We're going to begin this morning
in James chapter two. I want to look at two very important
questions this morning, one in our class this morning and one
in the message. The first question I want to
deal with this morning is this. Are you a friend of God? Abraham
is called the friend of God. James chapter two, verse 23.
And the scripture was fulfilled, which said Abraham believed God.
and he was imputed unto him for righteousness, and he was called
the friend of God. And what an amazing statement.
A man can be called a son of Adam, can be called the friend
of God. Not just called, but actually
be the friend of God. Now, friendship is very important
to us. It's just in human nature to
like friendship. I have a niece, Aubrey. When
she was a little thing, we'd go to a playground or to a playland
at the mall or something, you know. And she'd go up to the
other children that were there. She'd just go right up to them
and ask them, do you want to be my friend? She didn't ask, do you
want to play together? She said, do you want to be my
friend? Because that's what we all wanted. Dan Morgan is my close friend,
been my close, close friend. for nearly 30 years. Since before
my girls could speak, he was Uncle Dan to them. That's how
close of a friend we've been. And I value that friendship.
I love to have a friend like Dan Morgan. But you know what
else? I want to be a good friend. In
return to him, I want to be a good friend. Because friendship is
a two-way street. Well, in light of that, how can
I be the friend of God? Abraham was a friend of God.
Is it possible I could be the friend of God? Well, first, if
we would be the friend of God, think of this. The Lord Jesus
Christ is called the friend of sinners. If I'm going to be a
friend of God, I've got to be a sinner. God is not friends
with everybody. He's not friends with the self-righteous.
He said he didn't come to do anything for the self-righteous.
He didn't come to call them. He didn't come to heal them.
He didn't come to save them. But he's the friend of sinners. He
came to call and to save and to heal every sinner. Now, friendship's a two-way street.
How can a sinner be friends with God? Christ is the friend of
sinners, but how can a sinner be a friend with God? God's holy,
isn't he? God hates sin. And we've got
a nature that hates God, that doesn't want to be friends with
God. So if I'm going to be the friend of God, I've got to be
born again. God's got to give me a new nature. He's got to
give me a holy nature that he can love. And he's got to give
me a new nature that will love him in return. That's the nature
that God gives his people in new birth. So if I'd be a friend
of God, I've got to be a sinner and I've got to be born again.
Adam made me a sinner, didn't he? Well, the Holy Spirit causes
us to be born again, to be a friend of God. And there's a lot of
qualities that define Friendship. You ask people about things that
define friendship. You get a lot of good answers.
Friends enjoy being together. Friends tell each other their
secrets. Friends are always there for one another. But there's
one particular trait about friendship that scripture uses that defined
Abraham as the friend of God and its trust. Abraham believed
God. He trusted God. When was it that
Abraham was called a friend of God? It's when he believed God,
wasn't it? God told Abraham, he came to
him one day, Abraham was old and he came in prayer before
the Lord and said, I don't have an heir. And God told him, you
and Sarah are going to have a son. Now, Abraham and Sarah are both
too old to bear children. And even though there was absolutely
no earthly reason to believe that Sarah would have a son,
Abraham believed God when he said it. And it was imputed unto
him for righteousness. Abraham was made righteous through
faith, through faith in Christ. And it was at that moment, Abraham
was seen as the friend of God. Now friends believe one another,
they trust one another. And that friendship, that trust,
that belief in each other is proven over time. Abraham was
the friend of God. He believed God. He had faith
in Christ. And that faith was proven over
time. Time and time again, the Jews
say Abraham had 10 great trials. His faith was proven over time. And that faith was tested concerning
that son. That's when James said Abraham
proved to be a true friend of God. Now look at Genesis chapter
22. You and I are going to be the
friend of God. We're going to have to have the same faith that
Abraham had. We're going to have to believe
God like Abraham believed God. So I want us to look at Genesis
22 and see the example of faith that James said made Abraham
the friend of God. Now, the first is this. Friends
prove themselves by sticking together in times of adversity,
especially in times of trouble. That's when your friends stand
out. Those are the people that come to you. You don't just quit
being friends when there's trouble. Well, that's faith. Faith does
not quit when it's proven by trials. Genesis 22 verse 1. And it came to pass after these
things that God did tempt Abraham. It said unto him, Abraham. And
he said, behold, here I am. And he said, take now thy son,
thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest. and get thee into the
land of Moriah and offer him there for a burnt offering upon
one of the mountains, which I will tell thee of." And after all
these other trials that Abraham endured, now he's old. He's well
old, well stricken with age, and God sent him the hardest
one of all. You know, by our natural reasoning,
we think, well, man gets to be this age. And he's already endured. He's already endured all the
heartache, all the trouble, all the trial, but it's not over. This is when God sent Abraham,
the hardest one of all. And James told us, this is when
Abraham's faith was proven to be genuine faith. And if we believe
God, we can expect the same thing. Trials are God's way to reveal
true faith and to strengthen faith. Peter told us, don't think
it's strange concerning the fiery trial, which is to try you as
though some strange thing happened to you, but rejoice. And as much
as you're partakers of Christ's suffering, that when his glory
should be revealed, you'll be glad also with exceeding joy.
James, we looked at this just a couple of weeks ago, told us,
my brethren, count it all joy when you fall into divers temptations,
knowing this, that the trying of your faith were impatience.
Abraham claimed to be the friend of God. He claimed to believe
God, didn't he? Well, this trial is going to
reveal genuine faith. And I don't want trials. I just, I mean, just be completely
honest with you. I don't want to be tried, but
I do want to know this. I want to know. Right now, today,
I want to know is my faith genuine faith or false faith? I want
to know that. Well, the only way I can know that is through
trials. And faith that won't quit in
the face of a trial is true faith. Number two, faith is obedient.
Faith obeys God. Our friendship, I told you friendship's
a two-way street. Our friendship with God begins
with God, doesn't it? Look over at John chapter 15. John 15 verse 13. Our friendship
begins with God. John 15 verse 13. Our Lord says, greater love hath
no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. Now that's proof positive. Christ
is the friend of sinners. He laid down his life for them
as their substitute, as their sacrifice. He is the friend of
sinners. Well, here's how we can be friends
with God by believing Christ. Verse 14, he said, he goes on,
he says, you're my friends. If you do whatsoever, I command
you. Now, what is God's commandment?
Well, it's not the 10 commandments. It's not the law of Moses. God's
commandment is that we believe on Christ for all of our salvation.
He commands us that. First John 3, 23, this is his
commandment. that you should believe on the name of his son,
Jesus Christ, and love one another as he's given us commandment.
That's his commandment. And God told Abraham, take your
son. It wasn't a suggestion. It wasn't an idea. It was a commandment.
And Abraham obeyed. He showed the obedience of faith.
Verse three, back in Genesis 22. And Abraham rose up early
in the morning and saddled his ass and took two of his young
men with him and Isaac, his son, and claimed the wood for the
burnt offering and rose up and went unto the place which God
had told him. Now, the Lord must have spoken
to Abraham late in the afternoon or the evening because he didn't
take right off. He waited till morning and early the next morning,
Abraham hit the road just like God told him to. There's no arguing,
no questioning. There's no bargaining with God.
Abraham simply obeyed. Now, that's saving faith. Saving
faith always obeys and believes Christ even when we don't understand. If I can understand it, it's
not faith, is it? Faith just believes God. Do I
understand how God could be made a man? Do I understand how the
Holy Son of God could be made sin? Do I understand how the
believer is righteous even though all I see about myself is sin?
I don't understand any of that. But I don't have to understand
how God does what He does in order to believe. I just believe
Him. Just believe what He says. Just
obey Him. Faith, the faith that's a friend
of God, obeys God. Then here's the third thing.
Friends are devoted to each other because they're important to
each other. Friends are important to each other. Faith is devoted
to Christ. Abraham rose up early in the
morning and he went to the place God told him. Abraham didn't
say now, Lord, wait a minute. I've waited for Isaac a long
time. I've watched him grow. I love
that boy. I cast Ishmael out. I can't give
him up now. He's too precious to me now.
I'm too old to start over this thing over again. He didn't do
that, did he? You know why? Christ is more important than
that boy. Abraham didn't say, how am I
ever going to explain this to his mother? Christ is more important
than Sarah. And Abraham didn't say, how am
I going to explain this to the world around me? Christ is more
important to him than the world. And none of us are going to be
called upon to sacrifice our children. take our children and
kill them with our own hands and burn their bodies. None of
us can be called upon to do that. But we'd be wise to give up our
children to the Lord. Just give them up to Him. I can't tell you how to do that,
but you'll know it. Just give them up. Nothing is more important
to Christ than Christ to the person that has saving faith. I can let go of a lot of things.
I always try not to say, oh, I couldn't do without this, or
I couldn't do without that. I try not to say, I don't know
what I'd do without Janet. Because the Lord can show me. I can do without a lot of things.
But I can't do without Christ. That's saving faith. That's the
faith that's the friend of God. Number four, friendship is proven
over time. Good friends always become old
friends. Well, that saving faith is proven
over time. Verse four. Then on the third
day, Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw the place afar off. Now, three days is a long time
to walk. Three days is a long time to
drive, isn't it? Three days is a long time to walk. Three straight
sleepless nights. Three straight long nights. Abraham
had plenty of opportunity to just stop and turn around and
go back home, didn't he? But he didn't do it. Because
saving faith doesn't quit. And the same thing is going to
hold true for you and me. There's plenty of opportunity
to just stop and turn around and go back. There's plenty of
opportunity. Turn around and go back to Egypt
if you want to. Plenty of opportunity to do it. The Lord asked His
disciples. Remember, they said they heard
Him preach and they saw this a hard saying. Who can hear it?
And what they mean is, I'm not going to hear this anymore. I'm
not going to bow to that. I'm not going to believe that. And many went
away from Him. And the Lord didn't try to salvage
His ministry and keep people there, did He? There are 12 left. Out of all those multitudes,
there's 12 left. And He looked at them and said, will you also
go away? Nobody's holding you here against your will. The Lord
has no unwilling servants. And Peter said, Lord, we're staying
because you've given us saving faith. We believe and we're sure
that thou art the Christ, the son of the living God. You have
the words of eternal life. Where else would we want to go?
Look at Hebrews chapter 11. Where else would we want to go?
Saving faith doesn't want to go anywhere else. Hebrews 11 verse 13. These all died in faith, not
having received the promises, but having seen them afar off
and were persuaded of them and embraced them and confessed that
they're strangers and pilgrims in the earth. For they that say
such things declare plainly that they seek a country. And truly,
if they'd been mindful of that country from whence they came
out, They might have had opportunity to have returned, but now they
desire a better country. See, they didn't return because
they desire a better country. That is in heavenly, wherefore
God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he hath prepared
for them a city. Saving faith is going to prove
itself over time. It won't quit. Then here's the
fifth thing about friendship. Friends trust each other. They're certain about one another.
They're certain about their friendship. They're certain about the character
of their friend. Well, saving faith is absolutely certain. Verse five, Abraham said unto
his young men, abide ye here with the ass and I the lad will
go yonder and worship. And we're going to come again
to you. God told Abraham not just that he's going to have
a son, but that the Messiah, is going to come through Isaac.
Abraham believed that. Now God told Abraham, take Isaac
and kill him. Abraham didn't ask, Lord, how's the Messiah
going to come through Isaac if I kill him? Abraham was still
certain God would do what he promised he would do. And he
didn't know how he'd do it, but he's sure God's going to do what
he promised he'd do. He's sure the Savior is going
to come through Abraham. Now Hebrews 11 told us that Abraham
thought God's going to keep his promise by raising Isaac from
the dead. He received him from the dead in a figure. That's
what he thought would happen. But you know, it could be Abraham
had some idea what God was going to do. It could be. How'd he
know that? How could he have known what
God's going to do? It wouldn't surprise me. God told him, gave
him some indication. Look back at Genesis chapter
18. Friends tell their secrets to each other, don't they? Here
in Genesis 18, three angels come to visit Abraham. I'm just positive
one of them is a pre-incarnate appearance of Christ because
Abraham worshipped him. And they sat and talked with
Abraham. Look here at Genesis 18. This is before they go down
to the land of Sodom to destroy it. Genesis 18, yeah, verse 16. And the men rose up from the
fence and looked toward Sodom, And Abraham went with them to
bring them on the way. And the Lord, see one of these
angels is called the Lord Jehovah, said, shall I hide from Abraham
that thing which I do, seeing that Abraham surely should become
a great and mighty nation and all the nations of the earth
shall be blessed in him. Shall I hide that thing that I do from
Abraham? No, I'm going to tell him because friends tell their
secrets to each other. Could be God told Abraham something
about what he was going to do. But whether he did or he didn't,
I mean, I don't know. That's just speculation on my
part, but saving faith is always certain. God's going to do what
he promised he'd do. I know, I know this. I know it. God's going to save his people.
God's going to feed his sheep. He's going to strengthen his
sheep. And I tell you how he's going to do it through the preaching of
the gospel. Well, we're going to get discouraged and quit.
Nobody's listening. Nobody's paying attention. Nobody's
coming. I don't see the Lord doing anything.
Wait a minute. Is the Lord going to do what he promised he's going
to do? He is isn't he? And we're going to keep preaching
the gospel. By his grace, we're going to
keep doing it. See, I don't know how the Lord's going to do what
he promised he's going to do, but I read the last page of the
book. I know how it's going to end.
I know how it's going to end. And we need to remember that.
Next time we think, well, nobody's believed in the gospel. Nobody
believed on Christ. The world's already gone to hell
in a handbasket already. No, it hasn't. Not yet it hadn't. God's still saving his people.
And he's not going to wrap this thing up until every last one
of them have been saved. I know. I'm so confident. I know this. Christ is not going
to lose even one for whom he died. Because saving faith is
absolutely certain. Then sixth thing, friends know
each other. You know, I could hear a wild
story about one of you. And I could say, I know he didn't
do that. I know she didn't do that. And
they say, how do you know that? Because I know them. That's how
I know. I know their character. I know
them. Well, that's saving faith. Saving
faith is knowledgeable. There is no such thing as blind
faith. I know how God saves sinners. There's no such thing as blind
faith, because what? I know whom I have believed. I know the character of the Savior.
Verse seven. Now Isaac spake unto Abraham
his father and said, my father. And he said, hear my, my son. He said, behold the fire and
the wood, but where's the land for the burnt offering? Oh, I
love that question. Where's the land? for the burnt
offering. Jonathan, in his prayer, prayed
for our children in their classes this morning. It's my constant
prayer that one of them is going to ask somebody, where's the
lamb? Where's the lamb for me? Isaac's question showed some
knowledge to him. He'd been taught how God's to
be worshipped. God's not to be worshipped with
the best we can do. God is only worshiped. God can only be approached through
a blood sacrifice. There's got to be a lamb's lamb. Isaac's question showed knowledge,
didn't it? And Abraham's answer showed knowledge. Oh, he said,
I know the answer to that. God's going to provide the lamb.
There's got to be a perfect lamb. There's got to be a perfect lamb
so God can accept him. So God's going to provide a lamb
for himself. A lamb whose sacrifice will satisfy
God. The lamb's got to be perfect.
So God is going to have to provide himself as the lamb. Abraham
knew that. His faith was knowledgeable faith.
God's going to provide the sacrifice that will satisfy both God and
men in the lamb, Christ Jesus. And years and years and years
later, the Messiah came. John the Baptist, the last of
the Old Testament prophets, pointed him out. And what did he say?
Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.
In about three and a half years after that moment, Christ the
Lord was crucified. They tell me on the very mountain
where Isaac was offered is Mount Moriah, later became known as
Mount Calvary. And there on that mountain, The
Lord Jesus Christ fulfilled this picture. The sacrifice of the
substitute for his people and all of his people were saved
from sin and death because our great friend laid down his life
for his friends. Then seventh, friendship has
a lot of rewards. I read that people who have good
friends tend to be healthier, tend to live longer, tend to
be happier. There's a lot of rewards with good friends. Well, that's saving faith. Saving
faith always sees its reward. Verse nine. And they came to
the place which God had told him of. And Abraham built an
altar there and laid the wood in order, bound Isaac his son
and laid him on the altar upon the wood. And Abraham stretched
forth his hand and took the knife to slay his son. And the angel
of the Lord called unto him out of heaven and said, Abraham,
Abraham. And he said, here am I. And he said, lay not thine
hand upon the lad. Neither do thou anything unto
him, for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast
not withheld thy son, thine only son from me. And Abraham lifted
up his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him a ram, caught in the
thicket by his horns. And Abraham went and took the
ram and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his
son. The reward of Abraham's faith
was to see the substitute. God showed him that ram caught
in the thicket by its horns. Faith's reward. Abraham believed
God. Abraham was sure that Messiah
is going to come through Isaac and his faith had its reward,
didn't it? He saw Isaac live because the substitute died.
Saving faith will always be rewarded with the sight of the Lord Jesus
Christ, the sinner substitute dying in my place so I can live. That's what our great, great
friend has done for his people. Don't ever listen to anybody
that portrays the Lord Jesus as this poor, pitiful creature. This picture we're reading about
here, I could preach from this Ten services in a row. I love
this picture. It's so packed full of the gospel. But there's
something I want to point out here. This ram was caught in
the thicket by its horns, by its power. Those big horn sheep
out there in the West, those horns are their power. That's
what they use to just bash into each other. That's their power.
The Lord Jesus Christ was constrained by his power to save. He was constrained to go to the
cross. He's the only one who could save
his people. He was constrained by the power
of his love, the power of his love for his father to please
and satisfy his father, the power of his love for his people. He
didn't go to the cross in weakness. No, he was taken there in power
and his power to save our all powerful friend, Didn't have
his life taken from him. He laid it down for his people. And then here's the last thing.
Friends rejoice in each other. Saving faith always rejoices
in Christ. Verse 14. This is the day our
Lord spoke of. Abraham saw my day and was glad
it was this day. He saw Christ in the picture
of this day. And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovah
Jireh. The Lord will provide. As it said to this day in the
mount of the Lord, it shall be seen that faith rejoices in Christ,
not in the ceremonies of religion, not in our own good deeds. Faith
always and only rejoices in Christ. Faith rejoices in Christ. He
not doesn't just provide everything that I need. He is everything
that I need. Now we might think, okay, I mean,
Abraham is Abraham. He's on a different plane than
me. I can see how Abraham's a friend of God, but not me. I can't be like Abraham. I want
you to look one last scripture, Isaiah chapter 41. We're the
friend of God if we have the faith of Abraham, if we have
the same nature that God gave Abraham. Isaiah 41 verse eight. But thou, Israel, art my servant,
Jacob, whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham, my friend. See, God is the friend of everybody
that he chose to save. God is the friend of everybody
that he calls out of idolatry to faith in Christ. Just like
he did Abraham. And he didn't just do that for Abraham, did
he? No, he's talking here about the spiritual seed of Abraham. It's all the people who have
the same faith as our father, Abraham, if you have this faith,
Almighty God is your friend and you're His friend. Like I said when I opened this,
I don't just want to have friends. I want to be a good friend. It's
my prayer that we be faithful to such a friend as a friend
of sinners, to stick it closer than a brother. He's proven himself
to be a good friend to me. He's proven himself to be a good
friend to everybody that believes in him. Oh, may God make us faithful
and prove ourselves to be his friend. All right. Lord bless
you.