I know not my God's wondrous praise to Thee, He hath made known,
Nor my unworthy Christ in love, Redeeming for His own.
I know whom I have believed in, And am persuaded that He is able
To keep that which I've committed Unto Him against that debt.
I know not how this saving thing to me He did in part,
Nor how this saving thing to me He did in part,
Alright, good morning everybody. Thank you for joining us this Saturday morning.
We're going to go ahead and start this with a word of prayer.
Spare heads and talk to Jesus Christ Himself and ask Him for a blessing.
Alright, say, Dear Heavenly Father, thank you so much for this morning.
Thank you so much for allowing us to gather together.
Please be with us and help fill us with your word and give us boldness.
And just thank you for all that you do for us, for your death, burial, and resurrection.
And just be with all of us today. In Jesus Christ's rename, Amen.
Amen.
Amen. Alright, we're going to start with song number 2 in the hymnbook, Glory to His Name.
Song number 2.
Song number 2, Glory to His Name.
Do you know this one?
Yeah.
Do you know this one?
Glory to His Name.
We watched it quite as it flows
The way of the cross leads home
The high every hop
The Angelic high
No other way but this, I shall bear his side of the case alight in the way of the cross I kiss.
The way of the cross leads home. The way of the cross leads home.
It is sweet to know as I walk, I know the way of the cross leads home.
My mistakes go on till the bloods bring away the path that the Savior tried.
If I ever climb to the heights of life where the sword is holding on,
The way of the cross leads home. The way of the cross leads home.
It is sweet to know as I onward, I know the way of the cross leads home.
May I bid farewell to the way of the world, to walk in evermore.
For my Lord says, Come and see my home, where praise at the open door.
The way of the cross leads home. The way of the cross leads home.
It is sweet to know as I onward, I know the way of the cross leads home.
Amen. All right, now we're going to read a chapter from the Word of God.
Brother Croy is going to read us a chapter.
All right, so we're going to be reading from John chapter number 15.
John chapter number 15, if you'd find your place in your Bibles.
I'll be reading from John chapter number 15.
I am the true vine, and my father is the husband man.
Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away.
And every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it that it may bring forth more fruit.
Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.
Abide in me and I in you, as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself except it abide in the vine.
No more can ye except ye abide in me.
I am the vine, ye are the branches.
He that abideth in me and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit.
For without me ye can do nothing.
If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch and is withered.
And men gather them and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.
If ye abide in me and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.
Herein is my father glorified that ye bear much fruit, so shall ye be my disciples.
As the father hath loved me, so have I loved you.
Continue ye in my love.
If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love, even as I have kept my father's commandments and abide in his love.
These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.
This is my commandment, that ye love one another as I have loved you.
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.
Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you that ye should go and bring forth fruit,
and that your fruit should remain, that whatsoever ye ask of the father in my name he may give it you.
These things I command you, that ye love one another.
If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you.
If ye were of the world, the world would love his own.
But because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.
Remember the word that I said unto you, the servant is not greater than his lord.
If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you.
If they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also.
But all these things will they do unto you for my name's sake, because they know not him that sent me.
If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin.
But now they have no cloak for their sin.
He that hateth me, hateth my father also.
If I had not done among them the works which none other man did, they had not had sin.
But now have they both sinned and hated both me and my father.
But this cometh to pass, that the word might be fulfilled that is written in the law, they hated me without a cause.
But when the comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the father, even the spirit of truth which proceedeth from the father, he shall testify of me.
And ye also shall bear witness, because ye have been with me from the beginning.
Let us pray.
Dear God, we thank you for another beautiful day.
We thank you for bringing us here together.
Please bless Brother Keifer as he preaches your word.
Please fill him with the Holy Spirit that he may preach your word and that it might edify us.
In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
Amen.
Alright, thank you all for joining us this morning.
Let's get right into it.
Title of this message this morning is friendship.
If you would look down at your Bible at verse 11.
Friendship is a commodity in our lives that cannot be purchased.
There are a handful of things that we look to in our life that are more valuable than anything that we could put on it.
And friendship should be one of them.
Friendship is a very vague term, right?
For instance, if I were to use the word party, right?
Hey, let's go party.
Obviously, a five-year-old little girl and a college student are meaning two different things by let's go party.
And the same thing would apply with friendship.
If we say as Christians that we have friends or we are friendly or what we call and deem friendship,
we have to use the Bible to tell us these things.
But back to that commodity that I was talking about, right?
Friendship in general.
Realize this, that in one's life you could have truly up to five to ten real friends in your life.
Now that seems like a very low number, but this goes back to my point about understanding what friendship really is, okay?
And we're going to go through these differences of what is an acquaintance, what is an outer circle of friends,
what's an inner circle of friends, brothers, sisters, and so on and so forth.
But realize very quickly that if we don't want to spend our time doing nothing good, then we are wasting time.
The commodity of time is being wasted, right?
Family is something that is a commodity that we cannot put a price on.
The same would apply to friendship.
Having five to ten real friends in your life is truly the diamond in the rough.
Throughout one person's average life, you would probably cross paths with close to up to 100,000 different people in your whole life.
I mean, it obviously differs between demographic, where you are, and these things,
but if five to ten of those people are called your friends, this really is important then from the sight of God how we are to see and view friends.
Now look down, if you would, at verse 11. The Bible reads,
Pause there really quickly.
This is a famous passage in the Bible.
Love one another as I have loved you.
Now some people will apply this to love everyone the way that Christ loves us.
But it is not what the Bible is actually teaching.
Well, how do you know this?
Let's keep going.
It says in verse 13,
So notice, Jesus Christ is the substitutionary atonement, right?
Jesus Christ is really the friend of humanity.
Satan is the adversary trying to destroy humans, trying to just drag people to hell with him.
Jesus Christ is the friend to all people.
The Bible says he is the savior of all men, especially to those that believe,
but he is still calling the rest of the world people that he is extending his hand of friendship to.
Now unfortunately, a lot of people scoff at that friendship.
But remember, who is Jesus talking to in this context?
The disciples, the twelve that are with him, right?
So let's keep reading.
Verse 12,
Hold on one second, I'll get to that.
But I have called you friends for all things that I have heard of my father.
I have made known unto you.
You have not chosen me, but I have chosen you and ordained you.
That's a key word.
I ordained you that you should go and bring forth fruit
and that your fruit should remain that whatsoever you shall ask of the father in my name,
he may give it you these things I command you that you love one another.
So Jesus Christ is making very clear he has an inner circle of friends, the twelve disciples.
Now notice they're also called disciples, right?
But he says, I don't call you servants, I call you friends.
How many of you growing up in your life or in general had a boss that you could say was your friend?
Not too many people.
I had a boss who was a friend as well, but not too many people.
You may experience having up to five to 20 different bosses in your life.
And let's face the fact, bosses are not the funnest person to hang out with sometimes.
Well, because that's their role.
They're the boss.
They have to set guidelines and rules.
And Jesus Christ is the Lord.
He is the boss.
He's the one who owns everything.
But did you know if you are called a disciple, one that serves the Lord Jesus Christ,
that you're actually his friend?
That is a friendship between you and Jesus Christ.
So the first point I want to get into is the most important friendship that we can have is with Jesus Christ.
You know, the Bible says, if I should be called the servant of Christ, I yet not seek to please men.
I'm butchering that statement, but it basically is teaching that Jesus is our nearest friend above any one person.
That does not mean we don't love one another, exactly.
But realize this.
If Jesus tells me to do something in his word, and my friend tells me to do something that's not in the Bible,
who do I listen to?
My closest friend, Jesus Christ.
I yet not yet to seek to please God.
Jesus Christ is who is my closest friend, for crying out loud when I lay my head on the pillow every night.
Is my close friend there to talk to?
I mean, my wife is there, and she is my closest friend on this earth, as a human, as a person that I interact with.
But there's a time where we stop talking, and I can still have a conversation with Jesus Christ.
And that conversation is open through prayer.
So that's the first point I wanted to get into, is that Jesus Christ is our closest friend.
But, brothers and sisters in Christ also should be our friends.
Of the 12 disciples, right, let me just define to you really quickly, what is friendship?
This is my own words. It's not from any source or anything.
I just kind of really sat down and thought about it, because to me, this subject is very important,
because, you know, back to the diamond in the rough.
I'm going to cross paths with many people in my world, or in this life.
But who is called my friend?
Well, let me define it for you.
Real friendship, according to the Bible, is a mutual relationship, completely selfless of one's own desire,
and has no selfish ambition behind it to benefit one's self.
David, you just read in the passage where the Bible says Jesus telling his disciples,
if you love me, keep my commandments. Isn't that a contingency?
Well, here's the thing you're not realizing, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his own life for his friends.
Jesus Christ did the most selfless act that anybody could ever do ever in the whole entire history of man.
Jesus Christ took the punishment of sin for everyone upon himself.
But who does he call friends? Those that are willing to do what he tells them to do.
But let me give you an analogy. Let's say me and Corbin were hanging out, right?
And Corbin's like, hey, David, I'm moving next week. I have to get my stuff.
And I'm going to be moving from one house to another. I know you're off clock around five o'clock tomorrow.
You're not busy. Can you help me with this? And I'm like, no, I don't want to.
Can we be called friends? Because here's the thing, maybe we're friendly and there's nothing wrong with that.
But a friend is doing things selflessly, right? He needs help.
And if I want to be called a friend of his, I have to be willing to sacrifice my own time for my friend.
Vice versa. What if I said, you know, I was moving and then I'm like, hey, Corbin, you know, I'm going to be moving tomorrow.
I know you're off at a certain time. Can you come and help me? I know you're free.
And he's like, yes, David, I'll come and sacrifice my time with my family and others to assist and help you.
As a matter of fact, they'll make it a family event. That is what we can call friendship.
It is mutual. There's a relationship that is between two people that is selfless in nature.
Now, let me tell you this. That is what a friend is. What is an acquaintance?
Raise your hand if you heard that term. Acquaintance.
There are many acquaintances in our lives. What do we differentiate between a friend and an acquaintance?
In my opinion, how I would describe it, what I see the Bible teaching as a whole,
is basically people that you interact with, but you cannot call friends.
Once again, Dave, that's a vague term. That seems vague. What do you interact with, but you're not friends?
Well, think about your coworker, right? I go to work and I see a guy that I work with.
He's not a Christian. He does not believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.
Me and him have no common hobbies, except for that we work together.
He is my acquaintance. And you know what? We are commanded as Christians to be friendly to people.
The Bible says in Proverbs 17, 17,
A friend loveth at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.
So basically, there are times where you work with someone. I mean, think about people who went to war.
There are people who end up in war with people they don't know.
But guess what? You're going to become friends really quickly in that foxhole when you guys have a common enemy.
And when you're at work, the common goal is to make the business as much money as possible.
So even though we don't know each other on an intimate level, we are acquaintances.
We are friendly with each other. And I believe the Bible is very clearly teaching that as Christians,
90% of our relationships in this world, we should be friendly.
We should be friendly. We shouldn't be arrogant jerks walking around with a chip on our shoulder.
Somebody's like, good morning, David. I'm like, kick rocks. Get out of here.
Want nothing to do with you. It's like, whoa, is that Christlike? That's not Christlike.
The Bible says in Proverbs 18 24, a man that hath friends must show himself friendly.
And there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother. So if I want to have friends, I need to act friendly.
And in today's world, the social media and Facebook and all the Internet and all these things,
people are being separated from loved ones, family, friends and communities of groups of people that we used to have more interactions with.
Because just because your Facebook says you have 10,000 friends does not mean you have 10,000 friends.
You do realize that, right? There are 10,000 people that follow your Facebook feed.
They're not your friends. They're just people who are looking to follow you, I guess.
And a good example that I explain to people for friendship in my personal life is that if we have a text relationship,
I'm texting you, hey, where you at? Where you been? We're not really probably friends.
If we call each other, hey, how you been? What are you up to? We're probably friends.
But most importantly is that we're physically in front of each other often.
Obviously, I can't be in front of my friends all the time or then me.
But at the same time, if my friend needs something, I'd rather him call me than to just text me.
Hey, what's up, man? How you doing? There's not a lot of intimacy there, is it right?
And not only that, just do a test for yourself and your life and amongst people of friends and peers.
Ask someone, say, what's my favorite color? When's my birthday? I don't know those things.
OK, well, then we're acquaintances and that's OK.
But some people think they need to be friends with everybody.
But the Bible teaches the opposite. I'm getting ahead of myself, but I'll get into that in just a moment.
The Bible teaches in Proverbs 27, if you'd like, you could turn there, Proverbs chapter 27.
It's in the Old Testament. I'll give you a second to get there, Proverbs chapter 27.
Real friends tell you what you need to hear, not necessarily what you want to hear.
Let me say that again. Friends tell you what you need to hear, not necessarily what you want to hear.
For instance, I am being a derelict. I am hanging out with bad crowds.
I go to a bar and I'm hanging out with the wrong crowd and Koi walks up to me, goes, David, what you're doing is wrong.
You need to stop hanging out that bar. That is not good for you. Alcohol will destroy you.
And as a matter of fact, it just looks bad. You're being dumb. You're being stupid.
See, I know what he's saying is sincere. Why? Because as friends, we're going to tell each other what we need to hear, not what we want to hear.
I had friends growing up who were drug addicts, heroin addicts, meth addicts.
And one of the things I would tell my friends when they got into drug abuse is like, when I find you, I'm going to shake you down.
I'm going to drag you kicking and screaming to the rehab and understand this is because I love you.
And they don't think and see that at the time because their brain is twisted. But that is true friendship.
And understand that friends will tell you what you need to hear, not what you want to hear.
You don't need to be a jerk. And everywhere you go, like, damn, koi, you need to lose some weight, dude. You look a little chubby.
Corbin, what's wrong with you, man? You're just, I can't think of anything bad with Corbin because he's got all kinds of good habits for hobbies.
But nevertheless, it's like the Bible says in Proverbs chapter 27, verse 17, iron sharpeneth iron.
So a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend.
So basically when Corbin mess ups, I mess up, friends mess up, we need to be there to catch them.
The Bible says, for instance, preach the word, be instant in season and out of season, reprove, rebuke and exhort with all long suffering and doctrine.
Reproving someone is telling them that they are wrong. Rebuking someone is sharply telling them that they're wrong.
But exhortation is lifting them up when they do right and they're doing good.
So we need to be there for each other in that sense.
Not only that, the Bible says in the same chapter in verse nine, ointment and perfume rejoice the heart.
So does the sweetness of a man's friends by hearty counsel.
Sometimes I need to hear things that I don't want to hear.
I mean, for crying out loud, I can go into a lot of analogies and scenarios, but you get the point, right?
We all think we're right all the time and we can never mess up.
And I was just reading the Bible to blind children, then out of nowhere someone came and punched me in the face.
Look, it takes two to tango. You probably did something wrong.
And, you know, I'll be the first to admit that in life you may think, you know, that you're doing good and right things, but you're, you know, basically harming other people and ignorant of it.
So somebody from another perspective may be able to see it and be like, hey, Dave, you're acting like a jerk. Can you slow your roll?
Well, of course. Or I could be arrogant and say, no, you don't know what you're talking about. Get out of here.
But obviously that's not good counsel, right?
The Bible says in verse six, faithful are the wounds of a friend, but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful.
This is the next point I want to get into. There is a difference between somebody, the kiss, the faithful are the wounds of a friend.
Back to what I was telling you about dragging that guy into rehab. It's going to hurt. Trust me. He's kicking and screaming. He ain't going willingly.
I'm going to make sure he makes it there, right? And he'll be upset at the immediate situation, but at the long run he'll be happier.
But kisses of an enemy are deceitful. How did Judas greet Jesus Christ when he was betraying him?
He betrays thou the son of man with a kiss? That has to do with flattery. Be wary of people that will flatter you in your life.
Now there is a difference between excessive and non, they don't even know they're doing it.
For instance, if I was hanging out and Corbin's like, hey man, you're looking good today.
I'm not going to assume he's my enemy. It's just pointing out and obvious. I look good. I look good.
I'm just like, but that being said, he just, he's going into pointing out something.
Now, what if he's like, dude, you're like the greatest guy I've ever seen. Dude, you're so masculine and buff and damn, I wish I looked like you.
Slow your roll, man. Like I know I'm not that good looking. Jeez. But regardless, this is excessive flattery, right?
And the best way I can explain it to you is like this. Let's assume there's a coworker. This is how you know someone's flattering you.
The Bible says a double-minded man is unstable in all his ways. If someone agrees with you, these are called yes men, right?
They say yes to whatever you say. Whatever you say, yes. And if you find someone saying yes to you common a lot, test it and give them two contradicting statements.
I saw John the other day. I was driving down the road and he cut me off. That guy's a jerk, right? Yeah, John's a jerk.
Okay. You know, an hour later I saw John at QT. I was going to go get lunch and then he bought me lunch. Man, I like John. He's a cool guy.
Yeah, John's a cool guy. One second ago you didn't like him. Now it's like you're obviously just telling me what you think I want to hear.
I'm going to be wary of that person. I cannot call us friends. Why? I can't trust this person's judgment.
And even myself, you know, people think that they can trust your judgment all the time. The Bible is where we get all our judgment from.
I'm going to get into one last thing before we go. Let's be friendly but not naive, okay? What does that mean?
Well, turn back if you would. I should have told you. Leave a space in John 15. Turn back if you would in John 15.
And while you go there, I'm going to quote from you from Proverbs chapter 22 verse 24.
Let me say it again. Make no friendship with an angry man. Anger is not a sin, you guys, in nature.
As a matter of fact, there is a time in which we are to be angry. The Bible says,
So basically, there is a time in which it's appropriate to be angry.
But an angry man is someone who walks around in his day-to-day life who's always angry. He's bitter. He's upset.
And he says, don't make friends with that person. Why? You're going to learn his ways and it's going to be a snare to your soul.
You're going to end up birds of a feather tend to flock together, right? And if you're hanging out with a contentious,
angry, arrogant person, you are going to probably be angry, contentious, and arrogant.
I don't know about you, but my life is short and I'm still young and I want to enjoy my life.
There's a lot of work involved and there's a lot of joy involved. And the Bible tells us that we're here to work,
but we can enjoy the process along the way. So when there are angry people around you, it's like, dude, avoid them.
So like I said, let's be friendly, but let's not be naive. A lot of people think that we need to be friends with everyone.
We need to love everyone. A lot of fake Christians will teach that. Nowhere in the Bible does it say you must love everyone.
As a matter of fact, it teaches us the exact opposite. We are to love one another as brothers and sisters in Christ.
Our biological siblings, our family, our friends, our relative, the unsaved and the lost, your acquaintances.
There are lots of people that we can love, be friendly to, but there is a faction of people that we are not to have any fellowship with.
They are known as the children of the devil in the Bible.
So understand that if Jeffrey Dahmer came walking down the road and I didn't know who he was and I accidentally shoulder check him.
And I'm like, sorry, excuse me, my bad. I didn't. Sorry, my bad.
And then I find out later on he's Jeffrey Dahmer and he's some sick, twisted person. Understand, I don't need to be his friend.
You don't need to be their friend. You don't need to love everyone. What you need to do is love one another.
Love those in your inner circle, your outer circle, an average normal person out there.
But a sociopath, a psychopath, a child of the devil, the Bible says we are to avoid these people like the plague.
And the best analogy I can give you has to do with the Lord Jesus Christ himself.
Who is he friendly to? Who is he friends with? Who is he upset with while he was on this earth?
He loved his disciples. He loved those that served him. He says, love one another as I have loved you.
The sinners, the harlots, the publicans, the people of this world, he loved them. He was there for them.
He was friendly to them. But who is he not friendly to?
The Pharisees, the Sadducees, false prophets, people who are trying to bring people to hell with them.
He says have no company with these people. Beware ye the leaven of the Pharisees.
And I just wanted you to end on this point because friendship. What is friendship?
Friendship is a mutual relation that you have with someone that is selfish, selfless in nature.
It's okay not to have a lot of friends. As a matter of fact, a real friend is a diamond in the rough.
And when you have a friend, hold on to that friend. I forgot to point this out earlier, but I'm pointing it out now.
A friend loveth at all times and a brother is born out of diversity. A friend loveth at all times.
When my friend screws up, when he does something bad or wrong, I love him in the midst of this.
I am friendly to other people. We should be friendly to most people.
But if you find out there are people that are crazy in the sense that they're trying to be ax murderers,
it's okay not to love Adolf Hitler, you guys. I'm sure you know that, right? You don't need to love that person.
The title of this message this morning is Friendship. Let's continue in our lives to look and strive for good friendship.
Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer.
Dear Heavenly Father, thank you so much for your Word. Thank you so much for salvation.
Thank you so much for the Church, one another, brothers and sisters.
Help us in our life as we realize and see and understand who real, true friends are,
that we hold on to that and understand that most importantly, above any friend that we have in this world, we have a friend with you.
You are our best friend. Help us to reflect your love to us and us to others.
In Jesus Christ's name we pray. Amen.
All right.
Song number 355.
I'm a friend we have in Jesus.
All our sin and grace to bear.
What a privilege you carry.
Everything to God and prayer.
Oh, what peace we all can forfeit.
Oh, what needless pain we bear.
All the crimes we do not carry.
Every case to God and prayer.
Having trials and temptations.
Is there a struggle anywhere?
We should never be discouraged.
We give to the Lord in prayer.
Can we find the prince of April?
Who will all our sorrows share?
Jesus knows our every weakness.
We give to the Lord in prayer.
Are we weakened every day?
Are we filled with all the fear?
The precious Savior's still our heir.
We give to the Lord in prayer.
Jesus Christ will save me.
Take it to the Lord in prayer.
His hearts will take the shield.
God will find us all this year.
Amen.
Thanks for coming.
We're singing.
.