I’m a friend of Jesus. How about that?

Steve Brown:
I’m a friend of Jesus. How about that? Let’s talk about it on Key Life.

Matthew Porter:
God’s grace changes everything. How we love, work, live, lead, marry, parent, evangelize, purchase, and worship. This is Key Life, with practical Bible teaching to get you home with radical freedom, infectious joy, and surprising faithfulness.

Steve Brown:
Thank you Matthew. If you’re just joining us, we’re studying Philippians. And we’re looking at Philippians, the 2nd chapter, verses 19 through 30. Now, I read that to you yesterday, I’m not going to do that again, and I told you that when I was studying this book and preparing for spending time on this broadcast, I thought, you know, I’m going to make a short comment about these verses, they’re nice. And they reflect a great relationship. But I’m going to move on to something more meaty, which is the next text. And then the more I thought about it, the more I began to realize that this is an important text. Because God, in these verses, opens a door a crack, and you’re able to see about the friendships that were valued so much by the apostle Paul. Now, he mentions Mark, and the difference that Mark has made. And he mentions Epaphroditus. And he mentions the people at the church he’s writing to. And this was his church, we’ve seen that in Philippi. If Paul had his letter in any church, to use old ecclesiastical language, that letter would be in the church at Philippians. And throughout this Book of Philippians, joy is repeated, or rejoice, some 17 times. Now, there’s a lot of reasons for the joy that the Apostle Paul expresses in this book. But let me tell you something that’s really important, that joy is rooted in relationship. And that relationship is rooted in friendship. Somebody has said that a friend will forgive you if you kill somebody, but a real friend will help you bury the body. No, don’t send me letters, it’s just kind of funny, but it says something that is really important and that is the importance of friendship. Let me give you one of the best verses in the entire New Testament. It’s in the 15th chapter of John, and this is what Jesus says.

I no longer call you servants, because a servant doesn’t know what his master is doing: instead I have called you friends, for everything I learned from my Father I have made known to you.

And then in that same passage, Jesus says this.

Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. And you are my friends.

And then there’s an interesting verse and you can miss it if you’re not careful. It’s in the third chapter, or the third Letter of John, the apostle. And it’s a very short letter. It’s only one page in your Bible, and you can read it in a couple of minutes, the whole book. But at the end, where you expect the apostles, Paul in particular, and Peter, and John to say, your brothers in Christ greet you, that isn’t what John says. Listen to what he says in the very final verse of III John. He says.

Peace be with you.

And here it comes.

The friends greet you. Greet the friends, every one of them.

Oh, man. I expected brothers and sisters. Or family of Jesus, or something like that. But he uses an intimate reference there to just friends, the importance of friends in our lives. And as you study these verses in Philippians, you begin to see some very important things that are going on. Note, if you will, first, the philanthropy, the caring, and the action of friendship. It’s Philippians 2:19a.

I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon, that I also may be cheered.

And then Philippians 2:20.

Who takes a genuine interest in your welfare.

Thousands of appeals for pardon came to Lincoln from soldiers involved in military discipline. Every time he received an appeal, he noted that it was accompanied by testimonials by the friends of the accused. And then there was one that had no supporting documents. And Lincoln said, Do you mean to tell me that this man has no friends? No sir, not one, said his aide. Then said Lincoln, I will be his friend. And he pardoned him. The importance of friendship. But friendship isn’t something that’s just words, I know him, that’s an acquaintance. Friendship isn’t somebody that you casually meet somewhere. Friendship is, now listen up, cause this is a good definition, is when they give you and you give them blank checks. Let me say that again. Friendship is when they give you and you give them blank checks. Friendship is something that is in action. My mentor, and I quoted him earlier this week, Fred Smith. Fred Smith often said to me, Steve, you have some blank checks on me, be careful. And one time after I did something really bad, he said, you have blank, a stack of blank checks on me, but they’re running out. But what he was saying is that the reason for friendship is the difference we make by acting and caring on behalf of our friends. So, friendship is an acquaintance. You’ve got a lot of those. Friendship is where you give blank checks and you receive blank checks. Well, I could go on and on about that, but let me move on. Second thing I want you to note from this text on friendship, I want you to note not only the philanthropy, and the caring, and the action of friendship, please note the peculiarity of friendship, Philippians 2:20a.

I have no one else like him.

I love that phrase. No one else like him. I have a friend, Jim Green, who said to me one time, I may have told you before. Steve, if I disagree with you, can we still be friends? Listen, if friendship is based on agreement, or even likeness, then nobody’s going to be your friend, because everybody is different. I mentioned Fred Smith, and I’m going to quit pretty soon. But his son, Fred Smith, has a plaque on his home, and it reads as follows.

A friend is one who knows you, and who you are, understands where you have been, accepts what you have become, and still gently invites you to grow.

That’s so good. Friendship is very special. It’s a gift that others give you, and you need to rejoice in it. Do you not have any friends? I’ve got a friend who has no friends. One time I heard Ann Kimball in a talk she was giving, said she had talked to a friend who said, Ann, sometimes I feel like a weed. And she said, Nobody is a weed. Will you be my friend? And she became her friend. Maybe you feel you don’t have friends and you’re fine with it. Don’t do that. You need people. It took me a long time to understand that. It took me a long time to realize that I could not live in a concrete case of my own and survive. I realized that I need friends. One time when I was teaching students, and I made a point of talking about the bad stuff in the church and how you dealt with it. And I told the students, If you’re thinking about leaving the seminary, raise your hand and I’ll tell you some good things. And one time when I was talking about some bad things, the student on the front row raised his hand and I stopped and I said, Let me tell you about my friends in the church. And I started naming names and going down the list and I got emotional and I realized this is really important. It is. You think about that. Amen.

Matthew Porter:
Thank you Steve. That wraps up this week’s exploration of Philippians. And next week, our good friend Justin Holcomb will join us to talk about Epiphany. Familiar with that one? No? Well, tune in and we will learn together. And of course, tomorrow we’ll have Friday Q&A with Steve and Pete. One question they’ll tackle deals with what Steve calls the The mother of all addictions. So, here’s a story. A number of years ago, Steve came to the realization that God wasn’t very real to him. Then he went to God and made some discoveries that we’ve put into a booklet called How to Get Your Prayers Answered…And What To Do When They’re Not. I love that title. God really is your Father and enjoys spending time with you. And this booklet will help you understand that in a fresh way. Get your copy right now by calling us at 1-800-KEY-LIFE that’s 1-800-539-5433. You can also e-mail [email protected] to ask for that booklet. To mail your request, go to keylife.org/contact to find our mailing addresses for the U.S. and Canada. Again, just ask for your free copy of the booklet called How To Get Your Prayers answered…And What To Do When They’re Not. And finally, would you consider supporting Key Life financially? Giving is easy. You can charge a gift on your credit card, you can include a gift in your envelope. Or you can now give safely and securely through text. How? Just pick up your phone and text Key Life to 28950 that’s Key Life, one word or two. It doesn’t matter. Just text that to 28950, then follow the instructions. Key Life is a member of ECFA in the States and CCCC in Canada. And Key Life is a listener supported production of Key Life Network.