We can harm a brother by our actions.  Even though I do not commit an act of physical violence, I may be violating his spiritual life and corrupting his character by my example.

We Have A Moral Obligation

Who will rise up for me against the evil doers?  Or who will stand up for me against the workers of iniquity?

There are many ways I can hurt a brother.  In these last days with so much Satanic infiltration into the church I must be committed against all evil and error.  Any evil or wrong I tolerate in others is a sin against them and I become guilty as they.  I must take a stand against it wherever it appears and is going on unchecked.  Not only does the Scripture commission us to rise up against all falsehoods including spiritual and human error, but promises great penalty for not exposing error and wrongdoing.  David said, Let the righteous smite me; it shall be a kindness: and let him reprove me; it shall be an excellent oil, which shall break my head: for yet my prayer also shall be in their calamities.  When Nathan said to David, Thou art the man, David didn't start telling people that Nathan was just a lopsided old prophet that can't see the good in people; or that Nathan is running me down; or, that Nathan was slandering him, or being critical of him.  No!  David said, "When a righteous man points out my sin or my errors I will receive it as a fragrant oil, and if that man ever runs into a calamity, I will pray for him."  But if a righteous man rebukes or corrects evil in the church today he is tagged as a slanderer, or as running down someone's character.

If the leaders of the church are not able to receive correction when it is true and due, then neither will they receive a prophet of God if God should send one to them, nor would receive Christ himself - because Christ and the prophets were especially focused on the sins of those in high places, not tolerating even the "germs" of the leaven of the Pharisees to find place in God's people.  The divine order is first to be purged and cleansed and then He will bless from the heaven's!

If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land. 2 Chronicles 7:14

Note that first God deals with the sin that separates us from Him, and then He promises that once we meet the conditions of humility and confession, He will come forth with healing.  I think the most important word in the classic verse of Scripture so often quoted is the word, humble. It is most crucial word in this call to His people because it demands of me that a permanent change in the very inner man.  It requires that the whole philosophy of beliefs that I followed must be trashed for a whole new way of thinking.  Only God by His Spirit can give that to the person who will humble  themselves in confession.

Let us be our brother"s keeper by faithfully standing against all that is unscriptural and unfruitful in the church. (Ephesians 5:11)  It is this expressed consensus of righteous people who are sensitive to the right and the wrong in the church that holds the church back from a complete landslide into error.  We are the salt of the earth. If corruption attempts to enter the church then it should receive the cleansing sting of the salt also - or, even more so!

We are not only to see to the needs of our brethren when it is in our power to help in the time of their hurting and trials, but it is also the responsibility of every individual Christian to resist evil and expose any evil trend in the body of Christ.
 

The highest Calling Of All

 When I answered God's call to the ministry I lost all rights over my life. (1 Corinthian 6:19-20)  The mark of the Christian who understands his Christianity knows that he or she is called to serve the spiritual and practical needs of others.  This is the Christ-life principle.  Before I was converted it was just me and my own, but now that His spirit dwells in me it is OTHERS.

What I do and what I say is being monitored by God's angels and by every saint and sinner alike around me.  The deepest regrets of my ministry have been those moments when I let down my guard and failed
to reflect the likeness of Christ.  And even though I apologized and admitted the wrong of it, I shall never forget those precious lessons when God came to me in the midst of my tears of regret and taught me a lesson forever.  As God's servants we cannot live unto ourselves but unto God and others first.  My example as a Christian and especially as a minister of the gospel requires that I live for others and not
for myself.

We live among others who look to us as role models.  I must think of the effect my words and actions will have on others in the body of Christ.  How do my actions and conduct effect the body of Christ?  Am I injecting spiritual power and principles into the thought streams of those I walk among or am I thoughtlessly pursuing my own pleasure, carelessly instilling carnal values into the life streams of the church?  If I walk as Jesus walked, I will have a good and holy effect on others.  But when this high calling becomes dim as I revel indiscreetly, I will fail God as His model for others to behold Christ.  I maycause others to aspire to be like me but I have failed if I have not inspired others to be like Christ.  They and I may succeed together to reach some pinnacle of success as Christians, but if I have failed to inspire others to live for others, I have failed the Lord.

For none of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself. Romans 14:7

Jesus revealed to us the highest kind of love when He taught us to how to live and die for others.  To live completely for others is the Christ-like life.

In philosophy, living entirely for others is called altruism.  Philosophers say that it is the noblest and highest achievement for man, to live entirely for others.  But then these same philosophers have to admit that it is impossible for the human nature to achieve this selfless life of living for others.

But Jesus came from the golden gardens of God to die for OTHERS.  We call that the substitutionary death of Christ.  The first Adams cast us all under the yoke depravity.  Jesus came as the last Adam and shattered that yoke providing pardon for all sins of the past and giving us a new nature which has the power to walk in His commandments and above the enticements of the world!  While we often speak of Jesus dying for others we seldom hear it preached that He lived for others.  Yes, He lived for others and that is what the gospels reveal about Jesus - He lived for others and then He died for others - He lived a vicarious life and died a vicarious death.

The theologians describe the cross as the vicarious death of Christ, meaning that His death was "in the place of another," a substitutionary death satisfying the demands of divine law in our place.  I will never know the real Jesus until I am awed by His living for others.  He accomplished what the philosophers said could not be done - He lived entirely for others. But, He went far beyond what these intellectuals said could not be accomplished, He also died for others.  It is a pity that Jesus' greatest critics are those He lived and died for.

To be a Christian in its deepest meaning is to live, and possibly, die for others . . . To be Christ-like is not to take on some eerie likeness of a speechless mystic, it is not an alteration of my personality, it is a transformation of my character and learning from Him daily to live for others.  This is an impossible feat for a natural man.  He is depraved and selfish by nature.  If I am to ever be like Christ living for others I must be touched by Him and I must have His nature abiding in me and living out from me.  This is all
possible through a deep intimacy with Jesus in the secret place of prayer.

If I do this, and as I do this, I will unconsciously become like Him. When Christians including preachers, stop praying they lose their concern and compassion for others and take on the philosophy of the carnal nature, the same attitude toward others which Cain expressed, am I my brothers keeper?  The answer for me as a Christian is a resounding YES!  In a very real way I am responsible for the influences I release from my life which others are going to be effected by.  Some effected in a lesser way while others will be effected more profoundly.

Brethren, let us remember always this most lovely thing about Jesus; He lived, and He died for others.  When we are encouraged to become like Jesus, it means to let Him live out through us for others.

When Jesus took up the cross, it was not His.  It belonged to others, to sinners.  But He took it up for us and was impaled on that cross for others.  The cross is a symbol of living for others.  For you see, He was resurrected by the power of God and lives again in your heart and mine - lives in me to live for others.  This is the meaning of Jesus command, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.  Matthew 16:24

When we unconsciously grow cold and drift from the Christ-life we start tolerating little worldly pleasures and doing what I want to for my own pleasure and enjoyment forgetting that I am my brother's keeper.  Every one of us is being watched as an example of a Christian.  We must be very careful lest we cross the threshold and enter carelessly into the dangerous regions of insolent Cain.

I dare not live for myself. I must learn to live for others as His example teaches me.  Father, forgive us if we have by our senseless love of self caused another brother to be influenced in a wrong way forgetting the supreme fact that by your example I AM TO LIVE FOR OTHERS.

by Frank Lesa