Today's Topic: Becoming a Friend of the Eternal God

Today, let us discuss – becoming a friend of the Eternal God.

Speaking of becoming a friend of the Eternal God, I will never forget this, not even in several lifetimes! You know, the first time I went to church, although I could not understand much and my English was not very good, I knew the word friend. That song is still in my head today –

At home, rely on your parents; when away, rely on friends. Later, I discovered that relying on parents is unreliable, and relying on friends is also unreliable; you can only rely on God.

To know a person, look at the friends he makes. What kind of person makes what kind of friends.

How would you feel if Jack Ma (again, I am bringing up Jack Ma; sorry, I am just using Jack Ma as an example) was your friend? Recently, I saw Jack Ma and world-class tycoons joining forces to create some organization to prevent global climate change, which was reported in the newspaper. Jack Ma's friends would feel very proud. When you mention Jack Ma, their spirits lift, their voices get louder, their heads rise, and they start boasting!

How would you feel if Xi Jinping (sorry for using him, just to illustrate a point) was your friend? Every time Xi Dada succeeds in anti-corruption efforts, you would be excited along with him. If Xi Dada sought your opinion on many matters, that would be incredible! When one achieves enlightenment, all his animals in the backyard ascend to heaven!

If you become a friend of God (no need to feel sorry this time because I am a friend of God; using God's name is definitely not a problem), that would be extraordinary! You would feel proud if earthly kings became your friends; it is truly an incredibly glorious thing for the King of Heaven to be your friend!

We Chinese place great emphasis on relationships! With relationships, we have resources! Relationships are a form of wealth! To know God, to know the Most High, is wisdom and intelligence! It is status, it is wealth, it is life!

Since getting to know God and becoming God's friend, why worry about the little things in life? Why worry about not having enough money? Why worry about illness? Worry about disasters? - No need to worry! Because our God is omnipotent!

Today, I want to share with you – becoming a friend of the Eternal God!

Scripture: John 15:15

Jhn 15:15 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.

The Essence of Humanity – Is Relationships

What is the essence of humanity? It is relationships.

What exactly is the essence of humanity? Marx asserted, The essence of man is not an abstraction inherent in each single individual. In its reality it is the ensemble of the social relations (Selected Works of Marx and Engels, Vol. 1, p. 56). And among the ensemble of social relations, the most important and fundamental is the production relations, and the most important and fundamental within the production relations is ownership. Thus, Marx ultimately concluded that ownership, that is, production relations, determines the essence of man.

Marx only explored the relationships between people. In fact, the relationships between people are only superficial. What is more important is the relationship with God!

While relationships with people are certainly important, without the restoration of the relationship with God, the relationships between people become relationships of class struggle. Today, most of the problems in the world are problems of relationships between people. But they cannot be resolved! The more they are resolved, the more chaotic they become. Today's terrorist attacks are problems arising from the relationships between people. Today's social problems and family problems are all problems with human relationships! Today in the church, the problem of disease is easily solved. But when problems arise in the relationships between people in the church, that is a very difficult problem to solve.

The fundamental problem of human relationships is eating the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

To solve the problem, we must restore our relationship with God, which is the essence of the Christian faith. If two people are both connected to God, there will absolutely be no problems between them. If Cain and Abel had both valued their relationship with God, they would never have quarreled and one killed the other. Did Abel have a problem? Abel did not have a problem. But Cain had a problem, so the relationship between the two of them went wrong.

Only when both people are connected to God and have a harmonious relationship with God can the problem be solved!

Therefore, in 2016, let each of us begin to shape our inner character, so that we all have the character of Jesus Christ, can all become friends of God, understand God's will, and the problem will be solved!

Christian Faith is Relationship-Centered

This time when I went to Taipei, I asked Pastor Liu, who is under Pastor Zhou's wife, for disciple training materials. He said that you wouldn't be able to use those. Grasp the key – build a relationship-oriented church. The key is to build relationships. Very comfortable relationships. It is crucial for pastors and disciples to establish very comfortable relationships. Suddenly, the words very comfortable relationship resonated strongly within me!

He told me that Jesus and his 12 disciples established very comfortable relationships. His disciples were willing to follow him. In fact, we can see the casual nature of that relationship. The mothers of two disciples came to Jesus to ask him to grant her sons higher positions. Later, these problems were debated over who was the greatest. Jesus did not say anything to them. The passage we read today:

Jhn 15:15 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.

It talks about the transformation of relationships. In the past, it was a servant-master relationship. But God does not want people's relationship with God to remain at the initial stage of a servant-master relationship. God wants our relationship with God to deepen into a relationship of friendship. That is God's will!

In fact, when we reach the relationship of friendship, God also hopes that we can establish a relationship of son and Father with Him. This kind of relationship enhancement and restoration is the key to the Christian faith! Do not remain at a very primitive stage. Some people, as soon as they believe in the Lord, say, Oh, I am saved, and then remain at that stage, which is a very foolish thing to do! We must constantly know God and constantly improve our relationship with God!

We can describe religion as a transaction, while faith is a relationship!

Building a Relationship-Oriented Church

Building Comfortable Relationships

Building Relationships That Can Withstand the Test

Building a Master-Servant Relationship

Our process of believing in the Lord – the process of our lives being adjusted.

We often say the Lord Jesus with our mouths, but He cannot be the master for us at all. We do not allow Him to be the master in our lives!

Every time I go to Taipei Lingliang Church, I hear a phrase: life needs adjustment. Later, I increasingly understood the meaning of life being adjusted, which is to go from being our own master to letting the Lord Jesus be the master!

Have you really let the Lord Jesus be the master? In fact, this is not easy.

If we suffer some grievances, can we let them go? Will we fight for our rights?

From Servant-Master Relationship to Friendship

Relationships deepen step by step. Before becoming husband and wife, there is dating. Why date? To understand each other before deciding whether to progress to the next stage of the relationship.

Our relationship with God is similar. Initially, we come to God with our problems, seeking solutions. Later, we begin to know God and realise how wonderful life is with Him! Then, we continually lay down our own will, willingly becoming servants of God, honouring the Lord in all things, and making God our Master. In fact, very few people reach this stage!

The servant-master relationship is primarily about faithfulness, obedience, and heeding. Faithfulness and commitment! This is the foundation of knowing God, because He is God, He is inherently the Master! This is what we must uphold throughout our lives. Even when we become friends of God, it is God who exalts us; it is not something we deserve, but God’s honour upon us! Being a servant is already a grace; being a friend of God is even greater grace.

Even later, Paul still referred to himself as a servant of Jesus Christ!

When we are servants, we trust in the Lord. When we are friends of God, God trusts us! It is not that because God trusts us, we no longer trust in the Lord! God’s trust in us does not come from the beginning. God continually tests our faith, raises our faith. When we are adjusted, trained, and able to trust in the Lord, God also knows that we trust Him. God also knows our character, our attitude in doing things, our decision-making choices.

Jas 2:21 Was not our father Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? Jas 2:22 You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by his actions. Jas 2:23 And the scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,” and he was called God’s friend. Jas 2:24 You see that a person is considered righteous by what they do and not by faith alone. Jas 2:25 In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction? Jas 2:26 As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.

How did God test Abraham? He asked him to offer up the child God had given him! Abraham did not hold back from doing what God had said in order to keep his child! In fact, what do we have that we deserve? Everything is given by God!

Faith with action, willing to offer oneself, willing to completely give oneself, becomes a friend of God! As a friend of God, do you know what a great grace that is?

1Sa 3:19 The Lord was with Samuel as he grew up, and he let none of Samuel’s words fall to the ground. This is in 1 Samuel chapter 3! The author wrote this sentence here! Why? Because Samuel experienced great trials, yet he trusted in God! He did not overthrow old Eli according to human logic and make himself the high priest! Instead, he continually served God, honoured the Lord, and acted according to God’s will! Samuel and Moses are listed as two of the greatest servants of God!

Becoming a friend of God is like God giving you a cheque signed with God’s name! You can use it anytime, anywhere, and it will definitely be honoured when you get to God!

This is the most wonderful part of believing in the Lord! We are not puppets; we are free people, but we have God’s promises in our hands that we can draw upon at any time!

Becoming a friend of God is also a process of knowing God!

The relationship of friends – sharing with each other, entering into God’s heart.

When we become friends of God, we will further advance into the relationship of sons of God! – Completely like God, having God’s image, God’s thoughts, God’s position, inheriting the inheritance!

Brothers and sisters, let us come out of the shallow faith in Jesus Christ and begin to pursue continually! That is a wonderful path! That is the path of being one with God!

What is a Friend?

When I first came to Singapore, I met a rich man. His family bought several cars, all of them luxury cars. When I met him, his first sentence just deflated me. He asked, When have you ever seen two moons together? Never! There are simply no friends in the world. At the time, I didn't understand, but now I think about how lonely and sad that person must have been inside! – He had begun to lose all trusting relationships through the collisions and bumps in the world!

There must be a relationship of mutual trust to be friends!

How to choose friends! How to choose a girlfriend, a boyfriend!

Birds of a feather flock together – those of similar temperament,

Abraham’s relationship with God

We pray – He hears our prayers

God speaks – We also listen

Vision, views, thoughts, ideas

The test of friendship

Gen 18:17 Then the Lord said, “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do? Gen 18:18 Abraham will surely become a great and powerful nation, and all nations on earth will be blessed through him. Gen 18:19 For I have chosen him, so that he will direct his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing what is right and just, so that the Lord will bring about for Abraham what he has promised him.” Gen 18:20 Then the Lord said, “The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is so great and their sin so grievous Gen 18:21 that I will go down and see if what they have done is as bad as the outcry that has reached me. If not, I will know.”

Abraham intercedes for Sodom!

God values our thoughts! God honours us!

Emphasising God’s sovereignty – is the initial stage! That is the servant-master relationship

Emphasising the use of the authority God has given us to accomplish God’s will – that is the intermediate stage, that is the relationship of friends!

Friendship is not control! Friendship is respect. Can we earn God’s respect? Can we become friends of God!

The Condition of Our Relationships with Others Reveals the Condition of Our Life and Character

The condition of our interpersonal relationships is a sign of our spiritual life.

Learn to be a person, learn to be a man, to be a woman, learn to be a husband, to be a wife, learn to be a father, learn to be a child!

In 2016, in the shaping of our life character, we still need to see how our interpersonal relationships are.

Many, almost all good bosses start from being good subordinates! People who cannot handle interpersonal relationships and their conflicts will become stumbling blocks to our personal development.

Demanding that people do what you want them to do – you may not get what you want
You don’t demand, but you… yet they are willing to do what you ask

Knowing God – establishing healthy relationships

Not knowing God – establishing unhealthy relationships

Learning to Grow in Relationship Issues

Learning to handle conflicts, to handle the interpersonal relationship issues we face, is key to our growth!

If we have problems in our interpersonal relationships, that is a skill we need to learn to manage!

The ability to manage conflict and resolve conflict

Relationship with God: Facing offerings, facing God’s tests

Relationship with people: Husband and wife, father and son

Summary: Becoming a Friend of God

Hearing God’s revelation– the journey of faith– the road to the mountain

A heart of complete dedication