Sermon Central
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Friendship With God Or The World Series
Contributed by Shawn Drake on Jan 21, 2023 (message contributor)
Summary: This is the 3rd Sermon in the Series "Israel's 2nd King". This Series is about King David.
Series: Israel’s 2nd King- David [#3]
FRIENDSHIP WITH GOD OR THE WORLD?
Introduction:
The older I get, the more that I realize what an impact our friends have on our lives. Our friends can either be a bump in the road to us or a blessing to us. While we should be friendly to all people, we should be careful in whom we are friends with. I have often told people that one of the ways the Lord help get me out of drugs and alcohol was He moved me to Canyon, TX. I got a new start. Nobody knew that I was addicted to drugs and alcohol at my new College in Canyon. Nobody knew that I had given up all my friends in Albuquerque because I realized that they weren’t really my friends except at the party. I literally changed my qualifications to be a person whom I would “hang out” with.
The Bible defines for us 2 categories of friendship: Friendship with God and friendship with the world. Are you a friend of Satan’s or God’s? You can’t be a friend of both. I believe that friendship with God is the key to the fulfilling of the purpose God has in store for you. The key difference in being friends with God and with the world are found in love; and we show our love to God by being obedient to Him and loving others.
So, what godly characteristics should we be looking for in people whom we would consider to be close friends- People whom we share a lot of our time and fellowship with? Please notice that every one of these characteristics is found in God’s actions towards us.
A godly friend…
1. Gives refuge.
When a friend is in a dangerous situation, we must warn them. Jonathan didn’t just warn David, he also gave him a place to hide. We ought to be a refuge for those whom are in danger.
God is our refuge and our strength. When you need a place to hide, go to God. When you need a place of rest, go to God. When you need a place of protection, go to God. He is our refuge.
A godly friend…
2. Intercedes.
Jonathan interceded for David. He went to his father on David’s behalf. We are to intercede for our friends. Instead of going along with the crowd we should defend them. Instead of talking to others about them, we should intercede in prayer to God for them. Instead of allowing them to handle it on their own, we should realize that God uses us to help them; and we need to help.
Jesus Christ intercedes for us. We can go to an Almighty, Perfect, Righteous, and Just God only because of the blood of Jesus. Without the blood of Jesus, we can never go before God the Father; but through the blood, we can go to God the Father any time we want to with confidence and boldness.
A godly friend…
3. Will risk their life for you.
Chapter 20 begins by telling us that David had fled because Saul was still trying to kill him. David and Jonathan met together and made a covenant that Jonathan would not allow David to be put in a compromising situation with his father again.
Jonathan almost lost his life simply because he did the right thing. Are you willing to stand up for one another, even if it cost you everything? Jesus wasn’t just willing to give His life for us, He did it.
As always, the opposite of these godly truths represent the evilness of the world. Scripture is clear that Satan is the father of this world and that he wants to destroy anything of God- Which includes us.
A worldly friend…
1. Will set you up.
Saul could care less about all of the victories David had won for him and his country. We can see through the rest of this book that Saul is always trying to ambush David and kill him. Saul was always scheming and using people to catch David in a bad situation.
Satan will use whoever, however he can in order to destroy you. If he can’t hurt you through your kids, then he will try with your boss. If he can’t hurt you through your boss, he will try through your church family. He is just waiting around to find the best time and opportunity to attack.
A worldly friend…
2. Is selfish.
Saul wanted David dead so bad that he was angry at his children, he tried to kill Jonathan, he did kill some of the priest, and he was always conniving simply because he was all about himself. Saul had always been about his comfort, his kingdom, “his this and his that”, etc…
