Las Vegas Faith Center - Gods Word, Faith Messages, Spiritual Coaching and Religion Studies

Friends

The Las Vegas Faith Center
Message from Sunday, May 9, 1999

“Friends”
by Tiger Todd
(EDITED VERSION)

I want to talk about relationship. I want you to see the “ship” part of the relationship word. Just to give you an example, and to classify some of the different kinds of relationships in this room; there is a pastor/congregation relationship, a teacher/student, a mother/daughter, and a brother/sister. These are all different relationships. A lot of words in the Bible end with the word “ship”; for example, .fellowship, partnership, and friendship. I want to talk about friendship, but in order to do that, we’ll have to look at the biggest “ship” in the Bible, which is stewardship.

Stewardship is a relationship between a steward and the person whose goods he is steward over. We’re not talking about natural goods today. We’re talking about the stewardship between two people. If I happen to be the pastor of the church, and you happen to be one of the congregation, or the partners, or the members, or whatever that other entity is, then you have a specific responsibility to me, just as I have a specific responsibility to you, That is a stewardship over that relationship.

I found that certain people in the Bible had a very different relationship with God than did other people in the Bible. Actually, as I was beginning this study, I saw many different levels of relationship that they each had with God. For example, I could be your pastor, but let’s say I’m also a master disciple. That would be two different kinds of relationship with you, right? That would be two different ways of relating. Jesus had his disciples. Anyone that you take instruction from, in both word and deed, would be the master. So let’s suppose I am a master disciple. We could also be brothers. We’d have a different relationship as brothers than we would as master and pupil. I would do things differently for someone as a father than I would as a master. I don’t have a particular right as his master (pertaining to instruction), as I would if I was his father. So we have these differences. I want to quantify these differences, because God sees this as critical. And a lot of times, the words on each Bible page just don’t seem to make sense for everybody, every day. The differences in relationship is one of the reasons why.

Turn first to Deuteronomy 10:17. Nine times in scripture, the Bible says that God is no respecter of persons. Do you know what that means? It doesn’t necessarily mean what we thought it did. I used to say it meant that God wouldn’t do something for you that He wouldn’t do for someone else. But I’m finding out that that’s not true. I hate that! Nine times in scripture we find a Bible truth, and then find out that it’s not particularly true. So let’s find out what it does mean. Verse 17 For the Lord your God is God of gods, and Lord of lords, a great God, a mighty, and a terrible, which regardeth not persons, nor taketh reward: Well, there it is. God is no respecter of persons. Acts Chapter 10, Romans Chapter 2, Habakkuk Chapter 2. First Peter, and more, contain scriptures that talk about God being no respecter of persons. But look at what part he doesn’t respect about the person. He doth execute the judgment of the fatherless and widow, and loveth the stranger, in giving him food and raiment. Love ye therefore the stranger: for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt. Thou shalt fear the Lord thy God; him shalt thou serve, and to him shalt thou cleave, and swear by his name. So we have a list of different types of persons, and a different type of relationship with which there is no respect. There are also levels with which he has great respect.

The Book of James says that a double-minded man is unstable in all his ways. Let not that man think he shall receive anything from the Lord. John Avanzini puts it this way. He says, A double-minded man is a man who has two conflicting opinions about the same subject in each of his two minds. He is referring to a conscious and a subconscious mind. The conscious mind says, “Yes, Amen brother”, but the subconscious is telling you something different. It might even be something you heard when you were three years old. So even though your head says, “Yes, I know you’re telling me the truth, Tiger”, there is something in your subconscious mind that may tell you something different. That is the mind that controls your bodily functions, the one that knows what to start doing with a bagel when you eat it. It just starts the process. Well, that subconscious mind is exacting, but it’s not always right. If it was, if it always did the right thing, there wouldn’t be any need for medication, or Pepto Bismol. It just knows it needs to do something with it.

Let’s say, early on, that you heard somewhere that the only thing preachers ever wanted was your money. You found out later that there were some preachers who didn’t care about your money. They cared about you. But you have this thing in your subconscious mind from long ago. Now you’re 25 years old, you’re in church, and you find out that this preacher really isn’t interested in your money. In fact, he refuses to even take an offering. Consciously, you know, OK, preachers don’t want your money, but subconsciously, that “early on” thing rivals what you now know. That gives you two conflicting opinions fighting it out in your minds. James Chapter 4 says, We war in our members. Why? We have two conflicting opinions about the same topic or subject in each of our two minds: our conscious and our subconscious.

The Bible says that if a man is in that state, he cannot receive anything from God. You need to be in agreement. The remedy for that is to take the word of God, and feed those scriptures to yourself over and over and over till they get down and dig out all that garbage that we’re taught. Once you dig that out, it’s replaced with, Thus saith the Lord of Hosts, the Holy One of Israel. Now you can walk in agreement. Now you can walk with, what the Bible says, your whole heart. Then, you will be able to accomplish anything you desire.

We have a double-mindedness here. The Bible says nine times that God is no respecter of persons, yet we find that He had huge respect to Israel when they left Egypt. He had respect to Israel over the Egyptians, for one, when they crossed over into the promised land. The folks at Jericho were just minding their own business, and God had no trouble wiping them out. So He DID have respect to Israel over the people opposing Israel. Consciously, when you see these examples, you might be thinking, Well, I’ve been taught that God is no respecter of persons. Subconsciously, you might be thinking…but I read about Him wiping out Jericho. So it’s possible you might hesitate in walking with a whole heart in building a relationship with this kind of God; who says one thing out of one side of his mouth, and what looks like another thing out of the other side. Agreed?

There are things we didn’t understand about our mother and father. There were things I didn’t understand as a child, that they did as adults. They’d say one thing, and seemingly do another. A lot of times, they knew darn well what they were doing. I just didn’t understand why they did some of the things they did. Why did they get so mad when I left the door open? “Because I pay for the electric bill”, saith my Dad, “you don’t”. “But don’t you want me to be cool, Daddy”? “But you’re no respecter of persons. You love me, so what’s that rod for”? “Bend over!” See, we don’t always understand it. But once we get it, we can really get it. We get it by an act of our will; by plowing the truth down into us until it uproots all those weeds.

For the Lord your God is a God of gods, a Lord of lords, a great God, a mighty, and a terrible, which regardeth not persons, nor taketh reward

But that is just a minor relationship. We know John 3:16, For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son. Well, that doesn’t seem to jibe with the God who allowed all of the children of Jericho to be killed by the Israelites, does it? He loves the world, yet he killed the folks in Jericho? You mean He sent his son, and then allowed his son to die for the sake of these ugly people??? We should probably investigate these relationships and see if we can make sense of this.

Turn to the Book of James, Chapter 2, and begin reading in verse 21. It talks about a man named Abraham.

Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar? Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect? And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God.

Abraham was called the friend of God. There were a lot of contemporaries of this man Abraham, but Elijah was not called a friend of God; he was a servant of God. You could pick a bunch of people that did great and mighty things: Samson, Jephthah, Ehud, Deborah, Elisha, Nehemiah: none of them were considered friends of God, but this man Abraham was. So we’re seeing a man with a different relationship. But we must also couple this with, God is no respecter of persons. So how did Abraham get this relationship? If he could develop this relationship, then there must be something I can do that can put me into a position to become a friend of God.

As a natural man, isn’t there something I can do to become a friend to Eli? We don’t just start out as friends, do we? Something is always done to develop a relationship. Many of you are my friends. Those that are not, it’s not that we don’t want to be friends. It’s just that we have yet to take the steps to become friends. We have not done those things. The Bible says that God is no respecter of persons. So if I am a man made in his image and likeness, then if I take the appropriate steps, I can be a friend of God.

I want to show you some examples of people that did take those steps. You’ll see what they did; and if we do the same things, then God has to not respect me as a person, but respect the things that I did. That is what He will do, and I will become a friend of God. Wouldn’t you like to be God’s friend?

Let’s look at Isaiah Chapter 41, verse 8

But thou, Israel, art my servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham my friend.

There’s something about Abraham. The god of Israel serves him, but he calls Abraham his friend, separate from a servant. They both accomplished the will of God; they both did what they were told, to a degree; but even within the same tribe, even the son of the man he calls a friend wasn’t considered a friend of God.

Turn to Genesis Chapter 18. We know that God chose this man Abram, and changed his name to Abraham, to become the father of many nations. But the choosing had little or nothing to do with God. The calling did, but not the choosing. Do you remember the New Testament example that Jesus gave of the wedding feast? At the very end, he tags it with “many are called, but few are chosen”. In the example, the chosen were comprised of the ones who showed up. A lot of people were invited, but only a few actually said, “OK, we’ll come”. At the first invitation, no one showed up, so he went out into the highways and byways, and found the good, the bad and the ugly, and brought them in. Those that said “Yes”, became chosen. The qualifications weren’t a big deal, even though God first had invited others. We see that throughout the scriptures, where God initially invited the children of Israel, but they didn’t show up. Then He went out to the Gentiles. God will say, I’m inviting Israel first, because they are the seed of Abraham, but to be chosen is simply to say, Yes!.

I’m assuming that if I want to be a friend of God, I’ll have to say “Yes”, and obey. I won’t have to try to be sooo good. I don’t have to worry that He won’t take me if I’m too fat, or too skinny, or if I’m not smart enough. That doesn’t have anything to do with it. It’s simply a matter of saying “Yes”, and then obeying when He says, “OK, this is what you need to do”. God then gives you a name, which is the calling of what you are supposed to do.

In this case, God chose this guy Abram, who was a moon worshipper from Ur of the Caldez. The Bible says he was fairly old, and still living at home. God said, Get thee out of Ur. Genesis Chapter 12. Get away from thy kindred and thy father’s house. A Mama’s boy. Get out, and then I’ll make of thee a great nation. So Abram said, Yes. Cool. I’ll do it. When he did it; really, that was his qualification. But we’re going to find out how he became a friend of God. Every one of the chosen said “Yes”, but a friendship with God is something else.

We’ll pick up in verse 16 after the angels have told Sarah she was going to have a child, and she laughed.

And the men rose up from thence, and looked toward Sodom: and Abraham went with them to bring them on the way. And the Lord said, Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do

God is getting ready to wipe out Sodom and Gomorrah, but before He does…There’s this idea that God just does everything He wants to at any old time. No. You’ll see some conversations where He has to pick a man to help do it. He works through people in a particular way. He’s longing for this kind of relationship. He’s longing to not have to just wipe ‘em out. He’s longing to not have to pull the plug and uncork the flood. He’s longing to be able to go to a man and say, “Now this is the situation. It’s bad. What should we do here?”

Be like Jesus and say, Well, is there another way? God’s looking for another way. Isn’t that a friend-type conversation? What should I do about this or that? You’ll go to a friend to get their perspective, because you trust them. You know that the’re looking out for your best interests. That friend might tell you something like, “Well, they were probably under the pressure of this, and they probably didn’t mean to say that.” They can diffuse you from making the same mistake that they made. That’s a friend. And here is God considering wiping out Sodom and Gomorrah because of sin, and saying, I really shouldn’t keep this from Abraham.

Now look what happens here.

And the Lord said, Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do; Seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him? For I know him…

For those of you who think God knows everybody…. Wrong! Did He know the guys who ended up floating around in the Red sea after Israel walked through? “But God, your eye is on the sparrow!” No! His eye is on the sparrow, so I know He watches His friend. It’s his friend he watches.

For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the Lord, to do justice and judgment; that the Lord may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him.

There are some 6,000-7,000 promises in the Bible. Second Peter Chapter 1 says, if you want to be partakers of these precious promises, that by these you be partakers of the divine nature of God. Deuteronomy 28, says, if you walk in my ways, and keep my commandments, you will get all this stuff, but it’s a “might” based upon your performance. It’s not just based on you being “I’m a son of God, I’m gonna get it.” No. You have to do something to develop this relationship. Obviously, Abraham had begun to develop that, because God is saying, I know this man. I KNOW this man.

How many of you still think that God knows everything? Well, let’s nip this one in the bud before we go any further. I’ll read out of Deuteronomy Chapter 8. Just lock this one away, it’s not part of the message. He’s telling the children of Israel, verse 2

And thou shalt remember all the ways which the Lord thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness, to humble thee, and to prove thee, to know what was in thine heart, whether thou wouldest keep his commandments, or no.

God does not know what you are going to do. That’s why He gives you tests. Not trials. Tests. He says, OK, I’ll feed you with manna, I’ll give you instructions in collecting it; and if you collect it as instructed, I’ll know you’ll do good when you get to the promised land. You can do the very same thing with your children. You can bring them up in a little bit of stewardship, and say, OK, let’s see how you handle this little three-wheeler… but if you don’t handle this, I’m not gonna get you the BMX bike. It’s a test to find out what’s in your child’s heart. Is he ready yet? God does the same thing. He doesn’t just KNOW what you’re going to do.

The only time where the Bible says that God knows the hearts of all men, is in Acts Chapter 1, where Peter is praying to replace Judas, the fallen disciple. He’s praying to God, but God doesn’t answer him. So Peter prays, “God that knoweth the hearts of all men”. In all the other places in scripture, it says, He tries the reins to find out what was in their heart. So we don’t want to be quoting Peter, and thinking it’s God. In the Book of Acts, they were praying, Lord, you know the hearts of all men. Which disciple should it be? They didn’t get an answer. And it says, “They put forth their lots”. They were gambling to find out who was going to replace Judas! And then we hear this scripture, “You know the hearts of all men”. Well, if He did, lightning would have struck their little disciple fannies. They were gambling and praying?? So we’ve got to watch what the scripture actually says.

Now that we understand that God DOESN’T know everything, but He does after he tests the reins, you’ll find out within your own heart, Jesus said, Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. You’ll be out there driving around one day, pressured by some really bad drivers, and He’ll see what comes out your mouth when they suddenly cut you off. “Well, I guess I can’t trust him at the women’s gathering, because those words are just not appropriate.” But when that stuff happens and you just handle it, then He’s ready to exalt you.

Humble yourself unto the mighty hand of God and He will exalt you in due time, casting all your care over to him; for He cares for you.

Let’s get on with the message. Genesis Chapter 18 verse 19. Again, For I know him, and he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the Lord, to do justice and judgment; that the Lord may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him. And the Lord said, Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grievous; I will go down now, and see whether they have done altogether according to the cry of it, which is come unto me; and if not, I will know. God only HEARD the reports of the bad stuff happening at Sodom. He wasn’t there, He didn’t know about it. He says, I’ll go down and find out if it’s as bad as they said. Wow! Are we gonna believe what’s in the book and then just add our own deal, or are we just gonna believe what’s in the book? Whatever you speak out of the book had better have come from the book. And regarding this idea that God knows everything, knew everything, sees everything, NO! Sorry. You won’t make it on Faith Center Jeopardy, that’s for sure.

I’ll read it again. I will go down now, and see whether they have done altogether according to the cry of it, which is come unto me; and if not, I will know. I get excited about that, not because God doesn’t know something, but because if God knew everything, that would make Him a liar, a murderer, an adulterer, a cheater. He’d be all those things that He says Thou shalt not do. If God knew Adam would fall, and then made him anyway, He’s murdered Jesus. Do you see that? You’ll find out that everywhere He just doesn’t know, He had no idea about until angels reported that there was wickedness. That’s who the two men were that Abraham and Sarah saw. They went down to Sodom to find out for sure about the wickednes. God hears things, but the Bible says, His eyes are over the righteous. That’s respect, isn’t it? His ears are open to their prayers.

And the men turned their faces from thence, and went toward Sodom: but Abraham stood yet before the Lord. And Abraham drew near, and said, Wilt thou also destroy the righteous with the wicked? How many of you know that you don’t just normally approach God when He says, I’m going to do this!. You’ve got to have a really special relationship.

Let’s look at another relationship: your boss. The boss has said, This is what we’re gonna do here. And some guy hired just two days ago happens to walk into the corporate board meeting, and says, “Here’s the better way!” Would you do that? Not if you want to keep working there. You’d better be the son of the son of the head of that corporation in order to say that without losing your job, and getting spanked when you get home. Actually, you’ll get both. Anyway, you’d have to have a special relationship.

So here’s Abraham with enough guts to go to God and say, Wilt thou also destroy the righteous with the wicked? Peradventure there be fifty righteous within the city: wilt thou also destroy and not spare the place for the fifty righteous that are therein? Abraham, in his negotiations, didn’t say, Spare the righteous. He said, Spare the city for the sake of the righteous. Verse 25 That be far from thee to do after this manner, to slay the righteous with the wicked: and that the righteous should be as the wicked, that be far from thee: Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right? This is a huge principle! Get on the edge of your seat for this one: Notice that this friendship worked both ways. God is having respect toward Abraham, but Abraham is getting into God. God is allowing Abraham to counsel him. Look at that! God may not need counseling, but because He is a friend, He will receive it. We’re thinking, Well God doesn’t need us. You are so right. He doesn’t need us, but He’s got us. So now, He’s got to play by His same rules with us. Abraham knows God. That’s what made him a friend. He really knew him; not like at Jericho where you mention God’s name and everyone takes off. Abraham gets into God’s face and says, I know you, and I know you wouldn’t do this if there were fifty righteous.

Verse 26, And the Lord said, If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare all the place for their sakes. See, Abraham knew God, didn’t he? And Abraham answered and said, Behold now, I have taken upon me to speak unto the Lord, which am but dust and ashes: Peradventure there shall lack five of the fifty righteous: wilt thou destroy all the city for lack of five? And he said, If I find there forty and five, I will not destroy it. Two things you’ll learn from that verse. One, God’s not looking to destroy anything. Two, He’s really good at math. And he spake unto him yet again, and said, Peradventure there shall be forty found there. And he said, I will not do it for forty’s sake. Look at this kind of relationship with God!

That relationship has been preached that we could all be that way. Nothing irks me more than when someone, without knowing the scripture, speaks the scripture… especially the pastor. They don’t know that word, they don’t have a revelation of that word, it’s not alive in them. They are speaking out of my book without the right to do it. Boy, that makes me mad! I remember seeing those people that signed those sympathy cards to send off to LIttleton, Colorado. And here is this scripture saying, “No weapon formed against thee shall prosper”. Well, it looks like these weapons were formed against them, and they did prosper. People that don’t know the verse, that don’t know the scripture, and don’t know why the weapons prospered, should not be using that verse. They don’t have a right to do it. That is a right reserved for the friends of God; not just for people that are throwing out a scripture.

Did everyone see the movie “True Lies”? It was important because it honored a marriage covenant, for one. Number two, Arnold is cool. That’s important. They’d gone on this covert operation with Arnold, who’d been with this service for some 17 years, plus a new guy. The head of the organization, an eye-patched Charlton Heston, is saying, So Harry, you really messed up last night. And the new guy on the team stands up and says, Well, it really wasn’t a this and that and the other. Charlton Heston interrupts him and says, How long have you been with Harry’s team? Six months? Then what makes you think that the same slack I cut Harry in any way translates to you??? And that is exactly what the Bible is saying. Other people have tried to talk to God like Abraham, or Jesus, had a right to. Or as we are about to find out, as Moses had a right to.

Turn to Exodus, Chapter 33. verse 8 And it came to pass, when Moses went out unto the tabernacle, that all the people rose up, and stood every man at his tent door, and looked after Moses, until he was gone into the tabernacle. And it came to pass, As Moses entered into the tabernacle, the cloudy pillar descended, and stood at the door of the tabernacle, and the Lord talked with Moses. And all the people saw the cloudy pillar stand at the tabernacle door: and all the people rose up and worshipped, every man in his tent door. And the Lord spake unto Moses face to face. That doesn’t mean his face, if you will, as in, “to His face”, because God does not have a flesh face like we do. It means Moses talked with Him, not in visions, not in dreams, not through prophecy, because of the relationship Moses had. God starts describing, he is no meeker man on the earth. Now that word “meek” does not mean wimpy. It really means, gentle. The word “gentle” isn’t really what we think the word gentle means, because Jesus was considered meek, yet there was one church service he didn’t like where he was braiding a rope, getting ready to whip some people. He was gentle! But he was meek, meaning meek towards God. He humbled himself to God. Whatever you say, I’ll do. I believe that was true of a Samson or anyone else God called; even though what they did turned out to resemble something far different than meek. They were still meek because they were doing something for God.

But here is Moses face to face, eyes wide open. Not a prophecy, not a plan, not a dream, not a vision, not all the dark ways, nor in some mystery like the one the church world received even after Jesus completed his earthly ministry, like the Mystery of Christ. This one is still a mystery. Hidden in God, still. But there are some people, in this age, that will be able to see it face to face, if they become a friend to God. See, God loves a bunch of people. But he doesn’t like many. I used to tease my wife about that. I used to say, I love you, Honey, and she said, Oh thank you, and I said, Because it’s a commandment. I just like to throw in a little scripture every now and then. She didn’t like that very much!

You know, you can love somebody but still not like to be around them very much Love is patient, love is kind, but friendship is a different deal. You’ve got to have a trust that your friend will never leave you nor forsake you. So, if you are going to try to become a friend of God, and we all should if we’re not already, we’ve got to find out the things He likes. Isn’t that what you did when you wanted to become a friend with somebody? You found out what they liked and then said, Hey, I like that too. We ought to do those things together. Pretty soon, you’ve found more and more things in common, and you’ve become friends. Love is supposed to be unconditional, but friendship is conditional. Friendship is conditional, because you can’t really fellowship the someone or something that is not in the same class of being as you. God says, What fellowship has righteousness with unrighteousness.

Jump to First John. Chapter 2, verse 15. Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. Now, go back a few pages to the left to James Chapter 4 verse 4, You adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? Friendship IS conditional. God doesn’t want you hanging out with friends who are indentured in the world, and then Him be trying to talk to you. God couldn’t come down in a cloud until he got Moses isolated in the tent. “Finally, I can talk to you!” God doesn’t hang out with people that are murmuring, backbiting, stealing, adultering, building golden calves. etc. In fact, Deuteronomy 9 says that the only reason He kept helping the children of Israel in the wilderness purely for His oath’s sake to Abraham. The only reason He hauled them out of Egypt is because, Well, I gave Abraham my word that I would.

If you want to hear from God, if you want to be a friend of God, you can’t be hanging out at some of those places, and expect Him to talk to you. Oh, He’ll give you a warning shot. That’s what he does if you’re in one of those places. It will be like in the movie, “Amityville Horror”. You’ll hear, Get Out That’s all He’ll say in those places. But He’s waiting for you to get out. I’ve been in some churches where He said, Get Out! Darn! I almost missed the third offering. I’m outta here.

You adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God. Wow!

Turn to Proverbs, Chapter 18. Verse 24 says A man that hath friends must show himself friendly: That means, do the things it takes to be a friend to the person you are trying to be a friend with. Show yourself friendly, play the role of a friend until you become the friend. When you were born again, you didn’t start looking like a son or a daughter, anymore than when your babies got born, they looked like they belonged to you. And there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother. Do you know what that means? Do you remember that saying, Blood is thicker than water? We thought that meant, because you and I are brothers, born of the same mother; that is a closer bond than the relationship I’ve made with someone who isn’t my brother. Or mother, or son, or whatever else. But that’s not what it meant.

In the Middle East, where the phrase came from, the saying is, Blood is thicker than milk. This means that if two people, as an act of their will, make a cut in their flesh and make covenant; then that is a closer tie than two children that nurse from the same breast. Blood is thicker than milk. So here it is. There is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother. It relates to the cut of those animals when Abraham made his covenant with God. God said, I will never leave you nor forsake you. And Abraham said, I will neither leave you nor forsake you, either. They are bound to that covenant.

Aren’t we bound to that new covenant? Aren’t we bound by Jesus’ blood? We’ve been cut in our hearts. That’s closer than James, Judas, Joseph, and all the natural brethren from Mary, the mother of Jesus. Jesus said, Who are my brethren and my mother but those that do the will of my Father. What is the will and covenant of Jesus Christ.? There is a friend that sticketh closer than flesh and blood.

Now we’re really starting to get to know what this word “friend” word means. It’s not just people who hang out together because it’s convenient. It’s not just two roommates who split the rent. It’s someone that is in covenant, and if it’s a relationship between you and God, now God can trust you, just like you can trust Him. And there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother.

Turn to Proverbs 27. Verse 6 says, Faithful are the wounds of a friend; That’s not just a “make you feel real good” friends scripture. But if you find out what it means…. look at verse 5 Open rebuke is better than secret love. Solomon says that a wise man receives rebuke. Or a fool shuns it and laughs. Open rebuke is something you can get from a friend because you know that person wants to better you. The Bible says that all scripture is given by inspiration of God for reproof, correction, rebuke and instruction in righteousness that the man of God may be perfect; thoroughly furnished unto all good works. Open rebuke is better than secret love. Faithful are the wounds of a friend.

I’ll give you a couple of other examples of friends. Jesus considered John the Baptist a friend. Jesus loved Lazarus. When he found out that they had let him die, Jesus said he was just sick. Then he went and handled it. And give some thought to where Jesus goes to handle something. Are you in a situation where you need Jesus to handle something? Well, what’s gonna get him there? Friendship.

Turn to Galatians Chapter 1. The is about the apostle Paul and his relationship with God. Verse 9 As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed. For do I now persuade men, or God? or do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ.

When you are a friend to God, that’s the number one friendship you have. Number 2 might be your spouse, then on to other the other people you have made covenant with. But if you desire to be a friend to God, and you are a Pastor, how could you ever speak just what the congregation wants to hear, or keep back what they’re afraid you will say, or what they’re afraid you will not say, and you do not deliver them?, saith the Lord.

Can you see what’s happened in this country? Can you see what’s happened all over the world where they have just adopted the last move of God as being all of God? 1600s, 1700s, 1800s and here we are in the 1900’s where we’ve now got automatic weapons at the high schools , and our spritual armour is still the same message preached in the 1600’s? That’s ridiculous. It would be all right if they were up at the walls trying to shoot arrows at me. But now we are in 1999 with a 400-500 year old message, all because the so-called men of God weren’t really men of God. You can go through the history books, and you’ll only find highlights of one man of God per age: a Nostradamus, a Galileo, a Da Vinci; someone who kept the future climbing toward God. The world only highlighted them because of their natural achievements, but they were men of God. Where else would you get the wisdom for all that they achieved? They were the saints that kept real spiritual things going to get us to the place where we are today. Try to fight the U.S. military with sticks and stones. You won’t last long. You’d better have a friend in God.

Abraham, as a friend, before the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah when their kings were taken over, took 300+ men and defeated five kingdoms in one evening. He was a friend of God. God’s saying, Do you talk the way I have asked you to talk? Do you talk in the same conversation of our friendship when you’re around other people? You know that there are times where you talk a little differently when you’re around someone else. You’ll use that as an indicator of how your friendship is doing. Do we just jump in and start badmouthing one friend when you’re with this other friend? This is an indicator. We are somewhere between zero and perfection, So we can use this as an indicator. Start watching your conversation change some things which you use to bad mouth, by speaking words that edify, that minister grace to the hearers. When that starts to change, you’ll find out that you’re not as good a friend as you should be. And if you can’t be a friend to a natural man, how much more of a friend could you be to God, if you don’t know how to do it with just a human?
And it got quiet.

I see a God who is longing for a friendship, longing for a way into our daily lives, and longing to bring those friends into His daily life. I see a God looking for that. I saw that with Adam. God used to walk with Adam in the cool of the day…just hanging out with him. He didn’t just come down to give him a lecture, or to tell him what he did wrong. He was coming down just to hang out. “What do you think about this? Do you want to make one of these? Here, you make one.” They were just hanging out.

Turn to John Chapter 15. We’ll begin reading in verse 10, If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love. These things have I spoken unto you, Jesus is talking to his disciples, the ones that stuck with him. He’s not talking to the 70 or so in John Chapter 6 that took off, and then the others that followed. He’s talking to the 12 who said, Where else would we go? These things I have spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full. This is my commandment, That you love one another, as I have loved you. Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. Ye are my friends, if ye do soever I command you. Do what I command you. It might be different for you, here, than to you over there. But if you all do whatsoever He commands you, then you are all His friends. It’s not supposed to be the same thing for everybody. In fact, unless you start walking in your calling, unless you fulfill the hope of your calling, you will never have your joy full. You’ll constantly be looking for one more way to kill yourself. You’ll constantly be dissatisfied, running around from job to job, whatever it is, trying this and that; all because you’re not walking in what God put in there for you to walk in. If you walked in it, you’d just be walking with your joy full one hundred-fold. It’s the only way. You are my friends if you do whatsoever I command you. Henceforth, I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.

Psalm 103. David was a man after God’s own heart. He was a friend of God, and he’s saying Bless the Lord, O my soul with all that is within me, bless his holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits: Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases; Look at the benefits of being His Friend. When you become what David was, that’s when you’ll get the benefits. Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases; Who redeemeth thy life from destruction; who crowneth thee with loving kindness and tender mercies; Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle’s. The Lord executeth righteousness and judgment for all that are oppressed. Now look at this. He made known his ways unto Moses, his acts unto the children of Israel.

He made known His ways unto Moses. Why? He could trust him. He was His friend. He was showing him how and why He did what He did. But the children of Israel only got to see His acts. But brother, we’ve always heard, “His ways are higher than our ways”. They’re not higher than Moses’ ways! They’re not higher than David’s ways! In order for David in the Psalms to write that Moses knew God’s ways, David also had to have known His ways in order to look at Moses’ ways to know what God did.

Isaiah 55 says, Let the wicked man forsake his way, and the unrighteousness man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord. And then it says, For my thoughts are not your thoughts, unrighteousness man. My ways are not your ways, implied wicked man. But if you are not unrighteousness and wicked, then He is trying to show His ways. Well, that’s pretty important in a 1999 church that wants to understand the Mystery of Christ. If this is the mystery that brings about the church that brings Jesus back so that the Father can live again and have friends all over the earth, then we need for Him to show us His ways. We can’t keep acting like we’re in 1500 B.C. Israel, not knowing anything about God except that He speaks through one man, and that it really bothers us that we can’t get all the news direct from God. And we don’t like it. That’s why when I go to a pastor of another church and I reveal some mystery, some truth, and they don’t just say, “WOW! Hallelujah, Brother, that was incredible!”, they don’t want to go through the man of God either, so they say, Well, who do you think you are? That’s the same thing Israel did every time Moses got some word from God. And they’ll do that to you if you start knowing His ways. It doesn’t really bother me as much as I let on, because I really don’t care about disobedient men. I care about my relationship with God.

We’re back in John 15:15. Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you. Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you. That’s not just anybody that prays that prayer, is it? That’s someone who wants to be a friend. These things I command you, that ye love one another. If the world hate you, you know that it hated me before it hated you. Just like it hated Moses. Just like it hated every person that heard from God. Just like Saul, if you will, hell bent to try to kill David. He’s trying to kill the very man that freed him, because of that relationship. If you were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.

Turn to First John Chapter 1, verse 1, and we’ll close there. That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life; For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and show unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us: That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ. And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full.

I want you to close your eyes and repeat this after me. Dear God in Heaven, I want to be your friend. I want to be a friend to you. I want you to be a friend to me. I will be a good steward over our friendship. From this day forward you can trust me. You can count on me. I will prioritize my life in a way that is pleasing to you. I thank you for favoring me. You said you would never leave me nor forsake me. Well, I’ll never leave nor forsake you. You are my friend. I lay down my life for you. I establish this now, in Jesus’ name. Amen