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to allow a person a space in your heart. In
Galatians 4:19 Paul speaks of the pain in his
heart that comes from wanting what is best
for them. In Galatians 5:12 he tells of the
pains he has for them because of their bad
choice of companions. In 2 Corinthians
11:2-3 Paul shares the pain he feels over the
thought that someone might lie to them and
lead them away from Christ. These pains
demonstrate that Paul was truly their friend.
5. A True Friend Always Encourages
You to Fear God And Put Him First
!
! Jesus said,” And I say unto you my friends, Be not
afraid of them that kill the body, and after that have no more that
they can do. But I will forewarn you whom ye shall fear: Fear
him, which after he hath killed hath power to cast into hell; yea, I
say unto you, Fear him.” (Luke 12:4-5) We should have a
tremendous fear and reverence for God. Not
cussing and drinking in front of the preacher does
not show reverence to God, but to the preacher.
Not cussing and drinking before God, because He
sees us always everywhere we go, shows reverence
to God.”Let not thine heart envy sinners: but be thou in the fear
of the LORD all the day long.” (Proverbs 23:17)
“ The eyes of the LORD are in every place, beholding the evil and
the good.” ( Proverbs 15:3)
! o you understand how powerful God is? Jesus
D
said: “And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to
kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul
and body in hell. “ ( Matthew 10:28)
Jesus asked this question,”For what is a man profited,
if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what
shall a man give in exchange for his soul?” (Matthew 16:26)
Would a true friend let you drive blindly off of a
cliff? Would a true friend drive a car for you while
you robbed a bank? Would he buy for you or sell to
you, drugs that destroy your body and mind?Would
he tell you you didn’t need to go to church?Would
he allow you to die and split Hell wide open when
there was a way of escape?
Let me be a true friend to you:
• God knows all secrets, you cannot hide from
Him- “For nothing is secret, that shall not be made
manifest; neither any thing hid, that shall not be known
and come abroad.” (Luke 8:17),
!
! ”If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me; even
the night shall be light about me. 12Yea, the
darkness hideth not from thee; but the night shineth
as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike
to thee” (Psalms 139:11-12)
• God will avenge all wrong doing, you cannot
avoid Him-” For we must all appear before the judgment
seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in
his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good
or bad.” 2 Corinthians 5:10 ( see Romans
2:3-11)
• God loves you more than you could ever know,
you cannot live without Him.”He that believeth on the
Son of God hath the witness in himself: he that believeth not
God hath made him a liar; because he believeth not the record
that God gave of his Son. 11And this is the record, that God
hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 12He
that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of
God hath not life.” (1John 5:10-12)
! ! I can not stand idly by and watch you die and
go to Hell, or watch you continually destroy your life
without inviting you to salvation through the truest
friend you have ever had, Jesus Christ.
!If you would know Jesus and have the Son of God
and have life:
• You must acknowledge that you are a filthy,
wicked sinner who cannot save himself and
deserves the Lake of Fire for eternity(Ps. 51:3)
• You must repent, turn from belonging to
yourself, to belong to God as His purchased
property having true sorrow for your sin, not for
being caught. (Ps. 51:4-6, Ps. 38:17-18)
• God said that Jesus died for your sin. Believing
God, you must confess your wicked condition
and ask God to forgive and save you, not
because you are good, but because of Jesus
dying for you personally, on the cross, thanking
Him for making you his child.(Romans 10:9-13)
• Go now and be a True Friend.
IF YOU HAVE RECEIVED CHRIST AS YOUR
SAVIOR LET US KNOW:
ZION BAPTIST FELLOWSHIP CHURCH
7520 ST. RD. 142
MARTINSVILLE, IN 46151
(765)-528-2674
WWW.ZBFC.ORG
Copyright© 2013 TRP
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†
RIEND ¢
! When we think of the word” friend ”,
usually, we think of a face to go with that
word. Often we define a friend as someone
who likes us, helps us, or someone we run
around with. This, however, is not the way
to identify a true friend. God says, in
Proverbs 31:30 “ Favour is deceitful, and beauty is
vain:…” . Anyone can smile and be nice but
that does not make them a true friend. God
said in Proverbs 23:6-8 , “ Eat thou not the bread
of him that hath an evil eye, neither desire thou his
dainty meats: For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he:
Eat and drink, saith he to thee; but his heart is not
with thee. The morsel which thou hast eaten shalt thou
vomit up, and lose thy sweet words.” God tells us
here that the most important aspect of a true
friend is not their apparent “ affection “ or “
generosity “. These can simply be part of an
act. What you really want in a true friend is
character. Let me share with you five
qualities you should look for before you call
someone a true friend.
2. A True Friend Is Always Truthful
1. A True Friend Always Loves
!! When we talk about love, we must remember that
love is not a feeling, it is something that we do. There
are feelings associated with love, but feelings can lie to
you. Our feelings come from our heart which, God
tells us, is deceitful above all things and desperately
wicked ( Jeremiah 17:9 ) Love is something you
choose to do regardless of how you feel. God is the
perfect example of this. God hates our sin, and
despises our wickedness. Yet, for all of these feelings,
God tells us “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only
begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but
have everlasting life.” ( John 3:16 ) . Again, love is what
you do. It is an action.
•A true friend loves you as his own soul
(1 Samuel 18:2 )
!! When you love someone as your own soul, then
what would be bad or harmful to your own soul, you
do not want to happen to your friend’s soul. A person
who helps you to fill your heart with bitterness and
hatred is not a true friend. When you love someone as
your own soul, then what would be good for your
own soul, you want for your friend’s soul.
•A true friend loves you even in hard times and
will not abandon you “A friend loveth at all times, and a
brother is born for adversity. “
(Proverbs 17:17)
!! A true friend does what is good for your soul at all
times, no matter how hard it may be.
•A true friend will love you even when you
don’t show love to them
!! In Matthew 26:47-50, Judas (who does not love
Jesus as his own soul and is not a true friend to
Jesus) leads a band of Jews to arrest Jesus and tells
them “...Whomsoever I shall kiss, that same is he: hold him
fast.” (it is a custom in Middle Eastern cultures to greet
close friends and relatives with a kiss on both cheeks,
rather than shaking hands) Judas was looking
“friendly” and acting “ nice” but he was not Jesus’
friend. Notice, though, that Jesus remains Judas’
friend. Jesus said, ”...Friend, wherefore art thou come?” Jesus
knew all that was going to happen. Knowing this,
Jesus still tries to help Judas see the wrong Judas is
doing. Loving doesn’t mean agreeing with everything
someone says or does, but trying to lead them to what
is best.
“ Faithful are the wounds of a friend; but the kisses of an enemy are
deceitful.” (Proverbs 27:6) Notice what God tells us here.
God says a true friend’s rebuke (telling someone that
they are doing wrong or “sinning”)can feel like wounds,
but a true friend’s rebuke is good for you. An enemy’s
kisses are deceitful or lying. Kisses may sound like a
good thing, but just like the kiss of Judas, false friends
are really betraying you by not dealing in truth. False
friends are really enemies. Enemies don’t care what is
good for you, they tell you whatever you want to hear. A
true friend will tell you the truth even though it may hurt
your feelings. ( Psalms 141:5)
! In the book of Galatians Paul was telling the
Galatians things they did not want to hear. Paul told
them things that offended them, things that made them
angry and ashamed. In chapter 4 Paul asks them, “Am I
therefore become your enemy, because I tell you the truth?” While a
true friend will tell you the truth even if it offends you, it
is not their desire to drive you away.
! Remember:
• A person is your enemy if they want you to feel
good about bad things (stealing, killing, doing
drugs, drinking booze, seeking revenge, missing
church, etc.)
• A person is your enemy when they are nice to you
for their own reasons, their own good, not yours.
• A true friend’s actions are always intended for
your good, to lead you to do good.
3. A True Friend Always Helps
! Someone helping you does not mean that they will do
anything you want them to do. A true friend will not help
you to do wrong. They will not help you to get wasted or
high. An enemy does that. Sometimes we do not realize
that what we want will not help us. Help is that which
encourages you to do good, even when it is hard, and to
stay away from that which is harmful. “Keep thy heart with all
diligence; for out of it are the issues of life. Put away from thee a froward
mouth, and perverse lips put far from thee. Let thine eyes look right on,
and let thine eyelids look straight before thee. Ponder the path of thy feet,
and let all thy ways be established. Turn not to the right hand nor to the
left: remove thy foot from evil.” (Proverbs 4:23-27) A true
friend will not invite you or help you to take part in
illegal activities.
“ My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not. If they say, Come
with us, let us lay wait for blood, let us lurk privily for the innocent
without cause: Let us swallow them up alive as the grave; and
whole, as those that go down into the pit: We shall find all precious
substance, we shall fill our houses with spoil: Cast in thy lot among
us; let us all have one purse: My son, walk not thou in the way with
them; refrain thy foot from their path: For their feet run to evil, and
make haste to shed blood. Surely in vain the net is spread in the sight
of any bird. And they lay wait for their own blood; they lurk privily
for their own lives. So are the ways of every one that is greedy of
gain; which taketh away the life of the owners thereof.” (Proverbs
1:10-19) It does not help you to get drunk or high if
you are lonely, depressed or bored. God clearly tells
us of the destructiveness of sin. Drinking and doing
drugs are evil and filthy practices before God. It is not
a “good time”. There is nothing good about it. You
cannot have a good time doing evil.(Hebrews
11:24-26)
! Helping is a natural part of friendship. “A man that
hath friends must shew himself friendly: and there is a friend that
sticketh closer than a brother.” (Proverbs 18:24 ) Showing
yourself friendly does not mean being pleasant in
conversation, though you should be as pleasant as
possible. Showing yourself friendly means displaying
that good character, which God is pleased with,
towards others. It means being a true friend.
4. A True Friend Sacrifices
! “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his
life for his friends. Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command
you. Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not
what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I
have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.” (John
15:13-15) Here Jesus tells us three things about true
friendship and sacrifice.
• A true friend sacrifices physically of their life
for your good. The greatest sacrifice, of course,
is what Jesus did on the cross. People who care
about you take time out of their lives for you.
• A true friend sacrifices personally by having
high expectations for your character. These
days it is hard to get people to invest in the lives
of others, to be willing to suffer someones “ bad
side” to help and encourage them to do right.
• A true friend sacrifices passionately. Many
people do not want to risk the emotional pains
of rejection and ridicule. It is a sacrifice