It's good. It's good to be in the house of the Lord this morning.
We have two Sundays left of the series of the forerunner vision and lifestyle.
And I like to say that this is kind of the meat and the potatoes of the series.
And I held it this way purposefully.
So I just encourage you that next Sunday.
Thank you that you're here today.
But I want to encourage you to come next Sunday because next Sunday I'm going to be hitting a topic.
In the series and in this that is very foreign to our church in this day and age,
which is ministering onto the Lord. That's going to be next Sunday.
But it is such a valuable thing that unfortunately it's foreign to the body of Christ.
Because when you talk about ministering onto the Lord, people are like,
What are you talking about? I thought God's supposed to minister to us.
And he does. And that's scriptural.
But we have a privilege to actually minister onto him.
So next Sunday, I just want to encourage you that you would come as well.
Today, I'm going to give a quick Sunday overview and I'm going to wrap up what I started last Sunday,
which is the John 3 banner of the series, which is being and becoming a friend of the bridegroom.
It's being and becoming a friend of the bridegroom is what I started last Sunday.
Coming out of the Gospel of John chapter 3, where I'll give you the quick overview of where Jesus is baptizing.
Technically, he wasn't baptizing. His disciples were baptizing.
And the disciples of John the Baptist saw all this.
And then all of a sudden they get into a dispute with the Jews.
And the disciples of John, they run over to John and they're like,
yo, the guy that, you know, you said that on him, you know, a dove shall rest.
He's over there baptizing. And then John's response and all this discussion and everything.
That was the context that I gave you last Sunday.
And we have found, because the question that maybe some of you were left with last Sunday is that
we have found that being and becoming a friend of the bridegroom, we have found
through the expression of breaking bread, that's how you can actually be and become a friend of the bridegroom.
It's not the only way. I'm not saying that that's the only way that you can become a friend of the bridegroom.
We have just found in Forerunners that that is one expression of it that we can actually do that.
We can be and we can become friends of the bridegroom.
And the reason why is obviously John 3, because there's a discussion, there's here John,
he's talking about Jesus in a way in a facet that nobody else has.
But more than that, the reason why we have found that breaking bread and getting around a table
is one of the ways that you can be and become a friend of the bridegroom
is because Jesus actually did it a lot, believe it or not.
Though the Bible doesn't tell us exactly how often the Lord did it,
but with the enough evidence of Scripture that we have,
I can confidently say it was a normal thing for them coming both from their culture
and also from Scripture that it was a normal thing that they did.
We can find in the Scriptures that Jesus would oftentimes,
he would oftentimes sit down with his disciples at a table and they would break bread.
It was almost like a weekly thing.
And I'll read you some Scriptures here to give you the Scriptural support to that.
But we find Jesus often sitting with his disciples and breaking bread.
And when we break bread, we have discussions. Am I right?
When we sit down for dinner with our kids, if that's still around,
I know that may be back in the baby boomers generation.
Even further, huh? What was the generation before?
The Truman generation. That's where it really started, right?
See, my American history kind of ends at the baby boomer, you know?
So this is something that is often done.
I don't know if some of you may be in my generation, we still do it.
We like to sit down with our kids and we like to break bread.
We break bread with our kids and we have conversation with our kids.
But anywho, what I'm trying to get across is that Jesus did it often with his disciples.
And we even see Jesus sitting down with what the Pharisees called sinners.
You know, we're talking about the tax collectors, we're talking about the prostitutes, the harlots.
Jesus actually sat and broke bread with them.
That's pretty incredible if you really ask me.
We're talking about the God of heaven and earth.
The Creator comes down and now sits down with people that we deem to be sinners and scum of the earth.
They're done with on and so forth.
Let me give you some scriptural support to what I'm saying.
So in Acts, I read this earlier in this series.
The way that even the early church did church was by breaking bread.
And let me just quickly read it to you here.
This is Acts 2, starting at verse 42.
And they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship in the breaking of bread.
So they continued in the teachings of the apostles' doctrine and of the fellowship which came through breaking of bread.
Now, what did they talk about when they were there?
I mean, we can really let our holy, I like to call it our holy imagination.
We can let our holy imagination really run.
I'm sure they talked about the kingdom of God.
I'm sure they talked about the coming of Jesus.
I'm sure they talked about Jesus.
I'm sure they talked about things of God.
I mean, they weren't just there saying, bro, check out this new horse that I just bought.
It's a white stallion, man. It's phenomenal.
You know what I mean?
I'm sure there was purpose in their fellowship.
Just knowing the life of the apostles and who they even learned from.
I'm sure there was purpose in their fellowship.
Another scripture that I want to bring to you is Acts 20.
I'm just giving you some support in why we did it at Full Runners and still do it this way.
You know, I'm sure that when they... this is Acts chapter 20 verse 7.
You know, I'm sure that when they got together, they were hearing...
when they were listening to the doctrine of the apostles,
they were learning facets of Jesus that they maybe did not know before.
And they were hearing because the apostles, they walked with Jesus.
They knew the Lord in a way that an average person did not know Him.
Because these are the apostles that were literally with Him for three and a half years.
And then when we get to Acts 20, we're talking about the apostle Paul.
The apostle Paul was not taught by other apostles or disciples.
The apostle Paul actually received everything directly from Jesus.
Like he literally had a supernatural encounter.
When he's talking about himself in a very almost like covered up way.
This is second Corinthians. I think it's chapter 11 and chapter 12.
He's talking about... he says, I know a man that was caught up in the third heaven.
Who is he talking about? He's talking about himself.
The apostle Paul is actually talking about himself.
And in that same chapter, he says there's things that this man knew that he goes,
I can't even tell you.
So the apostle Paul literally knew facets of Christ and knew facets of Jesus
that an average person did not know, which then when he talked about the Lord,
people were like, man, I want to know this Jesus more.
When you talk to somebody who is actually a friend of Jesus,
it makes you want to know Jesus more.
You can have good conversations with Christians and breaking bread
and getting together and hanging out. It's all great.
But I've learned in my life that when I sit down and I break bread with people,
whether it's a man or a woman, it doesn't matter on the gender.
But when I sit down with people who are actually friends of Jesus,
friends of the bridegroom, man, I leave that place and I'm like,
I want to know him more.
It makes you realize, I know nothing.
Literally, I know nothing.
I was having a conversation with somebody and they shared this with me
and I giggled because I'm like, I know exactly how you feel.
But they told me, they said, you know, the more that I'm coming to church,
the more that I'm serving, the more that I'm reading my Bible,
the more that I'm getting to know God.
This individual said, you know, I feel like I don't even know God.
The more that I'm reading the scriptures,
the more that I'm serving, the more that I'm doing,
the more I'm realizing, I don't even think I know God.
And I giggled and I said, you know, I said, it's funny
because this is a saying that my wife and I have said for many, many years now.
But the more that I actually get to know God,
the more I realize, my God.
Wow.
Wow.
The more that I actually get to know him,
the more that I realize, I don't even think I know you.
It's but a sliver that I know you.
That's just how vast our God is.
That's how big he is.
If we can figure out God in the 70 and even in the 80 years of our life,
if we can figure out God in that measure of our life,
friends, I don't want to serve that God.
If I can figure out a God in my 70 and 80 years of life,
I don't want to serve that God.
I don't know about you.
I don't want to serve a God that I can figure out.
The scripture actually tells us that even when we get to eternity,
we're going to grow in the knowledge of the grace
and the love of who God is.
That means that it's going to take us all of eternity, friends,
all of eternity to learn who God is.
That means millions and billions and trillions.
And like my kids like to make up words,
gazillions and zillions of years, Papa.
Yes.
I'm going to continue to grow in the knowledge of who he is.
I'm going to continue to mature in the things of who God is.
I say that to those that maybe might be sitting here this morning
and you're just discouraged.
You're like, man, I don't know God as well as this or that.
And don't look at this as a discouragement.
Look at this as friends.
The more I get to learn of him,
the more pastor gets to learn of him,
the more that those that have gone before us
have gotten to learn about God.
They have come to the conclusion,
my God, I only know this much of you.
And I've spent 80 years studying the scriptures.
Being with you, talking to you face to face.
And I realize, wow, there's far more to you
than I can even recognize and realize.
So getting together and talking with people
who are actually friends of the Lord
and breaking bread with him,
it makes you want to go home and get to know Jesus.
Acts 20, verse 7, let me just quickly read it here.
Now on the first day of the week,
when the disciples came together to break bread,
Paul, ready to depart to the next day,
I just want to read that first verse.
This indicates to us now on the first day of the week,
when the disciples came together to break bread,
that tells me that they did this on a weekly basis.
That scripture at their supports,
that they sat down together at a table
and they broke bread and they fellowshiped.
Because it was a weekly thing.
On the first day of the week,
the disciples came together to what?
To break bread.
So this is why we believe that being and becoming
friends of the bridegroom
through the expression of breaking bread.
Now again, it's not the only way.
I'm not saying that's the only way
that we can become and be friends of the bridegroom.
This is just the expression that we have seen much.
And when I say much, we have seen much, much fruit.
How many years of ministry have we been now in Zola?
It's been roughly 10 years that we've now been in ministry.
And that's the way that we've been doing it
as we've been in ministry.
So today, I kind of gave you some things for last Sunday.
Today, I want to talk about
what does it mean to be a friend of the bridegroom?
So we talked about how we become
is by sitting together, learning.
But I also want to talk about
what does it mean to be a friend of the bridegroom?
And I think this,
what I'm preaching to you today in itself,
I could literally break this down in a series.
There's so much.
So I'm going to try to condense this
and package this like an Amazon box
and deliver it to you one-day shipping today.
So...
I want to make two statements
and then I'll go into it.
You can open up your Bibles to the Gospel of John,
Chapter 15, this is the Gospel of John, Chapter 15.
And while you're opening up your Bibles there,
let me pray and then I'm going to make a statement.
Father, we thank you.
We thank you this morning.
We thank you for your spirit.
We thank you for your son.
We thank you for your word.
And Father, we're asking you this morning
that you would wash over us.
Wash over your bride by your word this morning.
Wash our minds, our hearts, Lord, our attitude.
Just wash over us by the preaching and the speaking
and the reading of your word this morning.
I pray, Holy Spirit, that you would convince us
and that you would cut us deep this morning.
Judge the attitudes of our hearts.
Change the attitudes of our hearts, Lord.
Direct us to purity and love and mercy and kindness.
We're asking you this morning that you would help us,
that you would help us understand,
give us eyes to see and ears
to hear in Jesus' name.
And if you're in agreement with me, would you say amen?
I want to make two statements.
Maybe just one statement
and the other one is kind of a statement.
I want to say this before we get into
what does it mean to be a friend of the bridegroom.
The Lord desires, and I'll give you scripture to this,
the Lord desires to be a friend
with each and every believer
that is born again and spirit-filled.
The cost that Jesus paid on the cross
was to not just have you be,
and I like to use this phrase
to not just be an employee in the kingdom of God,
but to be a partner in the kingdom of God.
The price that he paid was far too high
to just produce a bunch of employees in the kingdom of God.
But the price that he paid in the intention
of the heart of God, the Father,
when he gave his only son and the heart of the son,
because Jesus said,
I do nothing but what the Father tells me to do.
And the heart of the Spirit is he takes nothing on his own
or doesn't speak anything on his own,
but he takes from the Son and he makes it known to us.
The heart of God, the Trinity,
is to have friendship with us, his creation.
The unfortunate thing is that we actually
have very few friends of the bridegroom.
We have very few friends of God in the body of Christ.
We do, because when I start going through
what it actually means to be a friend of the bridegroom,
some of you are going to be challenged today
and some of you are going to say,
man, maybe I'm not as much of a friend as I thought I was.
And I don't want that to be condemning to you.
That's why I made this statement that I made.
God desires to have friendship with each and every believer.
And if you don't believe me, just read Exodus 19.
If you don't believe me, read Exodus 19.
What was the purpose when God led the nation of Israel
out of Egypt?
The purpose that God led him out is
God wanted to meet with who?
The whole nation.
God wanted to meet with all of Israel,
but they just didn't want to.
They said, whoa, hey, Moses, this is way too scary.
You go talk to God, and then you come back
and tell us what God is saying.
But God's intention was to meet
and to have Israel worship
and give a sacrifice onto God.
But they said, no, no, no, man,
you go talk to God.
You, in other words, bring it to the New Testament language.
You go be a friend of God.
We'll just hang here and we'll be the employees
because we don't want to pay the cost
of what it means to be a friend.
You go be a friend, Moses.
And then you come back
and you just relate to us what God is saying.
But God's intention is to have
and commune with us as he did with Moses.
That's the scriptures.
You know, we are fascinated
that Moses spoke with God
face to face.
Friend, we have that same access today
even more than Moses did.
No, no, you didn't hear me.
You can agree with me, but you didn't hear me.
We have a greater access
to speak to God face to face
than even Moses did.
Yet we do not take the privilege that we have.
Why?
Because we're too comfortable with where we're at.
We're too comfortable.
We don't want to pay the cost
of what it actually means to be a friend of God.
Here's the other statement
if you want to make it a statement
or maybe it's a statement.
We have actually in the church
in the body of Christ
we have actually diminished
and lowered the standard
of what it means to be a friend of God.
That's why you got a bunch
of immature Christians running around
and saying, I'm a friend of God.
And they treat it with carelessness
and looseness.
I'll never forget this moment.
This is when I felt the Lord just give it to me.
He literally through one individual
the Lord showed me the body of Christ
and how we have lowered the standard
of what it means to be a friend.
Some years ago I met with a young couple.
This is some years ago.
And I met with them for coffee,
for a wedding because it was to do wedding things.
And we're sitting there
and they asked who me and my wife are
and they started asking about forerunners
because they heard about forerunners.
And I'm telling them the story.
I'm kind of quickly going through the vision.
And when I got to the John 3 banner
and I said it is to be
and to become a friend of the bridegroom.
This young man stretched over his hand
because we were out for coffee.
He stretched over his hand over the table
and with looseness and carelessness.
He said, oh, you're a friend of God too?
Yeah, me too. And then he sat back down.
And I was grieved in my spirit.
I was grieved in my spirit
because there was such looseness
in the way that he presented.
Oh yeah, I'm a friend of God too, man.
It's like every person that's in the church
is a friend of God.
The truth is that we're not.
That is the sad truth.
Friends, that is the sad truth.
Is that we actually have very few people
in the body of Christ
that are actually friends of God.
And you're saying, well, pastor,
that's not a very encouraging word
you're telling me today.
And I'm not trying to come out disencouraging.
I'm bringing about a truth,
but I'm also stating the fact
that the blood that was paid for you
was an invitation to become a friend.
Listen, God has done everything
on his end to be your friend.
He's done everything.
You can't say that,
Lord, you didn't do anything for me
to be a friend.
No, he's done everything.
The most precious thing
that the Father had in heaven,
which is his son,
he gave for what purpose?
For what purpose?
To have intimacy, to have friendship,
to have closeness, to commune,
to share his heart on and so forth.
We can make a list of it.
So we can't give an excuse to God
and say, God, well, you didn't do your part.
Friend, he has done his part and even more.
He is still putting up
with your immaturity this morning.
His mercies renew every morning.
So the invitation is still open today.
That's why the author in Hebrews writes,
if you hear his voice,
if you hear his voice,
he says it three times in Hebrews,
if you hear his voice, come.
So we have people in the church,
or I'll even say pastors,
we have actually diminished
and we've lowered the standard
of what it means to be a friend of the bridegroom.
And do you know why we've done that?
Because it makes people feel good.
It makes people feel secure.
It makes people feel, well, I'm good.
I'm a friend of God.
That means I'm good. That means I'm saved.
I have my eternal security on and so forth.
Friend, I'm here to tell you,
unfortunately, that is false.
We have very few in the body of Christ
that are actually friends of God,
that are friends of the bridegroom.
John 15, verse 15, listen to this.
This is Jesus.
This is the Lord talking to his disciples.
This is what he says,
he says, no longer do I call you servants.
For a servant does not know what his master is doing,
but I have called you friends.
But I have called you friends.
The Lord is saying, listen,
a servant, in other words, an employee
does not know everything that the master is doing,
that the CEO is doing.
He doesn't know everything.
But God says, or the Lord says to the disciples,
he says, but listen,
I actually no longer call you servants.
I actually call you friends.
Why? Let's read why.
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.
That means all things.
That means that a friend of the bridegroom,
or what does it mean to be a friend of the bridegroom?
That means that God can actually trust you with himself.
To be a friend of the bridegroom
is to actually know what the master is doing.
That's what it means to be a friend of the bridegroom.
How many of you in here in this place,
and don't raise your hand,
but how many of you in this place
can actually say,
I know everything that the master is doing.
Had a conversation with somebody,
was a while back, some time now,
and the person told me,
they were asking me some questions
and I was giving them some answers.
And I was telling them to read a certain book
out of the Bible,
because they were reading other books.
And I said, no, no.
I said, you got to read,
just read this scripture.
Like, you got to read this book out of the Bible.
And I said, here's why.
I said, it speaks about the supremacy of Christ.
I said, you get to know Christ.
And the person replied to me.
They said, well, yeah,
I know everything about Jesus.
I said, wow, that's a bold statement you just made.
Jeez, man.
I've been in the faith now
since I was 14 years old.
And I feel like I know just this much.
A friend of the bridegroom
actually knows what the master is doing.
We actually know what God is thinking.
We know what God is feeling.
We know what God is doing
and is going to do.
Why?
Because he shares it with us.
Now the question is,
why does he share that with us?
Because he can trust us.
So to be a friend of the bridegroom
to be a friend of Jesus, to be a friend of God,
we actually are trusted with the things of God,
which means we are trusted with his power.
We are trusted with his heart.
We are trusted that we will not misrepresent him.
And I look in our church,
in the churches,
and I'm just gonna throw pastors under the bus
because I'm a pastor,
and we have a bunch of pastors
that are misrepresenting God from the pulpits.
And if pastors are misrepresenting God from the pulpits,
there's no doubt about it.
If the pastor is misrepresenting them,
then that means that the congregation
that is sitting is also misrepresenting
because pastors are called to what?
To shepherd.
To lead.
To green pastures.
To still waters.
A disciple is not greater than his master.
So to be a friend of the bridegroom
is to be trusted by God.
It is to know the voice of God.
It is...
You see, and this is...
We can apply that very...
Generally, we're like,
well, I know the voice of God,
so I must be a friend.
But let's just keep digging.
Let's just keep digging here, okay?
John 15-13.
Okay, we're going a few verses up.
John 15-13.
This is again, this is Jesus talking to his disciples.
He says greater love has no one than this
than to lay down one's life for his friend.
To be a friend of the bridegroom
is to live a life that is laid down for him.
And that's where you literally
60 to 70% of the church
you just do this.
We've diminished what it actually even means
to lay down your life for Jesus.
We think just because once a week
we're doing something that's inconvenient for us,
we're laying our life down.
And maybe if you're new in the faith,
maybe if you're a year or two in the faith,
that makes sense for you.
But if you've now been walking with the Lord
for 5, 10, 15, 20, on and so forth years,
and you still think you're laying your life down
because you're doing one inconvenient thing during the week,
friend, I question if you're even a friend of God.
According to Romans 12-1, what the apostle Paul is writing
is this is a lifetime.
The apostle Paul is literally,
he's begging his listeners.
He uses this word. He says,
I beseech you, brothers.
In other words, think of it this way.
It's like a person getting down on their knees
and they're saying, please, please do this.
That's what he means when he's saying,
I beseech you, brethren.
This is Romans 12, starting at verse 1.
He says, I beseech you, brethren, that you would what?
You got, let's open it up.
I want to read it to you.
This is Romans chapter 12.
Romans chapter 12 verse 1.
I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God
that you would present your bodies a living sacrifice,
wholly acceptable to God.
Which is your reasonable service?
Which is your reasonable service?
He's saying, listen, present your bodies as a living sacrifice.
Ongoing. It's not that you did it once and that's it.
You're done. It is an ongoing thing.
This is why, again, the apostle Paul, he says that
I crucify or I die to my flesh daily.
I bring it to submission.
I bring it to sub...
I bring it to subjection that it would listen to the Lord.
I bring my body as a living sacrifice.
Why? Because I want to be a friend of God.
That's why.
I want to know him.
I want to know the Lord in ways that very few people know him.
Not to brag and to taunt, but because I've tasted
and I've seen that the Lord is good.
I've tasted and I've seen that he's good
and I want to know him.
And if I want to know him, that means that this is the type of lifestyle.
If I actually want to be a friend of God,
I actually have to lay myself down on a day-to-day basis.
Not when it's only inconvenient once a week.
But this is a lifestyle that the Apostle Paul is talking about.
And he's begging us.
The Apostle Paul is begging us.
The latter church, he's saying, I beseech you.
You're missing out if you're not doing this.
There is access for you to know God.
And he goes, I beseech you. This is far better for you.
Remember, this is forerunner talk.
A forerunner. Who goes before? He scouts. He discovers.
And then he says, come.
This is forerunner talk.
We're talking about the great Apostle Paul
who wrote about three quarters of the New Testament.
This is the Apostle Paul that is telling us, I beg you.
I beseech you.
There is riches in Christ that you have not known yet.
There is a facet of his heart that you have not discovered yet.
You haven't even seen his beauty in the fullness that he is.
But you're swimming here in shallow water and you're not...
You're just swimming here.
You're only ankle deep.
A friend of the bridegroom is one who literally lives a life
that is laid down onto the Lord.
Verse 14.
Let's read again. John chapter 15 verse 14.
I know I'm having you flipping your Bibles this morning.
Is this good so far?
A friend of the bridegroom is one who is trusted by God.
A friend of the bridegroom is one who lives a life that is laid down.
They lay down their life.
They are a living sacrifice.
Now verse 14, listen to this.
You are my friends if you do whatever I command you.
Wow.
You just took another 20% of the church.
Remember, 70 already left after living a life laid down.
So out of 100, if 70 are left, how many do we have?
Okay, just want to make sure you guys got your math right.
Okay?
Verse 14.
He says you are...
He makes a statement.
The Lord makes a statement.
How dare him?
He says you are my friends if you do everything that I command you.
Not just what I tell you to do on Sunday.
Did you hear what I said?
You are my friends if you do everything that I command you.
You took 20% of the church right now and you did this.
You're left with 10%.
To be a friend of the bridegroom is to do everything that he commands us to do.
It is to obey.
It is to submit.
It is to follow.
That's a friend.
To be a friend of the bridegroom is to actually obey.
Now you are talking about works, pastor.
Now you get into that works thing.
I'm saved by grace through faith.
I don't need that.
You are telling me you don't want to be a friend of God.
That's what you are telling me.
Pastor, you don't know my schedule.
Maybe I don't, but God does.
Pastor, you don't understand what I have been through.
You don't know my life, pastor.
You're probably right, but God does.
Pastor, you just don't know I was this and I was that friend.
We can go all day long.
Listen, I can write you an essay on excuses.
And some of them would be legitimate excuses.
I can write you a lesson of excuses.
See, we even have people that come from the perspective,
well, the church ain't perfect.
Why, you know, this and they go, you know, the church...
And they get into that.
Friend, we can give hundreds of excuses,
yet miss the point of what God is actually trying to say.
You following me?
A friend of God is one who actually does everything.
I said everything that God commands them to do.
That means if God tells you to stand on your head
in the middle of service.
I love how Pastor Mary said that today.
She said, man, she goes, when I got saved, it was in 19...
What year did she get saved, Pastor?
1981.
She said, when I got saved in 1981,
for those that weren't in prayer this morning,
she said, when I got saved in 1981,
she said, I told God, God, I'm gonna do anything
you want me to do.
If you want me to stand on my head upside down, God,
I'm gonna do it.
If that means somebody's gonna get saved,
I'm gonna do it, God.
Where did that attitude go in the church?
I'm not saying that all of you need to go stand
on your heads.
But point being is that way...
See, this goes back to a few...
Has our heart really grown that cold and callous?
Have we really become that cold in our heart
that our heart is no longer tender before the Lord?
You know, when I asked the question,
maybe some of you thought this,
when I asked the question,
when is the last time that you wept
when you read the scriptures?
Some of you may have thought,
well, why are you referring to weeping?
Why do I have to weep when I read the scriptures?
It's not necessarily the act of you weeping.
That just tells me the condition of your heart.
Is your heart tender?
Is your heart tender before the Lord?
That's why I asked that question.
It's not necessarily,
oh, every time you read the scriptures,
you have to weep,
though I would desire that to be.
But that is my indicator.
When I begin to read the scriptures
and it's not affecting me
the way that I know it should be,
I repent.
I say, Lord, I repent.
Tenderize my heart, Holy Spirit.
Tenderize my heart to your word,
to your presence,
that my heart would not be cold
and callous and hard,
but I would actually weep
when I understand what you've done for me.
It's about the tenderness of our hearts,
rather than, oh, well, I didn't weep,
so that's probably a bad thing.
You know, I'm probably...
No, it's not.
The weeping is just the expression.
It's the condition of our heart
is mainly what I'm trying to hit here.
John 15, verse 16.
This is a good one.
John 15, 16.
It says, you...
This is, again, the Lord talking.
We're still in that same chapter.
You did not choose me,
but I chose you
and appointed you
that you should go and bear fruit.
Now, we can pause there
and we can say, okay,
I'm a friend of the bridegroom.
We can pause right there, right?
I bear fruit, so I'm a friend of the bridegroom.
Now, listen to what the Lord says.
He says,
appointed you that you should go and bear fruit
and that your fruit should what?
Remain.
And whatever you ask my father in my name,
he may give you these things.
This is verse 17.
These things I command you
that you love one another.
So, a friend of the bridegroom
is not just one who produces fruit,
but fruit that actually remains.
Fruit that actually remains.
You know, it's interesting
because now again,
now we took 5%.
So, we're down to 10%.
Remember?
Now we take 5%
and we put them to the side.
There's a lot of Christians that produce fruit.
But when you start about talking fruit that remains,
this is the best way
that I can describe to you,
fruit that remains.
Because when we think of fruit,
I feel like right away
in our Pentecostal circles,
we think of how many people
you brought into the church,
how many people are saved.
That's like we go there right away.
We're like, okay,
fruit means that I got people saved,
which is one facet of it.
Which is one facet of it.
It's a very important fruit
for us to have, to bring people to Christ.
Very important.
I am not belittling that at all.
But that's not the only fruit
that Jesus is actually referring to.
I personally believe
what he's talking about here
in this context.
The fruit that the Lord is actually talking about,
fruit that remains is first love.
That's what I really believe
the Lord is really talking about there.
You know why I say that?
Because one week, we love the Lord
and we're on fire
and then the next week
we're down and out.
Oh, hell broke loose.
What am I going to do, God?
And our love for him is out the door
quicker than you can say Mississippi.
A friend of the bridegroom,
because friends, let me give some context.
Here's the truth.
Each and every Christian has valleys
and we have mountaintops.
Every Christian.
None of us are disqualified
and we only have mountaintops.
And none of us are disqualified
where we only have valleys in our life.
Every Christian that is born again
that is led and walks by the Spirit of God
and loves God has valleys in their life
is where it's tough.
Though I walk through the valley of what?
The shadow of death.
I fear no evil.
What is that talking about?
David is saying,
I'm maintaining the fruit.
My fruit remains.
My first love remains for him.
Though I'm walking through the valley
of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil.
He is saying,
my fruit, my first love unto God,
it's remaining.
Which makes me a friend of God.
But we have Christians that as soon as they go down
in the depths of the valley,
all hell broke loose.
Oh God, forgot me.
Oh Lord, friend, where is your first love?
God is trying to produce something in you.
And half the times we brought ourselves into the valley.
We weren't even led by the Lord into the valley.
Though the spirit of God leads us there.
But there is most times where we bring ourselves
into the valley.
Why?
Because we choose not to repent of sin.
And we come down to the valley
and all hell breaks loose.
Because we are choosing to not repent of something
that God has been dealing with us for years.
David says even though I walk through the valley
of the shadow of death,
he says I will fear no evil.
Because you're with me.
I'm maintaining.
I am remaining.
And my fruit is remaining God.
My first love unto you is remaining.
That's friend of the bridegroom.
That's why you take out of the 10% that's left,
you take 5% out.
And you actually have 5% of Christians
that maintain or have fruit that remains.
Fruit for what type of fruit?
First love.
First and foremost, it's my first love unto you God.
That's the fruit that he's talking about.
Though there's other facets and expressions of fruit.
I believe in this context.
When the Lord is talking about being a friend
of the bridegroom,
he says you're going to do everything
that I command you to do.
And you're going to produce fruit.
But you're going to be different
because your fruit is going to remain.
And then you've got people that are in the mountaintops.
Do you know that you can be on a mountaintop
and you can have fruit that no longer remains?
Pride comes before the fall.
Did you hear me?
I said pride comes before the fall.
You can be at the mountaintop,
yet your fruit is not remaining.
You can be at the mountaintop
and traveling and doing this and doing the other.
And all of a sudden you forgot your first love.
Friend, I've been there and I recommend you
to never ever forget the Lord in the mountaintop.
I have been in that place where I traveled.
I ministered until God came in.
And he said son, you have loved this right here.
You've loved the pulpits.
You've loved the public more than you love
to be with me alone.
You have forgotten your first love.
Return and repent.
Fruit that remains is fruit that maintains.
We constantly, we constantly...
Lord, I'm in the valley.
I'm going to walk in first love.
This is tough, God, but I'm walking in it.
We're at the mountaintop.
It's easy to get distracted on the mountaintop.
Did you hear me this morning?
When everything is going well
and lolly dolly everything,
the finances are coming in.
Everybody's healthy.
Wow, this is great.
In those moments, those can be distractions
that take us away from the first love of God.
When we talk about the story of Peter walking on water,
oftentimes we refer the waves to bad things in our lives.
Right?
That's what we refer him to.
And that's why we start sinking.
I'm going to give you a different perspective this morning.
The Lord gave it to me.
He said son, he said those storms
aren't just representations of bad things.
He said those storms can be as simple as a good thing in your life
that has taken your eyes off of the Lord.
And he said you're going to sink.
You could have just had a job promotion
and you can still sink.
You can be traveling the world for ministry
and you can still sink.
If your eyes get away from the Lord.
A friend of the bridegroom
is one who produces fruit
and that fruit remains.
You just took out of the 10% that we have left
you just took 5% and you've cast them to the wayside.
Because one day I love the Lord.
The next day I complain that you have left me, oh God.
To be a friend of the bridegroom
is to be connected with his voice.
To be a friend of the bridegroom
It's to know the voice of God
and it's more than just to know his voice.
It actually means that you're now trusted with his voice.
This goes back to what I said in John 15, 15.
You know everything.
I now call you friends. Why?
Because I've told you all things.
A friendship has trust.
I said a friendship has trust.
Let me give you a perspective.
Trust is the doorway to friendship with God.
Yet at the same time, distrust is the back door out.
When we lose trust with him.
You know what the sad thing is?
And this is a scary truth.
That it takes us years.
I said years to cultivate a relationship with the Lord.
A man of God says it this way.
He says a intimacy with God is like a slow drip.
It's a slow drip.
You ever seen after a rain?
And then you have the little drip that comes from the gutters?
You guys ever seen that?
That's to have intimacy with the Lord.
You don't get it in a snap of a finger.
And all of a sudden God's sharing everything with you.
It is a slow drip.
That's why none of us are not...
Let me rephrase that.
That's why many of us don't want to have it.
Because we are a generation that has been bred.
That has been raised.
We want it now.
That's why we don't want to pay the cost.
Because we want it now.
I want my cheeseburger now.
Why is this person in line ordering the whole McDonald's menu?
Do they not know that I'm hungry?
I've been fasting for a week.
And I want a Big Mac right now.
Why is this person in green light?
Why are they sitting there for 30 seconds?
Honk, honk, honk.
Right?
But a life of intimacy with God is a slow drip.
And the scary truth is what can take you 20, 30, 40 years
to be trusted by God with His voice and with Him
you can lose in a moment.
Oh, you didn't hear me.
What has taken you 20, 30, 40 years to cultivate in the Lord
you can lose in a moment.
You're saying, where are you getting that?
Read the story of Moses.
Read the story of Moses.
Pastor, I'm going to share this.
I shared this with pastors.
We were in the office and we were talking.
I said, I got a fear of the Lord on me.
Remember, we were sitting in the office.
You know where I'm going with this.
I said, I have a fear of the Lord on me, Pastor.
I said, what has taken you and your wife,
if we're hearing God correctly,
and me and my wife are to be your successors,
if we're hearing God correctly,
I said, Pastor, I said, I got a fear of the Lord on me.
I said, because what has taken you and Pastor Mary
for how many years now, 40 plus years
to cultivate the presence, the preaching, the things of God.
I said, I have a fear of the Lord on me
because when the time comes, if we're hearing God rightly,
when the time comes, I can screw this thing up.
Now that's the fear of the Lord.
What takes us decades to cultivate with God
we can lose in a moment.
We can lose in a moment.
So a friend of the bridegroom is one who is trusted
with God's voice. That's what he says in John.
He says, my sheep, they know my voice.
He says, my sheep, they know my voice.
Though that's almost a general spacing,
but the deeper of that is they know my voice.
It doesn't say this in the scripture,
but I'm trying to show you the deeper here.
I trust them with it.
Proverbs 31, a virtuous wife is what?
He trusts in her is what the scripture says.
He trusts in her knowing that she's not going to mishandle
his voice, his things, his authority on and so forth.
You still with me?
Listen to this. This is where now we're down to 5%.
Now remember, we're down to 5%.
We're about to get down to like 2% right now.
James chapter 2.
Actually, you know what? No, no, no.
Exodus 33. Let's read Exodus 33.
Just warning, we're going to go a little bit past noon today.
Exodus 33 verse 11.
Okay, this is how the Lord...
Because we all can say that we hear the voice of God, right?
How many of you in this place just raise your hand
if you can confidently say you hear the voice of God?
Okay, good, good.
And if you didn't raise your hand,
we'd love to explain to you that you have access
just like anybody else to hear the voice of God.
Not because Pastor Igor said it,
but because what Jesus did on the cross. That's why.
Okay, now here is the difference of actually being a friend of God.
Listen to what the scriptures tell us in Exodus 33 verse 11.
So the Lord spoke to Moses face to face
as a man speaks to who?
His friend.
And he would return to the camp,
but his servant Joshua, the son of Nun,
a young man did not depart from the tabernacle.
So the Lord speaks to his friends differently
than he speaks to other people.
Now you're saying, well, that's not fair, God.
That's not fair, God.
You know, God is... How do I put it this way?
God is not necessarily a God who's fair.
He is a God who's just.
What's that scripture?
It's like God is not a...
No, no, no. It'll come to me. It'll come to me.
I looked at Pastor and he's like,
I don't know what you're trying to say, man.
It'll come to you and then you'll say it.
It will.
So God speaks with his friends.
According to what it says in Exodus 33,
he speaks to his friends face to face.
You just took that 5%
and now you've minimized it down to
I'll even confidently say 2%.
Did you hear me?
I'm not trying to preach to you
a condemning sermon this morning.
I'm preaching to you truth this morning.
God desired to speak
with the nation of Israel face to face.
But because they said,
no, no, no, no, no, no, no, God.
Whoa, Moses, too scary.
You go talk to him
and then tell us what he says.
This is our church in our day and age right now.
Right here.
Right here. Exodus 19.
This is our church.
It's not that God doesn't want to.
It's that we don't want to.
Let me say that again.
It's not that God doesn't want to.
It's that we don't want to.
We don't want to.
Our flesh doesn't want to.
We want the boat.
We want the house.
We want the marriage.
We want the kids.
We want this.
That's good, friends.
That's good.
That's awesome.
Great.
It's cool that you want the American dream.
But man,
your American dream is going to perish
with everything here that's on this earth.
I'm not discouraging you from having kids.
I'm not discouraging from getting married.
I think those are all fantastic things.
But we got to have our priorities set straight.
We got to have some things realigned
on our bookshelf, so to say.
You know, in Numbers 12 actually,
in Numbers 12 we hear
Aaron and Miriam complaining.
They're like, well, is Moses really
the only one that God speaks to?
I mean, come on.
Wasn't Aaron called to be a prophet?
He was like, think of it this way.
He was like Moses' sidekick, so to say.
So they're complaining and then God
corrects Miriam and Aaron.
He corrects them.
You can read Numbers 12 by yourself,
but he corrects them there.
And he begins to show the distinct
difference of how he talks to people
that he loves and how he talks to people
that are actually his friends.
He talks to all of us.
We all have access to hear the voice of God.
But when you become a friend of God,
the scripture tells us he talks
to you face to face.
You just took out again that 5%,
you just took 3% and you threw it off to the side.
You know what else is interesting?
We're coming here to quick close.
Hopefully soon.
This is still good though, right?
Is this still good?
Because if this is not good, I'll end it right here.
Okay.
When you're a friend of God,
you never give that claim to yourself.
Did you know that?
When I read the scriptures,
I'll give you just a few of them.
Put up James chapter 2.
Put up James chapter 2.
A friend of God is not one
who runs around and claims the title.
Did you hear me?
And when I find it in the scriptures,
James 2 here, I'm going to show you something.
James chapter 2.
Let's go verse...
Where's my notes here?
James 2, let's go verse 23.
James 2 verse 23.
Okay.
So a friend of God is not one who runs around
and claims that title,
but he actually or she actually
allows God to make that known.
And we see this throughout scripture.
We see this with Abraham.
We see this with Moses.
We see this with John the Baptist.
We see this with the disciples.
None of these men ran around
and said, I'm a friend of God.
They allowed God
to make that claim on their behalf.
So friend, I want to tell you something this morning.
If you've been running around and saying,
I'm a friend of God, I would challenge you.
I would challenge you
to let God be your spokesperson.
And not the man of a mouth
or not the mouth of a man or a woman.
Listen to this. James 2 verse 23.
It says, and the scripture was fulfilled
which as Abraham believed God.
In other words, Abraham did everything
that God commanded.
He said, go and sacrifice your son.
He said, amen.
He said, you will have a son.
Amen.
Though he had a little bit of doubt.
Abraham believed everything
that God told him.
Listen to this.
Abraham believed God
and it was accounted to him
for righteousness.
And he was called
the friend of God.
Now who called him that?
Was it Abraham?
Who called him that?
According to Isaiah 41-8
God called him a friend.
God made that title known.
This is my friend
because he knows everything that I'm doing.
He does everything that I'm commanding.
And he is one who actually lays down his life
for me.
Abraham packed his bags,
left his father's house
to go to a complete,
strange, uncharted territory.
Why? Because God told him,
you're going to have descendants.
God spoke with Abraham
in such nearness and closeness.
And then God made the claim,
that's my friend.
Abraham did not run around
and wear a lignard that said,
hey guys, I'm a friend of God.
Look, look, look, look, look.
I didn't stretch my hand and say I'm a friend of God.
He kept quiet and he let God
be his spokesperson.
People oftentimes ask me this question
and have asked me, well Igor,
are you a friend of God?
I fear to even answer that question.
I fear to answer that question.
You know why I fear?
Because everybody that I read
in the Bible that were friends of God,
they never even answered that question.
John the Baptist,
they came to him and they said,
are you the Messiah?
Are you the prophet? Are you Elijah?
Who are you? Are you the one
that we're waiting to come?
John the Baptist
feared to even, he had
a fear of the Lord to even answer that question.
He simply said, I'm a voice.
Though according to Matthew 11,
Jesus said, he is the
greatest prophet born of women
and even more.
What was Jesus referring to when he says
and even more? He's saying he is
the example of what
it means to be a friend of
the bridegroom.
If John the Baptist
never claimed that title,
then friend, I fear
to claim that title. I will
let God speak on my behalf.
Because if I really am a friend of God
then that means that God will
reveal himself to me.
That means that God will show up
when I show up to speak.
That means that God will do things
on my behalf and I don't have to
run around and prove
to everybody that I'm a friend of God
because I'm insecure.
A friend of God
never claims that title.
They let God speak on their behalf.
Moses didn't even
go and correct Miriam and Aaron.
He let God do it.
He let God
fight his battle. He let
God correct Aaron and
Miriam.
If we are a friend of
God, friends, this is
this gives me such ease and such
peace in my spirit that
wow, if I'm your friend
I don't have to go around and tell anybody
you're going to make it known.
And more than that
you'll make it known in the age to come.
Because being a friend, I said this last Sunday
being a friend is actually
getting a storehouse
here.
Storing up my treasures
up there. What treasures?
It's not silver or
gold. It's the treasure
of the revelation of Jesus
Christ and the knowing
of who he is.
That's why the Apostle Paul
writes in Philippians 3
he says, I count
everything rubbish.
All that stuff. It's rubbish
compared to knowing
him.
Those are the words
of the Apostle Paul.
And man, when you read his resume
my God, he's got a resume.
And he says, I call it all rubbish
just for the sake of knowing him
I'm willing to do it. And it's
not just knowing him here
on this earth, but he's saying, I'm storing up
treasures because I want to be a friend
and I'm storing up treasures
that are in heaven, that are eternal
that are never ending. That's what he's talking
about.
A friend of the bridegroom has
an eternal perspective.
They're not looking at the life
that they live from this perspective.
They're looking at it from that perspective.
What is going to
benefit me in the age to come?
That's friend of the bridegroom.
That's friend of the bridegroom thinking.
That's friend of the bridegroom attitude.
What is going to benefit me
God in the age to come?
And friend, I'm here to tell you
the only thing that will benefit you
in the age to come is the knowing of him.
That's it.
It's the knowing of Jesus
our Lord and
Savior who bled on the cross
who died on the cross, who rose
from the dead to have
a relationship with us.
That's
the treasure that I'm after.
I want to know him
and I'm willing
to lay down my life even more
for the sake to know Jesus.
That's it.
I'm willing to lay down my life.
I don't know about you.
I'm willing to lay down my life.
I am willing to learn
anything that he commands me to do.
God help me.
God help me.
I want to be your friend.
Help me in the moments
where you're asking me to do something
and I don't know how to do it. Help me Holy Spirit.
That's
a friend of the bridegroom.
And right there
out of the 2%
we've just cut out one.
I believe there's only
1% of people within the body of Christ
that are actually friends
of the bridegroom.
Because the same attitude
that the nation of Israel had
our church in this day and age
has that same attitude.
You go talk to him.
And then you tell us what he's saying.
But God is
after friendship.
He wants to trust
us with himself. Do you not
hear me this morning?
He wants to
trust us with signs
and miracles and wonders.
He wants to put his children
in awe. He does.
What kind of father? He says a few
earthly fathers
give good gifts to your children.
How much more
the heavenly father
he wants to blow
our socks off by having
us see the dead rise. And those
out of wheelchairs get up. He desires
for us to fall more
in love with him. But the question
is are we willing?
That's the real question
friends this morning. It's not
that God stopped doing miracles.
It's not that God is not doing miracles.
He is looking. The spirit
of God is going to and throw the
earth. Looking. Who
would be my friend today?
Who would be my friend
today? Who would be like John
the Baptist? And he would hear
the voice of the bridegroom. And he
would rejoice.
That's
what God is
after.
This is what it means
to live a forerunner
lifestyle. This is the
John 3 banner. And when you get
around people who live this type
of lifestyle, when you get around them
at the table, it makes you realize
two things. My God, I
really don't know you. And the
second thing that comes out of it is
I want to go and get to know you.
That's why
we get around the table. We break
bread. We fellowship. We share.
We get vulnerable. We get
transparent for the sake that we would
be and become friends
of the bridegroom.
As a pastor,
as a pastor in this church,
I desire, I desire
that all of us would be
friends of God.
I desire that
God would come in an
audible way and say the church
word of life, they're
my friends.
That it wouldn't just be an audible voice
of God saying Pastor Verde and Mary, but
it would say the church word of life,
they, they, plural
are my friends.
That's what I desire.
That's what I desire. I
desire that for myself and I
desire that for every individual
sitting here, because friends I have
tasted and I have seen
that the Lord is good. I've
tasted. I've seen that the
Lord is good.
And there's riches
and revelations in him
that we not had yet attained.
That's why the Apostle Paul
says, he says I don't say that I've
attained at all, but I live a life
and I go upward. I go upward.
I go upward towards the goal
that is what in Christ Jesus.
It's the knowing and the revelation
of his suffering.
God
desires friends.
I said God desires
friends.