Jonathan - Covenant Friend Series

Jonathan – Covenant Friend

A Covenant friend is Committed (v. 18:1-4; 20:16-42)

A Covenant friend is Loyal (v. 4)

A Covenant friend is Accountable (v. 8)

A Covenant friend is Honest (v. 9-15)

A Covenant Friend is Christ Centered (many verses, Lord)

Jonathon is a good example of a Covenant Friend

Jesus is the perfect example of a Covenant Friend

Slide

Friends. Everyone likes to have friends.

No matter how old you are, no matter how wealthy you are, if you don’t have friends, life does not seem all that great.

I spoke with a lady this week who was in quite a poor situation. She had no place to live and no church family, no friends that were willing to help and family that she was estranged from.

We talked for a bit and I told her that god has designed us to live in relationship with other people and when we cut ourselves off from others, and we have cut ourselves off from help that could receive if we had been in relationship with other people.

Scripture even confirms this in Ecclesiastes 4.

Ecclesiastes 4:9-10

9 Two are better than one,

because they have a good return for their work:

10 If one falls down,

his friend can help him up.

But pity the man who falls

and has no one to help him up!

Pity the man who does not have a friend to help when he is in need.

Now I have known people with a lot of “friends” (quote unquote), but when times got hard, they found that they weren’t friends at all, but only acquaintances.

Proverbs 18:24

24 A man of many companions may come to ruin,

but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.

True friendship is found in the depth of relationships.

Someone once defined a friend as someone who comes in when everyone else goes out.

How do we find friend like that?

We find friends like that by being a friend like that.

There is the rub.

Many of us are not a friend to others like that.

We have superficial relationships because we think it will protect us from getting hurt.

Well, sometimes it will cause hurt in our lives. But the fullness and joy or experiencing close relationships with a friend outweighs the risk.

Sermon Series Transition

In our series, From Ordinary to Extraordinary, we have been looking at ordinary individuals of the Bible that God used in extraordinary ways.

Today we are going to look at an extraordinary friend of David. Someone who was there for David and helped him in his time of need. I think after we finish you will agree that this person truly was extraordinary.

His name was Jonathan and he was the first born son of King Saul, the first king of Israel.

Now some of you may say that he is not ordinary, he is the son of a king. How can he be ordinary? Those that are rich and powerful are not ordinary. They can have and do whatever they want. The rules don’t apply to them so of course they can do extraordinary things.

The risks they take to do the extraordinary are limited because they can buy or use their power to mute the consequences.

Think OJ or Paris Hilton.

Well, in Jonathan’s case, I would argue that it is just because of his privileged position, that it makes the things he did truly extraordinary and something for us to take a look at this morning.

We are going to be reading 1 Samuel 20 on p. 206 (turn there)

Slide

Now as you turn there, I want you to understand the position of Jonathan.

As the first born son of King Saul, he is next in line to be king after his father.

This is important for us to understand if we are going to understand the extraordinary friendship he had with David.

Now, before we read 1 Samuel 20, I want to read 1 Samuel 18:1-4.

This takes place right after David killed Goliath.

Jonathan, a man of God, recognized David as a man of God and they became soul mates and made a covenant with one another.

1 Samuel 18:1-4

18:1 After David had finished talking with Saul, Jonathan became one in spirit with David, and he loved him as himself. 2 From that day Saul kept David with him and did not let him return to his father’s house. 3 And Jonathan made a covenant with David because he loved him as himself. 4 Jonathan took off the robe he was wearing and gave it to David, along with his tunic, and even his sword, his bow and his belt.

So what does it mean that Jonathan made a covenant with David?