The Word of God is food for the spirit and health to the body.
Through the spirit of revelation, we are guided into the wisdom and deep mysteries in His
Word that make our lives vibrant and productive.
Welcome to the Merciful Gospel Church Podcast.
As you listen in, the glory of God will be quickened and activated in your life.
And now, the Word.
I want to welcome you all in the house of God this morning.
And as usual, I am honored to see you here.
It's an honor for me.
I know that, as I say, first of all, you are a special part of this congregation.
You guys who come here by seven o'clock, you are in your own class.
I tell you the truth, I am here because I have to be here.
I'm the pastor.
I probably come for the side service, but the seven o'clock service is a unique breed.
God bless you for that.
God bless you.
We have been looking at a very important subject in my mind, and it's the subject of being
in covenant with God.
I am convinced that there is nothing more profound, nothing more consequential, nothing
more impactful than being in covenant with God.
It determines everything about who you are, what you do, what you become, and what you
achieve in this life.
In this life, God is the one that makes a difference in our lives.
And when you're in covenant with Him, you are a unique and unusual person.
There's something about you that makes you have an edge over other people.
This morning I have a question.
Are you a servant or a friend?
Are you a servant or a friend of God?
What are you?
Are you a servant of God?
Are you a friend of God?
I want us to turn first of all to the Gospel of John chapter 15 verse 15, John 15 verse
15.
It says there that, No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what
his master is doing.
But I've called you friends, for all things that I heard from my Father, I have made known
to you.
In this verse, Jesus describes the dimensions of being in relationship with Him.
There are different shades.
There are different ways you can relate with God.
You can be a servant, you can be a friend.
It depends upon you.
So what are you?
Who are you?
Are you a servant?
Are you a friend of God?
Because both are possible.
There are Christians who are only servants.
They follow instructions.
They never get to know anything beyond instructions.
They just do things probably out of habit.
But they are those who get to know more than instructions.
They get to know why, how, when.
They get to know details about what God is up to.
God reveals, God confides in them.
God confides in them.
God makes them His confidants.
God shares with them things that are on His heart.
And in a summary, being a friend is an upgrade from being a servant.
The ultimate level of being in relationship with God is not being a servant.
It is being a friend.
That is the epitome.
That is the A+.
That is the highest level anyone can ever relate with God, being a friend of God.
When God says, you are my friend, that says a lot.
There are very few people in the Bible He calls His friends.
As far as I can recall, there are only two, Abraham and Moses.
Others are servants, they are prophets, they are apostles, they are evangelists.
But the people that God steps out and says, that man is my friend, I only know two.
One of them is Abraham.
And we see this in Isaiah 41 verse 8.
Let's just read there briefly.
Isaiah, Isaiah chapter 41 verse 8.
The Bible says, but you Israel are my servant.
See the different?
Jacob whom I've chosen, the descendants of Abraham, my friend.
Hallelujah.
So, what are you?
Are you a servant?
Are you a friend of God?
This morning, I want us to look at one benefit of being a friend of God.
There are so many, there are so many, it would take several weeks going over them, but I
want to share just one.
And I hope that benefit will start up your heart to desire to become a friend of God.
You will move from being a servant, you desire to become a friend.
Let's look at Genesis chapter 18.
We'll read from verse 22.
Genesis 18 verse 22 it says, Then the men turned away from there, and went toward Sodom.
Abraham still stood before the Lord.
Abraham came near and said, Would you also destroy the righteous with the wicked?
Suppose there are fifty righteous within the city, would you also destroy the place and
not spare it for the fifty righteous that were in it?
Far be it from you.
Do such a thing as this, to slay the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous should
be as the wicked?
Far be it from you.
Shall not the charge of the whole earth forgive me, every time I read these words I get tickled.
Who is Abraham talk to God like that?
Banaghi, what does, who is Abraham to question the judgment of God?
How dare Abraham talk to God like that?
Far be it from you.
Come on now, you see, are you going, are you losing, you know, doing something outside
your personality?
Far be it from you.
But God is listening.
Let's continue verse 26.
So the Lord said, If I fight in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare
all the place for their sex.
And Abraham answered and said, Indeed now I who am but dust and ashes have taken upon
myself to speak to the Lord.
Suppose there are five less than fifty righteous, would you destroy all the city for lack of
five?
So he said, If I find there forty-five, I will not destroy it.
Then he spoke to him yet again and said, Suppose there should be forty fair.
So he said, I will not do it for the sake of forty.
And he said, Let the Lord be angry, I will speak.
I like that, I will speak.
Suppose thirty should be found there.
So he said, I will not do it if I find thirty there.
And he said, Indeed now I have taken upon myself to speak to the Lord.
Suppose twenty should be found there.
So he said, I will not destroy it for the sake of twenty.
Then he said, Let not the Lord be angry, I will speak.
One once more.
Suppose ten should be found there.
And he said, I will not destroy it for the sake of ten.
One of the things about a man or a woman being a covenant friend of God is you have bargaining
power.
Or you have good bargaining power, you can broker a deal with him.
Not many people can talk to God like that.
You have to be a friend.
You can't do that now, that's not like you.
This is being audacious.
This is a high level of audacity challenging the wisdom of God.
That is a privilege that God gives to only his friends.
It's only friends.
You have bargaining power.
You have the power to influence a decision.
You have power to control the course of action.
You have the power to strike an agreement with God.
Not every man can do that.
Only people who God calls his friends.
Hallelujah.
You know when you're friends, you tend to be real with each other.
You may not agree on certain things, but you talk.
You can tell your friend nature, you are open.
You can tell your friend your heart.
You can be candid, you can be transparent, you can be honest, you can be open with a
friend because he's your friend.
You can tell your friend what you're doing is wrong, whether he agrees or not, but because
he's your friend, you've got the freedom to challenge him, to warn him, to give him
your peace of mind.
That is the privilege of people that God calls friends.
You can come in his presence and sit with God and influence a decision.
Hallelujah.
You have leverage.
God did not come from heaven.
Come and visit Abraham and go down to Sodom to find out what he did not know.
God already knew what was happening in Sodom and Gomorrah.
He already knew it, but he came from heaven, came to the house of his friend and went down
and looked over Sodom and Gomorrah and stood with his friend.
Why?
Because God wanted his friend to serve as an intercessor.
The Bible says God does not take pleasure in the death of the wicked.
God does not take pleasure when men perish, die in sin.
He's not happy with that.
So he came from heaven, came unannounced in the home of Abraham.
They walked and looked at Sodom and God kept quiet.
The Bible says in verse 23, Abraham came in here and he began to intercede for the city.
Friends of God have got leverage.
They have the unique position of being intercessors that can spare a city, they can spare a family,
they can spare a nation.
Leverage.
They have that power, they have that position.
God before he destroys a people, he looks for someone standing the gap.
That is Ezekiel 33 verse 11.
Ezekiel 33 verse 11, say to them, as I leave says the Lord, I have no pleasure in the death
of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and leave, turn from your evil ways,
for why should you die, O house of Israel?
And then look at verse 22 verse 30.
So I sought for a man among them who would make a wall, hallelujah, and stand in the
gap before me on behalf of the land that has not destroyed, but I found none.
Look what happens.
Therefore, I poured out my indignation on them.
I have consumed them with the fire of my wrath.
I have recompensed their deeds on their own head, says the Lord God.
There was a time when God looked for someone like Abraham.
He looked for someone like Abraham, a friend to stand between judgment and the people.
He says, I look, I look for a friend.
I couldn't find one.
And because there was no one, I poured out my wrath, judgment upon the people, destroyed
them, destroyed them.
People that are called God's friends are very important.
They can save your family.
They can save a city.
They can save a nation.
They can change a people.
They have good power with God.
They can change the course of things.
They influence his decisions.
God listens to them because they are friends, you know.
When you have a friend, you listen to him, don't you?
Don't you?
Friends talk.
The other day I was trying to get electricity in our place.
I spent over 10 years asking Umeme and rural electrification agency, I got signatures from
the villagers.
I got over 300 signatures.
I went, I pleaded, I begged for over 10 years.
I was asking these guys to give us electricity.
They ignored me.
Then one of you here, God blessed him with a position.
When he heard that there was a project that was being done in that part of the country,
the village of Wama, he spoke on my behalf.
Hey, he spoke and said, let's also include this part of the country in this project.
Now I have to speak, I've got electricity in my home.
Now that is a friend.
That is a friend.
That's the kind of people that God wants.
Friends like this are the ones who can open the top of the mercy of God to flow, grace
of God to flow and cover a people who deserve judgment.
God needs people like this to unlock the floodgates of mercy.
You know, mercy is not something that you just obtain.
You know, when you are guilty and you are in court, you have to plead and ask for mercy
from the judge.
And if you have got a good lawyer, they may shorten your sentence or make it less.
You spend less time in prison.
But when you have found guilty, what you need is not justice.
You need mercy because justice has shown that you are guilty.
You should be put in jail for 50 years.
But now you need someone like Abraham to stand before the judge and plead for mercy.
Forgive him.
He's a first offender.
Cut back the years you are putting him in prison.
Don't hang him.
Put him into life.
You need someone like Abraham to plead for you.
You don't need justice.
You need mercy.
Men and women who are God's friends are so necessary in society.
How we need them.
When children are going wayward and they are rebellious and they refuse to receive Christ
and their lives are in danger, you need someone like Abraham.
To say God, that heart of stone, break it.
Break it.
God can break a heart of stone and change a rebellious child to become a believer.
He can.
He can spare that child from dying in sin.
Why?
Because there's a friend who's pleading on their behalf.
Oh hallelujah.
Exodus chapter 32.
Exodus 32 verse 10.
Here is another example of a man who was a friend of God and we see him doing the very
same thing that Abraham did for the people.
By the way, if you're wondering if God answered Abraham's prayer, yes he did.
The Bible says in Genesis chapter 19, God remembered Abraham and his saved lot.
Our Gomaidimu Kosomiego is in the Bible.
God remembered Abraham and his spared lot.
Lot could have perished in Sodom and Gomorrah.
So God answered Abraham's prayer.
But let's now look at the example of Moses.
Exodus 32 verse 10.
Now therefore, let me alone that my wrath may burn hot against them.
I may consume them and I will make of you a great nation.
Then Moses pleaded with the Lord his God and said, Lord, why does your wrath burn hot against
your people whom you have brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a
mighty hand?
Why should the Egyptians speak and say he brought them out to harm them, to kill them
in the mountains and to consume them from the face of the earth?
Turn from your fierce wrath.
Relent from this harm to your people.
Remember Abraham, Isaac and Israel, your servants to whom you sow by your own self and say to
them our multiplied, your descendants are the stars of heaven.
Though this land that I have spoken of, I give to descendants and they shall hate forever.
So the Lord, listen, so the Lord relented from the harm which he said he would do to
his people.
Not many people can do this with God.
The Jews had made a calf, an image, they had bowed down and washed it.
The Bible says they ate and drank and rose up to play.
That means there was a lot of sin going on.
If you remember in that chapter Moses had gone up the mountain to receive the Ten Commandments
and because he delayed to come back, the people decided to make their own God and the God
they made was a calf.
So God was extremely upset, said Moses, I'm going to kill all these people, all of them.
When God says that, he means it.
I'm going to destroy all of them, but I will make a nation out of you.
Now follow carefully.
Moses stands to benefit from that kind of thing.
It is Moses now who will become the originator, the father of the nation.
Instead of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, now it will be Moses.
God says I'm going to wipe out this whole bunch of rebels and begin something new with
you.
So if Moses was like some of us, let's do it, kill them, kill this person, kill this
person, kill them, but friends of God have a passion for people and for God.
They love people and they love God.
They're a unique people.
He said, God, no, no, no, no, no, don't do that.
Don't kill people, don't destroy them.
Don't, don't.
Then he told God, by the way, you must remember your interests.
You have a name, you have a record.
If you kill these people, the Egyptians will say, he took them out of Egypt to kill them
himself in the mountains.
This is God that they serve is the murderer.
He could not take them into the promised land, so he killed them in the mountains.
God, you have a reputation.
Moses is not only protecting the people of Israel, he's protecting the interests of God.
Saying God, I love you and I want to make sure you maintain your record.
You maintain your name.
Don't allow people to question your integrity.
They will think that you have, you could not give them the land, so you murdered them before
they reached the promised land.
Don't do that.
Those are friends of God.
They have a passion for God and they love people.
They care for people.
They intercede for people.
They hurt when people are hurting.
He said these kind of people are unique, not all Christians come to this level, worship
with God.
He says, God, you have interest to protect.
You have a name to protect.
And also verse 13, you made a promise to Abraham.
You saw to him several times that his descendants will enter the promised land and you promised
him that you would give them the land.
God, don't go back on your word.
He's protecting the name and integrity of God.
When God heard that, says, I'm not going to, I'm not destroying them.
They have God's bargaining power, bargaining power.
They have a unique position to bargain with God and change his decisions.
Not every Christian can do that.
Only friends of God can do that.
Hallelujah.
Amos chapter seven, Amos chapter seven verse one.
Thus the road God showed me, behold, loka swarms at the beginning of the lead crop.
This was the lead crop of the King's moans.
And so it was when they finished eating the grass of the land that I said, Oh Lord God,
forgive.
I pray all that Jacob may stand for his small.
Let me just stop here.
Amos is another kind of man we see here who has a leverage with God.
God was angry with Judah and Amos saw in the vision God bringing judgment over Judah was
going to bring lokas to eat up every crop, all the crop in the land.
They have a state the land and Judah would starve to death.
Amos said, Oh no, God, it's too much.
It's too much.
And spare them, they are few, they are not left very few.
Spare them.
And amazingly, the Bible says verse three, so the Lord relented concerning this.
He says, he shall not be saved the Lord.
I want to be to Agamusti.
These people who God calls his friends, we need them.
God, I'm not going to do it.
And then he says in verse four, that's the Lord showed me, behold the Lord called for
conflict by fire and it consumed great deep and devoured the territory.
Then I said, Oh Lord, seize.
Look at how I pray.
Stop Jacob and stand for his small.
The only few remaining stop.
So the Lord again relented concerning this.
This also will not be saved the Lord.
So what are you?
Are you a servant or are you a friend?
What is your goal in this life?
You just want to be a member of a church, just go to heaven or you want to upgrade.
This is the highest level of relationship with God, being a friend of God.
Now let me give you some three things you can do to upgrade.
Because you say, Pastor, how can I upgrade?
I'm going to give you some ways you can upgrade from being a servant to becoming a covenant
friend.
First of all, in Genesis 17 verse one, God told Abraham, walk before me and be blameless,
be perfect.
Friends of God walk before God and endeavor to be blameless.
Because when God comes to Abraham, he comes unannounced.
He just shows up in his house.
Why?
Because God knows when he comes at man's home, he'll be comfortable.
You will not find him with another wife, you will not find him drunk, you will not find
him doing, he comes anytime because this man's home, God is comfortable visiting anytime.
Are you listening to me?
In chapter 18 Genesis, God did not tell Abraham, I'm coming to visit you.
No, he just showed up.
Just showed up.
Because he knows in this man's home, he's comfortable.
He knows he will find him walking blameless before him.
He fears the Lord.
He walks with God.
He's the man that endeavors to keep the word of God in his life.
God told him Abraham walk before me, be perfect.
That's what he did.
Therefore God was at ease.
God was comfortable sitting, eating, drinking with his friend because of his lifestyle.
How about you?
If God came to your house, would he be comfortable?
When he sees what you watch on TV, when he sees what you read, what you watch on your
phone, when he sees what you do, will God be comfortable in your home?
Can God come unannounced?
There is a God saying, okay, next month on this date I'm coming to visit you and then
you rearrange your house, you remove all the tapes and the videos and everything that's
not good, you throw all the books that are not good.
You prepare for his visit.
But there is another instance where he just shows up.
But he knows even if I come in the midnight, I know this man walks before me and is blameless.
Your friends walk before God and they never to be perfect.
They walk in the fear of God.
That's the first way you can upgrade from just being a servant to becoming a friend.
Then also notice that when God comes to visit Abraham, Abraham was seated in his house.
It was about noon, the heat of the day, about 12 noon, it was very hot.
But the moment he saw the Lord, and you're asking me, how did he know this is the Lord
and these are two angels?
It's because Abraham had met with God several times.
When he would see him, he could recognize him.
So when the Lord came and said, my Lord, you have come in my house.
Sit, let me get some water for you to wash your feet.
Let me sit a minute before you.
He said, my Lord.
He not say my Lord, he says my Lord, because one of them was the Lord.
The other two were just angels.
And Abraham could recognize him because they met, they were acquainted.
Hallelujah.
He did not bring a stick and bring it just our thieves.
No, he knew this is the Lord.
I know him.
I've seen him before.
We talk.
He's my friend.
We talk.
We spend time together.
Praise the Lord.
Abraham prioritized time with God.
Abraham was a man who spent time with God.
You talk to him.
He knew his voice.
Friends spend time together.
There are people that I grew up with in primary school.
Some of them live in Canada, others I were.
But the friendship is no longer the same because we rarely talk.
Once in a while, they may come to Kampala.
They start a journey and leave.
They go back to where they're staying.
But our friendship is not strong because we rarely have contact.
You can imagine having a wife or a husband we only see once every year.
Would that be called marriage?
No, that's not friendship.
Friendship means you meet, you talk regularly.
That is Abraham.
He would meet, that's why when the Lord came, he knew him.
But when I'm like, this is the Lord, and he bowed.
And that whole day, he spent it with the Lord.
If you want to upgrade from being just a servant, prioritize your time with God.
Spend time with him, make him something or someone that is important in your life.
Then lastly, if you want to upgrade from being a servant to becoming a friend, be burdened
by what burdens the Lord.
Have a heart after God's own heart.
See, when the Lord came to visit Abraham, when he was eating and drinking, Abraham noticed
something.
God was concerned, the Lord was bothered.
When he got up to leave, Abraham said, they walk together.
And he could sense there was a burden on the heart of the Lord.
And as he walked, he said, shall I keep this from Abraham, knowing that he would be a great
nation, he would teach his children to keep my ways.
As the Lord spoke to the angels, Abraham heard him.
He says, let me go down to Sodom and come and see whether what I have heard is true.
As they walk, Abraham also begins to carry the same burden.
When the Lord stops, this is interesting, the Lord stops, he does not go down to Sodom.
He stays with Abraham.
It's the angels who went down to Sodom to rescue Lord.
That says a lot.
God was not at the same level of friendship with God as Abraham.
God did not go down to rescue Lord, he sent angels.
He stayed with his friend Abraham.
And as they stood there, Abraham says, there's some things.
But if that city, if there are 50 people who are righteous, are you going to destroy them?
And he begins to be concerned about the souls and destruction, the judgment that was going
to come upon Sodom and Gomorrah.
He began to feel the heaviness as the friend began to lift the burden that was on the heart
of God.
He began to intercede for the souls.
Friends have the capacity to have the same burden that God has.
They have got empathy, they feel God.
They feel him, they have a heart after God.
When others are happy, when people are destroyed, when people die, when things go wrong, friends
of God are like God, they are pardoned.
When people die in sin, when there is injustice, friends of God feel what God feels.
They take time to pray for intervation.
If you're only concerned about you and your wife and your kids, no one else, then you
probably are just a servant.
Things go beyond.
They weep and sorrow.
They grieve over souls and men.
They are concerned.
They have the same burden that God has.
They have empathy.
And this man stood for some time with the Lord there.
I don't know how long they took, but they talked.
After a while, the Lord left, Abraham went back to his house.
But that's what I see that if you are going to become a friend of God, may God give you
heart after his own heart.
When you care for people, when you see suffering, when you see misery, when you see injustice,
you weep, you cry, you sorrow.
The Bible says God does not take pleasure in the death of the wicked.
He doesn't.
God sees injustice.
Look, he says, I have heard the cry of Sodom has come up to me.
There were sodomizing children.
There were sacrificing children.
There was sin in Sodom and God was grieved.
Abraham stood with God and began to carry the same burden.
He began to pray for the deliverance of those people.
Those are men and women who upgrade from being just, they upgrade from being, they become
friends of God.
Hallelujah.
This morning, what are you?
You just a member of the full gospel church?
Are you just a servant?
You only come here on Sunday?
You only come to worship and maybe hear a good message?
Oh, have you made a decision?
I want to upgrade.
I want to become a friend of God.
Father, we pray this morning, stir up our hearts.
What you did with Moses and Abraham, know the other servants that became friends, the
people that you took pride in, even David and all these men and women, made come to
pass in our lives.
Let's not be contented just being Christians, ordinary Christians.
Let's aspire to become covenant friends of God, men and women who have got leverage and
audacity to bargain with you and to see your purposes come to pass.
I pray this in Jesus' name.
Amen.
Thank you for listening.
We hope that you've been strengthened with his might and fortified by the word of God.
Please make sure to like, follow and subscribe to our Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube
pages at FullGospelMap.
Goodbye.