Are you a friend of Jesus?

耶稣基督, 神的儿子, showed His great love for His Father and those, whom He called His friends by laying down His life. 那些, who would give heed to His call and believe in Jesus and accept Jesus as Saviour and Lord and would follow Him by doing whatsoever He commanded, would be a friend of Jesus. Are you a friend of Jesus?

When are you a friend of Jesus?

God sent His Son Jesus to the earth with a mission. Jesus obeyed His Father and did what His Father had commanded Him to do. 耶稣走进爱情, by keeping the commandments of His Father. By keeping the commandments of His Father, Jesus walked in obedience to His Father in His will and established the law.

As God sent Jesus to the earth and Jesus obeyed His Father by keeping His commandments and therefore doing His will, 耶稣也差遣了他的门徒，并期望他们在地上服从他，遵守他的诫命，并遵行他的旨意 (另请阅读: ‘神的诫命和耶稣的诫命').

虽然耶稣当时对门徒说了这些话, 耶稣今天仍然对他的门徒说同样的话.

耶稣的话和他的诫命仍然适用并且仍然包含同样的生命, 和平, 和电源.

耶稣说, 那个每个人, 遵守他的话语、遵行他的诫命的，就是他的朋友.

他的诫命与天父的诫命相同, 耶稣保存并走进去.

因为天父的诫命, 法律上有写明的, 代表神的旨意，可以用两条诫命来概括, 即全心全意地爱神, 灵魂, 头脑, 和力量, 并爱人如己 (另请阅读: 你全心全意地爱神吗? 和爱人如己是什么意思?)

The disciples of Jesus had laid down their own lives

This is My commandment, That you love one another, 正如我爱过你一样. Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. You are My friends, if you do whatsoever I command you (约翰 15:12-14)

Jesus spoke these words to His disciples, whom Jesus had called and had given heed to His call. They had laid down their own lives and their daily occupations, including their jobs, and submitted themselves to Jesus by being with Him, following Him, listening to Him, being taught by Him, and doing what Jesus commanded them to do.

Jesus represented the Kingdom of Heaven and made the Kingdom of Heaven known by His words and His deeds. So that His disciples would get to know this Kingdom. Jesus discipled them and shared His wisdom, 知识, and life with them.

After Jesus had made the Kingdom of God known to them by His words and by demonstrating the Kingdom of Heaven in power, Jesus commanded His disciples to go in His Name; 在他的权柄下, and preach and bring the Kingdom of Heaven to the lost sheep of the house of Israel (另请阅读: 把迷失的人带回家!).

His disciples obeyed Jesus and went two by two in His authority and preached and brought the Kingdom of Heaven to the lost sheep of the house of Israel, by preaching the gospel, casting out demons, and healing the sick.

The disciples were not yet born again. They were still the old creation. But Jesus had given them authority over the whole army of the enemy and nothing would by any means hurt them. 由此可见, that you don’t have to be born again to perform signs and wonders, and i.e. cast out demons and heal the sick.

The mind sanctified through the words of Jesus

Sanctify them through Thy truth: Thy word is truth. As Thou hast sent Me into the world, 我也是这样把他们送到世上来的. And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, 使他们也因真理而成圣 (约翰 17:-17-19)

The disciples had renewed and sanctified their minds with the words of Jesus, which derived from the Father. They were sanctified (set apart for God, dedicated, purified, or consecrated) through the truth of God. 然而, they were not able to understand and bear everything that Jesus told them, since they were still the old carnal creation, who were unspiritual.

I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. Howbeit when he, 真理的灵, 来了, 他会引导你进入一切真理: 因为他不会谈论自己; 但无论他听到什么, 他要说的话: 他会向你展示未来的事情 (约翰 16:12-13)

The coming of the Holy Spirit

When Jesus took place on the 施恩座 at the right hand of God the Father and God sent the Holy Spirit to the earth and the disciples, who were together in the upper room praying in one accord, received the Holy Spirit, their spirit was raised from the dead and they understood the words of Jesus.

The other Comforter; the Holy Spirit had come, whereby they had received the power that Jesus had promised and they had to wait for in Jerusalem. The same Holy Spirit; 真理的灵, who dwelled in Jesus, dwelled in them.

When the disciples of Jesus had received the Holy Spirit and had become a new creation and spoke in new tongues, as Jesus had promised and commanded, they were able to boldly speak the words of God and be witnesses of Jesus Christ, 弥赛亚; 永生神的儿子; the Creator of the heaven and the earth and representatives of the Kingdom of Heaven and call the people to repentance.

They were no longer focused on signs and wonders, as before, when they were still the old creation and were excited about the fact that the evil spirits obeyed them, but they were focused on saving the lost souls, by preaching Christ crucified, salvation, 悔改, and regeneration (另请阅读: 跟随耶稣行神迹奇事).

神圣的灵魂, Who lived inside of them, reproved the world of sin, 和正义, 和判断力 (约翰 16:8-11).

The disciples preached this message, the gospel of Jesus Christ, first to the people of Israel and then to the Gentiles.

Through regeneration the disciples had become a new creation; sons of God (这适用于男性和女性). They obeyed the words and commandments of Jesus and walked in the will of the Father.

They represented the Kingdom of Heaven, spoke the words of Jesus, preached the truth of God, and called the people to repentance and the signs and wonders followed them.

Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends

Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. You are My friends, if you do whatsoever I command you (约翰 15:12-14)

Jesus had shown His love for His friends by laying down His own life for His friends. He gave His life by dying on the cross and becoming the substitute for His friends. Jesus bore their sins upon Himself and took the punishment for sin, 这就是死亡, for His friends upon Himself, so that they would not have to bear the punishment for sin and wouldn’t see the death. That was the great love, Jesus walked in. Jesus stayed obedient to His Father and didn’t love His own life until death.

Almost all His disciples, except Jude, answered His love that Jesus had shown them.

They answered His love, by laying down their own lives for Jesus and following Him by walking after His commandments.

They didn’t belong to the world anymore and were no longer a friend of the world. But they belonged to the Kingdom of Heaven and were a friend of Jesus (詹姆士 4:4).

By laying down their own lives, obeying His words and commandments, and by doing His will, and not being ashamed of Him, they showed through their lives, that Jesus was their Friend, and that they were a friend of Jesus, and that they loved Him.

They were a friend of Jesus and spent time with Jesus and had an experiential relationship with Him.

They stayed obedient to Jesus and testified of Jesus to the people, despite the resistance, 恨, persecution, mockery, imprisonment, 虐待, stoning, ETC.

Despite all these things, they stayed faithful to their Friend Jesus and remained in His love, by keeping His commandments until the day they died (另请阅读: Do you confess Jesus or do you deny Jesus before men?).

Many Christians call Jesus Friend

This people draweth nigh unto Me with their mouth, and honoureth Me with their lips; 但他们的心却远离我. But in vain they do worship Me, 为教义教导人的诫命 (马修 15:8-9)

Many Christians call Jesus their Friend and sing, that they are friends of Jesus and love Jesus. But if you look at their lives and their walk, what proof is there, that they are friends of Jesus and that they love Him?

Everyone can say and sing all kinds of things, but what are the fruits of someone’s life? How much time do they spend daily with Jesus; the Word and listen to Him? Do they pray? 他们是否住在他里面并遵行他所说的, 以及他在圣经中所说的话和命令? 或者他们听从自己的肉体和世界所说的话? 他们在做什么和没有做什么耶稣命令他的门徒?

很遗憾, 许多人, 自称是信徒并说他们与耶稣有关系的人, 他们在日常生活中像上帝的敌人一样生活, 耶稣, 和圣灵.

许多人居住在不服从到圣言, 作为十字架的敌人. 他们没有按照圣灵的新造而行，顺服神的道和圣灵. 但他们却像旧造一样顺从肉体而行，顺服罪恶和死亡.

耶稣打破了罪和死亡的权势

很多人不承认这个事实, that Jesus broke the power of sin and death through His death at the cross and His resurrection from the dead. They do believe, that Jesus has taken and carried the sins of the world upon Him, but they don’t believe that Jesus broke the power of sin. Because if they believed this, many lives would be so different than what they are today. They wouldn’t walk as workers of iniquity and live as slaves of sin, which God has made known through the law and Jesus has endorsed (另请阅读: Do Christians believe in the resurrection of Jesus Christ?).

The sin killed Jesus and led Him to death, but the death was not strong enough to keep Jesus in Hades. (另请阅读: 罪杀死了耶稣)

The devil doesn’t want Christians to find out the truth. He doesn’t want them to know, that sin has no more power over someone, who has laid down his flesh.

He wants to keep believers in his power. Therefore the devil makes them believe that they will always 仍然是一个罪人 and never get rid of sin and death.

But that’s a lie that many Christians believe, because they don’t read, and study the Bible themselves and therefore they don’t know the Word.

They say and sing they are a friend of Jesus, 但实际上, they don’t spend time with Jesus and don’t know Jesus and their lives don’t belong to Him.

Many Christians have not given up their lives for Jesus, as a friend would do. They don’t serve Jesus through their lives, but the devil, who works in the flesh. Their flesh is still alive and still dictates their lives.

Many are called but few are chosen

Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, 我对你说, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able (卢克 13:24)

Many people are called, 但很少有人被选中. That’s because many people are not willing to lay down their own life. Their love for Jesus is in reality not as big as they confess and sing with their words.

Not every one that saith unto me, 主, 主, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of My Father which is in heaven. 那天很多人会对我说, 主, 主, have we not prophesied in Thy Name? and in Thy Name have cast out devils? and in Thy Name done many wonderful works? 然后我会向他们承认, 我从来不认识你: depart from Me, 你们作孽 (马修 7:21-23).

Although these believers prophesied and did many signs and wonders in the Name of Jesus, they didn’t have a relationship with Jesus and didn’t live according to the will of the Father (另请阅读: 上帝的意志 vs 魔鬼的意志).

When these believers, who called Jesus their Lord, came to Jesus and said they had prophecied in His Name, cast out devils, and done many wonderful works, Jesus said to them, that He never knew them and commanded these workers of iniquity to depart from Him.

It seemed as if they belonged to Jesus by their prophesying, casting out demons, and by all the wonderful works they did in His Name, but from the inside, they were unchanged and were still the 旧造.

Their lives were still the same as before their 悔改. They still did those things that opposed the will of God. Although their works seemed spiritual and coming from the Spirit, their works were carnal. Because Jesus didn’t know them.

Today there are also many Christians, who call Jesus their Lord and go out in His Name and prophecy, 赶鬼, 并行许多神迹奇事, but they don’t know Jesus personally and don’t have a relationship with Him. They don’t spend time with Jesus and don’t abide in Him and don’t do what He; the Word says and don’t live after the will of the Father but keep doing the works of the flesh and walk in sin (另请阅读: A counterfeit Jesus, who produces counterfeit Christians).

Although they do supernatural works and a part of the great commission, they are workers of iniquity (另请阅读: '法律的秘密' 和 'The difference between the law and grace’).

Despite their words and signs and wonders, they walk after the flesh and live like the world. 而不是 putting off the old man 和 putting on the new man and living as the new man, who bears the fruit of the Spirit, they remain the old man, who bears the fruit of the flesh; the same fruit as the world.