Presented, Sunday, January 2, 2004 pm
ARE YOU A FRIEND OF JESUS?
John 15:13-15, spoken on the night He would be betrayed to the 12. How much that must have meant to have it said, “You are My friend”.
There are many things to learn about friends –
Good friends are needed - Proverbs 18:24 says, “A man who has
friends must himself be friendly, But there is a friend who sticks closer than
a brother. NKJV
The NASU says, “A man of too many friends comes to ruin, But there is a friend
who sticks closer than a brother.”
NOTE: the difference is found based on different manuscripts. The teachings are
completely different but both are true. HOWEVER, the latter phrase is the one
we are concerned with in this lesson.
Good friends are always there – Proverbs 17:17, “A friend loves at
all times, and a brother is born for adversity.”
They will tell us what we need to hear – Proverbs 27:6, “Faithful are the wounds
of a friend, But the kisses of an enemy are deceitful.”
WE need to choose our friends carefully - Proverbs 12:26, “The
righteous should choose his friends carefully, For the way of the wicked leads
them astray.”
True friendship is a two way street – it is a matter of giving and
taking
Is Jesus your friend? Just as Jesus called His apostles friends, so we too can be His friends. But for this to be true, we need to be HIS friend as well. And if we are His friends we need to act like so. In our lesson tonight we want to notice some things that are true if He is a true friend to us.
I. We keep His Commandments
A. Our text. Notice again John 15:14. What Jesus was saying is that this is how you PROVE true friendship. Earlier in His discourse He said the same thing – John 14:15, “If you love Me, keep My commandments.”
B. 1 John 5:2-3 – This is the love of God, that we keep His commandments.
C. James 2:23 – Abraham was called “the friend of God” in a context that has reference to his obedient faith.
D. Luke 6:46, “Why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord’ and do not the things that I say?”
E. Whether we want to admit it or not our willingness to obey His commands is a manifestation of our friendship with Him.
II. We are Not Ashamed of Him –
A. True friends
are not ashamed of each other. There are three things to consider in this:
1) We are there for them when they need us. (Prov. 17:17; 18:24)
2) We don’t intentionally act in a way that will cause them to be ashamed of us.
3) We are not ashamed to let others know they are our friends
B. If Jesus is a true friend, we should NEVER be ashamed of Him
a. Yet many are fair-weather friends. They do believe in Him, but their loyalty is weak.
b. Like the Jews of John 12:42-43 – they loved the praise of men more than Him.
c. 2 Timothy
1:8 – Paul encouraged Timothy to NOT be ashamed of the testimony of the Lord OR
its humiliating results. Twice more in the text he speaks of this –
Paul was NOT ashamed – 12; neither was Onesiphorus 16
d. 1 Peter 4:16 – “IF anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed…”
C. If we are not ashamed of Him, He will NOT be ashamed of us.
a. Jesus said about this in Mark 8:38
b. Hebrews 11:16 – God is not ashamed be called the God of those who seek Him
c. Hebrews 2:12 – “He is not ashamed to call them brethren”
D. Are we willing to boldly declare to others that He is our friend? We sing songs from time to time about this – “I’ll be a friend to Jesus” (208), “Jesus is all the world to Me” (204) & “The Lily of the Valley” (207).
III. Tell others about Him
A. A true friend will tell others, he/she is my friend. In conversations, when appropriate, a friend will be mentioned or even talked about. And TRUE friends praise each other. They emphasize the good and cover the bad – not to deny it, but to not inflame flaws.
B. If Jesus is our true friend, we will want to tell others about Him.
a. John 1:40-42 – when Jesus was introduced to Andrew, he first went and found his brother. Andrew did NOT hide the Savior from others, ESPECIALLY those who were looking
b. Acts 8:4 – even in persecutions, when disciples were scattered, they went everywhere preaching the word to others.
c. Again,
consider the great example of Paul. Everywhere He went was with the message of
Christ and Him crucified – 1 Corinthians 2:2
Galatians 6:14 – His boasting was in the cross of Christ
Before Herod Agrippa – Acts 26 records his conversation with Agrippa. His
desire for all mankind was that all men would become as Him except his chains
(29)
d. Matthew 10:32-33 – Jesus Himself said, “Whoever confesses Me before Men, Him will I confess before My Father….”
IV. Rejoice in Spiritual Values
A. Friends
usually have similar interests and ideas.
In fact Solomon warned against the wrong types of friends. Proverbs 12:26 says,
“The righteous should choose his friends carefully, for the way of the wicked
leads them astray.”
Prov. 22:24 says, “Make no friendship with an angry man, And with a furious man
do not go.”
One thing you usually find in true friends is how they try to act like each
other and find things in common to do together. Consider two teenage girls who
dress alike and are constantly found together.
B. If Jesus is our friend we will strive to be like Him
a. Galatians 2:20 - Paul tried to be like Him in all things.
b. He admonished those who had respect for him to imitate him, but ONLY as he imitated Christ – 1 Corinthians 11:1
c. The very idea of a disciple is one who wants to be like Jesus and follow His example in all things. He is willing to “observe all things I have commanded you” (Matthew 28:20)
C. Do you desire to be with His other friends? A true friend of Jesus will also seek out others who desire to be His friend as well. They will associate with those of “like precious faith” (2 Peter 1:1)
V. Look Forward to being with Him
A. True friends may be separated for a time, but they long to see and be with one another.
B. Are we looking forward to heaven so that we can finally meet our Savior? That is a GOOD motivator.
a. Titus 2:11-13 – Paul speaks of the grace of God that has appeared to all men…looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of Christ Jesus
b. Colossians 3:3-4 – our life is hidden in Him and we look forward to the time when we can appear with Him in glory.
c. Philippians 1:23 – Paul desired to depart and be with the Lord.
VI. How Far are you willing to go?
A. True friends will go to great lengths for each other. There are friends who are so close that they would give their lives and their bodies (organs, etc.) for each other. Their love moves them to consider what is best for their friend rather than their own desires. The strong marriage is made of friends with a bond this strong.
B. How strong
is our bond with our Lord? Would we be willing to suffer and die for Him?
Back to our text – John 15:13 – Jesus loved us enough to die for us. Romans
5:6-8 – why He died.
Would we die for Him? Acts 21:13, Paul was willing. Revelation 2:10 – Be
faithful unto death…
Thus we can see some elements of a true friendship. What about you? Are you a friend of Jesus? The way some friends act – who needs enemies?