Would you turn with me to Exodus
chapter 33? Exodus 33, I'd like to read verse
11. And the Lord spake unto Moses
face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend." Now this is what is called a
theophany, a pre-incarnate appearance of the Lord Jesus Christ. We
have many of these in the Old Testament where he appeared And
the Lord Jesus appeared to Moses and spake to him face to face,
as a man speaketh with his friend. The Lord Jesus counted Moses
as his friend. Now I have entitled this message,
Am I God's Friend? Now that's something that every
one of us probably kind of have a hard time getting hold of,
to think that the living God could count me as His friend. I can understand being His creature.
I can understand being a sinner saved by grace, but a friend
of God? That's an amazing thought, isn't
it? It's an amazing concept. One of the great blessings of
this life is friendship. To have true friends or a true
friend. It's sad to think that there
are people who go through this life without a friend. And that is a very difficult
thing to think about. That's sad, isn't it? Now, if I'm a person who has
no friends, in all likelihood it's because I don't seek to
be a friend. The wise man said, he that would
have friends must show himself friendly. Friendly people have
friends. People who are interested in
other people have friends. I read somewhere where one fellow
said, I've made more friends in two hours by being interested
in them than in two years seeking to get people to be interested
in me. And that's true. He that would have friends must
show himself to be friendly. But what a blessing friendship
is. I'm looking at some true friends.
I'm looking at some people who I believe would give me the shirt
off their back. And I would give you the shirt off my back. by
the grace of God. What a blessing true friendship
is. The best marriages are when the
husband and wife are best friends. That always makes the best marriage. What is friendship? What is a
friend? A friend, a true friend, is somebody
that you can let your guard down around. You can be yourself. You don't have to weigh everything
you say. You don't worry about having
to guard what you say around them for fear of how they'll
use it, and how they'll twist it, and how they will react. You know, it's difficult to be
around people like that, isn't it? Where you've got to measure
your words, where you've got to guard your words. But it's
such a blessing to be around someone that you know loves you.
And you don't have to measure your words around them. A friend
is somebody that loves you. And is not out to hurt you. But
they're for you. There's no conflict there. A
friend knows you. And a friend loves you anyway.
That's what a friend is. You know, when you have a true
friend, there's something about that person that you desire a
relationship with them. There's something about them
that makes you want to be their friend. You like the way they
treat you. You like the way they conduct themselves. You like
many things about them, and you feel like you're going to be
better off. You're going to be enriched by being their friend, and you
would count it a privilege and a blessing to be their friend. Now, you know them. You know what they're like. You
know their weaknesses. You know different things about
them, but you like them anyway. You love them. They are your
friend. A friend knows you and a friend
loves you. A friend is someone who's honest
with you. It's not all put on. It's not
all phony. They're honest with you, a true
friend. And you can be honest with them. It's a real relationship. A friend is someone you can confide
in. without worrying about what they'll
do with it. And your friend can confide in
you. You can lay your soul bare to
your friend. And your friend can lay his soul
bare to you. A friend is for you. A friend loves you. A friend
watches your back and is going to help in time of need and adversity. You see, there are times in life
when we find out who our true friends are, But a friend is
born for adversity. And with friends, there is a
sameness. And this is important for us
to understand this, as we understand what this thing is of being a
friend of God. With friends, there's a sameness.
When you have a relationship with a friend, it's the relationship
of a peer. It's far different than an employer-employee
relationship. or a master-servant relationship. Friends are peers. There's a
sameness. There's an equalness with friends. They have the same interests,
many of the same desires, the same goals, the same motives,
the same likes and dislikes. Friends love to talk with one
another. They love to have fellowship
with one another. And they'll not listen to somebody
talk bad about their friends. They're just not going to do
it. If you love me, if somebody talks bad about me, you'll defend
me. If I love you, and somebody talks bad about you, I tell you,
I've lost my temper three times since I've been a pastor that
I can remember. Three times. And all three times,
it's when somebody started trashing somebody in the church, and I
just couldn't deal with it. I don't talk bad about my friends.
I love them. They have this thing called loyalty. Somebody that is not loyal to
their friends, in reality, they are not friends. Friends want
to please one another. And they care what each other
thinks. They don't want to disappoint
each other. Isn't friendship a blessing?
Thank God for friendship. It's the gift of God. Now, to
think of all that a friend is and that God can count a man
His friend. Now, that is an amazing thought,
isn't it? That the living God, the God
of glory, He who is infinite can count a man actually His
friend. Now, Abraham was called the friend
of God. We just read that. We just read,
with the Lord spake to Moses face to face as a man speaks
with his friend. Now, the natural man has no love
for God and counts the God of the Bible his enemy. He twists
his words for evil purposes and the natural man would knock God
off his throne if it were in his power. He's no friend of
God, but there are some that the living God actually calls
His friends. Now, I want to be one of those
people, don't you? I want to be the friend of God.
You know, I pray this pretty much. I hesitate generally to
say what I pray because prayer is in your closet, but I debated
on whether to say this, but I think I should every day. Every day
I ask the Lord, first of all, I ask the Lord that I might be
found in Christ. I want to be found in Christ, nowhere else.
I ask the Lord to make me to be a pastor after His own heart. Scripture speaks of that. I ask
the Lord to make me a husband after His own heart. And I ask
the Lord to make me a father after His own heart. And I ask
the Lord to make me to be a true I want to be a true friend. I
want somebody to count me as their friend. Would God the Father, would the
Lord Jesus Christ, would the Holy Spirit call me His friend? That's an awesome thought, isn't
it? If so, how? How? Can a man be the friend of God? Is it attainable for me to be
his friend? Well, let's look at this passage
of Scripture and what led to it, this statement. Look in verse
1 of chapter 33. And the Lord said unto Moses,
You'll remember this is right after the incident of the golden
calf. And the Lord said unto Moses,
Depart, and go up hence, thou and the people which thou hast
brought up out of the land of Egypt, unto the land which I
swear, unto Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, saying, Unto thy
seed will I give it. And I will send an angel before
thee, and I will drive out the Canaanite, the Amorite, and the
Hittite, and the Perizzite, and the Hivite, and the Jebusite,
unto a land flowing with milk and honey. You're going to have
all the material blessings I promised you. I'm going to send an angel,
and he's going to drive out these people, and you're going to have
this land flowing with milk and honey. For I will not go up in
the midst of thee, for thou art a stiff-necked people. lest I
consume thee in the way. And when the people heard these
evil tidings, this was bad news, they mourned. And no man put
on his ornaments. Now, he said, you will have these
physical material blessings. but you will not have my presence. I will not go with you. I'll
send a created angel to give you the land and defeat your
enemies, but you're not going to have my presence. Now, to
a believer, this is evil tidings. This is bad news. You see, if I have every material
blessing, and every physical blessing, wealth and health. And I do not have the presence
of Christ, I have nothing. And if I have none of what this
world desires, if I'm sick and diseased and my body is wracked
with pain, And I don't have any of the material comforts of this
world. If I have none of that, but if
I have Christ, I have everything. Now to a believer, the worst
thing they can imagine is to be left to themselves. That's
the worst thing. There isn't anything worse than
that. To hear that I'd get all these blessings, Everything will
be fine materially and health wise and so on, but I'm not going
to have his presence. That is evil tidings. That's bad news. I must have,
I must have his presence. I must have his presence. I can't be without that. So what
did they do? Verse 4, When the people heard
these evil tidings, they mourned, and no man did put on him his
ornaments. Now, there were two things they
did when they heard these evil tidings. They mourned. They were
sorry over their sin. They couldn't bear the thought
of not having his presence, and they put off their ornaments.
Now, what are ornaments? Man-made things that made them
attractive. Stuff that makes you look better.
Stuff that improves your appearance. It was the golden calf that was
made from these man-made ornaments. Remember? It was the gold earrings
they put out to make the golden calf. But now when they saw what
they once saw as beautifying them, now made them sick. And in true mourning for sin,
in true repentance, you will strip off your ornaments. We
just heard you sing about it, Matt. You'll strip off human
righteousness and you'll come to the Lord humbly as a sinner. When you hear evil tidings, there's
only one way to come. There's nothing you can do to
make yourself better. You come as a sinner and nothing
more. Now, can you come like that?
As a sinner? Verse 5, to the Lord, had said unto Moses,
saying to the children of Israel, You are a stiff-necked people.
I will come up to thee and to the midst of thee in a moment
and consume thee. Therefore now put off thine ornaments from
thee, that I may know what to do unto thee. And the children
of Israel stripped themselves of their ornaments, their man-made
beauty, their man-made righteousness by the Mount Horeb. Strip off your ornaments and
let's wait and see. So Moses, verse 7, took the tabernacle. Now, this was not the tabernacle
that had all the layers and the gold and silver and so on. That
hadn't been yet constructed. This was more of a temporary
thing until that tabernacle could be made. It was a smaller tent.
And Moses took the tabernacle and pitched it without the camp
afar off from the camp and called it the tabernacle of the congregation.
Now, I'm sure this scared everybody. as they saw what had signified
the presence of the Lord, where the cloudy pillar come down,
it left the camp. And he took it far away from
the camp. And I'm sure they were scared
to death. They were thinking, what's going to happen? Are we losing the
presence of the Lord? Now let's go on reading. And
it came to pass that everyone which sought the Lord, everyone which sought the Lord,
went out unto the tabernacle of the congregation which was
without the camp. Now Moses moved this tent and
everyone who sought the Lord. Now listen real carefully. Here
is the difference between a believer and an unbeliever. An unbeliever
seeks the blessing. The unbeliever wants God to help
him with his life. I want to have my good family
life. I want to have financial security. I want help in my troubles. I
want the Lord to help me. I want the Lord to bless me.
I want these things. I seek these things. I know that
the Lord can give me these things. And I seek the Lord. An unbeliever
seeks these really fleshly blessings when it comes right down to it,
material blessings, physical blessings. A true believer seeks
the Lord, the Lord Himself. That's who I must have. Now, everyone who sought the
Lord went out into the tabernacle of the congregation, which was
without the camp, verse 8. And it came to pass when Moses
went out into the tabernacle, far away from the camp, that
all the people rose up and stood, every man, these are the men
who sought the Lord, at his tent door and looked after Moses until
he was gone into the tabernacle. How carefully with what fear
they looked and it came to pass, verse 9, as Moses entered into
the tabernacle, the cloudy pillar, God's presence descended. and stood at the door of the
tabernacle, and the Lord talked with Moses. The presence of the
Lord came down with Moses. This was the one thing he desired,
his presence. This is what he prayed for. Look
in verse 12 of chapter 33. And Moses, we'll be considering
this, Lord willing, next week, but it says, And Moses said unto
the Lord, See, thou sayest unto me, Bring up this people, And
thou hast not let me know whom thou wilt send with me. You talked
about this created angel. That's not what I want. Yet thou
hast said, I know thee by name. And thou hast also found grace
in my sight. Oh, I want the Lord to know me
by name. I want to find grace in his sight. Oh, that's what
I must have. Now let's go on reading. Now
therefore, he says, I pray thee. If I have found grace in thy
sight, show me now thy way, that I may know thee, that I may find
grace in thy sight, and consider that this nation is thy people.
And he said, My presence shall go with thee, and I'll give thee
rest. And he said unto him, If thy
presence go not with me, carry us not up hence, For wherein
shall it be known that I and thy people have found grace in
thy sight? Is it not that thou goest with us? So shall we be
separated, I and thy people, from all the people that are
upon the face of the earth." This is the crowd I want to be
in. Those people that have found grace in his sight. Those people
that he's separated from the face of the earth. Those people
who have the presence of the living God. Now, I must have
his presence. Now, what did the people do?
Look back at verse 10. And all the people saw the cloudy pillar
stand at the tabernacle door, and all the people rose up and
worshipped every man in his tent. What is worship? What does it mean to worship
God? It's certainly a scriptural word and concept, but what does
it mean to worship God? I know what men say, but what
is worship? Let me show you a few scriptures.
Turn to Genesis 22. This is the first time the word
is used in the Bible. Genesis 22. And it came to pass after these
things that God did tempt Abraham. Remember, Abraham's his friend. And said unto him, Abraham, and
let me say that every time Abraham heard the Lord speak, some big
trial was ahead. And I'll bet he just grimaced
when he heard his, what? Yes. Behold, here I am. And he said,
Take now thy son, thy 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
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 into the place which God had told him. Then on the third
day Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw the place afar off. And
Abraham said unto his young men, Ebuy ye here with the ass, and
I and the lad will go yonder and worship." What is worship? First of all,
it's obedience. It's obedience. I and the lad
will go yonder and worship and come again to you. Now, turn
with me to Matthew chapter 8. I've heard people say, well,
we had a worship service. Well, I don't know if you did
or not, but I know here's true worship. Here's scriptural worship. Verse 1, when he came down from
heaven, from the mountain, great multitudes followed him. And
behold, there came a leper, and what? Worshipped him, saying,
Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean. And here's the
thing I want to point out about this fellow. He hadn't been made clean yet,
and he didn't know if the Lord would make him clean. He knew
the Lord could if He wanted to. It was in His sovereign hands
and sovereign will. He could do whatever He wanted
to. Lord, if You will, You can make me clean. But He worshipped
Him for who He was, not for the blessing He received because
He hadn't even received the blessing and He didn't know whether He'd
get it. Now here's a question I want to ask you. Is the Lord
worthy of your worship, even if he passes you by. Is he worthy? Whether you get
the blessing or not. Turn to Matthew chapter 15. What
is worship? Verse 21, Then Jesus went thence,
and departed into the coasts of Tyre, and sighed, and, behold,
A woman of Canaan came out of the same coast and cried unto
Him, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, Thou Son of David. My
daughter is grievously vexed with the devil." Now this woman's
got a pretty good resume. She comes knowing who He is. The
Son of David. She comes with great respect.
Have mercy on me. She came for the right thing.
She had a great need. He answered her, ìNot a word.î
And his disciples came and besought him, saying, ìSend her away,
for she crieth after us.î But he answered and said, ìI am not
sent, but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.î Now
the Lord says to her in no uncertain terms. I did not come to save
everybody. How many different ways are there
to take that? I'm only sent to the lost sheep of the house of
Israel. This is gospel preaching. Matter
of fact, you can't preach a gospel and not preach this. This is
gospel preaching. And you know what her reaction
was? She said, well that's not fair. I'm coming the right way. I know
who you are. I'm asking for the right thing.
This is not fair. What was her reaction? I love
this. Verse 25, Then came she, and
what? Worshipped Him. You see, you
will only worship a sovereign. One in whose hands you are. You can't manipulate Him. You
can't control Him. You're in His hands. And when
you see that, you know what you'll do? You'll worship. You'll worship the living God.
Now these people fell down and worshipped. Now let's go back
to our text in Exodus 33. All the people rose up and worshipped
every man in his tent door, verse 11, and the Lord spake unto Moses face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend. Now, I can see him speaking as
Creator. I can see him speaking as Savior. I can see him speaking
as Sovereign. But speaking to Moses as his
friend, now remember, in a friendship there is a sameness. You don't understand friendship
if you don't understand this. In a friendship there is a sameness. There must have been something
about Moses that made him fit to be the friend of God. You see, if you want somebody
to be your friend, you don't just find somebody that you don't
like, and don't like being around them, and don't like what they
stand for, and don't like what they say, and you don't like, well,
I'm going to try to be their friend. I'm just going to be their friend
unconditionally. No, that's not who you want for your friend.
You want for your friend somebody you love, somebody that you admire,
somebody that you see something about them that makes you want
to be. their friend. Now, Moses had
some kind of something about him the same way Abraham did. Abraham was said to be the friend
of God. Now, there's got to be something
in somebody that makes God want to be their friend. And you know
every believer is the friend of God. This is not just for
Moses. This is not just for Abraham.
Every believer, I'm going to show you this from the scriptures.
Every believer, God counts his friend. Somebody who loves him. Somebody who he can, as it were,
let his guard down. They're not trying to twist his
words. They're not trying to attack
him. They love him. They bow to him. They love him as he is. Every believer is a friend to
God. Turn to John chapter 15. John chapter 15, verse 13. Greater love hath no man than
this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. Do you know everybody the Lord
laid down His life for? he saw as his friends. Verse 14, you are my friends
if you do whatsoever I command you. Now that said to every believer,
there's no true love or friendship without obedience. He that hath
my commandments and keepeth them, he who believes my gospel, he
who loves my people, that person who obeys my commandments, that's
the person who truly is my friend. And the Lord says to every believer,
you're my friend. If you do what I tell you to
do, if you believe the gospel, you are my friend. Verse 15, henceforth, and this
is said to every believer, verse 15, henceforth, I call you not
servants, for the servant knoweth not what his Lord doeth. You
know, the Lord tells the servant, do this, and he just does it.
He doesn't have to give a reason. He doesn't have to give an explanation.
Do it because I said to do it. I've got the authority. Do it.
I don't need to explain anything to you. Just do it. I had my
dad tell me that all the time. It always burned me up when he
did. I never let him know it. I'd keep real quiet about it,
but he'd say, do it because I said to. And I did it because he said
to, because I knew what happened if I didn't. But the Lord doesn't
treat us as servants. Look what it says. Henceforth
I call you not servants, for the servant knoweth not what
his Lord doeth. But I've called you friends,
for all things that I've heard of my Father I've made known
to you." Now listen to me, this is true of every believer, every
single believer. That which is most precious to
God, the Gospel of His Son, He's made known to you. He's let you
in the inner sanctum. He hasn't just given you commands,
He's made known to you that which is most precious to Himself,
His Gospel. You know, with a friend, you
want them to confide in you, don't you? You're around somebody,
you can tell when they won't open up to you because maybe
they don't trust you, maybe they just don't feel comfortable with
you. But the Lord, to every one of His people, He makes bare
His heart, He's revealed to you the very gospel of His grace,
the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. He says, you're my friends. I've made known to you what's
most precious to me. Now, God counts me His friend. How? Now, first, You and I can
be his friend because truly he is the friend of sinners. That's
what the scripture says. You know, they were trying to
vilify him. They said, behold, a gluttonous man, a wine-bibber,
the friend of publicans and sinners. They were trying to vilify him,
but they gave him one of the most glorious titles he has. He's
the friend of sinners. Now this is how this sinner can
be his friend because he is the friend of sinners. This man receiveth
sinners, and eateth with them." Where would you and I be if that
were not so? This man receiveth sinners. His whole life proves
that. His incarnation. Why did He come? Why did He become a man? To save
sinners. That was His purpose in coming.
Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. of whom I am
the chief." Look at the people he hung out with. Look at the
people he associated himself with. Mary Magdalene, Matthew
the Publican, the woman who was a sinner, and just go on and
on, the people that he said, he said, I came not to call the
righteous, but sinners to repentance. Does the cross prove that this
man is the friend of publicans and sinners? He came to die for
sinners, to put away their sins, to save them. Now remember, there must be something
in a man that makes you want him for a friend. What could
be in me that would make the living God
want me to be his friend Christ in you the hope of glory turn
to Colossians 1 verse 12 giving thanks unto the Father,
which hath made us meet, fit to be partakers of the inheritance
of the saints in light. Every believer has a fitness,
a meatness to be the friend of God. We're all partakers, according
to II Peter 1.4, of the divine nature. I've got a nature. that God finds attractive. And He wants me to be His friend. Christ in you, the hope of glory. This can only be understood in
light of union with Christ. Turn to 1 Corinthians chapter
1. Very familiar scripture. But of Him, verse 30. 1 Corinthians
1.30. I'd like you to look at this.
I know you're familiar with it, but let's look at it again. But
of Him are you, every believer, not just to select you, not just
some inner circle, but every believer. Of Him are you in Christ
Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom. Do you know that I
have enough wisdom for God to desire to be my friend? Because
Christ is my wisdom. Now, I can't have fellowship
with a dog or a cat or something like that. It has to be someone
who's a peer. Someone who is wise. God counts
every believer as wise as the Lord Jesus Christ. He desires
you as his friend. And if he desires you as his
friend, you are his friend. You know, he doesn't want to
have somebody for a friend and then turn him down. No. We desire
his friendship. You know when he says greater
love than this hath no man greater love hath no man than this that
a man lay down his life for his friends. Lord lay down his life
for his friends and you know by the grace of God by the grace
of God and I know apart from the grace of God I'll prove to
be a coward and deny him I really believe that apart from his grace
but by the grace of God I would found it a high honor to lay
down my life for him. If they said deny the gospel
Deny Christ, deny His grace, or you'll be burned at the stake.
I hope by the grace of God. And I believe, the way I feel,
this will put me at the stake then. I would count it a high
honor. You see, every believer is meat
for friendship with God. He's made us meat for the inheritance
of the saints in life. I've got wisdom. In Christ Jesus,
I have righteousness. Now, God is not going to have
an unrighteous man as His friend. In Christ, I have perfect righteousness
where God can embrace me as his friend. I have sanctification. I have holiness. I can't get
any more holy than I am. I've got the very holiness of
Jesus Christ. I'm made, sanctified by the offering
of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. I have complete redemption. I am fit to be God's friend. Don't forget, Ephesians 3.12
tells us in whom we have every believer, boldness and access
with confidence by the faith of Him. Do you believe? Now you can answer that with a yes
or no. Do you believe the gospel? Are you relying on the Lord Jesus
Christ as your salvation? You can say with Simeon, Now,
Lord, lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, mine eyes have
seen thy salvation. Christ himself is salvation. Then God counts you as his friend. God counts you as his intimate
friend. You love him as he is, don't
you? All of his friends do. Now, let's
make it our aim to be better friends. I want to be a better friend
to the Lord, don't you? I want to be a better friend. And I
want to be a better friend to you. Let's make it our aim to
be better friends to the Lord and better friends to one another. What a blessing it is to have
each other as friends. I feel so blessed. I feel I've
got a mate. What friends I have in the Lord
Jesus Christ. What a blessing. I'd like to
sing as a closing hymn