Christ's Friendship: Its Evidence

Good morning sisters! As we draw closer to our time together, the heat is being turned up emotionally, spiritually and for many, physically. As you encounter challenges throughout your day, would you take a moment to pray for yourself, and by faith pray for those who might be experiencing similar things? For instance, if you are struggling with loneliness, would you by faith, talk to the Lord about it and also intercede for your sisters who are experiencing the same thing, even though you might not know it, or know them? This way we pray with more compassion for one another, and pray more thoroughly, perhaps. And know we pray for you. Tomorrow our onsite Intercession Team will meet to pray specifically for you and our body at HFC. If there is anything you’d like us to specifically pray about for you, shoot me an email at nicolechapingiven@gmail.com  We would love to bring you before the Lord in prayer.

The reading today is entitled Christ’s Friendship: Its Evidence

Ye Are My Friends, if Ye Do the Things Which I Command You—John 15.14

Our Lord has said what He gave as proof of His friendship: He gave His life for us. He now tells us what our part is to be—to do the things which He commands. He gave His life to secure a place for His love in our hearts to rule us; the response His love calls us to, and empowers us for, is that we do what He commands us. As we know the dying love, we shall joyfully obey its commands. As we obey the commands, we shall know the love more fully. Christ had already said: “If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love.” He counts it needful to repeat the truth again: the one proof of our faith in His love, the one way to abide in it, the one mark of being true branches is—to do the things which He commands us. He began with absolute surrender of His life for us. He can ask nothing less from us. This alone is a life in His friendship.

This truth, of the imperative necessity of obedience, doing all that Christ commands us, has not the place in our Christian teaching and living that Christ meant it to have. We have given a far higher place to privilege than to duty. We have not considered implicit obedience as a condition of true discipleship. The secret thought that it is impossible to do the things He commands us, and that therefore it cannot be expected of us, and a subtle and unconscious feeling that sinning is a necessity have frequently robbed both precepts and promises of their power. The whole relation to Christ has become clouded and lowered, the waiting on His teaching, the power to hear and obey His voice, and through obedience to enjoy His love and friendship, have been enfeebled by the terrible mistake. Do let us try to return to the true position, take Christ’s words as most literally true, and make nothing less the law of our life: “Ye are my friends, if ye do the things that I command you.” Surely our Lord asks nothing less than that we heartily and truthfully say: “Yea, Lord, what Thou dost command, that will I do.” These commands are to be done as a proof of friendship. The power to do them rests entirely in the personal relationship to Jesus. For a friend I could do what I would not for another. The friendship of Jesus is so heavenly and wonderful, it comes to us so as the power of a divine love entering in and taking possession, the unbroken fellowship with Himself is so essential to it, that it implies and imparts a joy and a love which make the obedience a delight. The liberty to claim the friendship of Jesus, the power to enjoy it, the grace to prove it in all its blessedness—all come as we do the things He commands us.

Is not the one thing needful for us that we ask our Lord to reveal Himself to us in the dying love in which He proved Himself our friend, and then listen as He says to us: “Ye are My friends.” As we see what our Friend has done for us, and what as unspeakable blessedness it is to have Him call us friends, the doing His commands will become the natural fruit of our life in his love. We shall not fear to say: “Yea, Lord, we are Thy friends, and do what
Thou dost command us.”

If ye do. Yes, it is in doing that we are blessed, that we abide in His love, that we enjoy His friendship. “If ye do what I command you!” O my Lord, let Thy holy friendship lead me into the love of all Thy commands, and let the doing of Thy commands lead me ever deeper into Thy friendship.

Abba again, command what You will, but O grant what You command! The law in our hearts that we still love would say it is impossible, impossible to do all You command through Your Spirit, every moment every day. And Your Spirit says, Yes, I agree. I do not ask you to do it according to Law dear daughter, but by my very present help, my love, my power. O that we would rest in relationship with You Abba! How much freedom we would possess and walk in, if we truly believed You loved us this much! We hear the ancient lie, that we cannot be truly known and truly loved. They are mutually exclusive. If we are truly known, then we are not truly loved because we are so needy, so sinful, so ugly at heart. And if we are truly loved, we must not be truly known, for if we were known, how could we be loved? But Lord! You say we are truly known, AND truly loved by the only one who could say this truthfully, because You are the only one who has the remedy for our sick hearts! You have demonstrated Your own love, true love for us in this, while we were still sinners, while we were still in our diseased and most ugly state, You, fully knowing us, died for us, that we might be rescued and be given a clean heart and Your own righteousness, Your glory within us! Oh God, we believe, help our unbelief. Continue to remind us we are truly known and truly loved, and may we, by faith, lift our eyes to Yours and see the love You have for us. And out of this amazing love, this relationship we have as Your daughters, may we walk where You lead us by Your Spirit, knowing it is because You love us, you speak and lead. And because You love those in our sphere, You desire they experience Your transforming love through redeemed people like us. Let us follow the promptings of Your Spirit because we are so very loved, and experience this Love first hand, and let others experience Your love through us and desire also to believe…. Yes, they are fully known, and fully loved. Only by the power of Your Spirit, Your love, can we say this Abba. O thank You for Your grace and love toward us, and thank You for Your commands to extend this joy toward others. In Jesus’ name, amen.