Friendship is a very special relationship that God has blessed us with, and I want to take this very special day and talk about OUR FRIENDS!
I would like to do this by looking at the at the different kinds of FRIENDS that surround our life. First lets look at ...
I. THE BAD FRIENDS
I am sure that most of us have had the misfortune of having some BAD friends over the years. There are few things in life more painful than to have a person you consider to be a GOOD FRIEND, turn out to be a BAD FRIEND.
Actually, there is no such thing as a BAD FRIEND, because if they fall into this category, they certainly cannot be classified as a friend.
Discovering that someone we thought was our friend really isn’t, has to be one of life’s greatest disappointments!
As painful as it may be when we discover this truth about this friendship, we can be thankful that something made it possible for us to make this discovery.
Illus: The Hungarian crown had been kept abroad for twenty-three years, and there were few who knew it well. When it was returned, some said it was not the original crown at all. So the Lord Chief Justice was sent to inspect it. He was able to identify it by a tiny crack in one of the sapphires. If the crown had not been slightly damaged, it would have been impossible to identify it correctly.
Sometimes our failures and disappointments, the things that damage us, serve a useful purpose. (Robert C. Shannon, 1000 Windows, (Cincinnati, Ohio: Standard Publishing Company, 1997).
Let us look at the flaws in the lives of these people we classify as BAD FRIENDS.
Now I know that we can never find the perfect friend among men. But we know that some fall into the category of being BAD FRIENDS because-
A. BAD FRIENDS ASK YOU TO DO BAD THINGS
(1) A young man might befriend a young lady. And one night on a date he might try to talk her into dishonoring herself by having illicit sex.
Listen, if he was the friend he claimed to be, he would not try and talk her into something like this because:
• Once she does this, she will have to live with the guilt of sin the rest of her life.
• Once she does this, she can not stand at the sacred altar wearing a white wedding dress, she relinquished that right.
• Once she does this, she can not marry the man she loves and look him in the eye with the innocence she once had.
WHEN SHE IS PROPOSITIONED BY A JERK LIKE THIS, WHAT SHOULD SHE DO?
Look at 1 Cor. 6:18, the Bible tells her exactly what to do, the Word of God says, “Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body.”
Look at that word “Flee”, this is the Greek word “Pheugo”, pronouned as “Fyoo'-go” and it means three things:
• It means TO RUN AWAY. Young lady, if you are in the car with a jerk like this, get out of the car and RUN AWAY!
• It means TO SHUN. If you see this jerk in the hallway at school, pretend there is a door between you and him, and slam that door in his face in such a way that he will know he is wasting his time.
• It means TO VANISH. Do not hang out with jerks like this.
You do these things, not because you are trying to be ugly, but you do these things because you love the Lord, and you are not going to let him make a fool out of you, and ruin your life, and make you think he is your friend.
I am not trying to be ugly when I refer to people like this as “Jerks”. But sometimes to tell the truth about some people you have to use strong language. And a young man like this is a “Jerk” if there ever was one! For momentary pleasure, they do not care who they hurt!
(2) A Young man might try to get another young man to smoke or drink.
Listen, if he was the friend he claimed to be, he would not try to influence you to do something that has ruined the lives of millions.
Once a young person falls for this temptation, he or she does not know where it will lead.
• Once that young person gives in to that evil influence, they might become a drunk and lose years of their life.
• Once that young person gives in to that evil influence, they might drink one night, and get in their car and kill someone.
• Once that young person gives in to that evil influence to drink alcoholic beverages, they might become addicted to alcohol, and ruin their career and their marriage in the years to come.
Look what God has to say to these BAD FRIENDS who would influence someone to take a drink.
Look at Hab. 2:15a, “Woe unto him that giveth his neighbour drink, that puttest thy bottle to him, and makest him drunken also,...”
God’s Word has one word to say to them, and that is “Woe”.
Drunkenness is wicked in the sight of God, and a true friend will not encourage you to take a pill or drink a drink that would affect your judgment in making rational decisions.
All over this country, there are people who have ruined their lives because they were not smart enough to recognize that BAD FRIENDS ASK YOU TO DO BAD THINGS.
Illus: You have heard the old saying before, “With friends like these who need enemies?”
But this is FRIENDS DAY, and I do not want to spend all our time together talking about these BAD FRIENDS in our life.
We have looked at THE BAD FRIENDS, but let’s look at -
II. THE BETTER FRIENDS
We should not think that all friends are BAD FRIENDS. In this world there are:
• Good parents and bad parents
• Good politicians and bad politicians
• Good policemen and bad policemen
• Good preachers and bad preachers
There are some BAD FRIENDS, but thank the Lord there are some GOOD FRIENDS!
As we study the Word of God, we become able to RECOGNIZE BAD FRIENDS and GOOD FRIENDS! The Bible tells us what a good friend is like.
A. A GOOD FRIEND REALLY LOVES YOU
Prov. 17:17, “A friend loveth at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.”
This is not the love of a husband and wife, this is a brotherly love.
Notice, the Bible let’s us know that a good friend is not a “Fair Weather” friend. We refer to some as “Fair Weather” friends, because when everything is going fine in our lives, they are our friends.
Illus: Job had some of these “Fair Weather” friends. But when the bottom fell out, and things turned sour in the life of Job, the only thing these so called friends were good for was to find fault with him and make false judgments.
The Bible says a GOOD FRIEND, “…Loveth at all times…” They do not just love you six days or six months, they are a good friend for life. The Bible says, they, “…Loveth at all times…”
B. A GOOD FRIEND IS HONEST WITH YOU
Prov. 27:6, “FAITHFUL ARE THE WOUNDS OF A FRIEND; but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful.”
A good friend will tell you what you NEED to hear, not what you WANT to hear.
What they say to us might cut like a knife, but they do it, not because they don’t love you, but because they do love you.
Illus: Some preachers had a preacher friend who was an evangelist. At one time this evangelist had meetings all over the nation. He was a good preacher, a godly man, but once he preached, he was seldom asked to come back. Soon he was not getting enough revival meetings to hardly pay his bills. However, two preacher friends that loved him knew what the problem was. He preached too long! They called him aside out of love, and had to do something that was difficult to do, they told him they thought the problem was that his sermons were good biblical sermons, but they were too long.
Listen, when we love someone, we do not enjoy telling them things like this. But the Bible says, “FAITHFUL ARE THE WOUNDS OF A FRIEND; but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful.”
Our love for them compels us to tell them what they need to hear, not what they want to hear.
C. A GOOD FRIEND WILL HELP YOU BE A BETTER PERSON
• The BAD FRIEND will try their very best to find the bad in us and bring it out.
• The GOOD FRIEND will try their very best to find the good in us and bring it out.
Look at Prov. 27:17, we read, “Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend.”
D. A GOOD FRIEND WILL STICK WITH YOU IN ADVERSITY
• Paul was in jail when he wrote 1 Tim. 4:11a, “Only Luke is with me....”
Others had forsaken him, but Luke stayed with him. Praise the Lord for the “Lukes” who show themselves to be true friends.
• Paul was in jail when he wrote 2 Timothy 4:10, “For Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present world, and is departed….”
We have looked at BAD FRIENDS, and BETTER FRIENDS, but I want us to look now at ...
III. THE BEST FRIEND
Jesus Christ is the BEST FRIEND you will ever have.
• Jesus will never do anything to hurt us…Never!
• Jesus has promised never to forsake us….Never!
Illus: The song writer said it this way, “What a friend we have in Jesus!”
The Lord is truly the best Friend we will ever have.
Illus: The song, No, not one! states it this way, “There’s not a friend like the lowly Jesus, No, not one! No, not one! None else could heal all our soul’s diseases, No, not one! No, not one!”
But even though Jesus is the greatest friend we have ever had or will ever have, MANY HAVE NEVER COME TO DISCOVER THAT YET IN THEIR LIVES!
Illus: Wouldn’t it be terrible to go through life poor, and when you get to heaven you discover that you had a buried treasure in your back yard. IF ONLY YOU HAD KNOWN!
But there is something far worse than this. Jesus Christ is the greatest treasure that anyone could ever have. When life is over and they finally discover that, they are going to say, “IF I HAD ONLY KNOWN!”
I do not want you to have to wait until life is over to discover that. Let me show you some things from the scriptures so you can discover this in this life!
WHAT KIND OF FRIEND IS HE?
A. NEVER HAS ANYONE LOVED YOU THE WAY HE LOVES YOU
Look at John 15:13, “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” Jesus loves you so much that He died so you might live.
Listen, as your friend, I might send you a Christmas card, but He died for you.
B. NEVER HAS ANYONE WANTED THE BEST FOR YOU THE WAY HE DOES
Look at John 14:2-3, we read, “In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.”
Listen, as your friend, I might build you a dog house if you beg hard enough, but he loves you so much that He has prepared a mansion for you in glory land.
C. NEVER HAS ANYONE WANTED TO HELP YOU LIKE HE DOES
Look at 1 Peter 5:7, we read, “Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.”
He did not say:
• Cast the small cares
• Cast some of your cares
He said, “Casting ALL your care upon Him.. (Why?) For he careth for you.”
Listen, as your friend, I might help you with some of your problems, but he loves you so much He says BRING THEM ALL!
D. NEVER HAS ANYONE BEEN AS LOYAL TO YOU AS HE IS
Heb. 13:5b, “....for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.”
• Often when someone we love has major surgery, we try to be there with them. Why? Because we know this is something serious in their life, and we want to be with them because we love them.
• Often when someone has a terminal disease, we visit with them regularly, because we know they are facing the biggest trials of their life, and we do not want them to have to face them alone, because we love them.
But there are times in our life, because of schedules, distances, or sickness, that we have to call our friends and tell them, “I am sorry, I won’t be able to be there for you.”
But the Lord Jesus has never had to do something like that, He said, “…I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.”
He is absolutely the BEST FRIEND we have.
Conclusion:
I. THE BAD FRIENDS
II. THE BETTER FRIENDS
III. THE BEST FRIEND
