Fight for your Friends

Six Battles Every Christian Must Win:

Fight for Your Friends (5 of 6)

Sunday, October 7, 2018

(NKJV)

15 No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you.

1. Friends know the difference between servitude and friendship

(NKJV) Now when he had finished speaking to Saul, the soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul. 2 Saul took him that day, and would not let him go home to his father’s house anymore. 3 Then Jonathan and David made a covenant, because he loved him as his own soul. 4 And Jonathan took off the robe that was on him and gave it to David, with his armor, even to his sword and his bow and his belt.

1 Samuel 18:1–4 ESV

As soon as he had finished speaking to Saul, the soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul. And Saul took him that day and would not let him return to his father’s house. Then Jonathan made a covenant with David, because he loved him as his own soul. And Jonathan stripped himself of the robe that was on him and gave it to David, and his armor, and even his sword and his bow and his belt.

2. Friends share a mutual trust with regard to information

(NKJV) A man who has friends must himself be friendly, But there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.

(NKJV) 24 Make no friendship with an angry man, And with a furious man do not go, 25 lest you learn his ways and set a snare for your soul. 26 Do not be one of those who shakes hands in a pledge, one of those who is surety for debts.

3. Eight Principles of Biblical friendship

a. Selectivity: What happens if we are not selective in our friendships? Answer this question!

“A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother” ()

“Whoever walks with the wise becomes wise, but the companion of fools will suffer harm” ()

b. Proximity: What role does proximity play in friendships?

“Do not forsake your friend and your father’s friend, and do not go to your brother’s house in the day of your calamity. Better is a neighbor who is near than a brother who is far away” ()

c. Boundaries: If boundaries are not kept in friendships, what is likely to happen?

“Let your foot be seldom in your neighbor’s house, lest he have his fill of you and hate you” ()

d. Mutuality: How does mutuality in decisions impact friendships?

“Oil and perfume make the heart glad, and the sweetness of a friend comes from his earnest counsel” ()

“Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another” ().

e. Respect: Why is respect an important principle to friendships?

“Argue your case with your neighbor himself, and do not reveal another’s secret, lest he who hears you bring shame upon you, and your ill repute have no end” ()

f. Candor: How does candor or the lack of it, erode trust in friendships? “Better is open rebuke than hidden love. Faithful are the wounds of a friend; profuse are the kisses of an enemy” ()

g. Forgiveness: Can a friendship survive without forgiveness? Why?

“Whoever covers an offense seeks love, but he who repeats a matter separates close friends” ()

h. Constancy: How would you rate yourself as a friend to others?

“A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity” ()

“Greater love has no man than this that he lay down his life for his friends” ()

Conclusion: True friends stick closer than a brother. This type of a friend is worth fighting for.