomon, he prayed for himself and then for the people and then also for, like he prayed for the children of Israel and also for the strangers that would come around later on. 2 Chronicles chapter 6 starting at verse 12. And he stood before the altar of the Lord in the presence of all the congregation of Israel and spread forth his hands for Solomon had made a brazen scaffold of five cubits long and five cubits broad and three cubits high and set it in the midst of the court and upon it he stood and kneeled down upon his knees before all the congregation of Israel and spread forth his hands toward heaven and said, "O Lord, God of Israel, there is no God like thee in heaven nor in earth which keepest covenant and showest mercy unto thy servants that walk before thee with all their hearts.

Thou which thou hast kept with thy servant David, my father, that and spakeest with thy mouth and hast fulfilled it with thine hand as it is this day. Now therefore, O Lord, God of Israel, keep with thy servant David, my father, that which thou hast promised him saying, 'There shall not fail thee a man in my sight to sit upon the throne of Israel yet,' so that thy children take heed to their way to walk in my law as thou hast walked before me.

Now then, O Lord, God of Israel, let thy word be verified which thou hast spoken unto thy servant David. But will God in very deed dwell with men on earth? Behold, heaven of heavens.

Behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain thee, how much less this house which I have built. Have respect therefore to the prayer of thy servant and to his supplication, O Lord, my God, to hearken unto the cry and prayer which thy servant prayeth before thee.

That thine eyes may be open upon this house day and night upon the place whereof thou hast said that thou wouldest put thy name there, to hearken unto the prayer which thy servant prayeth toward this place." I'd just like to notice here he's talking about the physical temple there, but today we don't have a temple.

But the house of God is the gathered body of believers. So I think we can just like to notice how his, I think we can pattern our prayer kind of after his here. "Hearken therefore unto the supplications of thy servant and of thy people Israel which they shall make toward this place. Hear thou from thy dwelling place, even from heaven, and when thou hearest, forgive. If a man sin against his neighbor and an oath be laid upon him to make him swear and the oath come before thine altar in this house, then hear thou from heaven and do and judge thy servants by requiting the wicked, by recompensing his way upon his own head and by justifying the righteous by giving him according to his righteousness.

And if thy people Israel be put to worse before the enemy because they have sinned against thee and shall return and confess thy name and pray and make supplication before thee in this house, then hear thou from heaven and forgive the sin of thy people Israel and bring them again unto the land which thou gavest them and to their fathers.

When the heaven is shut up and there is no rain because they have sinned against thee, yet they pray, if they pray toward this place and confess thy name and turn from their sin when thou dost afflict them, then hear thou from heaven and forgive the sin of thy servants and of thy people Israel when thou hast taught them in the good way wherein they should walk and send rain upon thy land which thou hast given unto thy people for an inheritance."

And he goes on to talk about a drought, pestilence, locusts. I'm going to jump down to verse some.

I didn't mark it down here, but somewhere it talks about the stranger coming in verse 33.

Let's start at verse 31 again. "That they may fear thee to walk in thy ways so long as they live in the land which thou givest unto our fathers.

Moreover, concerning the stranger which is not of thy people Israel but has come from a far country for thy great name's sake and thy mighty hand and thy stretched out arm, if they come and pray in this house, then hear thou from heaven, even from thy dwelling place, and do according to all that the stranger calleth to thee, for that all the people of the earth may know that thy may know thy name and fear thee as doth thy people Israel and may know that this house which I have built is called by thy name."

He was praying that God would hear his people, that God would hear the stranger that prays because if he comes from a far country as stranger and he because he heard of the name of the Lord and he comes and he prays to him that he would hear him.

And then I'd also like to look at Nehemiah, thinking of being our brother's keeper, thinking of being concerned about our brotherhood, the church that we find ourselves in. Nehemiah chapter 1, Nehemiah, the children of Israel had fallen into sin and were taken captive. And Nehemiah, he was the king's cupbearer here.

I'm thinking this was they had been taken to Babylon, I think it was.

I'd just like to notice Nehemiah's prayer here.

Some people had gone to Jerusalem. They saw that the walls were broken down. They saw that the gates were burned with fire and there was hardly any people there anymore. And I don't know how long Nehemiah had been in Babylon at this time. He was doing his job and I think he was doing his job well, serving the king there.

But in verse 4, I'll

just start at verse 1 in Nehemiah chapter 1. "The words of Nehemiah, the son of Hacali, and it came to pass in the month of Cheslu in the 20th year as I was in Shushan the palace, that Hanai, one of my brethren, came, he and certain men of Judah, and I asked them concerning the Jews that had escaped which were left of the captivity and concerning Jerusalem. And they said unto me, 'The remnant that are left of the captivity there in the province are in great affliction and reproach, and the wall of Jerusalem also is broken down, and the gates thereof are burned with fire.'" And this was his response when he heard that. I don't know if he almost seems like he wasn't aware of that.

He didn't know what all had happened. He was taken captive. And I'm sure he thought back to where he came from, but the ones that are left are in great affliction and reproach. The walls are broken down and the gates are burned with fire. "And it came to pass when I heard these words that I sat down and wept and mourned certain days and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven.

And said, 'I beseech thee, O Lord, God of heaven, the great and terrible God, that keepest covenant and mercy for them that love him and observe his commandments. Let thine ear now be attentive and thine eyes open that thou mayest hear the prayer of thy servant which I pray before thee now day and night for the children of Israel, thy servants, and confess the sins of the children of Israel which we have sinned against thee.

Both I and my father's house have sinned. We have dealt very corruptly against thee and have not kept the commandments nor the statutes nor the judgments which thou hast commanded thy servant Moses.

Remember, I beseech thee, the word that thou commandest thy servant Moses saying, 'If ye transgress, I will scatter you abroad among the nations. But if ye turn unto me and keep my commandments and do them, though there were a few cast out into the uttermost part of the heaven, yet will I gather them from thence and will bring them unto the place that I have chosen to set my name there.

Now these are thy servants and thy people whom thou hast redeemed by thy great power and by thy strong hand. O Lord, I beseech thee, let now thine ear be attentive to the prayer of thy servant and to the prayer of thy servants who desire to fear thy name and prosper. I pray thee, thy servant this day, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man, for I was the king's cupbearer."

I'd just like to notice here where he in verse 6, at the end of verse 6, there he's confessing the sins of the children of Israel and he says, he includes himself in that, "Both I and my father's house have sinned."

He's taking responsibility. If Cain didn't want to take responsibility for his actions, his anger or anything, but Nehemiah here is taking responsibility for that. And he's praying that God would cleanse them from that. And I'm sure there were other people in Babylon and others that were praying that God would restore Jerusalem again.

And God was able to use Nehemiah in a very powerful way. He actually would just he was the king's cupbearer and the king noticed that he was sad. And he was, if you're one of the king's servants there, you didn't really have many options. You kind of had to stay there and do your job. But the king noticed that he was sad and he was, it says he was sore afraid because of that. He wasn't sure what the king was going to do with him. So he just told the king what was on his heart.

In verse 3 in chapter 2, he told the king, in verse 2 in chapter 2, "Wherefore the king said unto me, 'Why is thy countenance sad, seeing thou art not sick?' This is nothing else but the sorrow of heart. Then I was very sore afraid. And I said unto the king, 'Let the king live forever. Why should not my countenance be sad when the city, the place of my father's supplicers, lieth waste and the gates thereof are consumed with fire?'

Then the king said unto me, 'For what dost thou make requests?' So I prayed to the God of heaven." He asked God how to respond to this king. And he asked the king if he could go look at the walls and if we read the story how he went during the night, the king wanted to send a bunch of soldiers with him and he said, well, he didn't want to go with all that and went with a couple of other men and they checked this out.

And Nehemiah was very instrumental in rebuilding Jerusalem again, rebuilding the walls, putting up the gates. And you know, there were enemies there as well. They didn't like to see this city being rebuilt again. They reminded this king that this has been a rebellious people and you know, you shouldn't let them do this. But God had the king bless Nehemiah and his work there and the enemies there, they tried different ways to stop this, but they kept right on going.

And I think it was a lot of, and it was a lot because of Nehemiah's prayer and his determination to do what God, what he knew was right. Another thing that Nehemiah did, if we look later in the chapter, if we look through the book of Nehemiah is where they read the law and realized that they weren't following God's word and they repented. There was a revival. Sins were brought to light and were dealt with. There was a major revival there.

And I guess I had to wonder, how do my prayers compare to the prayer of Nehemiah here for, say, our brotherhood or for God's people?

Do we pray that they would prosper and that we could see the light, that we could be in the light? I also thought of Job. In Job chapter 1, verse 5, we talked about him a little bit this morning.

I'll just turn to that, Job chapter 1, verse 5, where he offered his children got together at their houses for feasts. And I don't know, was it for their birthdays or what, but it would almost appear that way.

And Job had a concern for them. In verse 5, Job chapter 1, it says, "And it was so when the days of their feasting were gone about that Job sent and sanctified them and rose up early in the morning and offered burnt offerings according to the number of them all. For Job said, 'It may be that my sons have sinned and cursed God in their hearts.' Thus did Job continually."

That's what he did for his family. I don't know how many people were in the world during that time, but he had a concern for his children. It says he offered burnt offerings for each of them, and it says he did that regularly.

Then I'd also like to look at Daniel. Daniel also was also in Babylon. I think this was a later time, and Daniel never returned to Jerusalem that I know of. But he prophesied the coming of he had some beautiful prophecies here. And in Daniel chapter 9, starting at verse 3, Daniel chapter 9, let's just notice his prayer and how he prayed for God's people and for himself.

Daniel chapter 9, verse 3, "And I set my face unto the Lord God to seek by prayer and supplication with fasting and sackcloth and ashes. And I prayed unto the Lord my God and made confession and said, 'O Lord, the great and dreadful God, keeping the covenant of mercy to them that love him and to them that keep his commandments. We have sinned and have committed iniquity and have done wickedly and have rebelled even by departing from thy precepts and from thy judgments.

Neither have we hearkened unto thy servants, the prophets which spake in the name of to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, and to all the people of the land. O Lord, righteousness belongeth unto thee, but unto us confusion of faces as it is this day. To the men of Judah and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and unto all Israel that are near and that are far off, through all the countries whither thou hast driven them because of their trespass that they have trespassed against thee.

O Lord, to us belongeth confusion of face to our kings and to our princes and to our fathers because we have sinned against thee. To the Lord our God belong mercy and forgiveness, though we have rebelled against him. Neither have we obeyed the voice of the Lord our God to walk in his laws which he set before us by his servants, the prophets.

Yea, all Israel have transgressed thy law even by departing that they might not obey thy voice. Therefore the curse is poured upon us and the oath that is written in the law of Moses, the servant of God, because we have sinned against him.

And he hath confirmed his words which he spake against us and against our judges, that judged us by bringing upon us great evil for under the whole heaven hath not been done as it hath been done upon Jerusalem.

As it is written in the law of Moses, all this evil has come upon us, yet made we not our prayer before the Lord our God that we might turn from our iniquities and understand thy truth. Therefore hath the Lord watched upon the evil and brought it upon us. For the Lord our God is righteous in all his works which he doeth, for we obeyed not his voice.

And now, O Lord our God, thou hast brought thy people forth out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand and has gotten thee renowned as it is this day, and we have sinned and have done wickedly.

O Lord, according to all thy righteousness, I beseech thee, let thine anger and thy fury be turned away from the city of Jerusalem. And for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and thy people are becoming reproach to all that are about us.

Now therefore, our God, hear the prayer of thy servant and his supplications and cause thy face to shine upon thy sanctuary that is desolate for the Lord's sake.

O my God, incline thine ear and hear. Open thou, open thine eyes and behold our desolations and the city which is called by thy name. For we do not present our supplications before thee for thy righteousness, but for thy great mercy.

O Lord, hear. O Lord, forgive. O Lord, hearken and do. Defer not for thine own sake. O my God, for thy city and thy people are called by thy name." Let's stop reading there.

If we continue in that chapter, it's where Gabriel came to him then and he gave him some beautiful prophecies of the end times and how some of those things are going to come to pass. And I don't know that Daniel ever went back to Jerusalem like Nehemiah did to rebuild it, but he was beseeching God for his name's sake. He was jealous for the cause of God.

And I have to think of these men's prayers, especially like Daniel and Nehemiah, Solomon.

When we think of the scribes and the Pharisees' prayers, Jesus told his disciples not to pray like they do. And I think especially of the prayer where that Jesus told about the Pharisee and the publican, the Pharisee, he's, "I fast twice a week and I give ties and I'm this good person and I'm not like this publican."

Daniel and Nehemiah's prayers here were not like that. They were beseeching the Lord for his forgiveness and for his mercy, reminding him that he is merciful to his people. They wanted to see God's people restored again. They wanted to see Jerusalem rebuilt. They wanted to see the temple built. They wanted to see his people prosper.

And it wasn't just for their own benefit. They wanted to see God's name glorified.

And if we look in the New Testament now, John chapter 17, I'm not going to read the whole chapter, but Jesus prays for the high priestly prayer there. Jesus prays that God would, that he would be faithful himself before God. And then he prays for his disciples, those that God had made him responsible for.

In John chapter 17, verse 4, it says, "I have glorified thee on the earth. I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do. And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self, with the glory which I had before with thee before the world was."

John chapter 17, verse 6, "I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world. Thine they were and thou gavest them me and they have kept thy word."

He prays for his disciples there. And then toward the end of the chapter there, he prays for other believers, those that don't even know the truth yet.

In the middle here, he's talking about his disciples and he wants God to sanctify them. And then in verse 20, "Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which believe on me through their word, that they all may be one as thou, Father, art in me and I in thee, that they also may be one in us, that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.

And the glory which thou gavest me, I have given them, that they may be one even as we are one."

He's praying for those believers that are going to come to him, come to the Lord yet.

And I like to think of that as the church that we can be a part of today yet. Jesus was praying for us as well.

Thinking of our brother's keeper, there's a lot of needs in the world. There's a lot of, I find for myself, we want opportunities to serve others. I think as Christians, we should be looking for opportunities. Galatians tells us not to be weary and well-doing, for in due season we shall reap if we faint not. And as we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men. And then he also says, especially to those who are of the household of faith, our brethren, believers.

And I think we should be praying for opportunities to reach out within our brotherhood, within our church, and also beyond that. And I had to think of the story of the good Samaritan, do what's right in front of us, those that God brings us in contact with, those that God places right in front of us.

I'd like to turn to that Luke chapter 10.

The Levite and the others, they were busy. They kind of passed on. And Luke chapter 10, starting at verse 25, and if we notice how this lawyer came to Jesus here and he wondered what he should do to inherit eternal life. And you know, part of being our brother's keeper is loving our neighbor as ourself.

Let's just see what he says here. Luke chapter 10, verse 25, "And behold, a certain lawyer stood up and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? And he said unto him, What is written in the law? How readest thou?

And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy soul, with all thy strength, and with all thy mind, and thy neighbor as thyself. And he said unto him, Thou hast answered right. This do, and thou shalt live."

So that's you're going to have eternal life if you do that. But he, willing to justify himself unto Jesus, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbor? And Jesus answering said, A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho and fell among thieves which stripped him of his raiment and wounded him and departed, leaving him half dead.

And by chance, there came down a certain priest that way, and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. And likewise, a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked on him and passed by on the other side.

But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion on him and went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast and brought him to an inn and took care of him.

And on the morrow, when he departed, he took out two pence and gave it to the host and said unto him, Take care of him. Whatsoever thou spendest more when I come again, I will repay thee. Which now of these three thinkest thou was neighbor unto him that fell among the thieves? And he said, He that showed mercy on him. Then said Jesus unto him, Go and do thou likewise."

I think we need to think of the people that we come in contact with, those that are that we maybe we deal with them in business or our brothers and sisters in the church. God placed those there for a reason. He placed us here for a reason and to serve one another.

And I thought it's interesting how this story is followed by the Mary and Martha story then.

Not always sure how we can get so busy doing things, but we also need to take the time to sit at Jesus' feet and hear him.

Mary was listening to Jesus here, and Martha was she was busy making, I guess, making a meal for Jesus. And Jesus kind of rebuked her there. He said in verse 41, he said, And Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things. But one thing is needful, and Mary has chosen that good part which shall not be taken away from her.

We need to be connected to the vine. We need to take that time to meditate on God's word and to listen to him. I had to think what are hindrances maybe that keep or what is a hindrance that keeps us from being my brother's keeper.

And I think a lot of it is just being too preoccupied with myself and my needs or my wants, what I want to do, the decisions I want to make, the places I want to go.

And we don't think about the effect that our decisions have on others. I think we should be aware of that and try to be sensitive to needs in each other's lives.

Let's not let the cares of life, riches, and all that kind of dull that. It seems it's pretty easy for that to happen.

I had to think of our prayer calendar. We don't follow it completely, but I like that where the families are on each day and we can pray for one another that way. Just the practical being concerned about being our brother's keeper.

In order to be sensitive to each other, we need to be in the light ourselves. We need to be open before God. We need to be in the light. We need to be awake and alert. Romans chapter 13, a couple of verses there I'd like to read.

Verse 10 to the end there in Romans 13 says, "Love worketh no ill to his neighbor. Therefore, love is the fulfilling of the law. And that knowing the time that now it is high time to awake out of sleep, for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed.

The night is far spent. The day is at hand. Let us therefore cast off the works of darkness and let us put on the armor of light. Be clothed in light.

Let's not hide in the shadows. Let us walk honestly as in the day, not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantingness, not in strife and envy. But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ and make not provision for the flesh to fulfill the lust thereof."

We can't be our brother's keeper when we're just following our own whims, lusts, and desires.

We need to wake up and realize that life is serious.

And then also in Hebrews chapter 10, verse 19, we have an enemy. Ephesians talks about we don't wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities and the powers of darkness of this world. There's an enemy that wants to destroy God's people. And we need the power of his we need the power of God to withstand that enemy.

And we also need to stand together with each other.

Hebrews chapter 10, verse 19.

Hebrews.

Yeah, Hebrews chapter 10, verse 19, "Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, we've been cleansed by a new and living way which he hath consecrated for us through the veil, that is to say his flesh, and having an high priest over the house of God. Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.

Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering, for he is faithful that promised. And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together as the manner of some is, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the day approaching, encouraging one another, provoking to love and good works.

Encouraging one another to be faithful, to be faithful to our Lord, to be faithful."

And that also includes correcting each other. Would include when there's error, or today in our Sunday school talks about if a brother if we convert the can't quite get the words, but it's if we turn if a brother that if a person was a brother goes off in a different way and we bring him back, that we cover a multitude of sins and this person is restored.

It includes physical and spiritual.

Our physical and spiritual needs. A lot of times sometimes we can't do much for a person spiritually until we the person might have a physical need or a disaster or something. And then when we reach out, it often opens people up to more spiritual input as well.

And in doing all that, we don't want to do it to just build our own name, to

make a name for ourselves, but we're doing it for the kingdom of God. We're doing it for his glory. We want to see his kingdom being built. We want to see him glorified in his people. And I find sometimes for myself, I want to do things so that I'm looked up to or whatever. But we're doing it for his name. If we think of Daniel and Nehemiah's prayer there, they were concerned about the Lord their God. They were concerned about his glory and his name being lifted up. And I trust that can be our motive as we serve one another, as we are our brother's keeper, that we want to be faithful. We want our brothers and sisters to be faithful.

We don't want them to lose out. We want them to be faithful to the end. And we need that encouragement as time goes on, as we read here in Hebrews, that we're to provoke, to love, and good works, and exhort one another so that we can be faithful to this almighty God that has put us here and given us breath and put us in the settings that we are in.

So let's be concerned about each other. And I'd just like to say I'm thankful to be part of a brotherhood where a lot of that happens. We interact with each other and we try to be sensitive to one another and be open. So just like to encourage us, including myself, to walk in the light and call others to that light.