The friendship that Christians have with Jesus is remarkable, especially when we realize that we can have a personal, intimate relationship with God. James says, "Friendship with the world is hostility toward God" (James 4:4; NASB). Everyone is either a friend of Christ Jesus or a friend of the world.
In John 15, Jesus talks to his eleven beloved disciples after Judas left to betray Him (John 13:21-30). Aware of the impending departure of Jesus, their hearts are filled with sorrow, but Jesus comforts them by telling them they are his personal, intimate, and beloved friends. In John 15:15 Jesus says, “No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends…”(ESV)
The special meaning implied in being "friends" in verse 15 is seen in comparison to being "servants" (Gk. douloi = "slaves"). In the OT, only Abraham was called the friend of God (Isa. 41:8), but Jesus reveals that all believers are friends of God.
In John 15:12-17, Jesus gives us five characteristics of his friends. And take note, THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT TO UNDERSTAND, these characteristics are not things you must do to become a friend of Jesus; they are the visible evidence that you are His friend.
I. THE FRIENDS OF JESUS KNOW DIVINE TRUTH -- John 15:15, "No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you." (ESV)
As the friends of Jesus we are not blindly obeying; He has revealed His will to us and we share His heart and purposes. Our greatest desire is to accomplish God's will. We're not working to earn anything; we're working because it's our heart's desire to be a part of His plan, which He's revealed to us--past, present, and future. (Supported: John 8:31-32; Matthew 13:10-11; Luke 10:23-24; 1 Cor 2:14)
Henry Havelock Ellis, the evolutionist who was the sexual psychologist who invented the word “homosexual” and the psychological concept of narcissism and autoerotism and whose studies were later expanded by Sigmund Freud, once said, “If Jesus Christ were alive today, he would be locked up in a lunatic asylum.” Friedrich Nietzsche the philosopher of nihilism which argues that the world is without objective meaning, purpose, comprehensible truth, or essential value, once said, “If Jesus were alive today, he would repudiate his own doctrine.” Thomas Carlyle, the Scottish essayist and moralist, once said, “If Jesus were alive today, we would invite him over for dinner. And after he left, we would make fun of what he said.”
But the friends of Jesus know the truth about Him… and only His friends know this truth.
II. THE FRIENDS OF JESUS ARE SPECIALLY CHOSEN -- John 15:16, "You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go…"
The Bible teaches that God has sovereignly chosen those who become saved. Jesus chooses, according to His pleasure, His friends. And the the Greek word translated "ordained" (tithemi) is different from the word translated "chosen." It means "to appoint for special service" or "to send for a special reason." Jesus has chosen us to send us out to call unto Him others whom He has chosen.
III. THE FRIENDS OF JESUS BEAR ETERNAL FRUIT -- John 15:16, "...and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide..."
IV. THE FRIENDS OF JESUS HAVE THEIR PRAYERS ANSWERED -- John 15:16, "...so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you."
V. THE FRIENDS OF JESUS LOVE EACH OTHER -- John 15:12, 14, “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. …You are my friends if you do what I command you.”
A. Where does this love come from? Romans 5:5 tells us, “…because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.”
B. How important is this love? 1 Cor 13 teaches that it Christian love is a spiritual grace abiding in the souls of the saints alongside faith and hope (1 Cor 13:13). How important is Christian love? It is as important as faith and hope – indeed more important!
C. The greatest evidence of whether one has the love of Jesus… and the proof that one loves Jesus is found in the object of one’s love. And the object of true Christian love is not that one loves Jesus but that one loves those whom Jesus loves! Jesus said in John 15:12, “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.” Love for God’s people is sure evidence that you love God. Love for the Bride of Christ is sure evidence that you love the Groom Jesus Christ. In fact, loving Christians is the way to love Jesus.
It seems like some professing Christians are doing everything they can to not associate with God’s church; they are more critical of preachers than politicians; more critical of Christian singers than drug addicted rockers; more apt to send financial support to Hollywood’s corruption than Heaven’s friends. But Jesus made loving the church, loving His friends, the badge of Discipleship in John 13:35 when He said, “By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” The Apostle John learned this lesson well and repeated its reality in 1 John 5:1 saying, “Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of him.”
D. What does this love look like? Jesus said in John 15:12 that we are to love His friends “as I have loved you.” A. W. Pink said that this is therefore not just natural love; human sentimentality and carnal pleasantries; human amiability and affability with the queen of the Christian graces. “While it is true that spiritual love is characterized by meekness and gentleness, yet is it something very different from and vastly superior to the courtesies and kindnesses of the flesh. … Thus it is very much more than a party spirit; it embraces all in whom I can see the image of God’s Son. It is, therefore, a loving them for Christ’s sake, for what I see of Christ in them. It is the Holy Spirit within attracting and alluring me with Christ indwelling my brethren and sisters. … Petting and pampering one another is not brotherly love; exhorting one another to press forward in the race that is set before us, and speaking words (enforced by the example of our daily walk) which will encourage them to "look off unto Jesus," would be much more helpful. Brotherly love is a holy thing, and not a fleshly sentiment or a loose indifference as to the path we are treading. God’s "commandments" are expressions of His love, as well as of His authority, and to ignore them, even while seeking to be kindly affectioned one to another, is not "love" at all.”
What does this love look like? It looks like the love of Jesus – sacrificial love for people that do not even look like they deserve it as it says in John 15:13, "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." Don't look at your brother in Christ as someone who's only an acquaintance; rather see him like Jesus would--primarily in terms of his soul's eternal needs. That requires the kind of love that is involved in comforting, instructing, and bearing one another's burdens. We need to intimately care about the needs of another. The Apostle Paul understood this spiritual reality when he wrote in 1 Thessalonians 4:9, “Now concerning brotherly love you have no need for anyone to write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love one another…” Indeed, it's natural for a believer to love the other friends of Jesus; only sin prevents such love.
Those who are the friends of Jesus know divine truth, have a special calling to go back into the world they've been called out of, bear fruit that is eternal, and have their prayers answered as they pray in the name of Christ, and love each other. Those are characteristics of all who know Christ. They are yours because of your position in Christ, yet the New Testament still encourages you to operate on those principles (1 Pet. 4:8). The true friends of Jesus know divine truth, yet the Bible says you should study the Word of God to show yourself "approved unto God ... rightly dividing the word of truth" (2 Tim 2:15). The friends of Jesus have been chosen by Him, and yet we are exhorted to "walk worthy" of such a high calling (Eph 4:1). The friends of Jesus bear eternal fruit, and yet the Bible tells us that we bear "more fruit" as a result of the purging process of the Father (John 15:2). The friends of Jesus pray and God answers, and yet the Bible yet says we are to pray effectively (James 5:16), constantly (1 Thess 5:17). In every one of those general patterns for a Christian, there is also the call for practical implementation to reach for the ideal. The resources are yours, if you are a friend of Jesus.
Consider 1 John 3:16 and ask yourself two questions.
(1) How much does Christ love his friends? The answer: Just look at Calvary (1 John 3:16).
(2) How much do you love Christ? The answer: Just look at how much you are loving His friends (1 John 3:16; 1 John 3:17-18).
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