Transcript True Friendship - Revelation And Creation

True Friendship
“A man who has friends must himself
be friendly, But there is a friend who
sticks closer than a brother.”
(Proverbs 18:24)
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A TRUE FRIEND:
“THE FIRST PERSON WHO COMES
IN WHEN THE REST OF THE WORLD
HAS GONE OUT”
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A FRIEND WHO, FOR
YOU, FINDS TIME ON
HIS CALENDAR
A FRIEND WHO, FOR
YOU, DOES NOT
EVEN CONSULT HIS
CALENDAR!
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True Friendship
• when found is a blessing and should be
cherished
• is genuine care and concern
• not fake, not fraudulent, not betrayal
• is maintained in trust
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GENUINE FRIENDSHIP
• not based on one’s prosperity
• Pr 14:20, “The poor man is hated even by his
own neighbor, But the rich has many friends.”
• “A FALSE FRIEND IS LIKE YOUR SHADOW. AS
LONG AS THERE IS SUNSHINE, HE STICKS
CLOSE BY. BUT THE MINUTE YOU STEP INTO
THE SHADE, HE DISAPPEARS.”
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False Friendship
• Pr 19:4,6, 7 “Wealth makes many
friends, But the poor is separated from
his friend. . .Many entreat the favor of
the nobility, And every man is a friend
to one who gives gifts. All the brothers
of the poor hate him; How much more
do his friends go far from him! He may
pursue them with words, yet they
abandon him.”
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False Friendship (parasitic)
• ignores “inner characteristics”
• consumed with “external qualities”
• seeks to befriend wealth
• seeks to befriend power
• seeks to befriend popularity
• when the wealth, power, gift is gone or
not useful. . .the friendship fades
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Job
My relatives have failed, And my close friends have
forgotten me. Those who dwell in my house, and
my maidservants, Count me as a stranger; I am an
alien in their sight. I call my servant, but he gives
no answer; I beg him with my mouth. My breath is
offensive to my wife, And I am repulsive to the
children of my own body. Even young children
despise me; I arise, and they speak against me. All
my close friends abhor me, And those whom I love
have turned against me. My bone clings to my skin
and to my flesh, And I have escaped by the skin of
my teeth.
(19:14-20)
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Three “C’s” of
True Friendship
FEW FRIENDSHIPS SAIL ON THESE
THREE!
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ONSTANCY
• true friendship is constant. . .enduring.
. .loyal. . .determinate
• Psalm 15:3, He who does not backbite
with his tongue, Nor does evil to his
neighbor, Nor does he take up a reproach
against his friend
• Pr 17:17, A friend loves at all times, And
a brother is born for adversity.
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Examples
ONSTANCY
• Elisha (2 KINGS 2:2)
Then Elijah said to Elisha, "Stay here,
please, for the LORD has sent me on to
Bethel." But Elisha said, "As the LORD
lives, and as your soul lives, I will not
leave you!" So they went down to
Bethel.
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Examples
ONSTANCY
• RUTH (1:15-17)
15 And she said, "Look, your sister-in-law has gone back
to her people and to her gods; return after your
sister-in-law."
16 But Ruth said: "Entreat me not to leave you, Or to
turn back from following after you; For wherever you
go, I will go; And wherever you lodge, I will lodge;
Your people shall be my people, And your God, my
God.
17 Where you die, I will die, And there will I be buried.
The LORD do so to me, and more also, If anything but
death parts you and me."
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ONSTANCY
• PROVERBS 27:10,
“Do not forsake your own friend or
your father’s friend. . .”
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ONFIDENTIALITY
• some things simply need to remain
confidential
• a friend doesn’t rush “news” that
was privately confided to him into
the “press”
• gossip and backbiters are not good
friends
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ONFIDENTIALITY
• Proverbs 16:28,
“A perverse man sows strife, And a
whisperer separates the best of friends.”
• Proverbs 17:9,
“He who covers a transgression seeks love,
But he who repeats a matter separates
friends.”
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ONSTRUCTIVE
RITICISM
• a lot of friendships seek not this “C”
• “friends don’t judge friends”
• BUT: true friendship can
handle “constructive criticism”
• true friendship respects
“constructive criticism”
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ONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM
• “destructive” criticism has the
purpose of “destroying” its
target
• some enjoy this
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ONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM
• PROVERBS 27
5 Open rebuke is better Than love carefully
concealed.
6 Faithful are the wounds of a friend, But
the kisses of an enemy are deceitful.
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ONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM
• PROVERBS 27
9 Ointment and perfume delight the heart,
And the sweetness of a man’s friend gives
delight by hearty counsel.
CONSTRUCTIVE!
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ONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM
• PROVERBS 27
17 As iron sharpens iron, So a man sharpens
the countenance of his friend.
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• CHOOSE YOUR FRIENDS CAREFULLY
Pr 12:26, The righteous should choose
his friends carefully, For the way of
the wicked leads them astray.
• IF YOU ARE “RIGHTEOUS” YOU WILL BE
SELECTIVE!
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• BECOME A COMPANION OF GOD-FEARING
PEOPLE
Ps 119:63, I am a companion of all who
fear You, And of those who keep Your
precepts.
• SPEND TIME WITH CHRISTIANS!
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• REFUSE THE WICKED, (Prov. 24)
1 Do not be envious of evil men, Nor desire
to be with them;
2 For their heart devises violence, And
their lips talk of troublemaking.
(cf. 4:14-19)
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Evil Company:
• shames a father (Prov. 28:7)
• corrupts good habits (1 Cor. 15:33)
• “good morals” (ASV)
• “good manners” (KJV)
• “Make no friendship with an angry man,
And with a furious man do not go, lest you
learn his ways And set a snare for your
soul” (Prov. 22:24, 25)
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Psalm 1
1 Blessed is the man
Who walks not in the
counsel of the ungodly,
Nor stands in the path
of sinners, Nor sits in
the seat of the scornful;
2 But his delight is in the
law of the LORD, And
in His law he meditates
day and night.
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where you spend
your time walking
is what you can
become!
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The Value of Having a True
Friend
9 Two are better than one, Because they have
a good reward for their labor.
10 For if they fall, one will lift up his companion.
But woe to him who is alone when he falls, For
he has no one to help him up.
11 Again, if two lie down together, they will keep
warm; But how can one be warm alone?
12 Though one may be overpowered by
another, two can withstand him. And a threefold
cord is not quickly broken.
(Eccl. 4:9-12)
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Friendship with the King of
kings?
• comes through obedience (Jn. 15)
13 "Greater love has no one than this, than to lay
down one’s life for his friends.
14 "You are My friends if you do whatever I
command you.
15 "No longer do I call you servants, for a servant
does not know what his master is doing; but I
have called you friends, for all things that I
heard from My Father I have made known to
you.
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Friendship with the King of
kings?
• denied when we are friends with the
world
• “Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not
know that friendship with the world is
enmity with God? Whoever therefore
wants to be a friend of the world makes
himself an enemy of God” (Jas. 4:4)
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The World Says:
• go for the gusto
• don’t fool with “church,” especially when you
are young
• fill your life with “things”
• be tolerant of deviant practices, religions, etc.
• eat, drink and be merry
• baptism is foolish
• survival of the fittest (strongest)
• look out for “number one”
• secular education more important than Bible
study
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whose voice do you
obey?
who is your friend?
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JESUS SAYS:
• “If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his
father and mother, wife and children, brothers and
sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My
disciple” (Lk. 14:26)
• “And whoever does not bear his cross and come
after Me cannot be My disciple” (Lk. 14:27)
• “So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all
that he has cannot be My disciple” (Lk. 14:33)
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JESUS SAYS:
• “He who believes and is baptized will be saved;
but he who does not believe will be condemned”
(Mk. 16:16)
• “Do not fear any of those things which you are
about to suffer. Indeed, the devil is about to throw
some of you into prison, that you may be tested,
and you will have tribulation ten days. Be faithful
until death, and I will give you the crown of life”
(Rev. 2:10)
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