Friendship with God (3 things)

• 1^st – A friend of God… vs. 14-17 
  • We are no longer servants – we are friends… vs. 14-15
    • A master does not confide in a servant – reveal the details of his life to his servant…
      • But Jesus had opened His life to the disciples – told them everything…
      • They were no longer servants – He considered them His friends…
    • The disciples were the friends of God – because they spent time with Jesus…
      • If you want to be someone’s friend – you do not ignore them – stay away from them…
      • Friendship comes from spending time – getting to know a person!
      • If we are to be a friend of God – we have to take the time to spent time with God…
      • The person God speaks to is one who spends time with God in His Word & prayer…
      • Our challenge seems to be finding the time to spend with God…
      • There are so many distractions in this life that seem to always vie for attention…
      • But our problem is not time – it is our priorities – what is most important to us…
      • We always find time to eat – sleep – we find time for our friends…
      • Sadly we often do everything but the one thing that is truly necessary…
      • Sit at the feet of Jesus – spend time with Him – get to know Him as our friend!
  • We were chosen by God – to bear fruit that lasts… vs. 16-17
    • Luke 6:13-14 – Jesus went up onto a mountain and prayed all night…
      • When He came down in the morning – He choose the 12 Apostles…
      • The disciples did not choose Jesus – Jesus choose them…
      • And they were chosen for a purpose – to be a friend / to bear good fruit…
    • God chooses us – this can be a hard concept for us to understand…
      • The suggestion is God chooses who goes to heaven / and who goes to hell…
        • It does not seem fair to us that God chooses who goes to heaven…
        • When you got / or will get married – who chose the woman you married…
        • Would you have liked it if someone else made the choice – choosing your spouse
        • We want the freedom to choose whom to spend our lives with…
        • Does it not seem fair that God gets to choose whom He spends eternity with!
      • How does God decide whom He chooses…
        • Romans 8:29 – “For whom God foreknew, He also choose before hand…”
        • Whom He ‘foreknew’ – it turns out God knows who will choose Him…
        • God is eternal – that means He has no beginning or end – Revelation 1:8
        • It does not mean God has an endless amount of time – God is outside of time!
        • God sees all of time – from Genesis 1:1 to Revelation 22:21 all at once!
        • Isaiah 46:10 – “Declaring the end from the beginning, And from ancient times things that are not yet done…”
        • If you knew a woman would say no if you asked her to marry you – would you ask
        • If you knew a beautiful woman would say yes – would you not ask…
        • In a sense God ‘cheats’ – He knows every ones choice before they even make it…
        • Since God sees EVERYTHING – He knows exactly who will believe in Jesus…
        • So He chooses those who He knows will choose Him!
      • What if you do not want to believe in Jesus…
        • Then you are not one of those whom God has chosen to be saved – to go to heaven
        • You might say – ‘but I want to go to heaven’ / then choose to believe in Jesus…
        • When you do you will find you were one of those whom God had already chosen!
    • God chooses us – so we can bear lots of fruit that lasts…
      • When we are the one who does a work – it has no guarantee of lasting…
        • An unnamed soldier who risked his life to save his ‘brothers in arms’…
        • A leader of a nation – whose name is forgotten except in history books…
        • We do not know their names – we have forgotten their efforts…
        • They fade because they are ‘THEIR WORKS’ – once they are gone they are lost…
      • If God is the one who choses us – He does all the work – and the work lasts…
        • Acts 1:23-36 – the disciples needed to replace the 12^th Apostle – Judas was dead
        • THEY chose Mathias – but you never heard about him again in the Bible…
        • In Acts 9:15 – JESUS choose Paul – who wrote 1/3 of the New Testament…
        • We are still blessed by the fruit of his life today – some 2000 years later!
        • GOD’S WORK is not dependent on us – the fruit He brings lasts forever!
          
• 2^nd – Hated by the world… vs. 18-25
  • The world hates us because we are friends of Jesus… vs. 18-19
    • If we were friends with the world – the world would love us…
      • If we did the things the world does – they would embrace us / love us…
      • If we sat down at the drinking table / if we joined in the gambling…
      • If we laughed at the dirty jokes / If we passed on the latest gossip…
      • The world would embrace us – because are joining in with them – justifying them…
      • Coming home from church one Sunday – I saw a man who used to come to church…
      • He was sitting at a table and drinking – and asked if I wanted to join him…
      • He wanted me to do the same thing he was – then there would be no conviction!
    • God chooses us to be His friend – but we still live in the world…
      • The challenge is to be a light to the world – rather than blending into it…
      • It is far easier to blend into the world – than to stand for Jesus…
      • But if we seek to please the world – follow the crowd – go with the flow…
      • We are choosing this world rather than Jesus – it means we reject Jesus…
      • James 4:4 – “Whoever wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.”
  • Friendship with God – means we are the enemy of the world… vs. 20-21
    • A servant is not greater than the master – if they hate the master they hate the servant!
      • Ferdinand Marcos was ruled the Philippines ruthlessly for 20 years…
      • He was hated and despised for his corruption and cruel policies…
      • If you met the man who cleaned his house – you would not like him either…
      • Not because of anything he had done – but because he worked for Marcos!
      • We work for Jesus – so because the world hates Jesus – they also hate us!
    • Therefore do not be surprised when the attacks come…
      • When people make fun of you – attack you with cutting words – because of Jesus…
      • Because you want to go to Bible studies – because you do not want to live in sin…
      • Because you do not do the things the world does – convicting the world of their sin
      • Do not take it personally – and do not be angry with the people in the world…
      • It is not us they have a problem with – they do not like who we stand for…
      • If they hated and crucified Jesus – they will not treat us much better!
• It can be tough listening to the comments – the cutting words people say…
  • As we desire to live and stand for Jesus – we will feel the brunt of the world’s hate…
  • But no attack – no comment – nothing here can compare with what is to come…
  • II Corinthians 4:17-18 – “Our present troubles are quite small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us an immeasurably great glory that will last forever!”
  • How many of us have worked hard – ‘suffered’ – only to get paid a small wage…
  • And the money we did receive did not even last very long – we had to work again…
  • How much better to ‘suffer’ for a little while – but get an everlasting reward!
  • I Corinthians 2:9 – “No eye has seen, no ear has heard… what God has prepared…”
• The world hates Jesus… vs. 22-25
  • The world hates Jesus so much cause He convicts the world of sin and righteousness…
    • If it were not for Jesus men could do whatever they wanted without consequence…
    • Like a light shining in the darkness – Jesus reveals the sin of the world…
    • Because men LOVE sin they hate the light that reveals their sinfulness…
    • John 3:20 – “Everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed.”
    • Why it is that people do not see that Jesus is the answer to their lives…
    • It is not that they cannot find Jesus – it is that the Gospel is difficult to understand…
    • Men stay away from Jesus because they LOVE their sin!
      
  • Jesus came – and performed amazing miracles – so men had no excuse…
    • If Jesus had come only teaching – people could have argued it was just His words…
    • But Jesus validated His teaching – with the power of God / miracles He performed…
    • The religious leaders tried to argue Jesus power came from satan…
    • Mark 3:22 – “He has Beelzebub and by the ruler of the demons He casts out demons.”
    • But in truth they hated Jesus without any good reason – Psalms 69:4
    • Jesus loved the world and came to save them – die for their sins…
    • And they repaid His love with their hate – because He convicted them of their sin!
  • People do not like it when God points out their sin…
    • They do their best to avoid Jesus – they are convinced because they are in sin!
    • That is why many people do not like going to church – reading their Bible…
    • They are convicted of their sin – so they stay away from the conviction!
      
• 3^rd – A witness for Jesus… vs. 26-28 
  • When the helper / Holy Spirit comes – He will speak of Jesus… vs. 26
    • How are we to stand up for Jesus in a world that hates us because of Jesus…
      • How are we supposed to open our mouths and tell others about the Love of God…
      • Jesus will give us the Helper – the Holy Spirit – who will speak through us!
      • Luke 12:11-12 – “Do not worry about how or what you should say. For the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say.”
      • In Acts 4 – Peter and John were standing before the Jewish leaders…
      • They same men who had put Jesus on the cross – but they were bold…
      • Acts 4:8 – “Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, ‘Leaders and elders of our nation… Jesus is the only name in all of heaven for people to call on to save them.’”
      • The Holy Spirit gives us the boldness to stand up for Jesus in front of anyone!
    • You can always tell the work of the Spirit – He points to Jesus…
      • Some church today have ‘unusual practices’ they say come from the Spirit…
      • You may have heard of churches where people speak in ‘tongues’- other languages…
      • Or where people lay hands on each other and are ‘slain in the Spirit’ – fall over…
      • I have even heard of churches where people ‘bark like dogs’ – in the Spirit…
      • And we are left to wonder if these things are really from the Spirit of God…
      • While it is true the Holy Spirit does gift us gifts – I Corinthians 12-14
      • Those gifts are very clearly defined – prophecy / miracles / healing…
      • But more importantly – everything the Spirit does ALWAYS points to Jesus!
  • We must also tell others about Jesus – because we are His friends… vs. 27
    • We know the penalty for rejecting Jesus – we know the payment for sin – Romans 6:23
    • We know about the love of Jesus – we know how to get to heaven…
    • God has called us out of the world – to be a light to the world for Jesus!
    • We have been chosen – called by Jesus to go and spread the Good News!
    • Because people need to know – Jesus came to save them – we need to give them hope!