Let’s talk about Friendship with the Lord
“I am a friend of God.” We sing songs about it. It is from John 15:12-17
12 “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. 13 Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. 14 You are my friends if you do what I command you. 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. 16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you. 17 These things I command you, so that you will love one another.

Interestingly enough, the person who God calls friend is not the bearing fruit and loving each other. It is in verse 14: You are my friends if you do what I command you.

Several times in this series I’ve mentioned this idea. You just have to obey!
1.Obey God immediately.
2.Obey God even if it doesn't make sense.
3.Obey God even when you don't see a personal benefit.
4.Obey God even if it is painful.
5.Obey God to completion.
Hopefully you remember that from last week!

BUT…Is it possible to be a member of God's Kingdom but still have missed the opportunity to be intimate with Him?

The quick answer is 'yes.' Let's dive deeper into this:

Psalm 25:14 I NKJV
The secret of the Lord is with those who fear Him, and He will show them His covenant.

The Hebrew word for 'secret' is defined as: 'Counsel.' The Greek dictionary also states that, 'Confidentiality is at the heart of this term.'The Psalmist isn't talking about one secret, but rather God's secret counsel, or for our purposes, we will simply call it secrets {plural).The scripture could read, "God shares His secrets with those who fear Him.”

Who do you share your secrets with: acquaintances or close friends? I'm certain it’s close friends. God is no different, He shares His secrets with intimate close friends, and His close friends are those who embrace holy fear.ESV: "The friendship of the Lord is for those who fear him.” Holy reverence, trembling at his word, complete obedience, etc.

This might be hard to hear and even challenge your theology, but, God is not everyone's friend. God is not a friend to everyone who is in the church.
Matthew 16 - Peter’s confession then rebuke

So let’s explore this by looking into the three main people God calls friend.

In the Old Testament, there are two men identified as 'God's friend:' Abraham and Moses. Are there others? Absolutely yes, but let’s look at Moses really quickly first.

Moses
Psalm 103:7 He made known His ways to Moses, His acts to the children of Israel.

He knew before anyone else what God was going to do, but I want to note that he knew what God was going to do (deliver) but still had to trust God for the how.

Abraham

Why is he called God's friend?

Things to note:
- God promised him a child when he was seventy-five years old (the desire of his heart).
- He waited 25 more years before Sarah, his wife, miraculously gave birth to Isaac.
- Because of the wait, Isaac was a lot more special to Abraham.

But then one day, with no advanced warning whatsoever, God says to Abraham in prayer,

Genesis 22:2 I NKJV "'Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love so much and go to the land of Moriah. Go and sacrifice him as a burnt offering on one of the mountains, which I will show you."'

What?! Kill the most important person or thing in your life, just because God said to do it and didn't give you a reason? Seriously think about this! Abraham didn't know this was a test. It would've been easier for Abraham to kill himself than to kill Isaac! What about this one: Why would someone who calls me a FRIEND do this to me?

I love Abraham's response to God's extremely difficult command.
Genesis 22:3 I NKJV "The next morning Abraham got up early."

Early the next morning, he got right to it! He didn't mull it over for a few days or weeks, he didn't call his friends to get their opinion. He didn't ignore or resist God's command.He, Isaac and two servants got up early the next morning, packed up, and started on their way.

Two and a half days later, no word from God. What was going through his mind? There was no reason to do this except for the fact that God told him to do so. On the third day…

Genesis 22:4-5
4 On the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw the place from afar. (Foreshadowing much? )

And then one of the most faith-filled verses in the entire Bible:
5 Then Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey; I and the boy will go over there and worship and come again to you.”

The critical moment arrived, could he actually do it? In great anguish he ties up Isaac, lifts the knife and is ready to thrust it into his son's heart; all because God asked with ZERO reasoning. Suddenly, an angel of God appears and cries out:

Genesis 22:12 I NKJV '"Do not lay your hand on the lad, or do anything to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son from Me."'

How did the angel know that Abraham feared God?
Because he obeyed instantly, when it didn't make sense, when he didn't see a benefit, when it hurt, and he did it to completion.

Abraham then put down the knife, untied Isaac, lifted up his eyes and saw a ram caught in a bush. (Called a therapist lol)

Out of his mouth came these words, "Jehovah-Jireh," which means, "The-Lord-Will­Provide" (Gen. 22:14).

Some of us haven’t seen Jehovah Jireh show up and provide because we haven’t been willing to let go of what has defined us. Our hands are clenched around the promise so tightly we forgot the promise was his provision from the beginning. Positioning yourself to receive, whatever that means for you.

The angel appeared and Jehovah Jireh showed up.

But what actually just happened? In that moment, God revealed a facet of His character to Abraham that no one else had known before. That day, Abraham became a close friend of God.

Let's continue to look at the relational dynamic between God and Abraham, it's amazing.

On a certain day God said:
Genesis 18:17 I NLT "Should I hide My plan from Abraham?"

Here was the situation:
- God wanted to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah.
- God and Abraham conversed back-and-forth, God wanting to hear his thoughts on the matter
- Abraham thought of his nephew Lot and his family and interceded on their behalf

Genesis 18:23-25
"Will you sweep away both the righteous and the wicked? Suppose you find fifty righteous people living there in the city-will you still sweep it away and not spare it for their sakes? Surely you wouldn't do such a thing, destroying the righteous along with the wicked. Why, you would be treating the righteous and the wicked exactly the same! Surely you wouldn't do that! Should not the Judge of all the earth do what is right?"

Continuing to paraphrase ...
- God was pleased with Abraham's response
- But Abraham was concerned that maybe there wasn't 50 righteous, so he kept bargaining with God until they reached an agreement for 10 righteous

By the way...only a friend can talk this way to a king who has the power to execute judgment. Coming from a servant or subject, such a petition would be disrespectful!

Genesis 18:33
"When the Lord had finished his conversation with Abraham, he went on his way, and Abraham returned to his tent."

Are You Clueless? I mean are you clueless to God’s plan in your life right now? Lot was...just saying...

Here’s the sobering reality: Sodom and Gomorrah were prospering, and life was good. But they were clueless to the fact that they were 24-hours away from being obliterated!

EVEN MORE SOBERING
Lot (a righteous man the Bible says) was also clueless! Here we have two righteous men, in modern terms: two saved, born again, Christian men (Abraham & Lot). One righteous man knows what God is going to do before He does it, and helps God decide how He's going to do it. The other righteous man is as clueless to the impending judgment as the wicked.

Why?

Because the first righteous man fears God, therefore, he's a friend of God, and in turn knows the secrets of God. The second righteous man does not fear God, therefore, he's not the friend of God, and in turn does not know the secrets of God.

Lot's life serves as a WARNING to each of us. Lot was called 'righteous' by the Scripture, but he was worldly.He represents the believer who when forced in the corner seeks first to serve his or her own best interests, like the Corinthian church, similar to many in our Western Church.There were terrible consequences for his worldliness: ungodly offspring, wife was attached to Sodom, she loved the "world" more than God.

Jesus even warns us, to "remember what happened to Lot's wife!" (Luke 17:32).

Real honest question here: So far are you seeing yourself as Abraham, Lot, or Lot’s wife in this story?

This is such an apt representation of the church right now!
- You have some who are really all in, fearing the Lord, in relationship with him. They always seem to be on the cutting edge of what God is doing

- You have some who are righteous, meaning they’ve made Jesus Lord, but they are content to live in and among the filth of the world as if it isn’t going to have an impact. The impact was one Lot didn’t see coming. Not only was destruction on the way and he missed it, the message that would have saved him was missed too. Had not Abraham stood in the gap for Lot, Lot would be dead, too. Come on church you gotta hear that! Abrahams in this church, stand in the gap! Cry out to the Lord on others’ behalf! But to the Lots in this church, wake up! Don’t wait on an Abraham to pray you to safety!

- You have some like Lot's wife who are here just because a family member is here. There’s no REAL interest. You’re just keeping the peace or obeying. One day the sky is going to fall and what your heart is tied to you’ll turn to. You might not have tomorrow but you have right now. Get in the right relationship with Jesus. Make him Lord. Live for Him.

I mentioned Jesus in reference to Lot’s wife. So let’s talk about Jesus and God’s friends.

Did Jesus open up a relationship of friendship to all who believe in Him? The quick answer is ‘no.'

Let's take a look:
John 2:23-24 Because of the miraculous signs Jesus did in Jerusalem at the Passover celebration, many began to trust in him. But Jesus didn't trust them because he knew all about people.

The word trust is an interesting Greek word which is defined: "to believe to the extent of complete faith and reliance - 'to have confidence in, to have faith in.”'

NOTICE: this trust is not reciprocated by Jesus.
- Even though people believed to the extent of complete trust and reliance on Him, He didn't trust all of them.
- He loved them, served them, but did not hold them at the level of friendship.
The trust that God attributed to Moses was not extended by Jesus to all those who believed in Him.

Let's move forward to the Last Supper.
In the previous three years of ministry most who believed in Him were not reliable, many followed secretly, others from a distance or only when they benefited; many disciples left Him, and Judas betrayed Him.

Does this give more insight as to why Jesus didn't reciprocate the trust?
Jesus is now sitting with those closest to Him. With gratitude and affection, He says,

John 22:28 I ESV
You are those who have stayed with me in my trials.

Those at the table had been reliable. Judas had already left to betray him and Peter would deny him, but Jesus knew what would happen later.
To the remaining eleven, Jesus states:

John 15:15 I NKJV
"'No longer do I call you servants."'

The fact that Jesus says, 'No longer' means that these men were at one time looked at, and merely regarded as 'servants.

Why would he have these men give up everything, risk it all, and follow him, and then NOT trust them fully? Well, friendship on the level of Friend of God is not something that happens overnight. Remember - fearing the Lord, obedience, these are the paths to friendship with God.
You can trust him but he needs to be able to trust you, too.

Side note: Can God trust you?

Jesus keeping them at the servant level wasn’t a slight from him.

Galatians 4:1 I TPT
As long as an heir is a minor, he's not really much different than a servant.

We must ask, why does God keep us at the level of a servant, when we are heirs of His kingdom?
To protect us!

The Lord in essence says to us,
"Until you are very established in Who I am in your life and very established in who you are with Me - the fear of the Lord, I need to keep you at a servant level even though you are an heir - son or daughter, of My kingdom. This is to protect you, so you don't experience similar judgment of Ananias and Sapphira."

What is he saying?
“If you don’t really know what the fear of the Lord is, sonship/daughterhood will crush you. You won’t understand what I ask you to do and why and it will cause enmity between us, not friendship. So I need you at the servant level, simply doing what you are told, until you learn what fearing me really is. This is a grace, a mercy, not a meanness.

Jesus says to these men:
John 15:15 I NKJV
No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you.

Jesus is in essence saying,
"Up to now I have not given you the inside scoop - My plans, secret counsel, or intimate areas of My heart. But now I can trust you as I did with Moses and Abraham.”

You are My friends, if ...
This is why Jesus states to all of us: John 15:14a I NKJV
"You are My friends if ... “

The word 'if' is a condition.
It's not automatic, even if we 'believe' in Him.

So, what is the condition of friendship?
John 15:14 I NKJV
"You are My friends if you do whatever I command you.”

There it is: the fear of the lord- trembling at His word!
Obeying instantly and to completion, even if it doesn't make sense, you don't see the benefit, or it is painful.Even as it was with Abraham and Moses, it is no different with us in the New Testament. There are over 500 commands in the New Testament alone. These are not commands required for salvation. They are commands required for friendship.

We don't gain Jesus's trust by just believing in Him. Friendship with the Lord is reserved for those who fear Him. And the greatest benefit of holy fear is to be welcomed into a friendship relationship with Jesus.

So which are you?
Friend? Servant? Enemy?

God wants friendship with you. What will it take today to enter into that friendship with God?

We constantly tell you there are three super practical and important steps at the end of every message.
- Prayer with someone on our team here.
- Follow up with a connect card for prayer or to let us know how we can help.
- Connecting with someone in our church for coffee, text, or a phone call to help.

These things don’t make you a friend of God, but these are things that can help you learn to fear God and obey so that you can be a friend of God.

What is the Holy Spirit saying to you through this message?