THE BROTHER
G. C. McKay
1 Peter 1: 22, 23; Deuteronomy 15: 1–6; Acts 9: 17; Philemon 14–16
I was desirous, dear brethren, of speaking from these scriptures about the brother—the brotherhood, as Peter describes it. The word brother is commonly used and rightly used—we would include the sisters, of course, in what we say—but I wondered whether—perhaps the thought could be enhanced a little in our minds; not to say anything new, I trust, but it is good to be reminded of these things afresh. You might forget about the thought of the brother. A dreadful disaster came on Tyre, you remember, because they forgot the brotherly covenant (Amos 1: 9); so that it is one of the things that we have not to forget. Peter makes much of brotherly love. He seems to make more of it in proportion to what he writes than other writers. I wonder why that would be. Three times in his two epistles he mentions “brotherly love”. Twice he refers to the brotherhood and also, showing how practical it is, he refers to
“our beloved brother Paul”; so the thought must be important. You get the impression when Peter sets out the truth that he is setting it out in a certain completeness as to what is formed in the saints, and if he emphasizes the thought of the brother, I think it must be vital.
Scripture sometimes mentions things in a way that raises questions. Peter speaks of the brotherhood when he is speaking about being in subjection to every human institution—
“Shew honour to all, love the brotherhood, fear God, honour the king”, 1 Peter 2: 17. You might wonder why the brotherhood is put in that context (and I suppose it would allow for our fellow-men too, “Shew honour to all”), and then
fearing God and honouring the king. But then the brotherhood has to be loved. The brotherhood, therefore, should assume some very great place in our minds.
So I wonder if the matter might develop more with us in our minds and affections. It is God’s thought, of course. It is quite clear that a brother is born. We can make someone our friend, but we cannot make someone our brother. He is born. “A brother is born for adversity”, Proverbs 17: 17. You perhaps do not know that at the time he is born, but that emerges. The second man in Scripture was said to be born a brother. Cain was born and then it says Eve “bore his brother Abel” (Genesis 4: 21), showing how important the relationship of brother was, and is, in God’s mind, coming in so early in Scripture. It was transgressed there callously, of course, Cain slaying his brother and speaking in such a manner to God, “Am I my brother’s keeper?” the whole effect of the fall immediately being to obliterate the right response to such a relationship. But Peter, speaking about brotherly love, puts it in certain settings, and points out that the relationship is to be developed in a very pure and wonderful character.
One of the first things, I think, that marks the brotherhood is light and transparency. We could refer to John’s first epistle as to that—“But if we walk in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another” (1 John 1: 7). Peter says, “Having purified your souls by obedience to the truth to unfeigned brotherly love”. Now the relationship of brother is not broken by defection or imperfection, far from it, but the enjoyment of it is among those who have purified their souls by obedience to the truth, so that the lines are clear and the link can be enjoyed. It is a dignified thought, the brotherhood, marked by
love first of all, “love the brotherhood”; and it is marked by light and transparency and confidence, and life. We sang earlier as to the Lord’s ways, ‘So full of life, and light, and love’ (Hymn 195). These are features that mark the fellowship too. In John’s first epistle you find that these things are laid out; if you love your brother you abide in the light and you are of God. There is life too. No murderer has eternal life abiding in him. So what a circle, what a relationship! It has its origin in the work of God sovereignly in each one of us, and immediately there is a link with others. Now if we miss the brotherly side we will not make spiritual progress, because the truth is practical and I believe the thought of the brother is to help us to work out the truth and arrive at God’s thoughts.
In Deuteronomy, where it refers to the straight Line to the land, it says, “There are eleven days’ journey from Horeb by the way of mount Seir to Kadesh-barnea” (Deuteronomy 1: 2); it was a straight line, but there was one intervening landmark, and that was mount Seir where they had to do with the brother. There is no question on that route of wandering in the wilderness and proving many experiences, but there is one thing you cannot miss, even on that straight journey; you have to pass by Edom, you have to face the test of the brother. You are only going to enter into divine things if you are prepared to go by that way. I think there is something in that, that we cannot miss out this thought of the brother. If we do despite to it and ignore it, it will be to our loss, whereas if we devote ourselves to the development of this unfeigned brotherly love I believe there will be great progress amongst us, great help, resolution of difficulties, and blessing and joy. So Peter brings in the thought of purifying our souls so that there might be unfeigned brotherly love. That is what we want. You know, I am glad I have this subject to speak about because
it is such a heartening subject. You think of a brother; what does it mean?—the affection and loyalty, the staunchness, the relationship, the dependability that a brother speaks of—it is a fine thing.
The New Testament very often describes someone just as a brother. It is an honourable title and it belongs to us all, “the brother Timotheus”, for example. Sometimes it is qualified and we get “the faithful brother” and so on, but “the brother” is very often used; it is a fine, honourable title on its own. So these things have to be unfeigned. As we work things out morally, as Peter would encourage us to do, we come to unfeigned brotherly love, and then we “love one another out of a pure heart fervently”. The source of all is, of course, that we have been “born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the living and abiding word of God”. It is interesting that the word of God has to do with the fact that the saints have been born again, suggesting that the truth has had its way with us. New birth from that point of view has to do with the word of God, with the truth; it has to do with knowledge and formation in us so that we might go on.
It is a very blessed thought, the matter of the fellowship and brethren. God loves it, and we love it. In Psalm 133 the place of blessing is where brethren dwell together in unity, “for there hath Jehovah commanded the blessing”. If you work against it, then you become an abomination to God. It is one of the things that God hates, “he that soweth discords among brethren”, Proverbs 6: 19. He hates to see the relationship disturbed. Sowing is a subtle way of dropping something that will germinate and will cause a discord. God hates that kind of person, but if we follow Peter’s line there will be nothing of that, nothing said, no
insinuation, nothing that would sow discord, but rather unfeigned brotherly love. Peter knew it experimentally. Paul went up to Jerusalem to make acquaintance with Peter, to form the brotherly link, to establish the link face to face. And then as we go on I think we see that the thought of the brother stands you in good stead. When Peter had to be withstood to the face, then the brotherly link was not broken and he can speak of “our beloved brother Paul”. It is remarkable that he should say that. He does not say, ‘my fellow-apostle Paul’, nor even ‘my brother’, but “our beloved brother”. Whatever you are, you are a brother. No matter what dignity the apostles had, and they had wonderful dignity, rightly so under Christ, they were brothers. They never forgot that, but constantly brought it forward. So Peter, who was the first apostle, according to what it says, “first Peter”, had a certain prominent place, and he appeals to us that we might be lovers of one another in this brotherly link.
In Deuteronomy we have another aspect of the brother. It is how you live wealthily in the land and how you have to do with your brother, because the beauty of the thought of the brother is that it is so exalted and so blessed and includes so much in the way of privilege and enjoyment, and yet it is so practical. We develop in the truth as we are practical, that is, as we work the truth out. We develop in the truth by practising the truth, by making it work. The truth is not simply doctrine; it involves life, it involves action, it involves affection, and the brethren are given to us as an area where we can work out the truth. If difficulties arise, that is not to bring in some depression, but is just to bring out the great resource that there is in the brotherly link for working things out together. Now there is much said in Deuteronomy, more even than in Leviticus, as to how we get on
with our brother in the land. The suggestion in Deuteronomy, as we know, is that if we live wealthily in the land and in the enjoyment of divine things, there is an enrichment of the brotherly relationship. There is an enrichment because you are wealthy because you live in the land, and that comes out in your dealings with your brother, and then more enrichment follows that.
So there is this wonderful time in the land, this day of release, “At the end of seven years thou shalt make a release”, and we have to relax our hand. Well, that is a very important thing, that we relax our hands on our debtors. A brother might owe you something, he might have wronged you in some way, so what are you going to do about it? These things can be quite a hindrance in the meeting; they can hinder your link with that brother, they can hinder your own soul progress. Now what are you going to do about that? How are you going to get it put right? How are you going to get things normalised? Well, at the end of seven years, in the time of release, you just relax your hand. Just relax your hand; let it go. It says in Colossians, “Forgiving one another, if any should have a complaint against any” (Colossians 3: 13). You say, ‘How am I going to sort out this complaint and get back to normal relations?’ Well, it will take two seconds—you just forgive your brother. You do not have to make much of it at all; you forgive, and when you have forgiven the matter has gone. There are other matters, of course, that have to be taken up, as Matthew shows us, but if it is just a complaint, you just forgive. That is a resource we have in forgiveness to clear matters quickly. You just forgive, and then there can be a happy state, because if you do not do that it hinders your own soul prosperity. There was a little thing I had in my mind about a brother. I wondered why I could not get over it, and I
discovered that it was just folly and that by forgiving him it cleared the matter right out of my soul and mind so that it would never come back. You can do that, and then these things are gone.
The day of release is a wonderful thing, a time when you relax your hand. You are not going to seize your brother and take him along to another brother and see if you can get something restored or put right; you are not going to throttle him for what he owes you; you are not going to put your hand on his throat, demanding. No, it is a time of relaxing the hand, because it is a time of wealth. There might not even be anybody in need among you, “for Jehovah will greatly bless thee”. The thought is that you are so wealthy and so much in the enjoyment of divine things that you do not need to hold on to anything. You want to see your brother enriched too; you do not want to see him burdened by that debt. You do not want to see him held down; you want him released; it is a time of release. One of the things that Moses commanded was that “At the end of every seven years … thou shalt read this law before all Israel in their ears”, Deuteronomy 31: 10, 11. It was at the time of release so that they would remember all these things that had happened to them and be in the good of the spirit of Moses that he brings out in Deuteronomy.
Well, you can read in Deuteronomy the other references to the brother. You find his ass going astray in another chapter. You take it back to him, and if you do not know which brother lost it, you keep it for him. You actually bring it in to your house, and keep it really safe for him.
It is perhaps like some of our poor brethren who have lost their way and have lost things. You do not say they are negligent and accuse them of this and that, you say, ‘Well, if we are enjoying the truth, and someone else has lost it, we will keep it for him’. So
if you come back to the fellowship, if you come back to look for these things that you lost, perhaps so many years ago, that ox or that ass, here it is, it has been kept safe for you. That is the attitude in Deuteronomy, that everyone is to be enriched, no one is to be oppressed, but rather that the brotherly link has to be worked out in richness.
Well, we could not read all chapter 15, but it is very interesting. There is a poor man, from verse 7 on, a brother in need, and you have to open your hand to him. I would like to speak about the end of verse 10. It says, “Thou shalt bountifully give unto him”—that is, a brother in need—“and thy heart shall not be evil-disposed when thou givest unto him; because for this thing Jehovah thy God will bless thee in all thy works”. So that as you fulfil the brotherly relationship in the good of the land you get more blessing. You see, the fellowship and the brotherhood is a place of blessing. Peter says that too, “Blessing others, because ye have been called to this, that ye should inherit blessing”, 1 Peter 3: 9. That should be the atmosphere of our gatherings, and our relationships, an atmosphere of blessing. Then in verse 12 you get, as to the bondman, “If thy brother, a Hebrew man ...” It does not say that in Exodus 21, but here the Hebrew bondman is “thy brother”, and when you send him away you “furnish him from thy sheep” and so on; you send him away enriched. You do not just send him away without any charge upon him, you fully furnish him. It says at the end of verse 18, where it speaks about sending away the bondman or the handmaid, fully furnishing him out of thy sheep and thy floor and thy winepress, “And Jehovah thy God will bless thee in all that thou doest”.
That is, God loves the brotherly relationship, and when He sees it fulfilled He brings in an extra blessing on those who operate in that way.
Now I want to speak a little from Acts 9 about the brotherly link as a resource amongst us, something you can fall back on any time. It says in Proverbs that “a brother is born for adversity”, that is, I suppose, primarily he is there to help you. If you need help you have a brother and you are all right. And we have plenty of brothers around to help us. We do not need to look very far. But, you know, the very principle, just carrying that thought of the brother with you, helps immensely in many situations. Now I think this verse in Acts 9 is a thrilling verse because Ananias so completely commits himself to Saul without any hesitation. He had hesitated at first and asked the Lord about this fearsome man that he was to go and put his hands on, but now he comes in, and the first thing that Paul hears after the Lord’s dealing with him, and the first help that Paul gets, is the voice and hand of a brother.
Is that not wonderful? He heard the Lord’s voice, that sympathetic voice from heaven, “Saul, Saul, why dost thou persecute me?”, and he fell on the earth. Think of the terrible exercise he was going through. Think of him—all his thoughts and aspirations, all that he had prided himself on, gone in those three days, unable to see, not eating or drinking, in intense exercise.
And what does the Lord do after His own dealings with Saul? Does He send an apostle or a prophet? He sends a brother. That is what it is, “a brother is born for adversity”. When you go through difficulties or exercise, you have a brother that can help you. “Saul, brother”, Ananias says. There was not any question of probation, that he would see how Paul turned out. No, Ananias just completely committed himself to him at once, “Saul, brother”. Think of Saul feeling these hands on him and hearing that voice, “Brother”. I suppose he had been alone in his exercise during these three
days, praying to God. Who could help him? And then help broke in in that brotherly voice. I do not know what part Ananias would fulfil in Damascus, whether he was one of those that would be spoken about as an elder or a teacher. It does not tell us. Certainly the Lord was very free with him, but I think one thing we can certainly say is that he was a brother, a good brother. How valuable that is, a brother. We have all proved what a brother is. So let us use that resource. The Lord, I might say reverently, used that resource in helping Saul. He was put into the care of the brethren. He was with the disciples certain days, and they looked after him and helped him. They let him down in a basket so that he might escape those that would murder him. He was cared for. Therefore how we should love the brotherhood in its dignity, and in its privileges and in the help that it affords.
I read in Philemon because it is an example of Paul himself resorting to what a brother means, to resolve a difficulty. We often speak about how Paul sometimes associated a brother with him when he addressed the saints. In the Corinthian epistles Paul spoke as the apostle, and he was that, and his authority was to be recognised and asserted, but he says, “Paul, a called apostle of Jesus Christ, by God’s will, and Sosthenes the brother” (1 Corinthians 1: 11), and in the second epistle it is “the brother Timotheus” that Paul associates with him. The apostolic touch, the authority, has to be there and has to be bowed to but, to make it easy for us, there is the brotherly touch, the appeal of the brother. There is nothing like the appeal of the brother to help us. Now, in Philemon especially, Paul uses this resource. If you look at it carefully you will see that, very largely, Paul is using that as a basis for what he says in appealing to Philemon. He begins, “Paul, prisoner
of Christ Jesus, and Timotheus the brother”. Now he is only dealing with one person. He is not addressing a whole difficult assembly as in Corinth. He is just writing a letter to one brother, but it is a very difficult situation so he brings in Timotheus with him; he says, “and Timotheus the brother”.
Of course, you may just deal with one brother, “between thee and him alone” (Matthew 18: 15), and that is a very fine setting where much has to be worked out. You do not need to extend the matter. If it is a difficult matter and no one else knows about it, no one else needs to be affected. If your brother sin against you, you see him yourself before you think of bringing anybody else along. You just go as one brother to another and then “If he hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother”, Matthew 18: 15. You have not lost him, you have gained him.
Of course, you have sometimes to be on the other end—“go, be reconciled to thy brother”, Matthew 5: 24. Find out how to do that. It is a very delicate relationship and offence very often comes in. “A brother offended is harder to be won than a strong city”, Proverbs 18: 19.
You see, because we are so close to one another in such bonds and in such links, it can be very hurtful when something comes in. It is easy to offend a brother because of the delicacy and nearness and affection of the relationship. Well, you have to find out how to win him.
Matthew 5 says you go and are reconciled with him. It does not tell us how. Jacob had that problem, but he faced his brother Esau and he managed it. As he approached him, he bowed down to him—the humble approach to win the brother who he thought was coming in no very good mood to meet him.
Well, Paul, as I say, is only speaking to Philemon, just one person, but it is a very difficult matter so he enlists, as it were, the voice of
Timothy, “Timotheus the brother”, so that there might be that extra help and appeal. And then, if you go through the epistle, you see that twice he calls Philemon a brother. In verse 7
he says, “because the bowels of the saints are refreshed by thee, brother”. He is establishing the relationship, you see. He is bringing in the dignity and the affection of the relationship.
The heart of the epistle is in that little phrase, “for love’s sake” (Philemon 9). Well, that is what belongs to the brotherhood, dear brethren, love—that is what underlies it. Love and light and life, that is the sphere of the fellowship, the brotherhood. And then, as to this slave that had gone missing, Paul brings in the idea of a brother to touch Philemon’s affections, “For perhaps for this reason he has been separated from thee for a time, that thou mightest possess him fully for ever; not any longer as a bondman, but above a bondman, a beloved brother”.
How beautiful that is! He is appealing to Philemon’s affections. He had lost a bondman; he ran away. I do not know what he did when he ran away; he seems to have wronged Philemon somewhere. Whether he took something with him when he went, I do not know. Maybe one or two things disappeared from the house the day that Onesimus departed.
But now the whole matter is to be healed, and the appeal and the leverage is that Philemon had lost a bondman but was now to gain a brother, a beloved brother. Think of that, “above a bondman, a beloved brother, specially to me”. And so you find in this epistle a certain enmeshing of brotherly affections and relationships so that Philemon is touched and the matter is resolved. Paul says in verse 20, “Yea, brother, I would have profit of thee in the Lord”, then he says, “Being confident of thine obedience, I have written to thee, knowing that thou wilt do even more than I
say”. That is like Deuteronomy 15, is it not? you send him back fully furnished. A few things would go back with Onesimus, I think. He would be like that freed Hebrew bondman in Deuteronomy 15; he would go out furnished. He would go back to Philemon to serve him, furnished in the sense of a new relationship with him, and with the wealth of that in his spirit, so that there might be further help in the testimony.
Well, these are blessed things, dear brethren, and very practical things. They are not far away from us. They are just there in the next seat to us; the brother is there. Let us be what a brother ought to be. Even if anyone called brother sins, the relationship is still there. There was provision that even if a brother was involved in wickedness and had to be beaten, you did not beat him too much; forty stripes was the limit. Why? So that your brother would not be despicable (Deuteronomy 25: 3). Even if a person goes astray he is never to become despicable, because he is a brother. But let us fill out the brotherly relationship properly, dear brethren, fill it out in a wealthy way, prove its resource in meeting difficulties and prove that it is also the way to increase spiritual prosperity amongst us, for His name’s sake.
Address in Edinburgh
14 February 1987