Traits Of A Good Friend

Traits of A True Friend

Ecclesiastes 4:9-12

This message was a dual preached sermon. As one person preached the other braided a cord of three strands.

OPENING:

RYAN:* I wonder why it’s such a compliment to tell a woman she looks like a breath of spring, but not to tell her she looks like the end of hard winter. Isn’t it the same thing?

Karl* I wonder why it pleases her to say time stands still when you look into her face, but not to say her face would stop a clock. Why?

RYAN; Karl I would love a true friend that tells me the truth wouldn’t you?

Karl:Yes I would and today lets discuss how we can spot a true friend

Read Text Ecclesiastes 4:9-12

Intro:

R: A friend is the one who comes in when the whole world has gone out

K: Friendship is born at that moment when one person says to another, "What! You, too? I thought I was the only one."

C.S. Lewis.

R:A friend is someone who know exactly what you are and loves you anyway

K: Oscar Wilde wrote, "A true friend always stabs you in the front."

R: Lawrence Peters says you can tell a real friend by the fact that when you’ve made a fool of yourself he doesn’t feel you’ve done a permanent job.

Context of chapter4

Traits of a True Friend…

1.) Friends Partners (9)

Verse 9,” Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work

A farmer was detained for questioning about an election scandal. "Did you sell your vote?" the attorney asked. "No sir, not me," the farmer protested. "I voted for that there fella ’cause I liked him." "Come, now," threatened the attorney. "I have evidence that he gave you fifty dollars for a vote." "Well, now," the farmer said, "it’s plain common sense that when a fella gives you fifty dollars you like him."

Now this is not the partnership Solomon is writing about in verse9.

Solomon is speaking of the law of synergy. Where as one 1 horse can pull a 1,000 pounds 2 can pull 3,000.

This partnership is more than business partners . These friends have one goal in mind for life.

For example, Jimmy and Lauries –PLAY VIDEO: This illustrationis a HS buddy of ours that got saved the weekend of this message. Karl led him in repentance and I baptized him

Transition….

*ILL- Ryan raised Money for my dad’s funeral.1,500 raised at OCC chapel for karl’s dad’s funeral. True friend picks you up in dark times of life

2.) Friends Pick-up ( verse 10)

If one falls down, his friend can help him up!

Why should you pick up fallen friends?

a. You will eventually fall and need help getting up.

"A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity." (Proverbs 17:17)

Now isn’t that something? We think a friend is for the good times, someone with whom we laugh and have fun. Here the Bible tells us a friend is to help us get over the tough times in life.

Do any of us want friends SOLELY for the purpose of sharing the good times?

If you are naive enough to believe that, then tell me what you think of a so-called friend when they avoid you when you get in a tight spot?

Quite honestly my "best" friends are not the ones who just laughed with me - no, my best friends are the ones who have cried with me!

Wal-mart------------Pick-up Karl when Him and Ryan got into a fight. Karl got out of car. Walked like a bay throwing a fit. Ryan left him and later returned. Karl got back in car and cried together.

3.) Friends Persevere(verse 11)

11 "Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm. But how can one keep warm alone?")

I Pyschology Today of June 1982, 40,00 people were surveyed and asked what qualities were most valued in a friendship the the 3rd most important quality was warmth and affection.

People need to have someone stand close to them during the cold-times of life

There are a lot of "cold times" in life when folks need a friend:

a. When they are having relationship problems.

b. When they are having health problems.

c. When they are having financial problems.

The associate press 1994 OCEANSlDE, Calif. (AP)

In Mr. Alter’s fifth-grade class. Everyone is bald

"If everybody has their head shaved, sometimes people don’t know who’s who. They don’t know who has cancer, and who just shaved their head" said 11-yeat-old Scott Sebelius, one of the baldies at Lake Elementary School.

For the record, Ian O’Gorman is the sick one.

Doctors recently removed a malignant tumor from his small intestine, and a week ago he started chemotherapy to treat the disease, called lymphoma.