Jesus Christ is a real, true living friend.

He is the Christian's closest friend.

But like any relationship, it's a friendship that must be maintained by mutual knowing.

So how do we come to know Christ and to learn to trust Him more and more over time?

In other words, how does Christ become a more and more real friend in our lives?

That was a question tackled by John Piper in a 2011 sermon on John, Chapter 8, Verse 31.

Here's what Pastor John had to say.

If you want to know Jesus, be much in His Word.

One of the most important convictions I ever developed and I commend it to you.

One of the most important convictions you could ever form is that

Jesus as a real, living, precious, present, experienced friend and person

is known chiefly through His Word.

And the only reason I use the word chiefly instead of only.

I first wrote only when I wrote this, only.

And in a sense, that would be true, but here's the reason I stepped back from only

and wrote chiefly for this reason.

You know it from Paul in Philippians 3.

You know it if you've walked with Jesus a long time that as you walk with Him

through His Word, by His Word, communing with Him, trusting His promises,

striving to obey His commandments and enjoying His fellowship,

I will be with you to the end of the age.

As you walk with Jesus hour by hour over 10, 20, 30, 40 years,

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