13
January, 1946
Every Christian heart will rejoice in this presentation oi what it means to live in the sweet intimacy of friendship with God.
Drawing by Pvt. John Kl Adams
no longer His enemies, but His friends. But new friends need to become well acquainted with each other before they can be “ good friends.” In every life the event (regeneration) must be followed by a process; there must be transactions with God, daily, hourly and mo ment by moment. As time goes by, we learn to know God, and what real friendship with Him is. W HAT it meant to Abraham to be a friend of God is beautifully brought out in the narrative of the eighteenth chapter of Genesis. One hot day, the Lord came to Abraham’s home. Abraham recognized Him at once. Three men stood at the tent door, but Abraham addressed himself to the Lord of Heaven and earth. Friends of God know Him. “My sheep hear my voice,” said the Lord Jesus (John 10:27). It was this disciple whom Jesus loved who first recognized Him that post- resurrection morning at the Sea of Galilee, and ex claimed, “It is the Lord” (John 21:7). Close acquaintance with Christ makes it possible to know His voice when He speaks out of, His Word. Of course, this knowledge brings with it the ability to detect the voice of the false shepherd. An intimate friendship with the Saviour is the only sure protection against false doctrine. This principle is clearly stated by the Apostle Paul (Eph. 4:12-16; Col. 2:18,19). W E note further that Abraham gladly welcomed the Lord. There is a delightful eagerness in his hospi tality. He “hastened” into the tent; he bade Sarah make the cakes ready "quickly” ; he “ran” to the herd, picked out a calf tender and good, and “hasted” to dress it. The heart of a friend of God beats a bit more rapidly at the prospect of being with Him. W HEN the Lord Jesus walked on earth, Zacchaeus too “made haste, and came down” out of his sycamore tree, and “received him joyfully” (Luke 19:6). Do we in our day observe that same happy enthusiasm about serving the Lord on the part of His friends? It is en>
HREE TIMES in the Bible, Abraham is called “the friend of God’’ (2 Chron. 20:7; Isa. 41:8; Jas. 2:34). I This is an astounding thing. God is infinite in His power and wisdom and holiness, and Abraham, a sinful man, is His friend! But this honor is not for Abraham alone; all children of God may experience it. The Lord Jesus said to His disciples; “Greater love hath np man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I com mand you. 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’’ (John 15:13-15). TF I may be a friend of God, then I desire to know how I 4 may become one, and what it will mean to me. It is recorded in the twelfth chapter of Genesis that God called Abraham, and Abraham obeyed His call. Con- trary to the modernistic teaching that monotheism originated with Abraham, the Bible teaches that,God discovered Abraham. Following this first contact of God with Abraham, we have the account in the following chapters of Genesis that God frequently spoke to Abra ham, and that Abraham responded with faith and love, worshiping Him and living a life of separation from the world, as a sojourner in a strange country. To be sure, there were failures on Abraham’s part, but always there followed thoroughgoing repentance; God graciously forgave His “friend.” So Abraham had dealings with God, and, as the years passed, God was becoming very real to him. Abraham’s spiritual experience w’as, in our terminology, “ an event, followed by a process.” TJAS this kind of event taken place in your life? This’ must come first. God calls us, His enemies, to be reconciled to Himself: to become His friends. Christ died to remove the cause of the enmity, the sin which separates man from God. When we respond to His gracious invitation, and comply with His demands, the great event takes place. We are "reconciled to God,”
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