1 00:00:00,360 --> 00:00:04,960 We are going through our sermon series in the book of Proverbs. 2 00:00:04,960 --> 00:00:07,640 It's an interesting book. It is not a narrative or 3 00:00:07,640 --> 00:00:10,920 historical book. It really is a book that is a 4 00:00:10,920 --> 00:00:14,640 collection of wisdom that can be categorized as you read through 5 00:00:14,640 --> 00:00:16,239 the entire thing. So we're really going through 6 00:00:16,239 --> 00:00:20,880 the book in a series of themes within the theme Instructions 7 00:00:20,880 --> 00:00:25,080 for Your Life, which really is what the Proverbs offer us here 8 00:00:25,080 --> 00:00:29,160 is wisdom and guidance and instruction for the way that you 9 00:00:29,160 --> 00:00:32,720 can live your life according to God's perfect design. 10 00:00:33,160 --> 00:00:35,720 And we've been looking at all of the different ways that wisdom 11 00:00:35,720 --> 00:00:37,800 calls us to live by God's design. 12 00:00:38,040 --> 00:00:42,440 Last week we looked at the call to live in the truth of God's 13 00:00:42,440 --> 00:00:45,880 design, and this week we're going to look in a very specific 14 00:00:45,880 --> 00:00:51,120 way of something that is a theme of the Bible, and yet it is 15 00:00:51,120 --> 00:00:57,010 sometimes a forgotten theme or a lower priority than many of the 16 00:00:57,010 --> 00:01:00,010 other ways that we look for the Bible to instruct us. 17 00:01:00,010 --> 00:01:03,610 In fact, as we think about instructions for life, things to 18 00:01:03,610 --> 00:01:06,850 live your life by, that will bless you, that will make your 19 00:01:06,850 --> 00:01:09,330 world and the world that God calls you to a better place. 20 00:01:09,690 --> 00:01:12,610 There are so many proverb themes that you can think of that we 21 00:01:12,610 --> 00:01:14,970 hope to cover. I just went through some of 22 00:01:14,970 --> 00:01:16,450 them. As you, as you think about the 23 00:01:16,450 --> 00:01:19,960 problem of the world, what could proverbs help you with? 24 00:01:19,960 --> 00:01:23,000 And proverbs speak to some of the problems that are just right 25 00:01:23,000 --> 00:01:25,920 here in our face. So it's like the breakdown of 26 00:01:25,920 --> 00:01:29,000 the family structure. And there's all sorts of wisdom 27 00:01:29,000 --> 00:01:31,360 for that, that we can look at. We're going to talk about that 28 00:01:31,360 --> 00:01:35,960 as we go. How about the political tension 29 00:01:35,960 --> 00:01:38,360 that we live in? There are proverbs for that on 30 00:01:38,360 --> 00:01:41,840 how to honor the king and live in his Kingdom. 31 00:01:43,430 --> 00:01:45,350 Unhealthy appetites. That's one of the problems of 32 00:01:45,350 --> 00:01:47,710 the world. I, as you know I just got back 33 00:01:47,710 --> 00:01:51,630 from vacation and I'm looking to the Proverbs for instructions on 34 00:01:51,630 --> 00:01:54,830 how to correct unhealthy appetites And and that's 35 00:01:54,830 --> 00:01:57,110 certainly something that we could look to and say thank you 36 00:01:57,110 --> 00:02:01,270 God for your wisdom on how to live with all of our unhealthy 37 00:02:01,270 --> 00:02:04,190 appetites curbed to a better life. 38 00:02:04,950 --> 00:02:08,970 Greed and exploitation imbalance scales and the way that we can 39 00:02:08,970 --> 00:02:12,250 be dishonoring with money. That's a problem of the world 40 00:02:12,250 --> 00:02:13,890 that all of us have to live with. 41 00:02:13,890 --> 00:02:19,210 The results of that going awry sexual perversion we just came 42 00:02:19,210 --> 00:02:21,850 out of the month of June. That's a problem in our world. 43 00:02:22,410 --> 00:02:25,490 And yet in all of those, as we survey the world and we look for 44 00:02:25,490 --> 00:02:29,970 God's word to give us truth to live by for answers to bless us, 45 00:02:30,620 --> 00:02:34,020 there is one that is a major problem in the world that we 46 00:02:34,020 --> 00:02:36,100 live in that affects your everyday life. 47 00:02:36,100 --> 00:02:39,660 And yet it is sometimes the last thing we think about, and that 48 00:02:39,660 --> 00:02:44,300 is what we just sang. And that is the topic of 49 00:02:44,300 --> 00:02:49,660 friendship. How to be, how to receive, and 50 00:02:49,660 --> 00:02:56,140 how to live in what the Bible calls a friendship with God and 51 00:02:56,140 --> 00:02:59,460 others. An incredible topic that will 52 00:02:59,460 --> 00:03:01,820 bless your life. That the book of Proverbs as you 53 00:03:01,820 --> 00:03:06,460 read it, with this lens in mind, is full of wisdom about so many 54 00:03:06,460 --> 00:03:09,900 things about the Proverbs are teaching you how to be a God 55 00:03:09,900 --> 00:03:13,100 honoring friend. And yet, when you think about 56 00:03:13,100 --> 00:03:15,900 what's wrong with our world, friendship is sometimes the last 57 00:03:15,900 --> 00:03:18,140 thing we think about. Maybe one of the reasons is so 58 00:03:18,140 --> 00:03:20,700 many feel like we have friends. You look at your friend count on 59 00:03:20,700 --> 00:03:22,340 the Internet. You've got thousands of friends 60 00:03:22,340 --> 00:03:23,420 and yet you don't know any of them. 61 00:03:25,530 --> 00:03:30,490 And what we do today is an exercise in knowing God as a 62 00:03:30,490 --> 00:03:33,250 friend and knowing one another as friends. 63 00:03:33,250 --> 00:03:37,570 And so today we are going to talk about what the Bible gives 64 00:03:37,570 --> 00:03:41,290 us Wisdom and instruction for life in the category of 65 00:03:41,290 --> 00:03:44,730 friendship. Welcome to one of the lesser 66 00:03:45,290 --> 00:03:47,250 preached upon topics in the Bible. 67 00:03:47,250 --> 00:03:49,090 It will not show up in a major holiday. 68 00:03:49,370 --> 00:03:52,370 There's not a lot of movies or pop songs about how awesome 69 00:03:52,370 --> 00:03:55,570 friends are. And yet if you receive this and 70 00:03:55,570 --> 00:03:58,930 it really is something that you grasp and live by, the Bible 71 00:03:58,930 --> 00:04:02,250 says this is a key to how to have a blessed life is how to be 72 00:04:02,530 --> 00:04:04,850 a friend. So we start in Proverbs chapter 73 00:04:04,850 --> 00:04:08,370 27. There will be a lot of Proverbs 74 00:04:08,370 --> 00:04:12,690 that we survey in the category of friendship, but chapter 27 is 75 00:04:12,770 --> 00:04:16,690 full of wise sayings about how to be a friend or or the 76 00:04:16,690 --> 00:04:19,329 benefits of friendship. And so we start in Proverbs 77 00:04:19,329 --> 00:04:22,890 chapter 27, verse 17, just to set the table. 78 00:04:23,380 --> 00:04:28,620 It says as iron sharpens iron, so a man sharpens the 79 00:04:28,620 --> 00:04:33,900 countenance of his friends. So the picture is a blacksmith 80 00:04:33,900 --> 00:04:36,580 picture, probably over the head of many of us today, unless 81 00:04:36,580 --> 00:04:40,220 you've spent time on YouTube watching the art of sharpening a 82 00:04:40,220 --> 00:04:42,500 piece of iron or molding a piece of metal. 83 00:04:42,860 --> 00:04:45,460 But often times it's metal on metal that will shape it. 84 00:04:45,900 --> 00:04:48,540 And so it is in the design of humans. 85 00:04:49,180 --> 00:04:53,540 God wants to shape your life, design your life, bring a 86 00:04:53,540 --> 00:04:57,220 blessing into your life. Not simply by knowing him 87 00:04:57,540 --> 00:05:00,380 personally, which is one of the major ways he does that, but 88 00:05:00,380 --> 00:05:04,460 also by bringing people into your life that can sharpen you 89 00:05:04,460 --> 00:05:08,180 and bless you, and you would have the same effect in their 90 00:05:08,180 --> 00:05:09,780 life. And that's why this Proverbs 91 00:05:10,060 --> 00:05:12,780 puts all of this into the category of friendship. 92 00:05:12,820 --> 00:05:15,020 This is what friendship is supposed to offer you. 93 00:05:16,040 --> 00:05:20,120 The the way that your life will be molded into the design of 94 00:05:20,120 --> 00:05:23,960 God, like a blacksmith molds a piece of iron into the design he 95 00:05:23,960 --> 00:05:29,080 seeks. Is your design by God through 96 00:05:29,080 --> 00:05:31,280 friendship? And so we're going to look at 97 00:05:31,280 --> 00:05:34,400 the survey of Proverbs in four different ways that it covers 98 00:05:34,560 --> 00:05:38,640 how important it is for us to receive these wise sayings about 99 00:05:38,640 --> 00:05:40,920 friendship. First, we'll look at the Beauty 100 00:05:40,920 --> 00:05:43,590 of Friendship. What makes friendship so 101 00:05:43,590 --> 00:05:45,990 beautiful? And it is a different kind of 102 00:05:45,990 --> 00:05:50,910 relationship than husband and wife or father and son, mother, 103 00:05:50,910 --> 00:05:53,950 daughter. Friendship is a unique beauty to 104 00:05:53,990 --> 00:05:56,470 it, as we'll see as we look at a few of these proverbs. 105 00:05:56,670 --> 00:05:59,550 Then we'll look at the beginning of the friendship $1,000,000 106 00:05:59,550 --> 00:06:01,350 question in our time. How do you actually make 107 00:06:01,350 --> 00:06:03,630 friends? What is something that you can 108 00:06:03,630 --> 00:06:08,350 do in pursuit of friendship that will take someone from maybe you 109 00:06:08,350 --> 00:06:10,510 know them, or they're an acquaintance, or you shook their 110 00:06:10,510 --> 00:06:13,730 hand at a meet and greet recently and now you actually 111 00:06:13,730 --> 00:06:15,370 have become friends? So look at the beginning of 112 00:06:15,370 --> 00:06:19,130 friendship, and then we'll really focus on the benefit of 113 00:06:19,130 --> 00:06:21,450 friendship. Why is it that we would spend an 114 00:06:21,450 --> 00:06:25,610 entire Sunday talking about a relationship that is so specific 115 00:06:25,610 --> 00:06:27,930 as a friend? Because the Bible talks about 116 00:06:27,930 --> 00:06:31,570 all the ways that it is actually part of God's design for you to 117 00:06:31,570 --> 00:06:33,670 be blessed. And then finally, we'll talk 118 00:06:33,670 --> 00:06:37,630 about your very best friend. And so I actually did a meet and 119 00:06:37,630 --> 00:06:39,150 greet right over here. We're like besties. 120 00:06:39,150 --> 00:06:43,150 And so you have maybe someone in mind that is your picture of 121 00:06:43,150 --> 00:06:45,110 friendship. So we have the we have the 122 00:06:45,110 --> 00:06:47,590 beauty of friendship, the beginning of friendship, the 123 00:06:47,590 --> 00:06:50,630 benefits, and then the best friend that you can possibly 124 00:06:50,630 --> 00:06:53,230 have. So let's look at the beauty of 125 00:06:53,230 --> 00:06:54,870 friendship. What makes friendship so 126 00:06:54,870 --> 00:06:57,270 beautiful? This one stood out to me because 127 00:06:57,270 --> 00:07:00,310 it speaks both to friendship and brotherhood, which I'm a part 128 00:07:00,310 --> 00:07:02,910 of. It says in Proverbs chapter 8, 129 00:07:03,390 --> 00:07:06,430 verse 24, and we'll put it on the screen so you don't have to 130 00:07:06,710 --> 00:07:11,830 scan, but you're welcome to. It says a man who has friends 131 00:07:12,310 --> 00:07:16,830 must himself be friendly, but there is a friend that sticks 132 00:07:16,830 --> 00:07:21,680 closer than a brother. What is this getting at? 133 00:07:21,760 --> 00:07:25,400 It means that you can have a relationship in your life 134 00:07:25,400 --> 00:07:30,280 between you and a friend that is more intimate and more long 135 00:07:30,280 --> 00:07:35,400 lasting than family, which is the base of all guaranteed 136 00:07:35,400 --> 00:07:37,280 relationships by God. He gives everyone of us a 137 00:07:37,280 --> 00:07:39,520 family, for better or worse. And the Bible says there's 138 00:07:39,520 --> 00:07:43,280 actually a possibility that we, a relationship, could go beyond 139 00:07:43,280 --> 00:07:45,160 family. Now that's worth listening to 140 00:07:45,160 --> 00:07:47,280 now, because we all have reference points of very 141 00:07:47,280 --> 00:07:50,080 faithful people in our life that were because of our DNA. 142 00:07:50,950 --> 00:07:53,910 But it's especially important to listen to in this time when 143 00:07:53,910 --> 00:07:58,630 family and patriarchy and your tribe was the most elevated 144 00:07:58,630 --> 00:08:00,270 relationship that you could think of. 145 00:08:00,470 --> 00:08:03,390 The the the proverb writer comes in and says, but there's someone 146 00:08:03,470 --> 00:08:06,430 even more committed to your life than a brother. 147 00:08:06,430 --> 00:08:09,870 Why is that? It says in Proverbs chapter 17, 148 00:08:09,870 --> 00:08:12,590 verse 17, maybe the beginning of this answer. 149 00:08:13,550 --> 00:08:18,390 It says a friend loves it all time, but a brother is born for 150 00:08:18,390 --> 00:08:21,590 adversity. This is getting to something. 151 00:08:22,470 --> 00:08:26,710 A friend, a true friend in your life is with you always. 152 00:08:27,030 --> 00:08:29,990 Family is with you when stuff gets hard. 153 00:08:29,990 --> 00:08:32,909 And you know that if you go through the funeral, what comes 154 00:08:32,909 --> 00:08:35,470 around you is the family. May not have seen that family 155 00:08:35,470 --> 00:08:38,510 member for 10 years, but when things get really hard in your 156 00:08:38,510 --> 00:08:42,230 life, God gives you DNA family to say we are in this together 157 00:08:42,230 --> 00:08:46,380 for better or worse. Or if you're my sister reading 158 00:08:46,380 --> 00:08:48,300 this, you could say a brother's born for adversity. 159 00:08:48,420 --> 00:08:51,820 They're meant to just annoy you all the time and bring adversity 160 00:08:51,820 --> 00:08:53,540 into your life. I actually was swimming with my 161 00:08:53,540 --> 00:08:56,060 sister yesterday and she says I think this is the first time 162 00:08:56,060 --> 00:08:58,460 we've hung out in the pool where you have not tried to 163 00:08:58,460 --> 00:09:01,300 specifically get me wet. And so I took that as a 164 00:09:01,300 --> 00:09:07,940 challenge. Your family has to be there for 165 00:09:07,940 --> 00:09:10,340 you. Your friend gets to choose to be 166 00:09:10,340 --> 00:09:13,710 there for you. Your friend is someone that is 167 00:09:13,710 --> 00:09:16,550 there regardless of good times or bad. 168 00:09:17,470 --> 00:09:21,150 In other words, your family loves you. 169 00:09:22,430 --> 00:09:26,350 Your friends actually like you here. 170 00:09:26,390 --> 00:09:27,870 Here's how one commentator puts it. 171 00:09:27,870 --> 00:09:32,510 He says friendship is not a biological necessity, It is the 172 00:09:32,590 --> 00:09:35,510 only love. Because love does exist between 173 00:09:35,510 --> 00:09:39,550 friends. That is absolutely deliberate. 174 00:09:40,450 --> 00:09:43,290 It will not push itself upon you. 175 00:09:43,810 --> 00:09:48,450 Friendship is beautiful because friendship is this choice to 176 00:09:48,450 --> 00:09:53,130 love you or or to be in a loving relationship that has nothing to 177 00:09:53,130 --> 00:09:56,050 do with any other biological necessity. 178 00:09:56,650 --> 00:10:00,250 Your family is biologically. There is a necessity to keep the 179 00:10:00,250 --> 00:10:05,490 kin strong that God designs in the tribe and the romantic love. 180 00:10:05,490 --> 00:10:07,610 There's an necessity. There's an urge to be 181 00:10:07,610 --> 00:10:11,330 romantically in love the the mother to child love. 182 00:10:11,330 --> 00:10:15,290 There is a necessity of biology to it that requires you to lay 183 00:10:15,290 --> 00:10:18,890 down your life for your children and yet for the people in your 184 00:10:18,890 --> 00:10:22,290 life that have become friends that are there for you at all 185 00:10:22,290 --> 00:10:24,570 times. There is a beauty in it because 186 00:10:24,570 --> 00:10:28,170 they have chosen you amongst everyone else. 187 00:10:28,930 --> 00:10:32,450 And God wants that picture to be rich in our mind, not just 188 00:10:32,450 --> 00:10:35,570 through imagery but through our relationship so that we can 189 00:10:35,570 --> 00:10:38,890 understand His love better for us. 190 00:10:39,280 --> 00:10:43,960 It is a deliberate, non biological love that we find in 191 00:10:43,960 --> 00:10:47,320 friendship. So there is beauty in the choice 192 00:10:47,320 --> 00:10:49,400 in the matter. And now we talk about the 193 00:10:49,400 --> 00:10:53,040 beginning of friendship. How do you answer that 194 00:10:53,040 --> 00:10:54,680 $1,000,000 question? I think it's an important 195 00:10:54,680 --> 00:10:57,160 question even for the city that we live in. 196 00:10:57,160 --> 00:10:59,760 As you go through the list of things you're looking for in a 197 00:10:59,760 --> 00:11:04,250 new city, a new place, a new church, if you're with us, it's 198 00:11:04,250 --> 00:11:06,810 like I got to find a neighborhood and a job. 199 00:11:06,810 --> 00:11:10,130 And then very quickly that you will learn if you're really 200 00:11:10,130 --> 00:11:13,650 going to belong somewhere, if you're going to belong in a city 201 00:11:13,650 --> 00:11:15,930 or a neighborhood or in a church. 202 00:11:16,130 --> 00:11:19,250 The difference between you visiting and being a transit 203 00:11:19,250 --> 00:11:24,170 passer buyer and you having some roots is the relationships that 204 00:11:24,170 --> 00:11:25,530 you have made while you're there. 205 00:11:26,170 --> 00:11:29,850 In fact, for those of you who call this church family home, I 206 00:11:29,850 --> 00:11:34,930 would venture to offer you the the idea that you are here 207 00:11:34,930 --> 00:11:41,290 specifically by God's design and you stay here primarily not 208 00:11:41,290 --> 00:11:44,050 because the the teaching and the power of the word of God. 209 00:11:44,130 --> 00:11:48,730 We hope that's true, but you can find good teaching anywhere and 210 00:11:48,730 --> 00:11:51,130 in the internet's full of better teachers than I am. 211 00:11:51,490 --> 00:11:54,370 The music, I hope, is rich and full of an invitation, the 212 00:11:54,370 --> 00:11:57,730 presence of God requirement for you to call a church family 213 00:11:57,730 --> 00:12:00,690 home. But what is absolutely necessary 214 00:12:01,090 --> 00:12:05,170 for you to belong somewhere is for you to know that week by 215 00:12:05,170 --> 00:12:07,930 week and moment by moment and season by season, you are 216 00:12:07,930 --> 00:12:11,930 growing with someone in your life that is also part of that 217 00:12:11,930 --> 00:12:13,810 community. That is the difference. 218 00:12:14,290 --> 00:12:17,250 That's why people choose to be anywhere is where God has 219 00:12:17,250 --> 00:12:20,010 planted them, where they can be in relationship with people. 220 00:12:20,010 --> 00:12:23,250 It's $1,000,000 question. How do you make a friend? 221 00:12:24,690 --> 00:12:28,410 So for those of you who have friends, you can practice these 222 00:12:28,410 --> 00:12:29,970 things and making better friends. 223 00:12:30,750 --> 00:12:33,590 And for those of you who are in that season of hey, how do I 224 00:12:33,590 --> 00:12:36,190 find my footing? Here are some practical wisdoms 225 00:12:36,190 --> 00:12:39,830 and instructions for your life. Proverbs 18, verse 24. 226 00:12:39,830 --> 00:12:42,550 Again, we'll put it up for you. We already read it. 227 00:12:42,630 --> 00:12:49,230 A man who has friends must himself be friendly. 228 00:12:49,750 --> 00:12:53,910 A beautiful concept. It is in some sense the concept 229 00:12:53,910 --> 00:12:58,830 of reaping what you sow and the proverb says, which is is just 230 00:12:58,830 --> 00:13:01,070 patently true of the way that you have made friends. 231 00:13:01,990 --> 00:13:05,390 To be a friend or to make a friend, you have to be a friend. 232 00:13:05,390 --> 00:13:10,150 Friendship is a mutual venture and you have to be willing to to 233 00:13:10,150 --> 00:13:12,390 believe in friendship. You have to be willing to 234 00:13:12,390 --> 00:13:16,030 believe in a relationship that is a benefit for you to have 235 00:13:16,030 --> 00:13:19,590 with someone else. You have to be friendly and 236 00:13:19,590 --> 00:13:22,950 maybe we speak a little vision. And I never want, I never want 237 00:13:22,950 --> 00:13:26,940 the the tiny little meet and greet to to have too much 238 00:13:27,140 --> 00:13:30,140 theology packed into it. Because I want all of you to 239 00:13:30,140 --> 00:13:31,580 come to church. And if you need to just sit 240 00:13:31,580 --> 00:13:34,940 through that and and be alone during that time, by all means. 241 00:13:34,980 --> 00:13:36,740 You don't have to come to church and learn how to be an 242 00:13:36,740 --> 00:13:40,100 extrovert. But the tiny theology in that is 243 00:13:40,940 --> 00:13:46,500 we want to model, practice, and exercise friendliness with one 244 00:13:46,500 --> 00:13:49,260 another. We want every person in this 245 00:13:49,260 --> 00:13:54,060 sanctuary to come with an exercise in the theology that 246 00:13:54,060 --> 00:13:58,980 friendship is a is a key to your life, and friendship begins with 247 00:13:58,980 --> 00:14:02,660 an effort of friendliness. And so the beginning of 248 00:14:02,660 --> 00:14:07,540 friendship is you yourself, learning and accepting the call 249 00:14:07,540 --> 00:14:12,250 of God to be kind. And I almost wanted to go 250 00:14:12,250 --> 00:14:15,330 through, as we often do with other relationships coming 251 00:14:15,330 --> 00:14:19,490 together, specifically in marriage, and read the manifesto 252 00:14:19,490 --> 00:14:22,850 on great relationship habits in First Corinthians chapter 13. 253 00:14:23,210 --> 00:14:26,770 And it it inserts all of the ways that love is a verb and 254 00:14:26,770 --> 00:14:28,050 acts. Love is patient. 255 00:14:28,050 --> 00:14:29,970 Love is kind, Love is long-suffering. 256 00:14:31,610 --> 00:14:35,210 You could also insert friendliness is all of those 257 00:14:35,210 --> 00:14:38,810 things. It is just good to act out love. 258 00:14:38,810 --> 00:14:40,770 And if you do that, you know what people think about you. 259 00:14:41,350 --> 00:14:44,070 They'll think you're friendly. They'll think you are an 260 00:14:44,110 --> 00:14:47,310 outgoing and kind person. And I am. 261 00:14:47,430 --> 00:14:51,350 I'm grateful that because of the grace of God in our city, we are 262 00:14:51,350 --> 00:14:56,110 still a city that is known in a lot of ways as a friendly city. 263 00:14:56,750 --> 00:14:58,830 May that be a reputation of the church. 264 00:14:59,430 --> 00:15:02,710 May the church and the people of God in our city have a 265 00:15:02,710 --> 00:15:04,950 reputation of friendliness. And you know what will happen? 266 00:15:05,550 --> 00:15:09,690 We will make friends and when when the pastor says or the 267 00:15:09,690 --> 00:15:13,610 flyer says or the the Holy Spirit hopefully says, you know 268 00:15:13,610 --> 00:15:17,050 you should really send this message to a friend or you 269 00:15:17,050 --> 00:15:19,730 should invite a friend to church, you will actually have 270 00:15:19,730 --> 00:15:23,770 people in your life that you have exercise friendliness with 271 00:15:24,050 --> 00:15:27,010 that that would apply to. So proverb says one of the ways 272 00:15:27,010 --> 00:15:29,410 to make friends is to be a friendly person. 273 00:15:30,770 --> 00:15:33,170 It goes on to say this, and I think this is a really important 274 00:15:33,170 --> 00:15:36,690 aspect of also some of the ways that the Church does what it 275 00:15:36,690 --> 00:15:40,350 does. Proverbs, chapter 27, verse 276 00:15:40,350 --> 00:15:43,910 nine. Here's some more essence of the 277 00:15:43,910 --> 00:15:47,070 beginning of friendship. It says ointment and perfume, 278 00:15:47,070 --> 00:15:51,470 delight the heart and the sweetness of a man's friend 279 00:15:51,750 --> 00:15:56,070 gives delight by hearty counsel. There's a relationship that is 280 00:15:56,070 --> 00:15:58,430 forming that is then likened to something. 281 00:15:58,430 --> 00:16:01,550 This is Hebrew poetry. It's paralleling friendship to 282 00:16:01,550 --> 00:16:03,270 something else. And what is it parallel to it? 283 00:16:03,550 --> 00:16:07,460 It says ointment and perfume, the light, the heart. 284 00:16:07,900 --> 00:16:11,260 Now here's the interesting thing and and like all proverbs, it 285 00:16:11,260 --> 00:16:13,340 takes time to think about what it's getting at. 286 00:16:13,340 --> 00:16:15,860 They are enigmas or riddles that you have to kind of unpack in 287 00:16:15,860 --> 00:16:18,900 your mind. So feel free to do that with all 288 00:16:18,900 --> 00:16:20,620 of the proverbs as we go through them. 289 00:16:20,700 --> 00:16:23,180 I've had a little more time to do that and here's something 290 00:16:23,180 --> 00:16:27,260 that stands out to me, the word delight and sweetness, which is 291 00:16:27,260 --> 00:16:30,780 the parallel of the two. There is a delight that is found 292 00:16:30,780 --> 00:16:35,250 in a sweet smelling aroma that is a joy to the heart that can 293 00:16:35,250 --> 00:16:38,370 be likened to friendship and the sweetness that it offers. 294 00:16:38,370 --> 00:16:43,810 And what is delight other than a common interest there is. 295 00:16:43,890 --> 00:16:46,490 If there is a sweet smelling aroma when we walk into the room 296 00:16:46,570 --> 00:16:50,210 we both get to enjoy it. It is something other than us 297 00:16:50,410 --> 00:16:54,530 that in that that lightens the heart with the light and this is 298 00:16:54,530 --> 00:16:57,930 a key to friendship that makes it again different than other 299 00:16:57,930 --> 00:17:01,130 relationships. There is a common delight 300 00:17:01,130 --> 00:17:04,890 amongst friends. There is something more than 301 00:17:04,890 --> 00:17:07,970 just friendship itself. There is something that your 302 00:17:07,970 --> 00:17:13,770 friendship actually stands on. And this concept comes maybe 303 00:17:13,770 --> 00:17:17,530 best through the CS Lewis essay on friendship that expounds the 304 00:17:17,530 --> 00:17:20,089 four loves. And this is a beautiful concept 305 00:17:20,089 --> 00:17:22,609 for when you think about your beginning of friendship with 306 00:17:22,609 --> 00:17:24,410 someone or how you make friendship, he says. 307 00:17:24,410 --> 00:17:28,530 Friendship is born at the moment, one person says to 308 00:17:28,530 --> 00:17:31,330 another. Wait, you too. 309 00:17:31,770 --> 00:17:35,610 I thought I was the only one. You were the only one who loved 310 00:17:35,610 --> 00:17:40,130 this specific show or book or hobby or interest. 311 00:17:40,130 --> 00:17:43,970 And then you find someone who sees the same delight that you 312 00:17:43,970 --> 00:17:47,050 see. And you say, I love it too and 313 00:17:47,050 --> 00:17:49,450 you love it and we can love it together. 314 00:17:50,160 --> 00:17:53,120 And Lewis says this is different than the romantic love, romantic 315 00:17:53,120 --> 00:17:54,560 love. How does romantic love start? 316 00:17:54,560 --> 00:17:56,920 Just look at, you know the, you know, I hate to say it, but the 317 00:17:56,920 --> 00:18:01,040 junior hires as they're learning how to be goggly eyed. 318 00:18:01,120 --> 00:18:04,760 Romantic love start by saying I like you and the other person 319 00:18:04,760 --> 00:18:08,120 says I like you too. And then the the poetry is all 320 00:18:08,120 --> 00:18:10,520 about liking each other and then they just stare at each other 321 00:18:10,520 --> 00:18:12,520 and still like me. Yep, I still like you too. 322 00:18:13,520 --> 00:18:15,560 We like each other. Let's tell everyone we like each 323 00:18:15,560 --> 00:18:17,570 other. We like each other. 324 00:18:17,650 --> 00:18:19,570 That's romantic. The beginning of romantic love 325 00:18:19,570 --> 00:18:22,010 is when you like someone else and they like you back. 326 00:18:23,050 --> 00:18:25,490 And Lewis says romantic love stares face to face. 327 00:18:25,490 --> 00:18:27,450 Friends stand shoulder to shoulder. 328 00:18:27,490 --> 00:18:29,370 They're going somewhere together. 329 00:18:30,730 --> 00:18:33,770 And so this is, this is where the Proverbs have to expound 330 00:18:33,770 --> 00:18:35,370 upon your life. In other words, you have to be 331 00:18:35,370 --> 00:18:38,330 friendly, and you also have to be someone who has interest in 332 00:18:38,330 --> 00:18:41,010 your life. If you're interested to make 333 00:18:41,010 --> 00:18:42,970 friends, you'll never make them. You'll be the most annoying 334 00:18:42,970 --> 00:18:45,070 person ever. Are we friends yet? 335 00:18:45,190 --> 00:18:48,110 Are we still friends? I see you're friends with other 336 00:18:48,110 --> 00:18:49,310 people. Does that mean we're not 337 00:18:49,310 --> 00:18:52,470 friends? Friendship has to go somewhere 338 00:18:52,470 --> 00:18:55,310 together. So Lewis goes on to say this 339 00:18:55,390 --> 00:18:59,270 this the very condition of having friends is that we should 340 00:18:59,270 --> 00:19:01,790 want something else besides friends. 341 00:19:02,190 --> 00:19:04,510 Where the truthful answer to the question Do you see the same 342 00:19:04,510 --> 00:19:07,510 truth would be I see nothing. And I don't care about truth. 343 00:19:07,510 --> 00:19:10,790 I just want to be friends. No friendship can arise. 344 00:19:11,600 --> 00:19:14,160 There would be nothing for the friendship to be about, and 345 00:19:14,160 --> 00:19:18,280 friendship must be about something, even if it's a 346 00:19:18,440 --> 00:19:23,720 enthusiasm for Domino's or mice. Those who have nothing can share 347 00:19:23,720 --> 00:19:26,120 nothing. Those who are going nowhere can 348 00:19:26,120 --> 00:19:31,520 have no fellow travelers. You must be friendly and your 349 00:19:31,520 --> 00:19:37,400 life must have a direction. Your life must be pointed in a 350 00:19:37,400 --> 00:19:41,850 certain way, and once again, we view the entire category of 351 00:19:41,850 --> 00:19:45,370 friendship as a better way for us to understand who God 352 00:19:45,370 --> 00:19:49,170 designed us to be. In friendship, you expose 353 00:19:49,170 --> 00:19:52,730 yourself to the reality of where your life is going, and your 354 00:19:52,730 --> 00:19:56,130 friends follow and you follow them. 355 00:19:56,850 --> 00:19:59,170 And so if you think about the beginning of friendship, you 356 00:19:59,170 --> 00:20:03,450 also better think about what it is your life is pointed to, 357 00:20:03,450 --> 00:20:06,010 because that will point you to your friends. 358 00:20:07,510 --> 00:20:09,430 And I think the benefit of friendship, and we'll look at 359 00:20:09,430 --> 00:20:12,950 four. Of course the the the Bible is a 360 00:20:12,950 --> 00:20:16,470 survey in so many ways about the relationship that God calls us 361 00:20:16,470 --> 00:20:19,310 to in friendship. So this is not an exhaustive 362 00:20:19,310 --> 00:20:24,230 list, but there are great blessings to receive the 363 00:20:24,230 --> 00:20:28,110 invitation of biblical friendship today and say this is 364 00:20:28,110 --> 00:20:31,710 the fruit that you will bear. This is what a friend will bring 365 00:20:31,710 --> 00:20:33,950 into your life. That will be different than the 366 00:20:33,950 --> 00:20:37,470 romantic relationships or the parental relationships or the 367 00:20:37,470 --> 00:20:41,670 acquaintances of your life. And so we look again at Proverbs 368 00:20:41,670 --> 00:20:47,470 chapter 17. A friend loves at all times. 369 00:20:49,110 --> 00:20:55,590 In friendship you are given the reflection of God's love that is 370 00:20:55,750 --> 00:21:01,580 absolutely constant. In other words, the idea of a 371 00:21:01,580 --> 00:21:05,820 fair weather friend or a friend that is only around when they 372 00:21:05,820 --> 00:21:10,540 need something from you or only around when things are great is 373 00:21:10,540 --> 00:21:15,180 no friend at all. This does not mean when it says 374 00:21:15,180 --> 00:21:19,180 a friend loves at all times. This does not mean we are going 375 00:21:19,180 --> 00:21:22,630 back in time to when friendship meant that you talked on the 376 00:21:22,630 --> 00:21:25,990 phone all the time, every single day, and you took every class 377 00:21:25,990 --> 00:21:28,830 together in school and you rode the bus together and you join 378 00:21:28,830 --> 00:21:31,790 the same sports team. And the initial wave of 379 00:21:31,790 --> 00:21:35,630 friendship really did measure itself by doing every single 380 00:21:35,630 --> 00:21:37,350 thing together. Always. 381 00:21:37,350 --> 00:21:42,110 That is not biblical friendship, and I and I preface that or I 382 00:21:42,110 --> 00:21:45,630 qualify that with a warning from the Proverbs lest we think that 383 00:21:45,630 --> 00:21:48,190 a friend loves it all times and now we just need to saturate 384 00:21:48,190 --> 00:21:49,510 ourselves with one or two people. 385 00:21:50,570 --> 00:21:52,410 Listen to this in Proverbs Chapter 25. 386 00:21:52,610 --> 00:21:56,970 Seldom set, seldom set foot in your neighbor's house lest they 387 00:21:56,970 --> 00:21:58,530 become weary of you and hate you. 388 00:21:59,450 --> 00:22:03,370 So let's keep that in mind as we blow up the few people in our 389 00:22:03,370 --> 00:22:06,850 life that we could see constant love from and say, you know, I'm 390 00:22:06,850 --> 00:22:08,210 going to need to hear from you every day. 391 00:22:08,530 --> 00:22:11,730 The Proverbs also give us beautiful wisdom about not 392 00:22:11,730 --> 00:22:15,280 wearing each other out. Growing up in the 90s, I thought 393 00:22:15,280 --> 00:22:17,920 of that neighbor, Steve Urkel, who would just come in in every 394 00:22:17,920 --> 00:22:19,920 episode and annoy the entire family. 395 00:22:19,920 --> 00:22:21,600 And I'm like, okay, thank you Proverbs. 396 00:22:21,880 --> 00:22:25,840 May none of us be the kind of friends that actually chase 397 00:22:25,840 --> 00:22:28,440 friends away. You can only take so much of 398 00:22:28,440 --> 00:22:31,600 people at all times, means through thickened thing, through 399 00:22:31,600 --> 00:22:34,400 good times and through bad. That the same vows that we can 400 00:22:34,400 --> 00:22:36,880 go through in First Corinthians 13 between a man and woman. 401 00:22:37,000 --> 00:22:40,360 You have a few intimate people with you in your life that God 402 00:22:40,360 --> 00:22:45,070 wants to journey with in the good and the bad in a covenant 403 00:22:45,070 --> 00:22:47,150 type relationship called friendship. 404 00:22:48,710 --> 00:22:54,550 So you have constant love. The second benefit of friendship 405 00:22:54,550 --> 00:22:57,990 is that you also have someone in your life that can give you 406 00:22:57,990 --> 00:23:01,990 timely comfort. Meaning they know you and they 407 00:23:01,990 --> 00:23:04,470 get you. They they, they have spent 408 00:23:04,470 --> 00:23:08,550 enough time with you and you guys have exchanged enough life 409 00:23:08,550 --> 00:23:11,500 together that you have someone in your life that is able to 410 00:23:11,500 --> 00:23:15,100 understand what you need when you need it, which is also very 411 00:23:15,100 --> 00:23:16,460 important according to the Proverbs. 412 00:23:16,460 --> 00:23:19,180 Look what the Proverbs say. About the opposite of this, he 413 00:23:19,180 --> 00:23:22,340 who blesses his friend with a loud voice rising early in the 414 00:23:22,340 --> 00:23:25,660 morning, it will be counted to him a curse. 415 00:23:26,580 --> 00:23:31,500 In other words, a friend knows how and when to bless you. 416 00:23:31,940 --> 00:23:36,020 It is not friendly to burst open the door and just start singing. 417 00:23:36,740 --> 00:23:39,420 This is the day that the Lord has made some parents. 418 00:23:39,420 --> 00:23:41,340 Some of you need to repent of that from this proverb. 419 00:23:44,700 --> 00:23:46,740 Certainly we can go back to a brother being born for 420 00:23:46,740 --> 00:23:51,180 adversity, just rising early and doing everything with a joyful 421 00:23:51,180 --> 00:23:53,260 spirit. And the sister that I grew up 422 00:23:53,260 --> 00:23:56,460 with was not a morning person, so I didn't care about that. 423 00:23:56,460 --> 00:23:58,460 It's like, hey, I'm happy, you got to be happy. 424 00:24:00,060 --> 00:24:06,530 A friend will know when you're sad, and a friend will actually, 425 00:24:07,410 --> 00:24:10,330 by the power of the Holy Spirit through this thing called 426 00:24:10,330 --> 00:24:12,930 compassion, will join you in your sadness. 427 00:24:13,890 --> 00:24:16,650 A friend will know when you are tired and will know how to 428 00:24:16,810 --> 00:24:20,730 support you in your tiredness, and they will know the timing of 429 00:24:20,730 --> 00:24:25,250 the comfort that they bring. I've heard it once said that a 430 00:24:25,250 --> 00:24:30,930 parent and I, and I feel this, a parent can only be as happy as 431 00:24:30,930 --> 00:24:37,290 their most lonely or sad child. So if you're a parent and your 432 00:24:37,290 --> 00:24:40,530 child is sad, good luck enjoying your day. 433 00:24:41,210 --> 00:24:43,890 If you're a parent and your child is sick, good luck just 434 00:24:43,890 --> 00:24:45,970 moving on with your day. You have to go right down to 435 00:24:45,970 --> 00:24:51,890 their level and that is a biological and godgiven duty of 436 00:24:51,890 --> 00:24:54,810 a parent. And what can be said of the 437 00:24:54,810 --> 00:24:57,610 timely comfort of a friend is a friend knows how to do this, and 438 00:24:57,610 --> 00:25:01,530 they do it deliberately, and they do it because they long for 439 00:25:01,650 --> 00:25:04,450 you to be comforted. The friend is the person in your 440 00:25:04,450 --> 00:25:07,410 life that can only be as happy as you are sad. 441 00:25:08,050 --> 00:25:10,890 And they do it because God has called them to stick with you 442 00:25:10,890 --> 00:25:14,170 through thick and thin. A friend loves it all times and 443 00:25:14,170 --> 00:25:17,410 a friend knows how to comfort you in the perfect way. 444 00:25:18,730 --> 00:25:22,330 And Biblical friendship, just like all things Biblical, bring 445 00:25:22,330 --> 00:25:25,610 the perfect balance to the way any pendulum could swing one too 446 00:25:25,610 --> 00:25:28,910 far in One Direction. Friendship is not all about 447 00:25:28,910 --> 00:25:33,070 comforting someone either. Friendship also as a benefit of 448 00:25:33,070 --> 00:25:37,910 the friendship, is also the person in your life that can 449 00:25:38,270 --> 00:25:41,350 speak into your life in uncomfortable ways. 450 00:25:41,830 --> 00:25:44,310 So not the only does it bring timely comfort, but it also 451 00:25:44,310 --> 00:25:47,310 brings those truthful conversations. 452 00:25:47,670 --> 00:25:50,990 Look what it says in Proverbs chapter 27 verses 5 and six. 453 00:25:51,390 --> 00:25:58,900 Open rebuke is better than love. Carefully concealed faithful are 454 00:25:58,900 --> 00:26:03,860 the wounds of a friend, but the kisses of an enemy are 455 00:26:03,860 --> 00:26:06,380 deceitful. Now here we have again a Riddle 456 00:26:06,740 --> 00:26:10,020 in the form of a proverb. We have two things that seem 457 00:26:10,020 --> 00:26:13,940 paradoxical, wounds from friends and kisses from enemies. 458 00:26:14,660 --> 00:26:18,940 But what is the proverb saying? The friend is someone who can 459 00:26:18,940 --> 00:26:24,740 actually, in a way, bring that hard and sometimes painful 460 00:26:24,740 --> 00:26:27,420 truth. And it's a faithful wound. 461 00:26:27,980 --> 00:26:31,500 It's something that may open up your heart to to a correction or 462 00:26:31,500 --> 00:26:34,220 even some healing that has to sometimes hurt. 463 00:26:34,660 --> 00:26:38,740 And God brings friends into your life because sometimes, have you 464 00:26:38,740 --> 00:26:40,620 ever noticed you don't necessarily want to listen to 465 00:26:40,620 --> 00:26:44,460 your parents, and sometimes your brother or your sister or even 466 00:26:44,460 --> 00:26:47,180 your own spouse? You're so close intimately with 467 00:26:47,180 --> 00:26:50,280 them that it is hard to listen to their counsel. 468 00:26:50,640 --> 00:26:53,200 And so God brings the relationships of friends to say, 469 00:26:53,440 --> 00:26:56,200 I am going to be in the person in your life who will walk 470 00:26:56,200 --> 00:26:58,400 through the truth even when it hurts. 471 00:26:59,480 --> 00:27:03,480 And This is why we have a desperate need for friends, 472 00:27:04,120 --> 00:27:07,240 because the truth will at times hurt us there. 473 00:27:07,240 --> 00:27:10,400 When we are being called into repentance and into areas of 474 00:27:10,400 --> 00:27:14,840 correction, sometimes God's truth comes into our hearts like 475 00:27:14,840 --> 00:27:19,420 a medicine or a surgery, and we need someone to not only deliver 476 00:27:19,420 --> 00:27:22,460 it, but to be there with with us while we go through the healing 477 00:27:22,460 --> 00:27:26,020 process of truth. And then it says that the kisses 478 00:27:26,020 --> 00:27:30,780 of an enemy are deceitful when when love you can say it's 479 00:27:30,780 --> 00:27:34,660 hidden, love is concealed. I'm I I would rather I love this 480 00:27:34,660 --> 00:27:36,900 person so much that I can't even say. 481 00:27:37,300 --> 00:27:39,780 I don't want to tell them what's what their actions are really 482 00:27:39,780 --> 00:27:42,500 doing in in regards to their marriage or in guards, their 483 00:27:42,500 --> 00:27:44,720 parenting. I don't want to really tell them 484 00:27:44,720 --> 00:27:47,200 what it's like and the effects that are going to be longterm 485 00:27:47,200 --> 00:27:48,800 from the decisions are made because I love them. 486 00:27:48,800 --> 00:27:53,120 So I'm just going to hide all of the rebuke that is actually not 487 00:27:53,120 --> 00:27:56,200 loving the friend you know who you're loving in that situation. 488 00:27:56,920 --> 00:28:00,560 You're loving yourself. You're you're saying, I don't 489 00:28:00,560 --> 00:28:04,560 want to walk through the wounds. I don't want to go down the road 490 00:28:04,560 --> 00:28:07,840 of truth in love. That is going to open up a can 491 00:28:07,840 --> 00:28:11,890 of tears. So in the name of love, I am 492 00:28:11,890 --> 00:28:14,930 going to hide all of those things and conceal those things. 493 00:28:15,050 --> 00:28:17,730 And you're actually saying I'm not the kind of person who wants 494 00:28:17,730 --> 00:28:19,330 to walk through difficult things with people. 495 00:28:20,570 --> 00:28:23,570 And if you want someone to flatter you, enemies can do 496 00:28:23,570 --> 00:28:26,010 that. Judas can give the kiss of an 497 00:28:26,010 --> 00:28:28,450 enemy, and friends can flatter other people. 498 00:28:28,570 --> 00:28:32,490 Flattery is a dime of dozen. You do not need friends to give 499 00:28:32,490 --> 00:28:35,130 you the flattering kiss. It is deceitful. 500 00:28:35,920 --> 00:28:37,400 You actually need friends in your life. 501 00:28:37,400 --> 00:28:40,920 You need people in your life that are willing to tell you the 502 00:28:40,920 --> 00:28:44,560 truth and say I will love you at all times. 503 00:28:46,240 --> 00:28:51,880 And finally, as this grows into the truth in love, it also turns 504 00:28:51,880 --> 00:28:56,400 into what all of us need in every way that we can get it. 505 00:28:56,560 --> 00:28:59,720 The wisdom from above that comes through the reading of the Word 506 00:28:59,720 --> 00:29:03,870 and the preaching of the Word and the wise counsel of friends. 507 00:29:03,870 --> 00:29:07,950 We have trustworthy counsel. Proverbs, chapter 27 verses 9, 508 00:29:07,990 --> 00:29:09,390 verse nine, which we already read. 509 00:29:09,470 --> 00:29:11,830 Ointment and perfume. Delight, the heart and the 510 00:29:11,830 --> 00:29:16,990 sweetness of a man's friends gives what delight by counsel. 511 00:29:18,110 --> 00:29:21,790 If you are someone who does not need counsel in your life, then 512 00:29:21,790 --> 00:29:24,990 you are someone who is not fully understood. 513 00:29:24,990 --> 00:29:27,350 The complexity of the life that you live in. 514 00:29:27,950 --> 00:29:32,850 Life is full of mystery and questions and decisions, and the 515 00:29:32,850 --> 00:29:35,690 word is full of through the book of Proverbs and the Proverbs 516 00:29:35,690 --> 00:29:38,250 right into the New Testament. James, you're going to need 517 00:29:38,250 --> 00:29:42,050 wisdom. Make sure that you ask, And when 518 00:29:42,050 --> 00:29:44,450 you ask for wisdom, make sure that you're aware of all the 519 00:29:44,450 --> 00:29:46,530 ways that God will deliver it to you. 520 00:29:46,690 --> 00:29:50,690 And one of the ways it says is that you will have delight by 521 00:29:50,690 --> 00:29:53,130 the counsel of the friends that God gives you. 522 00:29:57,090 --> 00:30:02,750 It goes on to say Proverbs 13, he who walks with wise men will 523 00:30:02,750 --> 00:30:07,710 be wise, but the companion of fools will be destroyed. 524 00:30:09,550 --> 00:30:12,550 You know, we, we, we are such an individual culture. 525 00:30:12,550 --> 00:30:16,710 We can tend to be individual Christians, and if we're not 526 00:30:16,710 --> 00:30:18,630 careful, we can come to church and leave. 527 00:30:18,630 --> 00:30:22,190 And we don't exchange one heartfelt relationship moment 528 00:30:22,190 --> 00:30:24,750 with people because as long as you've sung the songs and as 529 00:30:24,750 --> 00:30:27,510 long as you're growing in theology, you're going to, 530 00:30:27,630 --> 00:30:29,230 you're going to grow and know God. 531 00:30:29,230 --> 00:30:31,280 And that's all we need. And that's the beginning. 532 00:30:31,280 --> 00:30:35,440 But that's not the end, because it's very clear you are who you 533 00:30:35,440 --> 00:30:39,280 hang with when you leave here. None of you are going to go 534 00:30:39,280 --> 00:30:41,960 right into isolation. And if you if you are, that's an 535 00:30:41,960 --> 00:30:44,640 entire other sermon about your need for relationships. 536 00:30:45,240 --> 00:30:48,720 But the idea that we are whoever we want to be and we make 537 00:30:48,720 --> 00:30:51,560 ourselves however we set out to be, is not true. 538 00:30:52,730 --> 00:30:55,450 I've heard it said that in your early stages of development, you 539 00:30:55,490 --> 00:30:59,290 are who your family makes you. Your family is where you live, 540 00:30:59,290 --> 00:31:01,530 and the school you go to is directly correlated to where 541 00:31:01,530 --> 00:31:04,410 your family lives and your friends are typically people who 542 00:31:04,410 --> 00:31:07,210 live around your family. But then the rest of your life 543 00:31:08,650 --> 00:31:12,610 is who your friends are. You walk with wise people, You 544 00:31:12,610 --> 00:31:16,730 will walk in wisdom, you walk with fools and you will be 545 00:31:16,850 --> 00:31:20,180 destroyed. So the benefit of friendship is 546 00:31:20,180 --> 00:31:22,740 that you can actually surround yourself with wise people that 547 00:31:22,740 --> 00:31:25,620 are going the same direction, and you can have people that 548 00:31:25,620 --> 00:31:28,220 care about you enough through thick and thin to offer you 549 00:31:28,220 --> 00:31:32,300 truth and counsel and point you towards the path of wisdom. 550 00:31:32,300 --> 00:31:35,220 In other words, this entire study on instructions for life 551 00:31:35,380 --> 00:31:38,260 is not meant to be lived out alone. 552 00:31:39,860 --> 00:31:42,500 And so this is the part of the sermon where we think about 553 00:31:42,780 --> 00:31:45,870 practical application. And of course there's all sorts 554 00:31:45,870 --> 00:31:49,430 of ways that I that I hope this church and all churches that are 555 00:31:49,430 --> 00:31:52,470 interested in what what the word is saying about this, try to 556 00:31:52,470 --> 00:31:56,110 offer some sort of vessel for your friendship to grow in. 557 00:31:56,750 --> 00:31:58,870 And so I can share some of them with you. 558 00:31:58,870 --> 00:32:02,630 Now of course we have what I think is a great friendship 559 00:32:02,630 --> 00:32:08,030 tool, a way to gather with believers that will come from 560 00:32:08,030 --> 00:32:11,310 all walks of life to study the word common interest, to go a 561 00:32:11,310 --> 00:32:15,190 certain direction towards the glory in the mission of God, and 562 00:32:15,190 --> 00:32:18,790 to counsel one another in love. And that is through what we do 563 00:32:18,790 --> 00:32:22,950 in our Calvary communities. So I as I thought about one of 564 00:32:22,950 --> 00:32:26,150 the applications, I thought Kirku is in Europe right now, 565 00:32:26,710 --> 00:32:29,670 This would have been ready made for him to preach and invite all 566 00:32:29,670 --> 00:32:33,270 of you to the upcoming August kickoff of Calvary communities. 567 00:32:33,270 --> 00:32:35,310 If you're not in the community, think about it. 568 00:32:35,310 --> 00:32:38,070 If this message is stirring in you a desire for friendship, 569 00:32:38,390 --> 00:32:41,180 think about a community. If you are in one, share the 570 00:32:41,220 --> 00:32:44,420 beautiful joy of not only knowing the Bible together, but 571 00:32:44,420 --> 00:32:47,220 join in friendship together other practical ways. 572 00:32:47,220 --> 00:32:49,580 I just If you came to the beginning of the service, 573 00:32:49,580 --> 00:32:51,060 there's a game night coming up small. 574 00:32:51,540 --> 00:32:55,500 Go find a game to play with a fellow believer and break out of 575 00:32:55,500 --> 00:32:59,060 this mold of the individual culture and see what happens if 576 00:32:59,060 --> 00:33:03,140 you add 1 friend to your life and then the most immediate 577 00:33:03,140 --> 00:33:06,300 thing and your bulletins. I think it says 6630, But 578 00:33:06,300 --> 00:33:10,570 tomorrow at 6:00, if you're a a man of our church, we have a 579 00:33:10,570 --> 00:33:14,130 group of men who are always desiring to cultivate new 580 00:33:14,130 --> 00:33:16,490 friendship and grow in friendship with one another 581 00:33:16,810 --> 00:33:19,890 every other Monday. So tomorrow at 6:00 PM in our 582 00:33:19,890 --> 00:33:23,010 old thrift store building 500, there is a men's meet up where 583 00:33:23,010 --> 00:33:26,810 you can meet other men and have this foundation of God's word as 584 00:33:26,810 --> 00:33:29,370 a common direction. Meet someone you've never met. 585 00:33:29,370 --> 00:33:31,490 And you know it's weird. You'll meet someone. 586 00:33:31,490 --> 00:33:34,290 You'll be like, I had no idea that you were my neighbor. 587 00:33:34,290 --> 00:33:37,210 And we've been going to church for 10 years together. 588 00:33:37,620 --> 00:33:40,660 I had no idea that we work together in the same, you know, 589 00:33:40,660 --> 00:33:43,620 the same complex, the same area. You meet someone through one 590 00:33:43,620 --> 00:33:45,900 introduction, and God can turn that into a beautiful 591 00:33:45,900 --> 00:33:49,140 friendship. So tomorrow at 6:00 PM, right 592 00:33:49,140 --> 00:33:51,100 over there. And our friend of all, Tom 593 00:33:51,100 --> 00:33:53,220 Velasco, will be sharing. So, man, if you've never gone, 594 00:33:53,220 --> 00:33:58,260 this is a great chance to go. And then of course, I I think 595 00:33:58,860 --> 00:34:03,180 what a church can do is 1 aspect of finding and cultivating 596 00:34:03,180 --> 00:34:06,910 friendship. But be an intentional person in 597 00:34:06,910 --> 00:34:10,150 your life. To step out of your routine and 598 00:34:10,150 --> 00:34:14,429 be a friend, That's just a something that's stirring from 599 00:34:14,429 --> 00:34:19,070 the word this morning is are God's people in this city known 600 00:34:19,270 --> 00:34:22,440 as friends? We can be known as so many 601 00:34:22,440 --> 00:34:24,560 things to the city that God has places in. 602 00:34:24,560 --> 00:34:26,600 We can be known as political people. 603 00:34:26,679 --> 00:34:31,560 We can be known as passionate for the homeschool community. 604 00:34:31,560 --> 00:34:36,080 We can be known as people who love to get together and learn 605 00:34:36,080 --> 00:34:38,920 about the Bible. We can also be known as people 606 00:34:38,920 --> 00:34:41,880 who value and cherish friendship. 607 00:34:42,280 --> 00:34:46,120 So let all of those things point you towards friendship. 608 00:34:46,120 --> 00:34:51,280 And now we end with what ultimately the source of 609 00:34:51,320 --> 00:34:54,639 anything good and the source of whatever God is teaching us 610 00:34:54,639 --> 00:34:58,000 always points back to the heart that he has for us to know where 611 00:34:58,240 --> 00:35:01,560 anything good comes from. And that is this message of 612 00:35:01,560 --> 00:35:06,400 friendship that is found as we sang the song through our Savior 613 00:35:07,040 --> 00:35:10,240 last week we we shared a message on truth. 614 00:35:10,320 --> 00:35:15,720 And and we quoted Jesus when he said I'm the way, the truth and 615 00:35:15,720 --> 00:35:18,480 the life, and no one comes to the Father except through me. 616 00:35:19,440 --> 00:35:23,370 And it was interesting because after that I had conversation 617 00:35:23,370 --> 00:35:24,450 with people who just had questions. 618 00:35:24,450 --> 00:35:27,170 What about all of these other world views and religions and 619 00:35:27,170 --> 00:35:31,650 saviors and good teachers, good questions? 620 00:35:32,770 --> 00:35:36,210 I think something to add to the invitation that Jesus has to 621 00:35:36,210 --> 00:35:40,370 know him as the way to live and the truth of all of created 622 00:35:40,370 --> 00:35:46,650 reality and the access to the Father in heaven is who he wants 623 00:35:46,650 --> 00:35:51,790 to be in your life. When we sing praises to Jesus, 624 00:35:52,190 --> 00:35:56,990 when we cry upon his name for salvation or we we use his name 625 00:35:56,990 --> 00:36:00,630 in our prayers, this is not a religious act. 626 00:36:01,230 --> 00:36:04,630 This is not simply something that we do because our 627 00:36:04,710 --> 00:36:08,390 particular version of version of religion is Jesus. 628 00:36:09,190 --> 00:36:14,070 This is something that we do because on the very last moment 629 00:36:14,070 --> 00:36:17,340 that Jesus had with his disciples, he framed the entire 630 00:36:17,340 --> 00:36:21,220 gospel message in a relationship so intimate that he called it 631 00:36:21,220 --> 00:36:23,540 friendship. Look what he says in John 632 00:36:23,540 --> 00:36:25,740 chapter 15. He says this is my commandment. 633 00:36:25,900 --> 00:36:29,700 This is everything that Jesus commands us to do, that you 634 00:36:29,700 --> 00:36:33,980 would love one another. You want to live for Jesus. 635 00:36:33,980 --> 00:36:36,500 You want to know Jesus, know his commandment, love one another? 636 00:36:37,260 --> 00:36:40,460 And how does he give a description of what his love 637 00:36:40,460 --> 00:36:43,660 looks like? He says greater love has no one 638 00:36:43,660 --> 00:36:47,920 than this than to lay down one's life for his friends. 639 00:36:49,320 --> 00:36:52,360 You are my friends if you do whatever I command you. 640 00:36:53,160 --> 00:36:58,000 So we think about the message of salvation, knowing that God so 641 00:36:58,000 --> 00:37:02,160 loved the world that he sent his Son to die on the cross for the 642 00:37:02,160 --> 00:37:07,760 sin of sinners, which means the whole world, that whoever admits 643 00:37:07,760 --> 00:37:11,160 their sin, confesses their sin could be cleansed and forgiven. 644 00:37:11,720 --> 00:37:15,900 And he puts that whole motivation into the category of 645 00:37:16,180 --> 00:37:21,020 a desire for his disciples to now know him as the ultimate 646 00:37:21,020 --> 00:37:23,940 friend. But which is why we have to 647 00:37:23,940 --> 00:37:27,460 understand friendship. He is the ultimate beautiful 648 00:37:27,460 --> 00:37:31,340 relationship in your life, the one that is not biological, that 649 00:37:31,340 --> 00:37:34,780 is not required, but is compelled completely by a love 650 00:37:34,780 --> 00:37:40,060 and a choice for you. He is the ultimate reason to 651 00:37:40,060 --> 00:37:42,660 know that the foundation of friendship. 652 00:37:43,680 --> 00:37:45,800 When we think about all the benefits of friendship, we find 653 00:37:45,800 --> 00:37:49,400 them ultimately in Christ. And if you hear this message 654 00:37:49,400 --> 00:37:51,760 like me, just thinking about these proverbs, I read this and 655 00:37:51,760 --> 00:37:54,920 I think I have a longing for friendship and I have a 656 00:37:54,920 --> 00:37:59,000 conviction of my own friendship, Every single one of us as we 657 00:37:59,000 --> 00:37:59,880 went through this. Do I? 658 00:38:00,000 --> 00:38:01,520 Do I always speak the truth in love? 659 00:38:01,640 --> 00:38:05,360 Do ioffer heartfelt counsel? Am I always there in in good 660 00:38:05,360 --> 00:38:07,600 times and bad? Am I the person that my friends 661 00:38:07,600 --> 00:38:11,040 can count on for whatever they possibly need and I will be 662 00:38:11,040 --> 00:38:13,360 there? And the answer is not always. 663 00:38:14,100 --> 00:38:18,540 And the answer is You also hear this message both as a longing 664 00:38:18,540 --> 00:38:21,980 for a friend and as a conviction of your own friendship model. 665 00:38:22,860 --> 00:38:25,580 Which means this message is ultimately not about you and I. 666 00:38:26,140 --> 00:38:30,140 This message is about the perfect friend, the one who does 667 00:38:30,140 --> 00:38:33,420 love you while you were still a Sinner, while you fail, while 668 00:38:33,420 --> 00:38:37,490 you mess up, while you mess around with sin and you wrestle 669 00:38:37,490 --> 00:38:40,850 with the need for forgiveness and you come to church imperfect 670 00:38:40,850 --> 00:38:43,370 in all of your ways. You have the friend who loves 671 00:38:43,370 --> 00:38:47,570 you at all times. You have a friend that sticks 672 00:38:47,570 --> 00:38:51,250 closer to the to you than your own brother or sister or mother 673 00:38:51,250 --> 00:38:53,130 or father. They can all forsake you. 674 00:38:53,290 --> 00:38:57,610 But there is a friend in Jesus that is the ultimate friend. 675 00:38:59,690 --> 00:39:02,530 And so when we think about this message, it's a twofold 676 00:39:02,530 --> 00:39:10,110 application. 1/2 Refresh and renew our vision of who God is 677 00:39:10,110 --> 00:39:15,270 in our lives. We believe in a God who wants to 678 00:39:15,310 --> 00:39:20,230 be the ultimate friend to every single one of you. 679 00:39:20,230 --> 00:39:23,990 He came and he revealed himself as the friend of sinners. 680 00:39:24,910 --> 00:39:28,270 And he says in my friendship, I lay down my life for you. 681 00:39:28,390 --> 00:39:32,070 Now, if you love me, be a friend. 682 00:39:33,030 --> 00:39:36,530 Be someone who would do that for one another, and that is the 683 00:39:36,530 --> 00:39:38,890 simplicity of all the commandments of Jesus. 684 00:39:38,890 --> 00:39:43,970 To love God and love one another is to know this so intimately in 685 00:39:43,970 --> 00:39:48,010 our lives. So we consider this as we are 686 00:39:48,010 --> 00:39:49,530 going to take communion as we always do. 687 00:39:49,530 --> 00:39:53,130 This is a great call to remembrance because Jesus says 688 00:39:53,130 --> 00:39:54,930 you want to know what friends really look like. 689 00:39:56,410 --> 00:39:57,930 Someone who would lay down his life. 690 00:39:59,290 --> 00:40:03,610 So start the beginning of this message received is when you 691 00:40:03,610 --> 00:40:06,320 hold the body. In the form of bread. 692 00:40:06,400 --> 00:40:08,840 And you hold the blood in the form of a cup in your hand 693 00:40:08,840 --> 00:40:11,480 today. And we, we, we meditate, we 694 00:40:11,480 --> 00:40:14,000 think of God's great love for us. 695 00:40:14,280 --> 00:40:18,760 We are holding the ultimate sacrifice of love that has ever 696 00:40:18,760 --> 00:40:22,840 been known, the perfect friend who laid down his life to call 697 00:40:22,840 --> 00:40:24,960 you a friend. And so we take it in 698 00:40:24,960 --> 00:40:28,080 remembrance. And then we take it to say, go 699 00:40:28,080 --> 00:40:32,280 and do likewise. May someone remember your impact 700 00:40:32,280 --> 00:40:34,540 on their life to the glory of God, yeah.