Ken Styles - Class 5: Love a Brother in Need

Automatically transcribed. Accuracy is good but not perfect, and words are sometimes wrong. Trust the audio over the text.

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   This is the North Battleford Study Weekend in November 2010. This is the memorial meeting, and the title for the exhortation is Loving a Brother in Need. And our speaker is Brother Ken Stiles, and the reading was Deuteronomy chapter 15. So we'll now call upon Brother Ken to bring us the words of exhortation. Brother Ken.

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   Thank you, Brother Theo. We have spent a good bit of time in the New Testament in our first several sessions, identifying the principles of godly love and godly giving. And for purposes of our exhortation this morning, we'll concentrate most of our thoughts in Deuteronomy 15. But just wanted to begin by touching base with a couple of verses we looked at yesterday, when the Apostle John in 1 John 3 was echoing the principle of godly love that you see recorded in a fair bit of detail in his gospel in the last few hours that Christ had with his disciples, as recorded in John 13 through 17.

3. 1:24

   Recall we read in 1 John 3 at verse 16, Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he, Jesus, laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. But whoso hath this world's good, and seeth his brother, have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him?

4. 1:48

   My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue, but in deed and in truth. So the Apostle John establishes or echoes the principle that godly living involves a laying down of our life, which isn't for most of us going to involve a literal laying down of our life, but it does mean that we open our hearts wide to our brother, and we give to the needs of our brother or sister when those needs become apparent to us.

5. 2:21

   So in turning to Deuteronomy 15 then, we find that laying down our life is not intended to be a one-time event in our life. As we have seen this weekend, it's intended to be something that we show continually. In fact, in the Sunday school class this morning, the comment about godly love is not something we turn on and off.

6. 2:44

   It's something that should flow through us and flow from us on a continuous basis. I think it's a good way to characterize the love of God that we see coming forth from the Lord Jesus Christ. Most of us will never be put in the position of having to physically lay down our life, like Jonathan was, like Abigail was, like our Lord was.

7. 3:07

   But all of us, all of us have multiple opportunities of seeing a brother or sister in need and giving to that need. To recall without turning back there, in Exodus 23 it described how every seven years the land was to lie fallow, letting the poor and the wild beasts eat off of it.

8. 3:27

   That is in verses 10 and 11. And what we'll find are the roots of godly love are actually present in the law of Moses. We shouldn't be surprised to see this. It wouldn't be a good business decision to let your land lie fallow. But acting by faith and loving God and obeying him oftentimes isn't a good business decision.

9. 3:52

   So when we come to Deuteronomy 15 at verse 1 and 2, it says, Not only would the land lie fallow, but all debts would be forgiven. At the end of every seven years thou shalt make a release. And this is the manner of the release. Every creditor that lendeth ought unto his neighbor shall release it.

10. 4:12

    He shall not exact it of his neighbor or of his brother, because it is called Yahweh's release. So you can see how this seventh year would be an extremely unprofitable year from a business standpoint. Forgiving all debts and letting your land lie fallow would not be wise in the eyes of the world.

11. 4:36

    But then the law, as recorded here in Deuteronomy 15, goes on to identify the principles of godly giving, of godly loving, that were instructed to the Israelites. And what we'll find is right up front we need to recognize that when we talk about giving in this chapter, it's not just about money. It's anything a person might be in need of.

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    They may be in need of our time. They may be in need of our counsel. They may be in need of help in watching their children or helping in raising their young people. It may be that they have a need of helping with a house repair or opening our house to one who is in need of accommodation.

13. 5:24

    So it's a variety of things. In fact, money is oftentimes the least of the needs for a person in need. Not to diminish that situation, but the concept of godly giving far exceeds just helping somebody financially. The principles are contained in verses 8 to 10, but they begin with a warning in verse 7.

14. 5:46

    And the warning is what we need to avoid doing. If there be any among you, if there be any among you a poor man of one of thy brethren within any of thy gates in the land which Yahweh thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not harden thy heart, nor shut thine hand from thy poor brother.

15. 6:07

    And you see the connection now with 1 John 3, verses 17. If we see a brother in need and we close our hand to him, John says, how therein does the love of God apply in our situation or dwell with us? And here under the law, we see the warning not to harden our heart or shut our hand against a brother in need.

16. 6:32

    So this is a chapter about godly love. It's not entitled godly love at the beginning. In fact, you won't find the word love anywhere in the chapter. But the principles of godly love and godly giving are here nonetheless. God says, beware of the natural tendency to rationalize away our need to help. Don't act according to your natural inclinations.

17. 6:58

    So open your hand wide. And that is really the first principle of the seven principles we've identified in these few verses. And it's contained in verse 8. But thou shalt open thine hand wide unto him. It's the opposite of a closed fist. What God is saying is, be generous in your giving. Godly love involves giving.

18. 7:22

    Remember, we saw that yesterday. Because God loved, he gave. Because the Lord Jesus Christ loved, he gave. When we love as they love, we give.

19. 7:33

    The second principle, also in verse 8. We are to give based upon the person's need. Not from our surplus. And here's another one of those clear lines of differentiation between godly love and human love. Lend him sufficient for his need, is what verse 8 says. And the natural tendency, as we've mentioned once or twice this weekend, is to take care of our own needs first.

20. 8:00

    And then to give of our leftovers. To give of our surplus. And there's a real problem. When our loving and our giving is the result of our surplus or our leftover. And the problem is, when we don't have any leftovers to give, and we don't have any surplus, we don't love. Because there isn't any love left over to help our brother in need.

21. 8:31

    And that's why our loving and our giving cannot be from our surplus. It cannot be from what's left over. Otherwise, our loving will not be something that's constant and continuous and a reflection of our father's love. Our loving will fluctuate. Based on how we're doing.

22. 8:53

    Lend him sufficient for his need. It's one of the subtle evil thoughts in our present society today that I first need to take care of myself before I need to take or be concerned about helping others afterwards. And it deludes us. It deludes us into thinking that our obligation to help others does not begin until our personal needs are met.

23. 9:21

    And this is a fine definition of human love. But it's not a definition of godly love. So the world is filled with philanthropists, I believe they call them. Those who have lots and lots and lots of money. And they give large quantities of money to charities and to other events and activities. And the world is grateful.

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    And I don't mean to demean what they do because their giving is very helpful to those in need. But they are not giving by godly love. They are giving by human love because they take of their leftovers of their surplus. And they give on that basis. So that in determining how much we are to give or to do for our brother or sister in need, the question we do not want to ask ourselves is what can I afford?

25. 10:12

    That is not the right question. The question must be what is the need of my brother or sister? And if we are not sure what our brother needs, the second commandment of Christ simply says put ourselves in that position and then ask yourself, what would you need if you were in that brother's situation?

26. 10:33

    And that is what we give to because that is loving our neighbor as ourself. And that word there that we are to lend sufficient for his need also includes the fact that we need to be sensitive to how we give. Brother James made the comment after the Sunday school class, you know, we didn't even talk about how Abigail approached David.

27. 10:56

    And there's a whole lesson to be learned in the approach she used and the love she showed in her approach to him. We need to be sensitive to the needs of the individual that we are giving to. Because what we're going to give and how we're going to give it oftentimes are just as important.

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    And godly love takes all of that into consideration so that the manner in which the giving is offered is done in a way that it can genuinely be helpful. The third principle, again, we're staying in verse 8. It actually has three of the seven. In that which he wanted. And you have to be a little bit careful here.

29. 11:40

    Because that phrase in the AV in that which he wanted does not mean we are to give to whatever a person wants. It's one of those quirky aspects of the AV language. You have to remember that the word want there actually means to lack. We are to give in that he lacketh. And it literally means in that which he is deficient.

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    And a good example of that you don't have to look it up is in Psalm 34 verse 10 where it speaks of the young lions how they lack and suffer hunger. But those who seek Yahweh shall not want any good thing. And it means they shall not lack any good thing. Which is why in the RSV in the New King James Version it's not in that he wanteth but it's whatever it may be.

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    And that's the principle. we are not to scrutinize the need of the brother or sister. And we have to be careful here because often times a person in need depending on how great their need is can cause confusion for the individual. Often times they may come to us us. And godly giving and godly loving doesn't mean we give them whatever they want.

32. 12:59

    Because depending on the depth of their need they may not know what they want. In fact they may come to us and ask for things that would not be helpful to them. So when we say godly love doesn't scrutinize the need what we're saying is we don't scrutinize for the purpose of not giving.

33. 13:21

    We do have to examine the situation and then we are to give to them what it is that they need. What it is that will be helpful to them. And what they're asking for and what we give may not be the same. So you have the situation remember in 1 Timothy 5 where the young widows wanted to be enrolled in the program in the ecclesia that was to take care of the widows.

34. 13:47

    And Paul says that may be what they want but that's not what they need. What they need to do is to find a husband and to raise children. That's what they need to do. So we have to still examine the situation but then when the need is determined we need to give to it.

35. 14:07

    And the principle there at the end of verse 8 is that we shouldn't qualify the need and try to rationalize it away and end up giving nothing. If brother Ken wouldn't always get himself into that trouble he wouldn't need my help. So I'm not going to give to him anymore and maybe he'll learn his lesson this time.

36. 14:28

    That may not be what I need. Or that sister you know you give to her and it's like pouring down a bottomless pit. You just give and give and give and there's never any change. So I think we can be done giving to her. And maybe I'll give to someone else. There's all kinds of ways we can rationalize away our giving and our loving for others.

37. 14:52

    But that is not godly giving and godly loving. Again we examine the situation and we don't give in a way that will perpetuate ungodly behavior. But godly loving and godly giving does not rationalize the need completely away from giving at all. Once the need is established as legitimate and sometimes it takes a few people to examine the situation and to identify the real need.

38. 15:25

    But once the need is examined as being legitimate godly love will cause us to give to that need regardless of the impact that it may have on us. In verse 6 we have the fourth principle sorry in verse 9 where it says beware that there be not a thought in thy wicked heart saying the seventh year the year of release is at hand and thine eye be evil against thy poor brother and thou givest him not.

39. 15:53

    And the danger here is a base thought arising at the very time we should be giving to the need of others. And that base thought arises from the fact of our natural tendency to have a mind that is focused on personal gain. And a mind that is focused on personal gain that is coupled with a hostile or an evil eye says you know the seventh year is right around the corner.

40. 16:22

    So if I lend to that brother in year six at month eight and the calendar changes to year seven the debt is forgiven. So I think I'll wait. and we end up not helping our brother in need. And the danger is that base thought will prevent us from giving the very help that the brother needs.

41. 16:51

    As we have seen this weekend if the flesh is not first crucified if our own interests are not put to death there is no way we can end up manifesting godly love. so we don't look at the fact that the seventh year is just four months away and I will probably never recover what I'm about to give because I'm not going to give with a hostile or an evil eye.

42. 17:13

    If my brother or sister has a need we give to the need. That's what godly love does. The danger is we see a situation and we give a little. It doesn't really address their need but we give a little and we walk away and say well at least I did a little bit.

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    Other people didn't do anything. And we satisfy ourselves that we have manifested godly love. Well when we give a little when the need is great and there is more that we could have given and there is more than we could have given. We'll underscore that. When we only give a little when there is more than we could have given.

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    That is another example of human love. the fifth principle of godly giving in this chapter is also found in verse 9 at the end of verse 9. And that is that he cry unto Yahweh against thee and it be sin unto thee. So what Deuteronomy 15 is underscoring in verse 9 is that to fail to do the right thing is just as wrong as doing the wrong thing.

45. 18:32

    In 1 John 4 we saw it was God's expectation that we would manifest his love. In John 15 we saw that we are only Christ's friend if we learn to love like he loves. And in Deuteronomy 15 we are told it is a sin not to practice godly love. Because if we are aware of a brother or sister in need and place our own personal well-being above their need and do nothing we stand condemned.

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    So godly love is not something that we just think about and learn about and decide whether or not at some point we will begin to practice it or try it out. Godly love is an expectation because if we are not giving to our brother or sister in need it's called a sin. And verse 10 is the sixth principle we are to give freely not grudgingly not with a grieving heart.

47. 19:37

    In verse 10 we read thou shalt surely give him and thine heart shall not be grieved when thou givest unto him. And the Hebrew there for grieving is to break in pieces or to spoil. God isn't looking for us to give to our brother if it's going to break our heart to do so.

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    If you come to me asking for help and I say well brother I'm willing to help you but you know it's really going to break my heart to do so. And that is the spirit that I manifest. I've now created a second problem for you. You came to me with the first problem whatever it was.

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    Whether it was financially whether it was in your home at work whatever it was. And now my lack of showing true love in my interaction with you has now introduced a second problem for you. Because now brother Ken is saying he will help but he's going to do it in a grudging way.

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    The seventh principle is also in verse 10. Because that for this thing Yahweh thy God shall bless thee in all thy works and in all that thou puttest thine hand unto. I know the word faith isn't in verse 10. But you see the principle of faith. We are to give by faith trusting because for this Yahweh will bless you.

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    trusting that if we give by faith God will take care of us. And you see why our giving has to be in the realm of faith and not in the realm of surplus. And again this is what differentiates godly loving and godly giving from human love and human giving. When we are giving from surplus and first taking care of our own needs that is not what god is looking for but when we are giving by faith not sure how our needs will be taken care of but because my brother's need is so great I will give to it.

52. 21:59

    Now our giving and our loving is done in the realm of faith. You give god says and I will bless you. Trust me that I will take care of you. If you devote yourself to taking care of others. So as we saw yesterday faith becomes a prerequisite to our giving and to our loving.

53. 22:20

    And it's done by faith not by surplus. In verse 11 we have a further insight into the troubles and the challenges faced by those in need. In most places in the first 11 verses of this chapter when you see the word poor it means destitute. So in verse 4 when it talks about the poor it is the destitute.

54. 22:43

    In verse 7 it is the destitute. In the beginning of the verse and at the end of the verse. In verse 9 thy eye be evil against thy poor brother that's the word destitute. In verse 11 for the poor shall never cease out of the land that's the word destitute. Notice the second time the word poor appears in the AV in verse 11.

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    thou shalt open thine hand wide unto thy brother to thy poor. That's not the word destitute. The word there means to be depressed in mind or circumstance. You see when a person is facing a need they have two problems and I'm not talking about a need that can be easily remedied. I'm talking about a need that is challenging their marriage.

56. 23:36

    That is challenging their ability to walk by faith in the ecclesia. That is challenging their ability to continue as faithful parents in the raising of children. That is challenging their ability to function as a family. When a brother or sister is facing this need or they may have sickness in their family or they may have sickness themselves there are two issues they're dealing with.

57. 23:59

    One is the sickness. One is the difficult circumstance they find themselves in and the other is the depression that accompanies that situation. And that is the poor that is being identified in verse 11. Because they look at their situation and it is not good. Actually it's quite terrible. And tomorrow it will probably be just as bad if not worse than it is today.

58. 24:28

    And six months down the road it could be even worse and a year from now it will probably be even worse. And our mind can begin to think that way. And the effect of our trials upon us can be very depressing to us. And do you see why a person in need who is given to depression and all of us are when we face difficult circumstances we're not going to be helped by leftovers.

59. 25:02

    We're not going to be helped by somebody's surplus. So if Ruth tells Naomi you go back to Israel and from time to time I'll come see you to see how you're doing when I have a free weekend that isn't going to cut it. That's why godly love says when a person is in need and facing a difficult trial in their life we stand right with them in the trial.

60. 25:39

    And it doesn't matter what foolishness they may have done in their life to put them in that situation. That's not the question God asks us to ask of ourselves. But when a person is in a difficult situation godly love will stand by that person and give not from our surplus but give to the level of need that exists because we can't help depression with leftovers you can't help depression with human love love as we are about to partake of the emblems and remember our Lord's death we look at these seven principles of loving and giving as we see in Deuteronomy 15 and you compare that with the life of Christ and what we find not surprisingly is that in each of the seven cases we see the principles reflected in the life of our Lord he was generous opening his hand wide to all he gave according to people's needs he didn't go from a surplus he didn't give from his leftovers he didn't have any surplus he didn't have any leftovers from which to give because he gave all that he had point number three he didn't qualify the need of an individual he saw needs all around him and he gave to each and every and he didn't let a base thought prevent his giving he didn't worry about his own personal well-being he didn't worry about being paid back from someone to whom he was going to lend or to give but he became a servant humbling himself serving the needs of others not his own and he never failed to do the right thing but gave freely and willingly and ungrudgingly

61. 27:35

    to all around him including the laying down of his life on the cross and lastly he gave by faith trusting that his father would bless his efforts and his father would take care of him in his giving to others even though no one else around him fully understood what he was doing we like to say that you know it's never recorded that he gave any money to help those who were in need around him so it isn't about giving money that God is trying to bring our attention to the giving of money is oftentimes !

62. 28:12

    very helpful and we don't mean to disparage that in any way but godly giving as we see the principles in Deuteronomy 15 as we see reflected in the life of our Lord is not primarily about money it's about giving of ourself for the well-being of others it becomes a way of life and it is that way of life that frame of mind that reflection of the father's character of the father's love that he has asked to follow so as we partake of the emblems this morning may we reflect upon all that god has given us because our need was great and the father and the son have both given greatly to our need one in the giving of his only begotten son and secondly in the son in providing us with redemption and forgiveness through grace so that as we examine

63. 29:09

    reasons that we have to rationalize away why we don't need to do for others and resolve in our own minds that we won't have a hard heart we won't cleanse or close our fists but we will seek to give to others in the same spirit with which we have been so richly blessed