Brotherly Love — Charles E. Fuller

Christian Heritage Ministry, in cooperation with Fuller Seminary, proudly presents the Old-Fashioned Revival Art, a broadcast of the Gospel with Dr. Charles Eagle.

Heavenly sunshine and everybody with a big smile, breath of long beach air, and just sing it right out. As you sing through the first time, turn around and shake hands with as many as possible. All together now in heavenly sunshine.

I trust that you'll do that well and better next Lord's Day, because Mrs. Fuller and I, Lord willing, will be in Syracuse, New York, broadcasting from the War Memorial Building, the new building there seating 10 ,000 or more.

And the first 15 minutes of the broadcast will come from Long Beach, and our son Daniel Fuller will have charge of that service, and then the lines will be reversed to New York. And Lord willing, we'll speak to you from New York.

And I'd love to have quite a crowd here today to sing heavenly sunshine to Syracuse and to the audience, and then we're going to sing back to you, and we're going to try to do a little bit better than that.

But now come on and sing once more and really be in practice for next Lord's Day on that wonderful broadcast. All together.

And I'll be back here at the Long Beach Municipal Auditorium two weeks from today.

We do not intend to stay in the East. I thought I'd better let you know that. We'd love to broadcast from this place that we've been coming to so many years, since 1925, I guess it has been, we've been coming to Long Beach.

Supporting the Seminary and Worldwide Revival Ministry

You know, I made an announcement a few Sundays ago that God had graciously entrusted the lives of 205 young men to us at the Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena. Well, God has entrusted us with 214.

Never in all my life have I seen a finer group of consecrated young men with deep convictions with a vision for getting the gospel out to a worldwide audience. May I lay the matter of the seminary upon your hearts and pray that God will undertake for us that we may be true in our efforts to train these men to be polished arrows in these closing days.

It's a tremendous responsibility. And this ministry, worldwide ministry of the Old-Fashioned Revival Hour, is possible only because so many of you share this burden with us and because you're doing your part to keep the gospel message going out each week over these many, many, many stations.

Can we not hear from those of you who appreciate this program, but who have not written to tell us so? We shall be looking for a letter from you. And I know that you will not disappoint us.

Testimonies of Broadcast Listeners

Greetings, friends. After reading letters all these years, I wonder each week if there will be other good ones coming in, letters with human interest in them, letters telling us under what circumstances you have listened to the hour or how it's been a special blessing to you in time of need.

And we do thank all of you who have written. And now for some letters from Alaska. Dear Reverend Fuller, about two years ago, my husband and I heard your broadcast in my mother's home. We did not listen attentively, for although we were Christians, we had not surrendered fully to God, and we were only lukewarm.

Now we have come to love the program, and we have come to listen every Sunday, not once, but twice. Bill says he catches things he missed the Sunday before. And, dear Dr. Fuller, there's something about your appeal, that although now we have surrendered to God for full-time service, you make us want to raise our hands and to go down that aisle again.

Our hearts are so touched. Bill is 23, and I am 22, and we have two babies. God has been so good to us. I love my husband very much, and it just warms my heart to hear him speak of Dr. Fuller the way he does, for he loves him as though he were his own father.

I just wanted to tell you how much you have meant to our lives, and to thank you for being such a blessing to us. Dear Reverend Fuller, my husband is a chaplain in the Army, and we all enjoy the program.

Gings, we move about quite a little to different sections of the country. The first Sunday in the new place keeps us hunting around the dial until we hear the familiar voice and music. And then we know that we have found our program once again.

Then, as last letter, dear Dr. Fuller, nearly ten years ago I was converted at home in a little town in Texas, a high school boy brought under conviction by one of your sermons. I went through college and Bible school, and I've been out in the ministry for a little over two years now.

Our little church is growing, and God has been good to me. The hour is still a blessing whenever I can hear it. That is all I shall have time for today, friends.

Jesus, resting, bearing the load. Bravely, patience and faith will my soul refine. Clearly, sweet hope still sings on my road. And Jesus, the Lord, is mine. Jesus is mine. He is mine. Through shade and shine.

Though friends betray and leave me. Though sorrows foil and weave me onward I'll go. Jesus, resting through all. Under the flag that falls. Jesus is mine. Yes, he's mine. Through dawn and through shade and shine.

Wonderful hope still sings. Sweet hope divine is ringing. Singing of midlife sorrows. Jesus.

Our son, Daniel Fuller, will lead us in prayer.

Every head bowed and the heart of every Christian praying, please. Heavenly Father, we do thank thee that for those that trust thy son, the Lord Jesus Christ, does give a light yoke and an easy burden in place of the hard and heavy yoke and burden of sin.

And Father, we thank thee for the living water which thou dost give to the thirsty soul who puts his trust in thy son. That that water becomes a well of living water springing up into everlasting life.

Father, we pray for those who are oppressed and loaded down by the burden of sin. And we pray that they may look unto the Lamb of God, thy son, who does take away the sin of the world. Bless especially the young converts today.

May they continue to trust in thee and have the full assurance of salvation. Give them victory over temptation simply by trusting in thee. And Father, bless also the missionaries around the world. And may they be encouraged as they look up unto thy face and realize that thou, the one who has all authority in heaven and in earth, has sent them forth.

Bless this broadcast today, O Father, to the salvation of many souls. For we ask it in Jesus' name. Amen.

May we stand, praise and sing two verses, the number 135. Come, every soul by sin oppressed, there's mercy with the Lord. And may we pray that this invitation number may sink its way into the hearts of thousands that are now in darkness that need Christ as their personal Savior.

Two verses remain standing for prayer. Amen. Brought to you by the Gospel Broadcasting Association from the Ministerial Auditorium at Long Beach, California. This is Charles E. Fuller speaking. Take your Bibles and turn to the 12th chapter of Romans, beginning at the 9th verse.

Consecration as the Foundation of Christian Conduct

Romans 12, 9 to 13. Now, in this short series of messages on the believer's daily conduct, we have considered thus far, first, the basic requirement for a believer to be pleasing to God and to man in his daily conduct, that is, consecration.

Romans 12, 1 and 2. I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice. And second, the first fruit of real consecration is humility in chapter 12, verses 3 to 8.

And now, today, the second fruit, or the second aspect of consecration in Romans 12, 9 to 13, brother love. The word brother love in the original is Philadelphia. That is, brother-like love, or love similar to that of the brethren.

The Two Spiritual Families and Salvation

Now, we learn from the Word of God that there are two great spiritual families upon earth today. Listen carefully to the wording. There are upon earth today two great spiritual families. These two spiritual families know no national or racial or color lines or division.

These two families into which the entire human race is divided are as follows. First, the family of Satan, the family of God. Jesus, speaking one day before the Pharisees and the multitude, stated in John 8, 44, Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do.

The devil, Satan, the old serpent, was a murderer from the beginning and abode not in the truth because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own, for he is a liar and the father of it.

Now, that's God's Word. All members, all men are members by nature of the family of Satan. All unregenerated men are now being energized, driven, impelled by Satan, the god of this age, the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience.

This may not be very pleasant news, very pleasing to your ears, but it is the truth. God's Word says so. And since all have sinned, all by nature are members of Satan's family, and their father being the devil.

Can I make it any plainer? All right. Now, the good news of salvation is God is not willing that any should perish. He beseeched all men everywhere to be reconciled to Him through Jesus Christ. He says in another passage, As I live, saith the Lord, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked.

Hence, when one hears the glad tidings of salvation, according to John 5, 24, He that heareth my word and believeth on him that sent me hath everlasting life and shall not come into condemnation, but is passed from death unto life.

If he hears according to Acts 16, 31, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. If he hears according to Romans 10, 13, whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. That moment, the one who hears, believes, and calls is, according to Colossians 1, 13, delivered from the power of darkness, Satan's kingdom, and translated into the kingdom of God's dear Son.

The moment regeneration, the new birth, takes place, the believer not only becomes a new creation, becomes a member of the household of faith, according to Galatians 6, 10, a member of the household of God, Ephesians 2, 19, and God, the Almighty Eternal One, existing from eternity throughout all eternity, becomes your loving Heavenly Father.

You become a son of God through faith in Christ, having received the spirit of adoption, whereby ye cry, Abba, Father. Now, in 1 John, we, that is, the born-again believers, are referred to as little children.

Brotherly Love in the Household of Faith

Born by the Word and the Spirit into the family of God. And as a member of God's family or household, present your bodies a living sacrifice. Second, as a result of that presentation, be humble in honor, preferring one another.

And the rule of your life will be not I, but Christ. Now, today, the born-again believers are to manifest Philadelphia, that is, brother-like, brother love, to one's fellow members in the household of faith.

For note in 1 Thessalonians 4, 9, but as touching brotherly love, ye need not that I write unto you, for ye yourselves are taught of God to love one another. Hebrews 13, 1, let brotherly love continue.

1 Peter 1, 22, seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently. 2 Peter 1, 7, add to your faith virtue, and to virtue knowledge, and to knowledge temperance, and to temperance patience, and to patience godliness, and to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness the capstone love.

All this is carrying out and the fulfilling of our Lord's last words as found in the 13th chapter of the Gospel of John. I'd like to have you turn to it for a moment in your Bible and mark three occurrences of these three words, love one another.

Will you pay close attention please? John 13, 34, and 35. Here they are. A new commandment I give unto you that ye love one another as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples if ye have loved one to another.

And may God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit three times in reference to that being showing love one to another, enable you to love the household of faith. In verse 9 of Romans 12, the basic principle of love is laid down.

Here it is. Let love be without dissimulation. That is, let love be untamed. Love is to be sincere. No hiding of what we are or pretending to be what we're not. If we do put on a false front or a false veneer, I say to you on the authority of God's Word, it's hypocrisy.

You're a hypocrite, and God hates hypocrites. You're pharisaical in your form of religion, having a form of godliness but no power. And feigned love is a horrible thing. A pretense of brother love is truly a damnable thing, and it does harm not only to yourselves, but to your brethren in the world.

And according to 1 John 3, 18, he says, My little children, my born-again ones, members of my household, let us not love in word, neither in tongue, but in deed and in truth. And so in Romans 12, 9 to 13, after laying down the basic principle of love, there follows 12 aspects of unfeigned love or brother love in deed and in truth.

And the 12 aspects of love that is without dissimulation, unfeigned love is set forth there. Now, I just interject this. Time will not permit me to speak at length upon these 12 aspects, but may I preface this portion of the message by saying that the number 12 throughout the Scriptures denotes governmental perfection.

Twelve tribes in the Old Testament under whom God delegated governmental authority. Twelve apostles in the church under whom God delegated authority over the church. And these 12 aspects of love in chapter 12, verses 9 to 18, simply show this, that you are to come under the perfect governmental control of God through the Holy Spirit.

And if you're lacking in any one of these 12, you're not thoroughly fitted, thoroughly furnished under every good word. All right. Now, notice the very first thing in verse 9. And oh, how we need it this day.

Hating Evil and Cleaving to What Is Good

Abhor that which is evil. The power of love to hate that which is evil, that which is not good. Love, pure love, scorns evil. And love that is opposed to evil in every form. God will tell you what to abhor.

And then love, untamed love for things that are pure. Notice the wording in the ninth verse. Cleave to that which is good. And the word cleave can be put in another way. De-glue, de-glue. It's the same word in Luke 15, 15, where the prodigal son went out and joined himself to a citizen of that country.

He became glued to that citizen. He cleaved unto that man of the world. And in Joshua 23, 8, it says cleave unto the Lord. And in 2 Kings, if you want a revival in your church, if you want to see the blessings of God pour down, turn to the 18th chapter of the book of 2 Kings.

Beginning at the fourth verse regarding Hezekiah and the revival that broke out in his day. God is the same yesterday, today, and forever. And His laws do not change. Notice beginning at the fourth verse of 2 Kings 18.

Mark them out. He removed the high places. That is, the altars given over to demon worship. He break the images. He cut down the groves and the high places. And He break in pieces of brazen serpent that Moses had made.

Now notice, fifth verse. He trusted in the Lord God of Israel, so that after Him there was none like Him among all the kings of Judah. Sixth verse. He cleaved unto the Lord. He became due to Jehovah God.

And He departed not from following Him, but kept His commandments which the Lord commanded Moses. And the result, the Lord God Jehovah was with Him and He prospered Him whithersoever He went forth. And He rebelled against the king of Assyria and served Him not.

Affection, Humility, and Preferring One Another

Oh God, give us men that will be glued to Jehovah. Men of action. Abhorring that which is evil. Cleaving unto that which is good. And then the third aspect and oh how we need it. Here it is in the tenth verse of Romans 12.

Be kindly affectionate one to another with brotherly love. Brother love. Be kindly affectionate. 1 John 3 .14. We know that we have passed from death unto life because we love the brethren. And those outside of Jesus Christ, those having a form of God in us but have never been born again, hate the righteous.

And the early church it was said of them, behold how these Christians love one another. And I am tempted to stop and say that in the 20th century the professing church over the door of many churches this behold how we care one another to peace.

Some of you are shaking your head. Saying amen. Verse 10 again, unfeigned love notice its humility. In honor preferring one another. It wasn't so in the Corinthian church. There was strife and contention and division.

And divisions. Why? Because there were groups that were following Peter and Alexandria. Saying we belong to this group and we belong to this group. Instead of giving the Lord Jesus Christ preeminence in all that they did and looking unto Him the author and the finish of their faith.

So Philippians 2 3 says, let nothing be done through strife, vainglory, but in the lowliness of mind let each esteem the other better than themselves. I found out a very valuable spiritual lesson. That there is plenty of room at the foot of the cross.

Zeal, Diligence, and Serving the Lord

Plenty of room. 1 Thessalonians 5 13, and to esteem them very highly in love for their work's sake, we are told. Again, the fifth aspect of unfeigned love, and I'll have to hurry. Verse 11. Here it is.

Not slothful in business. Now that does not mean the business that we are accustomed to in the realm of commerce. But here it is. It means to be zealous. To be earnest. Be not lazy as to what you ought to do.

For Ecclesiastes 9 10 says, whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might. Earnestness. Not slothful. Not lazy. And fellow pastor, getting away in your study. Awfully nice to sleep away the hours of the day knowing what you're doing.

You ought to be busy instant in season and out of season. And then again in verse 11, fervent in spirit. And that means the earnestness of unfeigned love. Fervent in the spirit. And the word means boiling over.

I at a thousand times rather see a young believer zealous, fervent, boiling over, make a thousand mistakes than to sit down and be lazy and not even turn his head. In a state of lethargy. No concern. No vision.

God says be boiling over for the Lord's sake. Don't sit with your hands pulled. Serving the Lord is the next aspect. Or better still, using the present opportunities to the best of your ability. God loves to take the weak things and the foolish things to confound the wise.

God says to work while it is day for the night cometh when no man can work. Buy up every opportunity for the Lord. For the king's business requires pace. And I'll tell you there are three ingredients.

Rejoicing in Hope and Persevering Through Trials

Vision. Faith. Courage. God will give you a holy boldness to go out and do His work. Now it comes down to a more right down to our hearts. He says rejoicing in hope. 12th verse. In the matter midst of trials and afflictions and testings and daily practice.

And they'll be there. There's no easy path. Be patient. Rejoicing in hope. Rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory. Then he goes on. He says be patient in tribulation. Be like the apostles of old.

Glory in tribulation. Accounting it. That God accounts you worthy to suffer for His name. And in this world and it's going to become increasingly darker and persecution is around the corner for the church in America.

Mark my word. It's coming. So be patient in tribulation. Continuing instant in prayer. That is in the matter of prayer. Be staunch. Be a pillar. Stand in the gap. Pray without ceasing. Pray for one another.

And then unselfishness. Distributing to the necessity of saints how they need it in Korea. How they need it in America. How they need it all over the world. And then the climax given to hospitality. Open house to fellow believers.

I thank God for this memory. In my early youth my dear father and mother old fashioned Methodists believed the book from cover to cover. Every Sunday ministers and missionaries.

I always had to sit at the second table. But I don't.

Mind it because it was a wonderful thing to meet those saints of God. And now in closing, to which family do you belong? By nature you belong to Satan a branch of the false vine. By grace and the power of the gospel, by hearing believing.

Calling upon the name of Christ.

The Call to Become a Member of Christ's Body

You can become a member of the body of Christ. A new creation in him. What shall it be? The flower heads in prayer. Friends outside of Christ in the radio audience scattered across the nations of earth.

God is calling.

To you. He's saying.

I'm not willing that any should perish. Come now all you laboring heavy laden I'll give you rest. Why will you die? As I live I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked. For I so loved the world that I gave my only begotten son that whosoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life.

Will you drop to your knees wherever you may be if it's possible and look up into the father's face and pray the penitent sinner's prayer. God be merciful to me a sinner and save me for Christ's sake.

God bless you. God is.

Speaking here. Speaking.

To the hearts in the visible audience and we're praying that he'll speak to literally thousands out in the radio audience.

We must close. This is.

Charles E. Fuller bidding you goodbye and.

God's richest blessing upon you. Goodbye.