The Greatest Friend of All John 15:14 CLICK TITLE FOR AUDIO

We have been preaching a good bit on friends the last few days and indeed we need good friends.  But lest we overshadow the greatness of Jesus Christ as the greatest friend of all, we need to preach about him awhile.  Truly, the greatest friend you will ever have is Jesus Christ and how neglected he is in Christian fellowship these days.  People don’t go to church to be with him, they go to church to be seen and to see their friends like they would in a social club.  This ought not to be.  You ought to be there first and foremost for the Lord.  He said, “Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there AM I in the midst of them.”  There’s nothing wrong with seeing your brothers and sisters in Christ, but if you miss Jesus you have missed the best.  He said, “Ye are my friends.”

Here are some things you can do to spend more time with your greatest friend:

Think about your greatest friend – Jesus should be the meditation of your heart – lots of Christians have trouble with their thought life – they either keep thinking back to the past or they keep thinking about perverted things – if you want to do something to help your mind center your thinking on Jesus.  Consider his cross, his throne, his creation, his provisions and his presence, among other things.

Read about your greatest friend – Jesus is all through the Bible – he is the Word of God and the Bible is the word of God – they are so closely connected that when you read one, you read about the other – it is just like Jesus is talking directly to you – I visited with a preacher friend about the difficulties that good Bible-believing churches are having – he said one problem is that the preachers have gotten away from the basics, one of which is Bible reading.

Talk with your greatest friend – Jesus should be the object of your prayer – our preachers gather nearly every morning during the week for prayer – the sweetest thing that has happened in that group is that you can hear the men talking to someone who is right here with us – these aren’t eloquent words rising in the air – these are men pouring out their hearts in plain talk to our friend who is right here listening – and you can be sure the same thing is happening in the privacy of our time with him alone.

Sing to your greatest friend – Jesus is the greatest – and singing to him is one of the most uplifting things you can do for your relationship with him and for your fellowship together – I have some excellent music and I often sing in the truck – when I get home I’m singing – when I awake I’m singing – sometimes our daughter is signing and I’ll join her in harmony – what a great way to spend time together and with the Lord – the fellow who led me to the Lord would sing for hours in the car and never once repeated a song.

Thank your greatest friend – Jesus does so much for us everyday and one of the greatest ways to enjoy what he is doing is to show your gratitude by thanking him – we’ve become an ungrateful bunch – truly thanking him for everything he is doing in your life and the many ways he is blessing you will keep you in fellowship with him throughout the day.

Serve your greatest friend – Jesus is your master and so when you go to work if you will remember that you serve the Lord Christ, your work will improve and so will your fellowship with him – in your local church you should be looking for opportunities to serve and for ways that the Lord is preparing you for service – you never know where he might take you.

Tell others about your greatest friend – Jesus should be the subject so full in your heart that out of his abundance you cannot help but to tell someone about him – people love to talk about the people and things they love – if talking about Jesus doesn’t come up often in your conversations then you need to work on getting closer to him – you are far from loving him as fully as you should or could.

Give to your greatest friend – Jesus is the greatest object of your giving because he has given you so much – the largest check we write each week, by far, is the check to our church for the Lord – the Bible says, “Where your treasure is, there will heart be also” – the more you give him the more you will love him and the more you love him the more you will give him – people always give generously to those whom they love.

Look for your greatest friend – Jesus is coming back soon and we are to be looking for our blessed hope – it’s just a matter of time – your anticipation should be so high that you are always looking up – there is a reward for those who love his appearing – why don’t you be one of those who receives this crown of righteousness [2 Tim 4:8].

Conclusion: You have become so distracted by your background noise, your social networks, your hobbies, your work and family, your school, your personal interests and your friends that you have completely neglected the wonderful time that you can spend with the Lord.  Perhaps this broadcast today will cause you to spend more time with Jesus.