The Blessing and Bother of Friends

The Blessing of Friends

A good friend makes you better

Proverbs 27:17 KJV 1900

Iron sharpeneth iron; So a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend.

Proverbs 13:20 KJV 1900

He that walketh with wise men shall be wise: But a companion of fools shall be destroyed.

pr 27.17

Pr

Proverbs 27:9 KJV 1900

Ointment and perfume rejoice the heart: So doth the sweetness of a man’s friend by hearty counsel.

Psalm 119:63 KJV 1900

I am a companion of all them that fear thee, And of them that keep thy precepts.

Proverbs 27:5–6 KJV 1900

Open rebuke is better than secret love. Faithful are the wounds of a friend; But the kisses of an enemy are deceitful.

Proverbs 27:5 KJV 1900

Open rebuke is better than secret love.

A good friend is with you in both good and bad times

Job 2:11 KJV 1900

Now when Job’s three friends heard of all this evil that was come upon him, they came every one from his own place; Eliphaz the Temanite, and Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite: for they had made an appointment together to come to mourn with him and to comfort him.

The New Encyclopedia of Christian Quotations Friendship

Friends are needed both for joy and for sorrow.

Yiddish proverb

Ulysses S. Grant stated:

“The friend of my adversity I shall always cherish most. I can better trust those who helped to relieve the gloom of my dark hours than those who are so ready to enjoy with me the sunshine of my prosperity.”

Proverbs 17:17 KJV 1900

A friend loveth at all times, And a brother is born for adversity.

Proverbs 19:4 KJV 1900

Wealth maketh many friends; But the poor is separated from his neighbour.

Proverbs 14:20 KJV 1900

The poor is hated even of his own neighbour: But the rich hath many friends.

pr

Proverbs 3:27 KJV 1900

Withhold not good from them to whom it is due, When it is in the power of thine hand to do it.

A good friend will tell you the truth

Proverbs 27:5–6 KJV 1900

Open rebuke is better than secret love. Faithful are the wounds of a friend; But the kisses of an enemy are deceitful.

Don’t be like George Canning who stated:

Give me the avowed, the erect, the manly foe

Bold I can meet, perhaps may turn his blow!

But of all plagues, good Heavens, thy wrath can send,

Save, Save, oh save me from the candid friend!

A good friend will work alongside you

Acts 28:15 KJV 1900

And from thence, when the brethren heard of us, they came to meet us as far as Appii forum, and The three taverns: whom when Paul saw, he thanked God, and took courage.

The New Encyclopedia of Christian Quotations Friendship

True friends don’t spend time gazing into each other’s eyes. They may show great tenderness towards each other, but they face in the same direction—toward common projects, goals—above all, towards a common Lord.

C.S. Lewis

The Bother of Friends

Laurence Peter said:

There are three kinds of friends: best friends, guest friends, and pest friends!”

The New Encyclopedia of Christian Quotations Friendship

Friends are lost by calling often and calling seldom.

Scottish proverb

The New Encyclopedia of Christian Quotations Friendship

Do not use a hatchet to remove a fly from your friend’s forehead.

Chinese proverb

Do not be a fair weather friend

Do not be a critical friend

Do not be an unforgiving friend

The New Encyclopedia of Christian Quotations Friendship

Friends are lost by calling often and calling seldom.

Scottish proverb

Acts 28:15 KJV 1900

And from thence, when the brethren heard of us, they came to meet us as far as Appii forum, and The three taverns: whom when Paul saw, he thanked God, and took courage.

Acts 20:28 KJV 1900

Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.

Acts 20

Sermon Starters, Volume 3 Third—The Consequences of Friendship

There are at least three major consequences of true friendship found in our text.

• It helps our consecration. “Thanked God.” These friends helped Paul’s piety. No one is your friend who hinders your piety.

• It helps our comfort. “Thanked God.” These friends were a great comfort to Paul. Some people we thank God when we see them for they are comforting, others we thank God when they leave for they are discomforting. A true friend brings comfort.

• It helps our courage. “Took courage.” Courage and encouragement are all consequences of true friends. Those who discourage and decrease our courage to do right are not true friends at all.

Do not be a critical friend

The New Encyclopedia of Christian Quotations Friendship

Do not use a hatchet to remove a fly from your friend’s forehead.

Chinese proverb

Do not be a pathway to evil friend

Proverbs 1:10 KJV 1900

My son, if sinners entice thee, Consent thou not.

Pr 1

Proverbs 1:11 KJV 1900

If they say, Come with us, let us lay wait for blood, Let us lurk privily for the innocent without cause:

Pr 1.1

Proverbs 1:15 KJV 1900

My son, walk not thou in the way with them; Refrain thy foot from their path:

1 Samuel 15:3 KJV 1900

Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass.

2 Samuel 13:3 KJV 1900

But Amnon had a friend, whose name was Jonadab, the son of Shimeah David’s brother: and Jonadab was a very subtil man.

Do not be an unforgiving friend

The Best of Friends

The New Encyclopedia of Christian Quotations Friendship

True friends don’t spend time gazing into each other’s eyes. They may show great tenderness towards each other, but they face in the same direction—toward common projects, goals—above all, towards a common Lord.

C.S. Lewis

John 15:13–15 KJV 1900

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.