.  Living Hope Fellowship Church...Sermons by the Pastor

FROM SERVANTHOOD TO FRIEND OF THE MASTER

by Richard Bundren,  associate pastor,

          Proverbs 18:24 says, “A man that hath friends must show himself friendly: and there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother.”  The Lord made a way that you could become clean.  He also made a way that you can become His friend. 

          You can have a lot of friends, but they aren’t all the same, and some friends react differently at 3:00 in the morning!  You can go to a true friend with a need, and you know that they will gladly answer.  They don’t consider it an inconvenience or too much trouble.  They aren’t too tired to help you. 

          Several years ago I slid off in a ditch because of a snow storm, so I called my neighbor.  He was already in bed, but he said he would come and pull me out. 

          I had forgotten that I had helped him when we were both teenagers.  Because I had been a friend then, he didn’t consider it an inconvenience to help me recently.  Folks, if you WANT a friend, you have to BE a friend. 

          Jesus is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother, but we aren’t always friendly to Him, so He is not always ready when we want something.  He is a God of mercy and love, but sometimes He doesn’t do things when we want it done, because we haven’t been a friend!

          We love Jesus, we depend on Him, and we say that we will do anything for the Lord, but there are certain things we won’t do, and we betray Him.  However, a time will come when you need that friend, and it is for something that you need NOW.  Oh, He listens, but He doesn’t hear, or He doesn’t do it right then.

          Abraham wasn’t called a friend of God just because he believed, but because he obeyed (see James 2:23).

James 4:4 says, “. . . whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.”  When we become a friend of the world, it makes us at odds with God!  

          John 15:7 says, “If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.”  That is where we want to be - in such a place to where we can ask Him anything, and He will do it! 

          Verse 10 says, “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.”  Jesus kept His Father’s commandments, so He could ask His Father anything, and God would do it. 

          Does that mean that if we don’t keep His commandments He doesn’t love us anymore?  He loved me while I was yet a sinner.  It is like the prodigal son that left God’s home.  Since he wasn’t abiding at home, he couldn’t receive any of the benefits of that home like food and fellowship, clothing, and healing.  All the benefits were gone.

          John 15:14 says, “Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.”  If you don’t do what God commands you to do, then you aren’t His friend anymore.  Is there anything that God has asked you to do that you haven’t done? 

          Verse 15 says, “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.” 

          We are supposed to be the servants of Jesus, our Lord and Master.  We should be willing and ready to obey Him just because He wants us to.  He has given so freely His life for us.

          If we obey Him, not just for the sake of salvation, but because we love Him, we are no longer just servants but His friends.  The master doesn’t always tell the servants why.            Verse 15 says, “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.” 

          Jesus Christ wants us to become His friends.  He wants to reveal to us all the things that His Father revealed unto Him that we might be instruments in His hand.

          He has chosen you to be His friend (see John 15:16)!  He gave His life for you!  We have the ability if we have the gumption to obey to become His friends!  Then, we can ask Him anything, and He will do it.  However, if we aren’t obeying, then we aren’t abiding. 

          Do you and I regard being God’s friend of so little importance that we don’t do what is necessary to keep that friendship?  How much is His friendship worth to you? 

           Hebrews 12:1 says, “Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us.”

          When a loved one or a friend is dying, you realize that you should have regarded your friendship with God a little better.  Then, you know when you ask Him for something He will do it.

          The God who created the universe wants to be our friend.  Let’s spend time with Him, lay aside every weight and every sin, and be a friend of God.

© Living Hope Fellowship, Inc.

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