Jonathan

Introduction

Greetings…

How many Facebook friends do you have?

Now, how many of them are really close friends?

We may have a lot of acquaintances, but how many close friends do we have?

We all need a friend who shares our desires and will bless our lives to make us better people.

Jonathan was that for David.

He Loved David

They Were Very Close.

Though many in the homosexual community have tried to make this a sexual thing it couldn’t be further from the truth.

Many try and make their relationship “more” than it was.

2 Samuel 1:26 ESV

26 I am distressed for you, my brother Jonathan; very pleasant have you been to me; your love to me was extraordinary, surpassing the love of women.

The reality is men can love other men and women can love other women without it being sexual.

In fact, as we have said over and over, love is an action not an emotion.

Summary

Jonathan and David loved each other as friends.

So, what do we read concerning…

Demonstrated Love

Similar Attitudes.

Neither one was jealous of each other or for what belonged to the other.

As you and I know this isn’t always the case between people but both David and Jonathan looked out for each other and those they loved.

David and Saul.

1 Samuel 24:1–5 ESV

1 When Saul returned from following the Philistines, he was told, “Behold, David is in the wilderness of Engedi.” 2 Then Saul took three thousand chosen men out of all Israel and went to seek David and his men in front of the Wildgoats’ Rocks. 3 And he came to the sheepfolds by the way, where there was a cave, and Saul went in to relieve himself. Now David and his men were sitting in the innermost parts of the cave. 4 And the men of David said to him, “Here is the day of which the Lord said to you, ‘Behold, I will give your enemy into your hand, and you shall do to him as it shall seem good to you.’ ” Then David arose and stealthily cut off a corner of Saul’s robe. 5 And afterward David’s heart struck him, because he had cut off a corner of Saul’s robe.

Jonathan and David.

1 Samuel 23:17 ESV

17 And he said to him, “Do not fear, for the hand of Saul my father shall not find you. You shall be king over Israel, and I shall be next to you. Saul my father also knows this.”

They were both “all in” for God as well.

We see this with David against Goliath (1 Samuel 17:29-32).

We see this with Jonathan against the Philistines (1 Samuel 14:6-14).

Similar Hearts.

They were truly kindred souls and loved each other so much that they would do anything to protect each other and their families.

We Jonathan’s father, Saul, was looking to kill David he Jonathan warned David.

1 Samuel 20:16 ESV

16 And Jonathan made a covenant with the house of David, saying, “May the Lord take vengeance on David’s enemies.”

We see this with David taking care of Mephibosheth.

2 Samuel 9:1 ESV

1 And David said, “Is there still anyone left of the house of Saul, that I may show him kindness for Jonathan’s sake?”

Summary

What made them great friends?

They had similar attitudes about life and God and acted biblically on those attitudes.

This caused a deep bound between the two.

Conclusion

We all need friends like this.

A friend can be closer than a blood brother (Proverbs 18:24).

We say the phrase, “blood is thicker than water” but should we say “water baptism” is thicker than blood?

In friends we find strength when weak (Ecclesiastes 4:9-12; Galatians 6:2).

In friends we find good counsel (Proverbs 27:9).

In friends we are made better (Proverbs 27:17).

In friends, we are held accountable (Proverbs 27:6).

Friendship is vital to our physical and spiritual lives.

Invitation

Isaiah 59:1–2 ESV

1 Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save, or his ear dull, that it cannot hear; 2 but your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear.

Philippians 2:6–7 ESV

6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.

Romans 10:17 ESV

17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.

Hebrews 11:6 ESV

6 And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.

Acts 17:30 ESV

30 The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent,

Matthew 10:32 NKJV

32 “Therefore whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven.

2 Thessalonians 1:8 ESV

8 in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.

1 Corinthians 15:1–4 ESV

1 Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, 2 and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. 3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures,

Romans 6:3–5 ESV

3 Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. 5 For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.

1 John 1:7 ESV

7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.