God's definition of a friend

Hank Williams got the tune for "I Saw the Light" from the classic southern hymn, "He Set Me Free." The resemblance to the old standby can easily be heard listening to the chorus.

 Part of the hymn lyrics go, "The Comforter divine is dwelling

Within my soul today;
His love to others I am telling
Since Jesus came to stay."

Tucked inside Deuteronomy 13:6 is the greatest definition of a friend found anywhere in the Bible or in literature:

[6] If thy brother, the son of thy mother, or thy son, or thy daughter, or the wife of thy bosom, or thy friend, which is as thine own soul, entice thee secretly, saying, Let us go and serve other gods, which thou hast not known, thou, nor thy fathers;

Jordan explains, “It’s one of those verses in the Bible that tells you about a topic when it isn’t talking about the topic. There’s a lot of things in Scripture where it's, ‘I write this and I’m teaching you about this,’ and then there will be a comment added in that you look at it and say, ‘Wow, that’s some real understanding about something else, too!’

 “Notice how he defines a friend for you. You know who the son of your mother is. You know your brother. You know who your wife is, but what about your friend? Moses said ‘your friend which is as your own soul.’ Here’s somebody where it’s more than just a surface relationship. You’ve got a soul connection.

 “ ‘With the heart man believeth unto righteousness,’ Romans 10 says. Your soul has a way of communicating, a way of knowing. The mentality of your soul in the Bible is called your heart.

Proverbs 23:7 says, ‘For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he: Eat and drink, saith he to thee; but his heart is not with thee.’

“We use a phrase: we talk about our ‘soul mate.’ That comes out of Deuteronomy 13:6. People don’t know where they got it from but that’s where it comes from.

"There’s a connection in a deeper, inner level of the heart. ‘As a man thinketh in his heart.’ We’ve got a thinking process that connects us together and makes us one on a level that’s much different than just the surface level.

“That helps you when you read John 15:15: Verse 15: [15] 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.

"A servant doesn’t know some things but the friend does. A friend is somebody who’s as your own soul. You pour out your inner being to them; you tell them what’s inside, what’s in your thinking, what’s in your heart.

"In the passage, Jesus Christ and the apostles have left the Upper Room and they’re now walking on the way to the Garden, and Christ continues the conversation with them, saying to them, ‘Ye are my friends if you do whatsoever I command you.’

“In other words, a friend is somebody who can think and do like Christ thinks.

"Jesus said, ‘I’ve called you friends because I’ve told you. I haven’t sent you out without a sense of what’s going on. I’ve communicated with you all the things the Father has given to me.’

"A friend is someone who gets information that no one else has access to. Now, you know that in personal relationships, but when it’s talking about Scripture, the idea here is that to be a friend you’re going to get all of the information.

 “The reason that’s important…come with me to the Book of James. James 2: [21] Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar?

[22] Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect?
[23] And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God.

"The first person in the Bible ever called ‘the friend of God’ is Abraham. The reason he’s called that is because he obeyed some specific instructions God gave him, and when God gave him information that he hadn’t given to anybody else, Abraham stood on that information. It allowed him to be called ‘the Friend of God.’ Not just the servant who doesn’t know what his master does, but the friend who is taking action based upon something the Father told him to do.

“II Chronicles 20:7 is where he’s called ‘the friend of God.’ The verse says, [7] Art not thou our God, who didst drive out the inhabitants of this land before thy people Israel, and gavest it to the seed of Abraham thy friend for ever? You see when Abraham is called the friend of God, he’s called that in connection with his seed.

*****

“Ephesians 2:11 says, [11] Wherefore remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands;

"If you were an alien and a stranger that’s as opposite as you can be from being a friend and the reason God made this distinction between the Gentiles down here and the circumcision (Israel) up there, those people up there were His friends and these people down here were aliens and strangers.

“The people in Israel were a friend and it had to do with the fact God had given them some information He didn’t give anybody else.

“One of the great verses about that is in Exodus 33:11: [11] And the LORD spake unto Moses face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend. And he turned again into the camp: but his servant Joshua, the son of Nun, a young man, departed not out of the tabernacle. God was communicating to Israel what he was going to do.;

*****

“A verse that demonstrate how the term ‘friend’ is used in the Bible is in Proverbs 17:9: ‘He that covereth a transgression seeketh love; but he that repeateth a matter separateth very friends.’

“Notice gossip and evil reports separate friends. Well, the implication there is a friend is someone who’s not separated from you, who’s one with you, who’s a companion. Verse 17 says, ‘A friend loveth at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.’

“A friend is somebody where circumstances and your conduct and that kind of stuff isn’t really the issue. They have a value and esteem for you and they’re going to love you regardless of what the circumstances in your life are; regardless what the adversity that comes in life will be.

“Proverbs 18:24 says, ‘A man that hath friends must shew himself friendly: and there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother.’

“It’s kind of a two-way street and ‘there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother.’ The context is found in verse 22: ‘Whoso findeth a wife findeth a good thing, and obtaineth favour of the LORD.’ Who he’s talking about is really your spouse.

“A friend is somebody who will be more loyal to you and value and esteem you more than a family member. My point is friendship is something esteemed very highly in God’s Word.

“Probably the most famous friend quote in the Scripture is when Judas approaches the Lord Jesus Christ in the Garden to betray Him and the Lord Jesus Christ looks at him and He says, ‘Hail, friend.’

“That title that Jesus is using comes out of a verse in Psalm 41:9: ‘Yea, mine own familiar friend, in whom I trusted, which did eat of my bread, hath lifted up his heel against me.’ Christ quoted part of that verse in John 13 when He was with His apostles in the Upper Room.

“This is a song of David, and when David historically is writing it, he’s talking about Ahitophel, his friend. Prophetically it turns out to be talking about the Lord Jesus Christ and the one who’s going to betray him.

“So what’s a friend? It’s somebody I’ve trusted. Here’s somebody that I’ve had close communion with. He’s closer than a brother. Here’s somebody I trust with my heart and here’s somebody I sit at the table . . . I share what belongs to me with this person and if it’s mine, it’s theirs. And if I have it, then they can consume it. They’re with me. And we’re not just attached together because of work or circumstances—we have an attachment together based upon esteem and value for one another.”

(new article tomorrow)