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Friends
I. You can tell much about a person by the friends he keeps
A. “Wait a minute! I’m my own person!”
B. Perhaps, but outside our family, our friends hold strong influence in our lives
II. The value of true friends
A. Examples
1. Jonathan and David - I Sam. 18:1
2. Ruth and Naomi - Ruth 1:16
B. A true friend is permanent - Pr. 17:17
1. True friendship lasts through difficulties - Pr. 18:24
2. The example of God
a. Josh 1:5 - I will not forsake you or fail you
b. Isa 54:10 - God’s love for us will last longer than the hills
C. Friends are mutually benefitial; they improve each other - Pr. 27:17
1. They help each other out - Eccl. 4:9-10
D. Our greatest friend is Jesus, who, not thinking of himself, laid down his own life for his friends - Jn 15:13
III. To have friends, you must be a friend
A. Don’t leave your friends behind. - Pr. 27:10
1. Friendships grow when you lean on your friends for help
B. But you must be careful who you claim as friend
1. I Cor. 15:33 - Evil companions will currupt our good morals
2. Gluttonous friends will bring shame, not just to yourself, but also to your own family - Pr. 28:7
3. Hang around angry people and you will learn their ways - Pr. 22:24
C. Evilness must always be resisted
1. Pr. 1:10, 15 - Don’t be enticed, don’t consent
2. Ps. 141:4 - Don’t eat the delicacies of the wicked
IV. Sometimes having God for your friend makes it hard to have friends in this world
A. Ps. 31:11 - Every one leaves. This world does not follow God and does not understand His gentle ways.
B. Job too experienced rejection of his friends during his trials - Job 19:19
C. Even Jesus experience abandonment
1. Though He loved His disciples to the end - Jn 13:1
2. They left him and fled in his time of greatest need - Mk 14:50
V. Pick for yourself good friends
A. Ps. 119:63 - A companion to all who fear God and keeps His laws
B. Pr. 13:20 - Walk with the wise and it will rub off on you
C. I Jn 1:7 - There are friends waiting with common belief, won’t you join them?
D. That we all can say as Paul, “I thank my God in all my rememberance of you.” - Phil 1:3
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