Are You A Friend Of God?

by Franklin L. Kirksey

Title:	Are You A Friend Of God?
Bible Book:	2 Corinthians 5 : 12-21
Author:	Franklin L. Kirksey
Subject:	God, Friend of; Witnessing; Testimony; Ambassador of Christ
Objective:	The ambassadors sent by our government to foreign capitals are to represent the interests and well being of America. Christians are referred to as “ambassadors” for Christ. We are to be friends of God rather than friends of the world. Dr. Franklin Kirksey asks the question, “Are you a friend of God?”
File:

Introduction
I. The Troubling Reality of a World without Christ.
II. The Tremendous Responsibility of an Ambassador for Christ.
III. The Triumphant Reconcilability of the Believer in Christ.

Introduction

“Friendships happen” according to Dr. D. Stuart Briscoe, who continues to explain, “they are not the result of careful, calculated survey. And it's natural that you'll like some people better than others.

Good friendships start with acquaintances with whom we have something in common. There's a mutual attraction; you enjoy being together. You find the other person invigorating, challenging, and fun. You find that he or she gives you the right kind of ear, the right kind of support. And friendship grows.

I think of some of the close friendships I developed when I was a Marine commando. Not one of my closest friends was a believer, and I would not have been particularly drawn to any of them in normal circumstances. But when I took the time to get to know these men, I discovered their admirable qualities and began to enjoy them immensely. As long as our lives depended on each other, we were close friends and enjoyed a special camaraderie.

I think sometimes we miss out on friendships because we're too busy looking when we should be discovering.”1

Joseph William Harrald found his place in history in an interesting way. A crisis opened the way for him to meet the great Charles Haddon Spurgeon (1834-1892). To assist in publishing his messages, Spurgeon had a stenographer take down his sermon verbatim. For some reason the person assigned to record the message one time was not present. Realizing the seriousness of the situation, someone introduced Mr. Spurgeon to Mr. Harrald. They knew that Mr. Harrald faithfully attended his meetings and had the habit of transcribing Spurgeon’s sermons. Spurgeon was unaware of that Harrald appreciated his ministry.

Spurgeon quickly accepted Harrald as a close friend. Harrald greatly assisted Spurgeon for many years and served as his personal secretary. Ernest W. Bacon reveals that some called Rev. J.W. Harrald “the faithful ‘Armour-Bearer’” of Charles Haddon Spurgeon.2

Mr. Harrald received the following message from the deacons of the Metropolitan Tabernacle, upon the death of Spurgeon; ‘Among the most faithful friends of our beloved pastor, you are the most faithful of friends.’

Someone comments, “No doubt much of our knowledge of Charles Haddon Spurgeon comes to us because of the tireless efforts of his faithful friend Mr. Harrald.”

The Christian gentleman Confederate General Robert E. Lee (1807-1870) offers the following admonition, “Never do a wrong thing to make a friend or keep one.”

Dr. D. Stuart Briscoe explains the following about loyalty in friendship, “This does not mean ‘my friend, right or wrong.’ It means, however, that I am going to stick with this person so thoroughly that when she’s right, she’ll have my support, and when she’s wrong, she’ll have my criticism. As the book of Proverbs says, ‘Faithful are the wounds of a friend’ ([Proverbs] 27:6).”3

Dr. Adrian Rogers (1931-2005) states, “True Friendship will not blunt your influence or dull your spirituality. A real friend is one who cares enough to confront you when you are wrong. The Bible says in Proverbs 27:6, “The kisses of an enemy may be profuse, but faithful are the wounds of a friend.’ Flattery is not friendship. A flatterer is the flip side of a hypocrite: A hypocrite says behind your back what he will not say to your face, but a flatterer says to your face what he will not say behind your back. A true friend, by contrast, is honest with you and with others.”4

Some time ago I heard a song by Israel Houghton titled "I am a Friend of God". The verse begins “Who am I that you are mindful of me / That you hear me, when I call

Is it true that you are thinking of me / How you love me, it's amazing (Who am I Lord)” followed by the chorus: “I am a friend of God / I am a friend of God / I am a friend of God / He calls me friend”, followed by the verse again ending with the bridge, “God Almighty / Lord of Glory / You have called me friend”.5

Abraham is called "the friend of God" as we read in James 2:23, “And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, ‘Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.’ / And he was called the friend of God. ” James refers to what is written in 2 Chronicles 20:7 which says, “Are You not our God, who drove out the inhabitants of this land before Your people Israel, and gave it to the descendants of Abraham Your friend forever?” and Isaiah 41:8 which says, “But you, Israel, are My servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, The descendants of Abraham My friend.”

While it is great to say, “I am a friend of God”, it is infinitely better for God to say that He is my friend.” In fact, we should want to be BFF with God, which is translated “Best Friends Forever”, as Abraham.

Moses is another “friend of God” as we read in Exodus 33:7-11, “Moses took his tent and pitched it outside the camp, far from the camp, and called it the tabernacle of meeting. And it came to pass that everyone who sought the LORD went out to the tabernacle of meeting which was outside the camp. So it was, whenever Moses went out to the tabernacle, that all the people rose, and each man stood at his tent door and watched Moses until he had gone into the tabernacle. And it came to pass, when Moses entered the tabernacle, that the pillar of cloud descended and stood at the door of the tabernacle, and the LORD talked with Moses. All the people saw the pillar of cloud standing at the tabernacle door, and all the people rose and worshiped, each man in his tent door. So the LORD spoke to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend.”

James warns, "Where do wars and fights come from among you? Do they not come from your desires for pleasure that war in your members? You lust and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and war. Yet you do not have because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures. Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God” (James 4:1-4).

Allow me to ask, “Are you a friend of God?” From our text in 2 Corinthians 5:12-21 we read, "For we do not commend ourselves again to you, but give you opportunity to boast on our behalf, that you may have an answer for those who boast in appearance and not in heart. For if we are beside ourselves, it is for God; or if we are of sound mind, it is for you. For the love of Christ compels us, because we judge thus: that if One died for all, then all died; and He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again. Therefore, from now on, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him thus no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation. Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God. For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him" (2 Corinthians 5:12-21).

Allow me to call your attention to three things in our text. First,

I. The Troubling Reality of a World without Christ.

It should trouble you if it does not trouble you. Hymn writer George Atkins penned these words in 1819, “Brethren, we have met to worship and adore the Lord our God; Will you pray with all your power, while we try to preach the Word? All is vain unless the Spirit of the Holy One comes down; Brethren, pray, and holy manna will be showered all around. Brethren, see poor sinners round you slumbering on the brink of woe; Death is coming, hell is moving, can you bear to let them go? See our fathers and our mothers, and our children sinking down; Brethren, pray and holy manna will be showered all around.”6

Paul the Apostle writes, “that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them” (2 Corinthians 5:19a).

In Ephesians 2:1-13 Paul reminds believers, “And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others. But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. Therefore remember that you, once Gentiles in the flesh—who are called Uncircumcision by what is called the Circumcision made in the flesh by hands—that at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.”

Furthermore in verses 19b-20 there is,

II. The Tremendous Responsibility of an Ambassador for Christ.

Paul the Apostle continues in the second part of verse 19 through verse 20, “and has committed to us the word of reconciliation. Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God” (2 Corinthians 5:19b-20).

The term ambassador means “a diplomat of the highest rank; accredited as representative from one country to another” or “an informal representative. [for example] ‘An ambassador of good will.’”7

As a part of his series called “Help Wanted”, Dr. Warren W. Wiersbe shares a message titled “The Ambassador”. This sermon based on 2 Corinthians 5:18-20, reveals first of all, an ambassador must be a citizen of the country he represents.8

On another occasion I heard Dr. Wiersbe point out that as believers, we are citizens of earth by birth and citizens of heaven by the new birth. Therefore, we have a dual citizenship.

In Ephesians 6:18-20, we read Paul’s request, “praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints— and for me, that utterance may be given to me, that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.”

The August 6, 2009 edition of “Songtime” hosted by Dr. John DeBrine featured Dr. Warren W. Wiersbe’s comments on listener’s favorite verses in the Bible. In his discussion of 2 Peter 1:5-7, Dr. Wiersbe said, “Adrian Rogers, bless his heart, he’s home in heaven now. When Adrian Rogers preached there was that heart of love reaching out and I can still hear him saying, ‘Come to Jesus, come to Jesus.’”9 Dr. Adrian P. Rogers, pastor emeritus of Bellevue Baptist Church, Memphis, Tennessee, felt the tremendous responsibility of an ambassador for Christ.

Finally we discover in this passage,

III. The Triumphant Reconcilability of the Believer in Christ.

We read about the triumphant reconcilability of the believer in Christ in verses 17, 18 and 21, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation. . . For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him" (2 Corinthians 5:17-18, 21).

“A new creation” speaks of regeneration which is the essence of “the new birth”; it is to be “re-gened”. Dr. Jack Taylor shares some “new creation confessions” in his book titled God’s New Creation (Nashville: Broadman Press, 1987) as does Dr. Lewis Sperry Chafer (1871-1952) in his book titled Salvation (Findlay, OH: Dunham, 1917). Dr. Waylon B. Moore author of New Testament Follow-Up, Multiplying Disciples and Living God's Word 10provides a list of “216 THINGS THAT ARE TRUE OF ME NOW THAT I AM SAVED.”11

Paul also writes in Colossians 1:19-23, “For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell, and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross.

And you, who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy, and blameless, and above reproach in His sight— if indeed you continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and are not moved away from the hope of the gospel which you heard, which was preached to every creature under heaven, of which I, Paul, became a minister.”

When we think about the triumphant reconcilability of the believer in Christ we remember the words of Dr. Stephen Olford (1918-2004), who often said, “God’s commandments are His enablements.” God commands us through Paul the Apostle in verse 20 to “be reconciled to God.”

We read in 1 John 4:8b, “God is love”. Other passages clearly teach that He is merciful and gracious. The psalmist David emphatically declares, “God is a just judge, / And God is angry with the wicked every day” (Psalm 7:11). Scripture equally teaches that God is holy and just and must punish sin. The only way we can overcome the “irreconcilable differences” between God and man is by our personal repentance of sin and faith in the death, burial and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of our sin. It is perilous to deny this provision, as we read in Hebrews 10:26-31, “For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries. Anyone who has rejected Moses’ law dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. Of how much worse punishment, do you suppose, will he be thought worthy who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace? For we know Him who said, ‘Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,’ says the Lord. And again, ‘The LORD will judge His people.’ It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.”

Maybe you are aware of the erroneous statements by Katherine Jefferts Schori, Presiding Bishop of the U.S. Episcopal Church. It appears that Jefferts Schori refers to individual salvation as “a form of idolatry”. She “called the belief that individuals can be right with God a ‘great Western heresy.’ She stated in a news release that the overarching problem facing Episcopalians has to do with ‘the great Western heresy—that we can be saved as individuals, that any of us alone can be in right relationship with God.’”12

Dr. Bobby S. (Bob) Terry, president and publisher of The Alabama Baptist, comments, “As shocking as her words are, the thinking behind them is not entirely original. Her belief is based on the Old Testament concept that God had a personal relationship with the nation of Israel, not individual Israelites. Today such thinking concludes God has a relationship with the Church and salvation comes by identification with the Church Jesus established. Outside of identity with the Church, there is no salvation.

Jefferts Schori is not alone in holding this theological position. She is joined by others such as some Roman Catholics, Orthodox Christians and members of Churches of Christ.

As Baptists and other evangelicals understand the Bible, nothing could be further from the truth. We understand that Jesus died for all who believe in Him and confess Him as personal Lord and Savior (Rom. 10:9-10). In Jesus’ own ministry, people made individual decisions to believe in Him (John 4:29, 42). The ministry of the early church was characterized by individuals making decisions to believe in Jesus (Acts 16:30).

Our own faith stories and the story of missions are about individual decisions to trust Jesus as personal Lord and Savior. Many times, those individual decisions severed relationships with family and friends.

Baptists understand that having Christian parents or being reared in a Christian environment or being a member of a local congregation does not make one a believer. That happens only in the human heart, one person at a time.”13

Conclusion

Proverbs 18:24 says, “A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.”

Irish Canadian immigrant, Joseph Medlicott Scriven (1819-1886)14, wrote a poem after receiving word that his mother was seriously ill and he was unable to visit her. Scriven’s poem was later set to music now known as the hymn titled "What a Friend We Have in Jesus". Earlier Scriven’s first wife-to-be was drowned just before the wedding followed by the death of yet another young lady he planned to marry.

Jesus said, “As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love. If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love. ‘These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full. This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends. You are My friends if you do whatever I command you. 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. You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you. These things I command you, that you love one another’” (John 15:9-17).

Are you a friend of God?

1Stuart Briscoe, “Finding Friends” Practical Christianity (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., 1987), p. 620

2Ernest W. Bacon, Spurgeon Heir of the Puritans (Arlington Heights, IL: Christian Liberty Press, 2007), p. 165

3Jill and Stuart Briscoe, “Levels of Friendship” Practical Christianity (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., 1987), p. 625 Copyright © by Youth for Christ/USA. Database © 2007 WORDsearch Corp.

4Adrian Rogers, “The Qualities of a Good Friend” Practical Christianity (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., 1987), p. 630 Copyright © by Youth for Christ/USA. Database © 2007 WORDsearch Corp.

5Available from: http://www.lyricsmode.com/lyrics/i/israel_houghton/i_am_a_friend_of_god.html# Accessed: 08/06/09

6George Atkins, “Brethren, We Have Met To Worship”

Available from: http://www.hymntime.com/tch/htm/b/r/brethren.htm Accessed: 08/05/09

7Available from: http://www.dictionaryofdefinitions.com/what-is-the-definition-of-ambassador.html Accessed: 08/05/09

8Warren W. Wiersbe, “The Ambassador” (2 Corinthians 5:18-20) [from the series titled “Help Wanted”] “Morning Bible Study with Warren Wiersbe” (Charlotte, N.C.: Bible Broadcasting Network http://www.bbn.org , 08/15/09)

9Available from: http://www.oneplace.com/ministries/Songtime/ Accessed: 08/06 /09

10Mentoring: About Us, Dr. Waylon B. Moore, Available from: http://www.mentoring-disciples.org/about.html Accessed: 08/06/09

11Waylon B. Moore, “Mentoring: Marvelous Grace of our Loving Lord!” Available from: http://www.mentoring-disciples.org/216things.html Accessed: 08/06/09

12Bob Terry, Thoughts, Comment, “Personal Salvation Is Not a ‘Great Western Heresy’”, (Birmingham, AL: The Alabama Baptist, August 6, 2009), p. 2

13Ibid.

14Available from: http://www.josephscriven.org/index/Scriven_Bio.html Accessed: 08/06/09

By Dr. Franklin L. Kirksey, pastor First Baptist Church of Spanish Fort 30775 Jay Drive Spanish Fort, Alabama 36527

Author of Sound Biblical Preaching: Giving the Bible a Voice Available on Amazon.com and WORDsearchbible.com

http://www.amazon.com/Sound-Biblical-Preaching-Giving-Bible/dp/1594577684

http://www.wordsearchbible.com/products/Sound_Biblical_Preaching_1476.html

http://www.webspawner.com/users/franklinlkirksey / fkirksey@bellsouth.net / (251) 626-6210