And the Lord heard my cry!

Twice. Once from Vechka, my dear fellow Christian friend, sister in Christ, who was brave enough to click at my blog through Facebook...

And the other was just thrown at my face directly. Like a brick to the head, which is basically the same thing as what Vechka told me. I had time this morning to watch a sermon and I have plenty of choices. One I haven't heard from yet is John Piper. His sermon (2 Timothy 4:9–22) was long, and I was falling asleep on some parts of them. And I completely missed the message that was for me. After it finished, I noticed there is a text version of the entire sermon right under the video. And this just hit me in the head:

Jesus never intended that the enjoyment of his presence would replace the enjoyment of the presence of Christian friends.

Or to put it another way, When Christ died so that you could enjoy him supremely and forever, he did not nullify the fellowship of believers, he created it. Christ always intended that your friendship with him would be the heartbeat of your friendship with others. His presence would be the central joy of Christian friendship. And the joy of Christ-centered friendship would magnify the worth of Christ as the common treasure.

Where do I see that in this text? Look at verse 17. Even though everyone one else failed to show up at my trial: “Nevertheless the Lord stood by me and strengthened me.” Now, if that’s all we had we might say: See, when you have Jesus, you have one who never fails you, and so you don’t need those fallible, finite, failing friends.

But what does Paul say? Verse 9: “Do your best to come to me soon.” Verse 21: “Do your best to come before winter.” He wants Timothy’s presence. He longs for it. And this is no exception for Paul. He often spoke this way.

To the Romans, “I long to see you” (Romans 1:11). “I have longed for many years to come to you” (Romans 15:23). To the Philippians, “I love and long for, my joy and crown” (Philippians 4:1). To the Thessalonians: “Being affectionately desirous of you, we were ready to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves, because you had become very dear to us” (1 Thessalonians 2:8).

So, even though, mere human beings are fickle, finite, fallen, fallible, failing friends, while Jesus was never-failing, Paul cherished such imperfect human friendship. Jesus never intended that the enjoyment of his presence would replace the enjoyment of the presence of other Christians. Christ did not die to create isolated worshipping individuals. He died to create Christ-exalting friendships. That is, he died and rose again to create the church.

I don't know what else to say after that aside from giving Him thanks. Praise the Lord! Thank you Lord Jesus.

Link to this entire sermon:
http://www.desiringgod.org/resource-library/sermons/he-stood-by-me-and-strengthened-me-for-the-sake-of-the-gospel