Are you a friend of Jesus?

UYESU khristu, uNyana kaThixo, showed His great love for His Father and those, whom He called His friends by laying down His life. Ezo, 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. UYesu walked in love, 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, Jesus has also sent His disciples and expected them to obey Him and keep His commandments and do His will on earth (Funda kwakhona: ‘The commandments of God and the commandments of Jesus‘).

Xa umthanda uYesu woyigcina imiyalelo yakhe

Although Jesus spoke these words to His disciples back then, Jesus still speaks the same words to His disciples today.

The words of Jesus and His commandments still apply and still contain the same life, uxolo, kunye namandla.

Jesus says, that everyone, who keeps His sayings and does His commandments is His friend.

His commandments are the same as the commandments of the Father, which Jesus kept and walked in.

Because the commandments of the Father, which are written in the law, represent the will of God and can be summarized by two commandments, namely love God with all your heart, soul, ingqondo, and strength, and love your neighbour as yourself (Funda kwakhona: Do you love God with all your heart? kwaye What does it mean to love your neighbour as yourself?)

The disciples of Jesus had laid down their own lives

This is My commandment, That you love one another, as I have loved you. 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 (UYohane 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, knowledge, 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; in His authority, and preach and bring the Kingdom of Heaven to the lost sheep of the house of Israel (Funda kwakhona: Bring the lost home!).

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. This shows, 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, even so have I also sent them into the world. And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth (UYohane 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. Nangona kunjalo, they were not able to understand and bear everything that Jesus told them, since they were still the old carnal creation, who were unspiritual.

Ndisenezinto ezininzi zokuthetha kuni, aninako ukubathwala ngoku. Howbeit when he, uMoya wenyaniso, uyeza, Uya kunikhokelela kuyo yonke inyaniso: kuba engayi kuthetha okuphuma kuye; kodwa athe wakuva, Uya kuthetha yena: yaye uya kunibikela izinto ezizayo (UYohane 16:12-13)

The coming of the Holy Spirit

When Jesus took place on the mercy seat 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; uMoya wenyaniso, 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, the Messiah; uNyana kaThixo ophilileyo; 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, inguquko, and regeneration (Funda kwakhona: Ukulandela uYesu ngenxa yemiqondiso nemimangaliso).

UMoya oyiNgcwele, Who lived inside of them, reproved the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment (UYohane 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; oonyana bakaThixo (oku kusebenza kuzo zombini iinkunzi nemazi). 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 (UYohane 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, which is death, 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 (UJames 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, inzondo, persecution, mockery, imprisonment, ukuxhatshazwa, stoning, njl.

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 (Funda kwakhona: 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; but their heart is far from Me. But in vain they do worship Me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men (UMateyu 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? Do they abide in Him and do what He says, and what He has said and commanded in the Bible? Or do they listen to their flesh and what the world says? What are they doing and what aren’t they doing what Jesus has commanded His disciples?

Ngelishwa, abantu abaninzi, who claim to be believers and say they have a relationship with Jesus, live in their daily lives as enemies of God, UYesu, noMoya oyiNgcwele.

Many live in ukungathobeli kwiLizwi, as enemies of the cross. They don’t walk as the new creation after the spirit in obedience to the Word and the Holy Spirit. But they walk as the old creation after the flesh in obedience to sin and death.

Jesus broke the power of sin and death

Many people don’t acknowledge the fact, 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 (Funda kwakhona: 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. (Funda kwakhona: The sin killed Jesus)

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 remain a sinner 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, kodwa eneneni, 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, Ndithi kuni, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able (ULuka 13:24)

Many people are called, but few are chosen. 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, Nkosi, Nkosi, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of My Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Nkosi, Nkosi, have we not prophesied in Thy Name? and in Thy Name have cast out devils? and in Thy Name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from Me, ye that work iniquity (UMateyu 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 (Funda kwakhona: The will of God vs the will of the devil).

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 old creation.

Their lives were still the same as before their inguquko. 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, cast out demons, and do many signs and wonders, 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 (Funda kwakhona: A counterfeit Jesus, who produces counterfeit Christians).

Although they do supernatural works and a part of the great commission, they are workers of iniquity (Funda kwakhona: ‘The secret of the law’ and ‘The difference between the law and grace’).

Despite their words and signs and wonders, they walk after the flesh and live like the world. Instead of ukukhupha ixhego kwaye 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.