Friends- spiritual warfare

Proverbs 27:17

spiritually who we spend time with matters, who are friends are matters- it goes beyond just a “friendship” but is a spiritual connection, a connection of good or bad

Proverbs 27:17 NKJV

17 As iron sharpens iron, So a man sharpens the countenance of his friend.

Introduction:

A Pick up metal, hammer and hit it on anvil

HIT "As iron sharpens iron" HIT "so one man" HIT "sharpens another"

a Centuries before the birth of Christ, Solomon gathered the wisdom sayings that make up the Book of Proverbs and one of those sayings is "Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend."

b The original reader knew exactly what Solomon meant.

B In the ANE the town blacksmith was one of the most important individuals in the town. (Worked with metal, fire, smoke)

a He was a potter, weaver, carpenter, fix-it man!

*Every year you would take your plows and axe heads to the smitty to get you hooked up!

*The knew the sounds and smells of the blacksmith shop.

b They knew exactly what Solomon meant when he said, "Iron sharpens iron."

C They had also seen friends "sharpen" each other.

a Seen friendships forged out of many experiences.

(Stories turn to laughter, forged out of hardships/difficulties. Friends don’t let each other down, face challenge together.)

b God has given us friendships as gifts. (Like any gift God gives us, we must use it to its fullest.)

T.S. It’s easier to remember to sharpen knives/lawn mower blades than it is to remember to sharpen each other. This morning we’re going to look at two friendship facts that can help us sharpen one another as friends.

I The first friendship fact is that developing friendships are crucial in life.

Proverbs 27:17 ESV

17 Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another.

*Good friendships help us look better. (If you want to have better looks, choose better friends.)

*friends help us see a clearer perspective in issues that may concern/confuse us.

*Have you ever become oblivious to the obvious? Friends help you see what’s in front of your face.

*In hard times, difficult decisions, even in personal failures, friends help us see out in front of them/beyond them.

*Help us see the hope in a better tomorrow.

*Friends see what you think can’t be done and help you believe that it can be done and you can do it!

*friendships are crucial in life

b Your choice of friends is crucial.

*Who are your friends these days? (

*We adjust our schedules to be with them, set our SOCIAL MEDIA TO THEM if we can’t be with them. In the process we grow spiritually dull!

*If we fail to choice our friends wisely were are left with dull marriages, dull relationships with our kids or even a dull sense of intImacey with our heavenly father. ALL THIS COMES BY CHOOSING THE WRONG FRIENDS.

T.S.: Not only is choosing the right friends critical in life, so is this next friendship fact.

II The second friendship fact is that your choice to be friend is critical.

(There are people who are around you, in your sphere of influence, who need a friend.)

Let me show you what I mean with these common items found in a blacksmiths shop.

A Take the knife (say: God has put someone in your sphere of influence) Take the steele (This is you) *Run the knife up and down the steele for a few moments.

*This is the sound of friendship!

a Through out the last five years of my ministry I’ve had a mentor , he’s helped me, guided me, influenced me in my ministry. . I’ve rubbed up against him and he’s made me sharper.

b Some of you been like this knife, you’ve been dull and needed someone (Maturity/character) to rub against for a while. (That was friendship)

*Some of you need to become like this steel. You’ve sharped someone around you in the past. There is someone around you who needs to be sharpened today.

B Take out the file and run it across the piece of steel. (That’s the sound of friendship.) (The file and steel have similar jobs, but the files job is rougher)

a We all have our rough edges, in God’s wisdom, He allows people to come into our lives who serve as the file to smooth away the rough spots that emerge due to pride and ego.

D The last object that I’ll use to teach about friendship is the anvil.

a The anvil hasn’t changes in thousands of years. The smitty would heat the object he was working in the fire until it was white-hot. Then, he would place it on the anvil and strike it with the hammer over and over again. When necessary, he would heat it again in the fire and repeat the process-from the fire to the hammer, the fire to the hammer, again and again-until the object was perfected.

b You are not the fire or the hammer as a friend. (The world will hammer you and you’ll go through the fire. You need a friend who will be as steady as the anvil.

*God uses the fiery trials and the hammering struggles we go through in this life to perfect our character.

*He also uses friends who are willing to come along side us, supporting us, encouraging us in difficult times. Being a friend means that we are going to remain loyal in tough times.

Look at 2 Timothy 2

2 Timothy 2 NKJV

1 You therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. 2 And the things that you have heard from me among many witnesses, commit these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also. 3 You therefore must endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. 4 No one engaged in warfare entangles himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please him who enlisted him as a soldier. 5 And also if anyone competes in athletics, he is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules. 6 The hardworking farmer must be first to partake of the crops. 7 Consider what I say, and may the Lord give you understanding in all things.

Endure hardship as a good soldier: Timothy must take the attitude of soldier who expects to endure hardship for their cause. No real soldier — or at least no good soldier — ever gave up simply because some hardship came to them.

i. In the same way, if a believer is not willing to endure hardship, they will never accomplish much for Jesus Christ. They will give up as soon as something hard is required of them; they cannot fulfill Jesus’ call: If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. (Matthew 16:24)

c. No one engaged in warfare entangles himself with the affairs of this life: Timothy must take the attitude of a soldier, who willingly separates himself from the things of civilian life.

i. A soldier has to give up many things. Some of them are bad things (pride, independence, self-will), and some of them are good things (his home, his family). Nevertheless, if a soldier is not willing to give up these things, he is not a soldier at all. Sometimes it’s FRIENDSHIPS THAT DO NOT GLORIFY GOD! FRIENDSHIPS THAT DO NOT SHARPEN US SPIRITUALLY, SOMETIMES IS FRIENEDSHIPS THAT LEAD US TO COMPROMISE AND SAY SOMETHING WE SHOULDN’T (WORDS OR TEXTS), ETC…

ii. The things that might entangle a soldier might be good or bad for a civilian. The soldier can’t ask if something is good or bad for those who are not soldiers; he must give up anything that gets in the way of being a good soldier or serving his commanding officer. A faithful soldier does not have the right to do anything that will entangle them and make them less effective as a soldier.

d. That he may please him who enlisted him as a soldier: If Timothy did not endure hardship and if he did not put away the things that entangled him in the affairs of this life, he would not be pleasing to his Commanding Officer.

i. Jesus Christ is the commander of all heaven’s armies. In Joshua 5, Jesus appeared to Joshua as Commander of the army of the LORD(Joshua 5:14). He is our Commanding Officer, and we owe total obedience to Him as such.

ii. It is likely that Paul was chained to a soldier even as he wrote this. He saw how these soldiers acted, and how they obeyed their commanding officers. Paul knew that this is how a Christian must act towards their Lord.

And also if anyone competes in athletics, he is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules.

a. If anyone competes in athletics: Paul often drew upon the world of athletics for illustrations of the Christian life, mentioning track and field (1 Corinthians 9:24), boxing (1 Corinthians 9:26), and wrestling (Ephesians 6:12).

b. He is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules: The point is clear. An athlete can’t make up the rules as he pleases; he must compete according to the rules if he wants to receive the crown.

i. It is possible to fall into the mistake of thinking that we can make up our own rules for our Christian life.This goes against the attitude of an athlete who must compete according to the rules.

The hard-working farmer must be first to partake of the crops.

a. The hard-working farmer: In calling Timothy to have the attitude of a farmer, Paul emphasized the fact that farmers are hard-working. In the same way, all who serve the Lord should be hard-working.

i. Unlike the soldier and the athlete, there is nothing glamorous about the work a farmer does. It is often tedious, boring, and unexciting. The nation’s best farmer really isn’t a celebrity. But he must work hard just the same.

ii. God has no place for lazy SERVENTS. If you will not work hard, get out of the ministry. If you will only work hard if you are in the limelight, then let God change your heart.

b. Hard-working: Paul knew the value of hard work. He could say, comparing himself with the other apostles, I labored more abundantly than they all(1 Corinthians 15:10). Paul wasn’t just called, he wasn’t just blessed, he wasn’t just anointed; Paul was also hard-working. His ministry would have been far less than it was if he had not worked hard.

i. Some people expect something for nothing. But wise people know that you often get out of things according to the measure you put into them. If you are putting forth little effort in your Christian walk, you should expect little result.

c. Must be the first to partake of the crops: When Timothy had spiritual food to give to the congregation, he must eat of it first. If he wasn’t being fed from the Word of God, he couldn’t really feed others.

Work hard in study so we have something to give, to sharpen others around us with. Requires diligent study on our part, is HARD WORK.

2 Timothy 2 NKJV

8 Remember that Jesus Christ, of the seed of David, was raised from the dead according to my gospel, 9 for which I suffer trouble as an evildoer, even to the point of chains; but the word of God is not chained. 10 Therefore I endure all things for the sake of the elect, that they also may obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory. 11 This is a faithful saying: For if we died with Him, We shall also live with Him. 12 If we endure, We shall also reign with Him. If we deny Him, He also will deny us. 13 If we are faithless, He remains faithful; He cannot deny Himself.

Gospel is central, Jesus is the cornerstone, should be in all aspects/parts of our lives, should be in our conversattions and fill our words, our text messages, et..

2 Timothy 2 NKJV

14 Remind them of these things, charging them before the Lord not to strive about words to no profit, to the ruin of the hearers. 15 Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. 16 But shun profane and idle babblings, for they will increase to more ungodliness. 17 And their message will spread like cancer. Hymenaeus and Philetus are of this sort, 18 who have strayed concerning the truth, saying that the resurrection is already past; and they overthrow the faith of some. 19 Nevertheless the solid foundation of God stands, having this seal: “The Lord knows those who are His,” and, “Let everyone who names the name of Christ depart from iniquity.”

Remind them of these things, charging them before the Lord not to strive about words to no profit, to the ruin of the hearers.

a. Remind them of these things: After reminding Timothy of the essential points of the gospel, Paul added that Timothy must always remind his hearers of these things. Timothy’s job as a pastor was to keep his congregation always focused on the gospel.

i. The church is constantly tempted to get its focus off of the message that really matters, and is tempted to become an entertainment center, a social service agency, a mutual admiration society, or any number of other things. But this temptation must be resisted, and the church should constantly remember these things.

The things of 2 Timothy 2:8: Remember that Jesus Christ, of the seed of David, was raised from the dead according to my gospel.

The things of 2 Timothy 2:11-13: For if we died with Him, we shall also live with Him. If we deny Him, He will also deny us. If we are faithless, He remains faithful, He cannot deny Himself.

b. Not to strive about words to no profit: At the same time, there were things that Timothy must not focus on. The church must stand for the truth, but it must not become a debating society.

c. To the ruin of the hearers: This shows that it is a serious matter and there is much to lose. If we take the focus off the message of God and put the focus on human opinions and endless debates OR WORLDLY THINGS, it will result in the ruin of the hearers.

i. The Bible says, faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God(Romans 10:17). Yet if people do not hear the word of God, then ruin comes by hearing the opinions and speculations and entertainment of man.

Keep focused; pay attention to your own life and ministry.

Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

a. Be diligent: Paul often had to exhort Timothy to courage and action.

b. To present yourself approved to God: Timothy’s goal was not to present himself approved to people, but to God. He wasn’t to regard the job of being a pastor as a popularity contest but instead as a call to faithfulness to God.

d. A worker who does not need to be ashamed: It is embarrassing to do a job poorly and then to have your work examined. The Bible warns us that the work of each Christian will be examined at the judgment seat of Christ (2 Corinthians 5:10). Therefore, we have another motivation to work diligently for the Lord, so we will not be ashamed when our work is examined.

e. Rightly dividing the word of truth: This was to be a focus of Timothy’s hard work. He was to work hard so he could rightly divide the word of God.

(2 Timothy 2:16-18) The price of not keeping focus: The faith of some is overthrown.

But shun profane and idle babblings, for they will increase to more ungodliness. And their message will spread like cancer. Hymenaeus and Philetus are of this sort, who have strayed concerning the truth, saying that the resurrection is already past; and they overthrow the faith of some.

a. But shun profane and idle babblings: This refers to anything that takes the focus off of the gospel and God’s Word. These babblings are profane because they are unholy in contrast to the holiness of God’s Word. They are idle, because even though people like to hear them, they don’t have lasting value.

i. Man’s opinions, man’s teachings, man’s opinion polls, man’s stories, man’s programs MANY OF THE ENTERTAINMENT THINGS, are all profane and idle babblings compared to the simple Word of God.

b. Their message will spread like cancer: The message of profane and idle babblings may spread quickly and be popular. They are like a cancer that spreads fast and captures an audience.

i. Who in 2 Timothy 2:18 “Implies that Hymenaeus and Philetus were only the more conspicuous members of a class of false teachers.” (White)

c. Hymenaeus and Philetus: Hymenaeus is mentioned in 1 Timothy 1:20 as a man whom Paul delivered to Satan that [he] may learn not to blaspheme. This is the only place where we hear of Philetus, and here Paul tells us of their error.

2 Timothy 2 NKJV

20 But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay, some for honor and some for dishonor. 21 Therefore if anyone cleanses himself from the latter, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified and useful for the Master, prepared for every good work.

IN THE WORLD SOME “FRIENDS” ARE GOOD FOR US AND SOME ARE BAD FOR US. SOME LEAD US TO HONOR AND TO GLORIFY GOD AND SOME DULL US AND LEAD US IN THE OPPOSITE DIRECTION.

 Vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay: Some of these vessels are made of gold and silver, and some are made of wood and clay. Some are used on occasions of great honor (the gold and silver vessels), and some are used for dishonor — such as a garbage bin or an ashtray.

c. Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from the latter: The latter things are the things of dishonor mentioned in 2 Timothy 2:20. If we cleanse ourselves from dishonorable things, God will regard us as vessels of honor, sanctified and useful for the Master.

d. If anyone cleanses himself: Paul spoke about a cleansing that isn’t just something God does for us as we sit passively. This is a self-cleansing for service that goes beyond a general cleansing for sin.

Cleansing which God looks for us to do with the participation of our own will and effort. Not that it is our work apart from God, but it is a work that awaits our will and effort: If anyone cleanses himself. This aspect of cleansing is mostly connected with usefulness for service, and closeness to God.

2 Timothy 2 NKJV

22 Flee also youthful lusts; but pursue righteousness, faith, love, peace with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart. 23 But avoid foolish and ignorant disputes, knowing that they generate strife. 24 And a servant of the Lord must not quarrel but be gentle to all, able to teach, patient, 25 in humility correcting those who are in opposition, if God perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they may know the truth, 26 and that they may come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil, having been taken captive by him to do his will.

a. Flee also youthful lusts: This is the first aspect of cleansing that Paul mentioned to Timothy. Youthful lusts describe the sort of desires and temptations that are especially prominent when someone is an adolescent or young adult. Sexual temptation, illicit pleasure of the flesh, and a longing for fame and glory often mark one’s youth.

i. The command is simple: Flee also youthful lusts. Don’t entertain them. Don’t challenge them. Don’t try and endure them. The idea of “I will just test myself on this one to see if I can stand against it” has made many fall into sin.

ii. If you cannot flee also youthful lusts, there is a real limit to how much God can use you, a limit to how useful to the Master you will be. You can’t really say “yes” to God until you can say “no” to some other things.

CORRECT THOSE IN OPPOSITION: WHY SO THEY CAN BE SAVED!!

CONCLUSION:

"Iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another." Friends can bring out the best in each other. (ESS)

1 We’ve looked two friendship facts that help us do just that.

A The first friendship fact is that developing friendships are crucial in life.

B The second friendship fact is that your choice to be friend is critical.

2 I hope you’ll decide to use the friendship facts to develop spiritually sharping relationships.3 How are you doing in your friendships?