You
everybody and welcome to Steadfast Baptist Church. It's great to see everybody
here this afternoon. If we can go and take our seats we will get started and for
our first song this afternoon we'll go to song number 410. Song number 410, Faith
is the Victory.
All right, great singing.
Let's go ahead and open up the service with a word of prayer.
Lord, we love you so much, and we just
thank you for allowing us to go out this afternoon
and witness unto you, Lord, and unto the people.
And we just ask that you be with those that were given
the gospel.
And thank you for all the salvatians.
And Lord, we just ask that you bless this church
and everything that it does.
And we just ask all these things in Jesus' name.
All right, our next song, let's go to 296.
Song number 296
Follow on song number
296
Let's all sing it out together
Down in the valley with my savior I would go
Where the flowers are blooming and the sweet waters flow
Walking through this footsteps to the ground
Thanks for coming to Steadfast Baptist Church.
I didn't bring a bulletin with me. Can I steal one from you?
If you don't have a bulletin like me, you can lift your hand nice and high and they can get you a bulletin on the front
We have our Bible memory passage Jude 1 verse 10 also on the inside service and soul winning times
regional soul winning times
Please make sure to update our chat group with your soul winning for the the day and the in the weeks
Also on the right. We have our list of expecting ladies. Please be in prayer for them
Upcoming events again the Streetport, Louisiana Marathon
The sign up sheet should be out there in the four year
Springdale, Arkansas.
Brother Foley is going to be help leading this.
If you have any questions, you could ask him.
Our semiannual business meeting, July 13th.
And so if you can partake in that,
it'll probably be the at.
right after the evening service,
just kind of our normal meeting.
It is just for members.
We have Solwending Marathon Lancaster, July 19th.
Our men's retreat is August 14th through the 16th.
And then FBBF August 27th to the 31st again
There's gonna be a preacher every single night of the conference and so just as a friendly reminder
We'll have services. We might bump our service time up a little bit
So maybe it just frees up the evening. We're only gonna have one preacher every night
So it should be just kind of one preacher in and out
And hopefully we will fit in here
also
We have the missions trip September 8th through the 12th.
Brother Diego is going to help lead that.
We have our Bahamas missions trip October 6th through the 11th.
We have the teen summer event July 26th, bowling night August 9th is the adventure park.
And so we've got a lot of events there.
On the back is our prayer list.
And thank you all the people that helped us.
You know resolve some of our power issue this morning and let there be light, right?
You know, it's really nice to have some light in here
So I we're not trying to go nom the nom or something, you know, or it's all dark or whatever
We actually like lights on everything. So no, it's it's great to have some power again
And with that we'll sing our Psalm of the week Psalm 11
Psalm 11
All right, that was Psalm 11 in your binders
or in your King James Bible.
That's all fall along.
Pay attention to me for the timing on that first.
It does change a little bit from the rest.
So Psalm 11, let's all sing it out together.
In the Lord, good at my trust.
Holy temple, the Lord's voice in heaven, His eyes behold, His eye destroy, the children of heaven, the Lord's light the righteous.
Upon the wicked, he is right upstairs, higher and prince don't hang, and more important is, this shall be the portion of their cup for the righteous for love and righteousness is counted.
Great job everybody, now as the offering plates are being passed around, go ahead and open
your Bibles to Proverbs chapter 27, that's the book of Proverbs chapter number 27.
Proverbs chapter 27 the Bible says boast not thyself of tomorrow for thou knowest not what
a day may bring forth let another man praise thee and not thine own mouth a stranger and not
thine own lips a stone is heavy and the sand weighty but a fool's wrath is heavier than them both
wrath is cruel and anger is outrageous but who is able to stand before envy open rebuke is better
Faithful are the wounds of a friend, but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful.
The full soul loatheth on honeycomb, but to the hungry soul every bitter thing is sweet.
As a bird that wandereth from her nest, so is a man that wandereth from his place.
Ointment and perfume rejoice the heart, so that the sweetness of a man's friend by hearty
counsel.
Thine own friend, and thy father's friend, forsake not, neither go into thy brother's house in the day of thy calamity,
for better is a neighbor that is near than a brother far off.
My son be wise and make my heart glad, that I may answer him that reproacheth me.
A prudent man foreseeeth the evil and hideeth himself, but the simple pass on and are punished.
Take his garment that is surety for a stranger, and take a pledge of him for a strange woman.
He that blessed his friend with a loud voice rising early in the morning, it shall be counted a curse to him.
A continual dropping in a very rainy day, and a contentious woman are alike.
Whosoever highteth her, highteth the wind, and the ointment of his right hand which berateeth itself.
Iron sharpeneth iron.
So a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend.
Whoso keepeth the fig tree, shall eat the fruit thereof.
So he that waiteth on his master shall be honored.
As in water, face, answereth to face.
So the heart of man to man.
Hell and destruction are never full.
So the eyes of man are never satisfied.
As the finding pot for silver and the furnace for gold, so is a man to his praise.
Though thou shouldest bray a fool in a mortar among wheat with a pestle,
yet will not his foolishness depart from him.
Be thou diligent to know the state of thy flocks, and look well to thy herds, for riches are not forever,
and doth the crown endure to every generation. The hay appeareth, and the tender grass showeth itself, and herbs of the mountains are gathered.
The lambs are for thy clothing, and the goats are the price of the field, and thou shalt have goats milk enough for thy food,
for the food of thy household, and for the maintenance of thy maidens. Let us pray.
Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for the souls saved out today.
I thank you for the message this morning.
Please help us to be more loyal friends and to be loyal to you, Lord.
Please bless Pastor Shelly as he preaches your word now in Jesus' name. Amen.
Amen.
I want to look through this chapter.
It actually has a few different verses in here that kind of talk about friendship.
Look at verse 6, the Bible says faithful are the wounds of a friend,
but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful.
Of course, a friend...
He's gonna love it all times, the Bible says.
Sometimes your friends have to tell you things
that you don't want to hear.
Sometimes it kind of hurts your feelings
or may offend you,
but that's what a faithful friend would do
is he tells you things that are uncomfortable.
It says in verse number nine,
ointment and perfumer joist the heart,
so doth the sweetness of a man's friend.
By hearty counsel, we shouldn't only criticize our friends,
but sometimes we should give them good wisdom and counsel.
And so there's good and bad.
And then of course, the really verse I kind of want
to focus on, verse 10,
thine own friend and thy father's friend, forsake not.
Neither go into thy brother's house
in the day of thy calamity,
for better is a neighbor that is near.
than a brother far off.
So the Bible just explicitly commands you
not to forsake your friends.
And it goes beyond that.
It says you're not even allowed to forsake your dad's friends
or your father's friends.
It's saying it's really important
because a lot of us don't always live near our family.
We may not always have relatives or kin to help us and so we need friends.
Friends are an important part of life and friends are there to help you.
Now we live in a digital age where you can just call someone on the phone that's not
even that close and you can reach out to them and that's a great benefit.
It's a great blessing but we need local friends, we need people that are close to,
we need people that we can count on that are going to be there to help you.
And I think that the Bible shows us an example of having this attitude of being someone that
will never forsake your friend.
Now the title that I'm kind of coming up with my evening sermons is called ride or die friends and
It's kind of slang. It's kind of used in popular culture this this idea of quote ride or die
It's just really a phrase to explain how you know, you're gonna be a lifelong friend your bffs, right?
Your best friends forever you're not gonna you're not gonna leave them
You're not gonna forsake them and the attitude of ride or die is more of like
I'm willing to go to battle for you.
I am willing to lay down my life for you.
I am willing to die for you.
I am with you.
And I think we see this in the Bible over and over and over again.
And to me, this would be great.
But it takes two to tango when it comes to friendship.
I can say that to you, and I can mean it,
and I can even do it,
but for it to be reciprocated, that's your part.
That's where you have to come into play,
you have to make that decision,
and it's sometimes hard to find people that are like this.
It's hard to find people that are, quote, ride or die.
Now, hopefully, if you got married,
That, you get one built in, ride or die friend, right?
I mean, that should be your just automatic,
ride or die friend.
And of course, my wife is my best friend.
I believe that she will be my best friend
until I die or she dies.
And then in heaven, I think we'll still be best friends.
So, you know, but I don't know for sure.
You know, she's always telling me
she'll visit me in lower heaven.
You know what I mean?
But,
I'm still gonna be her friend, right?
But I mean, at the end of the day,
you know, we should have that kind of mentality
with our marriage, with our spouse.
Hey, we're right or die, like I'm with you.
But I think that, you know, beyond just your marriage,
you should also just have friendships that are right or die.
And that's what I really want to focus in on is not just the marriage aspect,
that's a different sermon. I really want to focus on just the friend aspect.
Having just people that you're not married to, but you're just dedicating yourself to saying,
hey, I'm just going to be your friend. I'm not going to forsake you. I'm right or die.
And I want to show you this in the Bible. Now, go backwards a little bit to chapter 18.
The Bible also brings up something similar here in Proverbs chapter 18, verse number 24.
But let me make it clear, even if you're not quote, right or die,
forsaking a friend is a sin.
It's sin.
It's a sin to be disloyal.
It's a sin to forsake your friend.
It's a sin to not back up your friend.
And it really just shows you're not a real friend.
You're not a true friend.
You're not a sincere friend.
Because a friend loves it all times is what the Bible says.
Proverbs 18, verse 24.
Also, it has an interesting verse here.
It says,
A man that hath friends must show himself friendly,
and there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother.
How could this be true if friends always are forsaking each other
or not backing each other up or not helping each other?
In fact, the Bible is saying you can many times
have someone that you're closer with
that's not related to you.
They're just a friend.
And I would say, you know, in my life I probably do have a lot of friendships now that are
much closer than I do with my personal family members.
It's not because I don't want to have a relationship with my family.
It's not because I'm not willing.
It's just how life works.
And I do have a lot of friends that are closer than my brother.
A lot of people also then take this and apply it to Jesus.
And of course, Jesus is a friend that sticks closer to us than a brother or to anybody else.
we should model our friendship and our lives
after Jesus and how he's a friend
and how he never gave up on his friends
and how he loved his friends and the good unto his friends
and he stuck close to them and look,
Jesus' closest friends were not his brothers.
I mean, his brother didn't really believe in him.
He didn't pick his brothers to be the disciples.
He picked other people.
He picked James and John.
He picked Andrew and Peter.
And of course, John, if you think about it, became Jesus, his kind of best friend.
It seems like from the text, John is Jesus Christ's best friend, and he's the disciple
in whom Jesus loved.
It seems like their buddies, even when Peter wants to get something out of Jesus, he's
kind of like, all right, let's ask John, John's kind of got the inside track, John's got the
inside scoop.
But think about this, isn't it kind of interesting that Jesus is the closest to John and then
John's like the most powerful book in the Bible?
Like I don't think that's a coincidence. I've always thought about that if you kind of think about like Jesus's relationship with these people
It's also like kind of like they're part of the Bible in a sense, too
And it's like Jesus is just really clearly outlined in the book of John.
You see the closeness of the relationship.
You see the importance and impact of the Gospel of John
and a lot of people get saved through the Gospel of John.
And you can see how this is just the, this is the one in whom Jesus like really loves
because honestly if we're gonna get someone saved, John's kind of like our go-to, isn't it?
And, you know, you can kind of see that thing.
Why?
Because a friendship and a relationship is often based on your works.
And it's the output that John is giving.
It's what John is doing.
It's the gospel of John.
And of course...
That is why Jesus is so close with John.
I mean, John is just an awesome, awesome book of the Bible.
It's one of the most incredible books of the Bible.
And John doesn't like Jews.
That's another bonus there.
So go to Deuteronomy 31.
Go to Deuteronomy 31.
I mean, if there's any gospel, you want to just rebuke Jews.
I mean, the gospel of John, you got it all day long.
And that's the one that Jesus loves.
Jesus loves the gospel of John.
You know what? I love the gospel of John.
It encourages us that Jesus does not fail us or forsake us and we need to realize that
there is a friend that sticks closer than a brother and it's Jesus.
And look, even if you don't ever have a great friend relationship, because not all of us
will.
You may never have that lifelong friend.
You may never have somebody that sticks with you.
And you know, that's sad, but there is somebody that will always stick with you and it's
Jesus.
No matter what, no matter how down you get, no matter how many people desert you,
no matter how many people forsake you, no matter how low it gets,
Jesus will never forsake us. Now Deuteronomy 31, look at what it says in verse 6.
Well, isn't that an incredible promise?
I mean, the Bible is telling us, hey, God's going to go with us.
God's going to be there.
He's never going to fail us.
He's never going to forsake us.
You've got the great promise in Matthew 28 where he says, you know,
I'll always be with you.
He's just always with us, where two or three are gathered together in His name.
There I am in the midst, God doesn't fail us, He never leaves us, He never forsakes us.
Yeah, we can grieve the Holy Spirit of God, but He's always with us,
and Jesus is always that advocate for us, and Jesus has already paid for all of our sin,
and we're allowed to go boldly under the throne of grace to find help in a time of need,
because Jesus is always that intercessor, always that mediator, always advocating for us.
He's just always that friend.
And that's what we should look at, like what does a friendship look like, what does a true friend look like, what does a friend act like, what does Jesus act like?
That's the best friend you could ever have and that's what you should be like to other people.
Go if you would to John chapter 15, Hebrews 13.
Let your conversation be without covetousness and be content with such things as you have.
For he has said, I will never leave thee nor forsake thee.
I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.
God is making this promise unto us, and then he's telling us,
hey, don't forsake your friend or your father's friend.
Now Ephesians 4 also says,
and grieve not the Holy Spirit of God,
whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.
He's not going to leave us.
We don't want to grieve him.
And again, it's not to say just because your friend says I'll never leave you or forsake
you.
It doesn't mean you should treat your friend like trash or not be a good friend back.
But isn't it nice to know if someone said, hey, I'm just going to be your friend and
it doesn't really matter what you do.
It doesn't really matter what you say.
I'm just going to keep being your friend.
And I don't want to stop being your friend.
And you know what?
I'm all in.
That's a great feeling wouldn't it be a great feeling if someone told you that and especially when they're sincere
They're not being flattering. They're not, you know, using hyperbole or something. They're sincere person
They're not a light person, you know, that's that would be a comforting thing to hear
And it's encouraging unto you and that's what Jesus does now one thing you have to understand about friendship though is of course
Friendship is circumstantial look what it says of verse 13 greater love at no man than this that a man laid down his life
for his friends you're my friends if
you do what serve, I command you."
So, being a friend to someone is circumstantial.
But what I want you to understand is that
what I'm teaching is you just don't make it an option.
Yeah, I have to be friendly to you if you're gonna be friends. Yeah
I have to do that work to put in to our relationship for us to stay friends
But the one that says right or dice is I'm gonna always put in the work
I'm always gonna put in the effort and I'm always gonna be the I'm always gonna be the friend there
And so that's what it really means.
You're making that commitment to be that friend.
Now go through to 2 Kings chapter 10.
I want to go through a couple of stories in the Bible
and show you examples of people that are
what I would call ride or die friends.
And you kind of see this attitude
where they're trying to test each other.
They're trying to figure out like,
are we ride or die or not?
And they want to know.
And people will often say this, you know, the Bible says every man will proclaim his own goodness but a faithful man who can find.
Hey, a lot of people say I'm your friend, but then are you their friend?
And again, being friends is not saying we're friends.
Being friends is not, I accepted your request on Facebook.
Because there's a lot of haters and trolls that accept my request too, or send me invites.
That doesn't mean we're friends.
Those are stalkers and trolls and weirdos, okay?
Being friends is beyond just saying that you're friends.
It's strange to me how some people say like, oh, we're friends, but we can't hang out.
I don't want anyone to think that we're associated with each other.
We're not going to do anything with each other.
No one can know that we're, you know, doing anything together.
And I'm trying to distance myself from you.
But we're friends.
And I mean, if you call every once in a while, I might answer.
Well, if that's the definition of a friend if the definition of a friend is we don't hang out
I don't want anybody to know that we hang out. We don't really do anything together
We're not going to do anything together and in fact, I'm trying to distance myself from you
But I do have your phone number and I may call you. Well, then what's the difference between me?
Being a friend of that person and maybe me being friends with every Indian scammer out there
Apparently I'm best friends with every Indian scammer because I don't hang out with them
I don't want to hang out with them try to distance myself from them, but they have my number and occasionally I answer, you know
And when I answer, I'm like, would you like to buy camel?
You know, and then they just hang up on me, you know.
It's just like, they don't want to buy my camel, you know.
I try to sell them something.
But at the end of the day, it's like, you know,
friendship is beyond just saying that you're friends.
You know, there has to be meaning there.
Otherwise, it's not really being a friend, is it?
What does a friend look like?
Okay, second Kings, chapter 10, verse 13.
G.U. met with the brethren of Isaiah, King of Judah,
and said, who are you?
And they answered, we are the brethren of Isaiah.
And we go down to salute the children of the king
and the children of the queen.
And he said, take them alive.
And they took them alive and slew them
at the pit of the shearing house.
Even two and 40 men, neither left he, any of them.
Now this is what I like about Jehoose.
He doesn't mess around.
He isn't everybody's friend.
Some people he's just slang he's just in fact. He's getting his hands dirty. He's going around
He drives fast and crazy. That's what I really like about him, you know, I can relate
But then it says in verse 15 and when he was the part of things he lighted on Jehovna
Dad the son of recab coming to meet him and he saluted him and said is
9 art right as my heart is with Thy art
And Jonah half answered, it is.
This is what he says, if it be, give me thine hand,
and he gave him his hand, and he took him up into the chariot,
and he said, come with me, and see my zeal for the Lord,
so they made him ride in his chariot.
Now we know what a real friendship looks like.
Hey, is your heart right?
Yeah, it is.
Okay, then get in.
He got in the car.
Now they're gonna go together, now they're hanging out,
now they're doing work together,
because that's what a real friend is.
Are you wanna be my friend?
Yeah, okay, see you later.
Let's not talk, let's not hang out.
I don't want anybody to know
that we're doing anything together.
That's not a real ride or die friend.
This guy's like, hey, I'm killing people
and I'm not taking any names.
I'm just slaying heads.
Do you wanna come with me?
And he's like, yeah, well then get in.
It wasn't even just like, yeah,
it's like, okay, well then get in.
Because a lot of people will say like, yeah,
well then get in.
Because if you're not going to get in and if you're not going to start chopping heads off, then yeah, you didn't get in buddy
We're ride or die
Here's some ride or die friends, and you know what? I like Jihu. I like Joan adaptive son of recap
Go with the first see him was chapter 14. You know what you'll notice about men in the Bible
Better friends is they slay together. They kill together
They get their hands dirty together.
They're not the one that's just kind of afraid
to get their hands dirty or afraid to fight anybody
or afraid to do anything hard
or afraid to ruffle feathers.
They say, hey, I'm ready to slay with you.
Look at 1 Samuel chapter 14 verse six.
And Jonathan said to the young man at Barra's Armor,
come and let us go over into the garrison
into these uncircumcised.
It may be that the Lord will work for us.
for there is no restraint to the Lord to save by many or by few,
and his armor bear a set on him, do all that is in my heart,
turn thee, behold, I am with thee, notice this,
according to thy heart."
What an awesome friend, what an awesome friend that says,
hey, let's go do this and he says,
hey, whatever you wanna do, wherever you go,
whatever's right with you, I'm on board, ride or die,
let's go, I'm ready to do whatever's right with your heart.
That's a true friend, that's a true friend that says,
hey, whatever you like, whatever you want,
my heart's with your heart, I'm ready to go,
I am with thee according to thy heart.
Then said Jonathan behold we will pass over unto these men and we will discover ourselves unto them if they say unto us
Thus unto us tarry until we come to you
Then we shall stand still in our place and will not go up unto them
But if they say thus come up unto us then will we go up for the Lord at the liver them into our hand
and this shall be a sign unto us.
And both of them discovered themselves
unto the garrison in the Philistines,
and the Philistines said,
behold, the Hebrews come forth out of the holes
where they have hid themselves,
and the men of garrison answered Jonathan in his armor bearer
and said, come up to us, and we will show you a thing.
And Jonathan said to his armor-bearer,
Come up after me, for the Lord hath delivered them into the hand of Israel.
And Jonathan climbed up upon his hands and upon his feet,
and his armor-bearer after him, and they fell before Jonathan,
and his armor-bearer slew after him.
Now this is an important story, and you have to understand how God operates.
Because you could just have left the story and thought,
Oh, the armor-bearer is good because he said he was going to do it.
But then the Bible tells us that they did it.
There's an important difference between saying you're gonna do it and then doing it. He said, hey, whatever you want
Let's do it. He's like, okay if they say come up
We're gonna go kill him and then like they say come up and he's like all right
You ready? Let's go and then he followed him and then he slew with him
And he killed with him because he was right or die. He said yeah, I am gonna do that. Yeah, I am gonna fight with you
Yeah, we are gonna get our hands dirty
And it makes sense, you know, Jonathan has this great friend
and I like this guy's attitude and I almost, you know,
would think it may have shaped his attitude
into how he ends up becoming someone else's friend
and has the same attitude for someone else.
Skip forward to chapter 18 for just a moment.
Skip forward to chapter 18.
You know, I heard this idea like you could love somebody
too much or be obsessed with loving somebody too much.
And I'm like, where's that in the Bible?
I mean, these guys seem like they're pretty much like in lockstep like I'm just going to love you the max that I can
I don't think you can quote love somebody too much
I don't think you need to be obsessed with loving somebody too much and really if there's anybody that loves somebody as much as possible
It's Jonathan loving David. Did you notice this in verse one?
And it came to pass when he had made an in speaking unto Saul that the soul of Jonathan was knit with the soul of David
And Jonathan loved him notice this as his own soul
The Bible says that Jonathan loved David so much it was like he's loving him at the same level as someone would love their own selves.
That's extreme love. He's saying, like, you're just like my own flesh and blood in a sense.
And the Bible talks about this in marriage and the concept of, you know, no man ever yet hated his own flesh but nourished it and cherished it.
Verse two, Saul took him that day and would let him go no more home to his father's house
than Jonathan and David made a covenant because he loved him as his own soul.
Again, reiterating, hey, I don't want you to go, I don't want you to leave, I want to hang out because I actually love you.
If you actually love somebody, you're not embarrassed to hang out with them.
If you actually love somebody, you're going to hang out with them.
If you actually love somebody, you don't want to leave their presence.
Like after the service people stay here forever. I have to kick y'all out sometimes
I have to be like hey, you don't have to go home, but you can't stay here
Right because when you actually like somebody you don't want them to leave you love hanging out
In fact time just flies when you're having fun time flies when you're fellow shipping and just it's a lot of fun
Whereas you're around somebody you don't like in-laws the family reunion takes forever
You're listening to a lame sermon and it's like 45 minutes and it feels like 45 hours
It's just like man. Just time does not fly
Whenever you're around someone you don't like you don't really enjoy their company when it's somebody you love and you like
Time flies and we all know the feeling and you don't want it to leave you don't want it to end
You want to hang out with this person? You know one of the things I know about my wife is she loves me because she's obsessed with me
She wants to hang out with me all the time my wife really wants to hang out with me
I feel like all the time and I'm like that's flattering unto me because you know it makes me realize
Hey, she actually really likes me. She really wants to be around me
You should be afraid when your spouse doesn't ever want to hang out with you and doesn't like you and is like please go
You know, it's like then it's kind of like yeah, if they really like if they really want to be around you
That's a good thing
Just like Jonathan and David made this covenant and he doesn't want to let him leave verse 4 and Jonathan stripped himself of the robe
That was upon him and gave it to David in his garments even to his sword and just bow into his girdle
He even lowers himself and gives all this praise under David. He loves David. He does good under David
He elevates David above himself. He acts like David is better than himself
And at this point in history, he's not better than David.
David's just a shepherd boy.
David's just been Saul's armor bearer.
David's just, you know, just kind of a lowly position.
But Jonathan is the son of a king.
I mean, Jonathan is the son of a king,
and he's basically putting his authority
and putting all this garment on David and lowering himself.
And you know what, a good friend will elevate his friend.
and look at his friend as being more important and significant.
He won't try to tear his friend down to build himself up,
but rather he'll build his friend up.
He'll tear himself down to build his friend up.
Go to chapter 20 and look at verse 30.
It says in verse 30,
then Saul's anger was kindled against Jonathan,
and he said to them,
Do not I know that thou hast chosen the Son of Jesse to thine own confusion, and under the confusion of thy mother's nakedness?
For as long as the Son of Jesse liveth upon the ground, thou shalt not be established, nor thy kingdom,
wherefore now send and fetch him unto me, for he shall surely die, and John answered Saul's father, and said unto him,
Wherefore shall he be slain? What have he done? And Saul cast a javelin at him to smite him.
Isn't that interesting? Hey, what's David's problem?
Just throw us just just throws us just a javelin
What's his problem? What's his fault? What did he do? What's the cost? Well, I'm gonna be really clear
I'm just gonna throw a javelin at you
Whereby Jonathan knew that it was determined of his father to slay David now Jonathan does not want to lose David
He doesn't want David to go away. He's like begging for David to stay
But David's just kind of explaining him look your dad wants to kill me
I can't stay and Jonathan doesn't want to believe it Jonathan doesn't want it to be true
And he's arguing with his dad and his dad finally after trying to kill his own son
Jonathan it clicks and he's like yeah
It's it's over and he has to say bye to his friend
They go out in the field and they weep and it's a very sad time and it's kind of frustrating
He loses his friend and he doesn't want to lose his friend.
Now he didn't forsake his friend because even in the story
there's times when Jonathan just goes out in the woods and he finds David and
refreshes him and they hang out.
They never stopped being friends but obviously sometimes distance
you know can can separate their friendship temporarily.
Go for the second Samuel chapter one, second Samuel chapter number one.
But even
These guys still love each other
It says in second same of chapter one look at verse 23
Saul and Jonathan were lovely and pleasant in their lives and in their death. They were not divided
They were swifter than eagles. They were stronger than lions couple couple thoughts I had here number one
You know what? I like David's attitude because David is still a friend towards Saul even though Saul didn't do him good
You know, I'm not focusing on their relationship as much, but because they weren't really right or die,
only because Saul didn't reciprocate.
David was right or die with Saul. It's just that Saul wasn't like that.
But at the same time, even after all the evil, I mean, Saul has tried to kill David multiple times,
threw his spears at him multiple times, chased him down, hunted him down multiple times,
went and left, and then came back again.
Saul did all kinds of evil things.
He inquired of a witch indoor
and all this shady stuff's happened.
He threw the, threw doegs, slew 85 priests of God
and all their family.
I mean, there's a lot of things we could bring up
in the obituary.
For King Saul, you know what David just still is just like no Saul's a good guy Saul's awesome
He look what did he say? He was lovely and pleasant in their lives
Don't don't you think if anybody had her had an excuse to say that Saul wasn't lovely at some point or
Wasn't pleasant in his life David had that excuse to say that
But then he still just says he was still lovely. He was still pleasant. He's focusing on the positives. He likes Saul
And of course, we see that Jonathan, even though his own dad ran off his best friend,
caused all these problems, caused them to die, Jonathan was right or died with his dad too, wasn't he?
Because Jonathan's that kind of a friend.
Jonathan's a right or died kind of friend, and he stuck with his dad and even died in battle.
Now, the Bible describes the relationship of Jonathan and David in verse 26.
I am distressed for thee, my brother Jonathan.
Very pleasant has thou been unto me notice this thy love to me was wonderful
passing the love of women
How are the mighty fallen and the weapons of war pairs?
You know the Bible describes how the love that they had the bond that they have was
Closer or stronger than any relationship that David had with the woman and you know
I think of this is mostly just because David never ended up having like a super
Close relationship with one of his wives, you know my cow kind of just
This is him and it's really bad.
And then he just kind of has these other
shady relationships with women.
And so it seems like maybe David just kind of struggled
in that area a little bit in his life.
He never really had that close relationship with a wife.
So he ended up having such a close relationship
with Jonathan that it ended up surpassing.
That's probably not normal.
It's not, that shouldn't be typical.
Most of us are closest relationships should be our spouse.
But it's just saying, obviously they were really close.
They were great friends, and because of this, David ends up wanting to show kindness unto his friend.
Skip the chapter 9, and look at verse number 1, 2 Samuel chapter 9, and let's look at verse 1.
And David said, Is there yet any that is left of the house of Saul that I may show him kindness for John other than sake?
And there was of the house of Saul a servant whose name was Ziba.
And when they had called on him, David, the king said in him,
art thou Ziba?
And he said, thy servant is he.
And the king said, is there not yet any of the house of Saul
that I may show the kindness of God on him?
And Ziba said unto the king, Jonathan hath yet a son,
which is lame on his feet.
And the king said unto him, where is he?
And Ziba said unto the king, behold,
he is in the house of Maker, the son of Amel, and Lodobar.
Then King David sent and fetched him out of the house
of Maker, the son of Amel.
from Lodobar.
Now in Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan,
the son of Saul, was coming to David.
He fell in his face and did reverence.
And David said, Mephibosheth,
and he answered, Behold, thy servant.
David said, And fear not, I will surely show thee kindness.
Notice this, for Jonathan, thy father's sake,
and will restore thee all the land of thy Saul,
of Saul thy father,
and thou shalt eat bread at my table continually.
Now, you know the Bible had said for sake not thy friend nor thy father's friend and kind of in a sense
You know we see this like extending of the friendship like we don't just love the person
We love everything about the person we love their family for the friend's sake
We're gonna be kind unto all of them for even the friend's sake. We're not just gonna love my friend
I'm gonna even love my father's friend because of who my father is and in the same way he's like
I don't even just love Jonathan. I just automatically love Jonathan's son because I love Jonathan
we see that the extension is even going beyond just the actual person to the
things of the person to the possessions of the person and we see how true
friendship and true love I mean this is a true right or die hey I want to even
show kindness unto all of his family members and everybody I mean where's
somebody I can be kind to because of what Jonathan did go to Romans chapter
16 go to Romans chapter number 16 I just see all over the Bible
People that are just these ride or die friends and you know what to me
You know that is what we should strive for
and
In a world where people are just constantly just
Forsaking people and deserting people and leaving people and doing that like it would be nice if we could say hey
There's actually some people that are gonna stick it out
You know there's actually some people that are gonna be faithful. There's actually people that are steadfast like it's not just a logo
It's real
Romans chapter 16, look at verse 3,
greet Priscilla and Aquila, my helpers in Christ Jesus,
who have from my life laid down their own necks,
unto whom not only I give thanks,
but also all the churches of the Gentiles,
likewise greet the church that is in their house.
So we see Priscilla and Aquila, and we never see...
the relationship between them and Paul ever changed.
It seems like they were just that ride and die friend
to the apostle Paul.
They had a like profession, they were tip makers,
so they kind of had that connection for whatever reason,
but they were just ride or die.
And in fact, they literally laid down their lives
for the apostle Paul,
because you know what the Bible says,
to not forsake your friend.
And hey, it's the Apostle Paul, he's my friend.
I'm gonna be willing to lay down my life for my friend.
I'm gonna be like Jonathan's armor bearer.
I'm gonna slay behind him.
I'm gonna be like David.
I'm gonna love not just Jonathan,
I'm gonna love his whole family.
And I'm gonna keep showing him goodness no matter what.
And even if Jonathan and his dad get mixed up
and die and bad stuff happens,
well, they were still lovely and pleasant in their lives.
And I'm still gonna show kindness unto them
and I'm still their friend.
Go over to Ruth chapter one go to Ruth chapter number one, and you know what friendship is not only about dudes
It's also about ladies, and you know what ladies you can have friends, too
You don't always have to gossip about everybody and pick everybody apart now again
I'm not saying y'all are like this, but at the end of the day it's like women
They're they're like stereotype is that they're all these like you know catfights, and they can't get along or whatever
You know what?
That's a stereotype that, you know, can have exceptions.
I think in the Christian world, we should have women that break that stereotype and
show, hey, they can be ride or die friends too.
My mom had a lot of, you know, friends, and she had a couple lady friends that were kind
of a ride or die friend.
Friends that she had known for decades and decades and decades and knew her to the very
bitter end, showed up to her funeral, still loved her, and in fact, her friends would
Just because they were friends with my mom
They didn't even know me. I didn't know them like it was just totally just like random just kind of like you know
David and the Fibbisheth is like we don't even know each other, but just instant gifts instant blessing
You can eat bread at my table just whatever you need just because I just like your mom
I just liked your dad. I just liked whoever it is that's in your relationship. You know what? That's a real friend
What a great testimony of someone that just loves somebody and loves them to the bitter end and just loves them forever
Ruth chapter 1 look at verse 8 and Naomi
Said under two daughters-in-law go
Return each to her mother's house the Lord deal kindly with you as ye have dealt with the dead and with me
Lord grant you that you may find rest each of you in the house of her husband
Then she kissed them and they left up they lifted up their voice and wept and they said under surely
We will return with thee unto thy people notice it says in verse 10 and they said under her
So this is both ladies both ladies are saying we will return unto thee and we will be with y'all
Verse 11 and Naomi said turn again my daughters. Why will you go with me?
Are there yet any more sons in my womb,
that they may be your husbands?
Turn again, my daughters, go your way,
for I am too old to have an husband.
If I should say I have hope,
if I should have an husband also tonight,
and should also bear sons,
would ye tarry for them till they were grown?
Would ye stay for them from having husbands?
Name, my daughters, for it greedeth me much for your sakes,
that the hand of the Lord has gone out against me.
And they lifted up their voice and wept again.
And Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth, notice this, clave under her.
And she said, Behold, thy sister-in-law is gone back under her people and under her gods.
Return now after thy sister-in-law.
And Ruth said, And treat me not to leave thee.
or to return from following after thee.
For whither thou goest, I will go.
And where thou lodgest, I will lodge.
Thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God.
Where thou dyest, will I die.
Talk about a ride or die friend.
It's Ruth.
Ruth said, hey, wherever you die, that's where I'm dying.
What a proclamation.
And you know, Orpah said, hey, I'm going back with you.
But then it went a little bit opposition. Oh, not really. I mean, I said that we're friends, but
We're never gonna hang out again. I'm gonna go over here
I'm gonna go to this thing and we're not gonna talk and we're not gonna do stuff together. No, no, Ruth said hey
Wherever you die, I'm dying there, too
Hey, whatever you wherever you're going, whatever you're doing. I mean a true ride or die friend saying hey, I'm yours
She says, and there will I be buried, the Lord do so to me, and more also, if ought but death,
part thee and me.
You want to talk about a ride or die friend, it's Ruth.
What a great example for women to say, hey, we're stuck together.
Whether you like it or not, I'm dying wherever you're dying.
You can't get rid of me.
We're joined at the hip.
And then I love this, verse 18.
steadfastly minded. Hey, this is steadfast Baptist church.
We don't, we don't just play around with friends. We're ride or die friends here
because we're steadfastly minded. We're saying hey wherever you die I'm gonna die
and we're gonna bury each other and we're just gonna be buddies until the
bitter end
and you know what we're not gonna give up. We're gonna actually be friends.
I mean wouldn't that be great if people could just say hey
we're ride or die buddy. You're stuck with me.
I'm gonna love you. Yes, sometimes I might hurt you. Sometimes faithful are the wounds of a friend. Yes, sometimes I make
Disappoint you I might struggle or whatever, but you know what? I'm not gonna give up wherever you go. I'm gonna go
We're friends. We're ride or die
She's steadfastly minded to go with her then notice she left speaking under because the speaking is talking about
Trying to get her to quit
She said no, you just go back go back go back. She's like stop telling me that
Wherever you be wherever you're gonna die. I'm dying with you
Don't even bring it up anymore and she said when she was steadfastly minded what she could tell hey
This person's seer seer this person's real then she's like all right. Let's go and
Boy, you know Ruth really is the hero of the story. I mean, that's why it's called Ruth and
Ruth gets greatly blessed by God
Whereas or pa we don't even know what happened or pa
She then became Oprah and put on a show or whatever, you know
I mean, it's like, no, Ruth is the star of the show, isn't it?
And she got a great husband out of it,
and God blessed her, and then God blessed Naomi.
And look, God looks down from heaven,
and he likes it when people are ride or die friends,
because you know what?
That's what he's like to us.
And if you really love God, you'll love people,
and you'll say, hey, I want to love you like Jesus loves me.
Go over to Proverbs 25, go to Proverbs 25.
You know, we need more friends that are real in this world
because the world's getting worse.
The world's getting worse, it's getting darker,
there's gonna be problems, there's gonna be issues,
there's gonna be more attacks.
As we approach the end times,
the Bible says men are being lovers of their own selves.
So you know what we need?
We need more friends that be like real and sincere
and lifelong and being genuine.
But...
When you don't have somebody like that, it's a problem.
What does it say in Proverbs 25 verse 19?
Confidence in an unfaithful man in time of trouble
is like a broken tooth and a foot out of joint.
You know, it's frustrating when you think
you have that ride or die
and then they drop you like a bat at it.
It's kind of like you're ready to take a big bite
out of the apple or whatever it is
and then it's just like your tooth just wrecks.
You're just like oh, you thought you're gonna enjoy this apple and now you're in pain
It's like the exact opposite you finally get that steak and it's like if you had a tooth that is
Loosen it's gonna hurt and you can't you you can't have the steak the steak's taken away from you now
You're gonna get the feeding tube. You're like, I don't want the feeding tube. I want to eat the steak
You need that solid strong tooth
You know if you have that tooth that can't you know grind and get in there and do the dirty
I mean your teeth do some dirty work
I've seen some of the food y'all eat, you know, this is like, it's dirty, you know what I mean?
Corn dogs and whatever. It's gross.
Yeah, your teeth have to do the dirty job, don't they? They have to do some dirty work in there.
But at the end of the day, you need them to be strong and get in there and do that dirty work.
And you know what, when you have an unreliable tooth, wow, it's just going to cause you all kinds of problems.
Toothpain can be some of the worst pain you'll ever get.
And look, having a friend break your heart can be some of the worst pain you'll ever have too.
Don't be that person
Don't be that don't be that tooth that it's ready to chomp on a steak and it's just it's not ready for it
It's not gonna handle it. It crumbles
So if you went to
Proverbs 17 verse 17
I've quoted this a few times, but it's important to look at this
Proverbs 17 verse 17 a friend love it at all times and a brother is born for adversity
You know, this probably needs its own sermon.
I was thinking about preaching it this week,
but I wanted to preach these sermons.
Is there's an emphasis by a lot of churches
and a lot of pastors, especially even in Baptist circles,
where they emphasize carnal family over spiritual family.
And the Bible does not do this.
The Bible emphasizes spiritual family over carnal family.
And what does the Bible just explicitly state?
It just explains it says a brother is born for adversity.
It's like, it's like everybody just wants this picture perfect family.
They just want to have their little photo album of their hundred little descendants and whatever
and the five generations and everybody likes each other.
But it's fake.
If you have a hundred people in a family photo,
there I guarantee it there's plenty of people that hate each other.
They're like, I won't stand on that side with them or whatever.
And they won't stand over here, and they hate each other,
and they don't like each other.
But then it's just like, all right, everybody smile.
They all smile.
And then it's just like, look at us,
we're just such a big happy family.
Look, I've been in the photos where it's like, we're just trying to pretend like we're
actually this like normal happy little family or whatever and it's like it's fake, it's
not real, it's not legitimate and let me tell you something, the Bible does not emphasize
your carnal family, it emphasizes your spiritual family.
I mean Jesus Christ has his mother and his brother and knocking at the door trying to
talk to him and he's like, who is my mother?
Who is my brother?
and he refused to even go out and see them.
He was like, I'm more focused on these people.
He focused more on his disciples than he did his family.
Does that mean that we disregard all the commandments
about honoring that father and mother
and loving our family and providing?
No, of course we put those in balance and we need that.
But you know what the Bible emphasizes spiritual family,
it doesn't emphasize carnal family.
And the reality is the best relationships you will ever have
that are on the table are spiritual, not carnal.
The spirit is more powerful than that flesh,
the spirit bond that we have.
Spirit brother is better than a flesh brother.
And we need to realize that importance.
Go to Psalm 41, go to Psalm 41.
You know, don't be that friend that just,
that hurts your other friend
because then you're not a friend.
It's a special kind of evil.
So I'm 41 I want to look at verse number nine and of course this special kind of evil happened to Lord Jesus Christ
Happened through Judas look at verse nine. Yay. My own familiar friend in whom I trusted
Which did eat of my bread hath lifted up as he'll against me
Of course, this prophecy is about
the Lord Jesus Christ, but I also believe the Psalmist
could have probably applied this to his own life.
David obviously had Absalom perform like a whole Judas
thing against him.
We have people turning on David,
and of course we can apply this to our own lives.
We can apply this to current situations
where there'll be people that will turn on you,
people that you trusted, that they attack you, verse 10,
but thou, O Lord, be merciful to me and raise me up.
Notice this, that I may requite them.
That's kind of a scary verse.
He's saying, hey, when you go against your friend,
he's like, hey, God's gonna allow you
to sometimes get them back.
Go over to Job six.
I wanna go to an interesting passage
in Job chapter number six.
You know, a friend loveth at all times.
Just get that in your heart and mind.
A friend loveth at all times.
You're gonna do good.
You're gonna think good about them.
And obviously, we understand that there can be some times or there's separation needed, right?
Obviously, if your friend becomes a raging heretic, well, you might have that relationship is going to change, probably.
Like I said, all relationships are conditional.
If your friend stops being friendly, obviously, or is it hacking or whatever, there may be
distance now, right?
Obviously Saul's attacking David, so there's this separation that naturally occurs.
But it's not that David isn't willing to be friends with Saul, it's that Saul's trying
to kill him.
Yeah, if your friend's trying to kill you, you should probably separate physically.
But it wasn't that David was going to reciprocate or David was not still willing to be his friend and
Even when people get into heresy or they get backslidden or they do these things often
It's not like I'm saying hey, I don't want to be your friend. It's just like hey, I want you to change right?
Hey, I need you to do this differently so that we can then hang out try not to kill me when we hang out
Right. Hey, don't be a raging heretic. Hey get a king day's Bible like don't be a drunkard
Don't be a fornicator, right?
There's going to be times when there's lines that get crossed
that may change or alter the relationship.
But you know what?
A true friend will do.
If you cross a particular boundary,
you'll go to that friend and you'll say,
hey, hey brother Diego,
here's where you cross the line with God
and this is causing an issue in our relationship.
I want you to change this so we can be tight again
because we're right or die, man.
Like, I need you to fix this.
You know what you won't do is you won't just be like,
hey, we're not friends.
Why? I don't know.
Just, we're not.
Don't ask me about it.
Don't talk to me. Don't call me.
Just get ghosted.
That's not cool.
Don't be like that.
Or, obviously, it could be worse
if they just start lying about you,
making things up about you.
Job has a bad situation happen.
Three friends come.
Job answers has one of his friends here in verse 14 notice this to him that is afflicted
Pity should be showed from his friend
But he forsaken the fear of the Almighty
Job is going through a bad time. Job is no longer the friend you want to hang out with Job is a liability
And this is what happens.
Many times people are your friend when you're benefiting them,
but as soon as you become a liability,
now they're no longer your friend.
And you know what the Bible says?
Hey, if you're a real friend, when your friend's afflicted,
you'll show, notice this, pity on them.
To him that is afflicted, pity should be showed from his friend.
You should empathize for them.
You should feel bad for them.
You should show them grace.
You should be kind to them.
What does Job's three friends do?
They just simply falsely accuse him of being evil.
With no facts.
What does he say in verse 15, my brethren have dealt deceitfully as a brook and
as the stream of brooks they pass away
which are blackish by reason of the ice and wearing the snow as hid. What time they wax warm they vanish.
When it is hot they're consumed out of their place. He's saying hey
It's like this little stream that you thought you're gonna get a drink from but when the heat got turned up now
The sudden it's gone and there's no water to drink from. It's like hey, are we friends? Yeah
Well, what happens if I need you? What if it happens if it's a little hot?
What happens if you get a little bit of you know heat from me as your friend?
Well, these are deceitful friends. They just vanish
As soon as you need them, as soon as the temperature gets hot,
as soon as it gets a little bit of heat,
as soon as you're getting a little bit of pushback,
oh, they just vanish.
It's not a real friend.
Deceitful friend.
The real friend is, hey, I got water for you,
no matter how hot it gets,
no matter what the temperature is,
no matter what's going on.
It says in verse 18,
the paths of their way are turned aside,
they go to nothing and perish.
The troops of Tima looked,
the company's Shiba waited for them.
They were confounded because they had hoped they came thither and were ashamed
He's saying look it's like this battle and you thought you were gonna get help and then nothing happened
Verse 20 and for now you're nothing
You see my casting down and are afraid notice. It's like hey, I got knocked down. I
I'm kind of on the on the outs a little bit people are making fun of me the attacks are coming
I'm less popular and notice you're afraid of my bad reputation
Being ashamed of the apostle Paul for being put in prison that happens
He gets knocked down and they're like oh well now. I don't really I'm afraid of being your friend anymore
You're kind of a liability. I'm afraid of how that's gonna hurt me. I'm afraid of what that would do to my reputation
Did I say bring unto me or give a reward for me of your substance he's saying like was I asking for money?
Was I was I trying to get something out of you or is I you know needing something?
verse 23, or deliver me from the enemy's hand or deem me from the hand of the mighty teach me and I will hold my
Tongue and cause me to understand notice this where and I've aired
What did I do wrong?
Show me
How forcible are right words, but what doth your arguing reproof?
There's a lot of people, they just talk and they say nothing, and it's just, it's one
of the most frustrating things, especially when they say, I'm going to be super clear,
I'm going to be really blunt, I'm just going to call it as it is, and then you walk away
thinking I have no idea what he just said.
Here's how you know if you're clear.
If everybody can articulate what you said, if everybody, if everybody walks away and
say, this is exactly what that person believes or said, but when everybody has a different
response, a different answer, a different idea, you weren't clear.
Go to Acts chapter number 15, go to Acts chapter number 15.
You know, we need to be that ride or die friend
that doesn't just vanish when the heat gets turned up.
We need to be that ride or die friend
that when the enemies are coming,
they can hope that we'll come to bat for them,
that we will be there to defend them.
We need to be that ride or die friend with people
that say, hey, if I have a problem,
I'll just clearly articulate the problem.
And if I don't have a problem,
well then we don't have a problem.
If I can't even tell you what's wrong, then why in the world are we mad at you?
And you know, isn't it frustrating when someone's mad at you and they won't tell you?
Wink wink nod nod every marriage. No, I'm just kidding. It's like it's like why are you wrong? I'm not mad
And it's like yes, you are I can you're like physically showing me that you're mad. No
just like
You know it's like
It's nice when they just tell you, isn't it?
And look, your kids do this sometimes, don't they?
Kids can have attitudes like this,
teenagers act like this,
obviously in relationships and marriages,
people act like this.
And look, even grown men act like this sometimes.
It's embarrassing.
It's really embarrassing when a man,
a grown adult male, acts like this.
It's like, bro, just tell us what's up, man.
Just be honest with us, okay?
Man up and just say what's on your mind. Just speak your mind
Look if you're mad at me just tell me bro. I can handle it
But don't don't act all cold-shouldering and don't act all don't act like a woman. Yes, frankly
Let's just be honest, okay, and it's not to be a tack on women. It's just that's kind of a more timid common temptation for them
Acts chapter 15, look at verse 36, it says in some days after Paul said in Abarnabas,
let us go again and visit our brethren in every city where we have preached the word
of the Lord and see how they do.
And Barnabas determined to take with them John, whose surname was Mark.
But Paul thought not good to take him with them.
Why?
Who departed from them from Pamphylia and went not with them to the work.
Hey, if you're trying to pick people to go on a really hard journey, don't you want to
and Mark already showed he's not.
So then Paul's like, this just isn't the guy.
I just don't want to take somebody.
I don't want to put confidence in an unfaithful man.
If he already forsook us, you know,
he's probably gonna do it again.
And so he just doesn't want to do it.
And again, that doesn't mean that he won't be better.
It's not saying he couldn't be,
but because he already failed in the track record,
it makes sense for him to just say,
look, this is the right timing.
He hasn't proven himself.
He kind of proved himself to be wrong.
So we should just go with someone else.
But Barnabas just really wants him to go, doesn't he?
He says in the Contention was so sharp between them that they departed us under one from
the other.
And so Barnabas took Mark and sailed on a Cyprus and Paul chose Silas and departed being recommended
by the brethren under the grace of God.
And he went through Syria and Selecia confirming the churches.
Notice this.
And Paul chose Silas and departed being recommended by the brethren under the grace of God.
Barnabas wants to take Mark.
Paul chooses Silas the whole church is like yeah pick Silas all this is a great guy
Make sense you read the chapter the whole context is about how Silas is great and how the church loves Silas
But then Barnabas just chooses Mark and in fact if you look up in other epistles
It says this in Colossians 410
It says in Marcus
sister son to Barnabas
So, it seems like they actually have a family relationship, they have a family connection.
That's why Barnabas has the soft spot.
It's a nepotism soft spot, not because, you know, Mark is actually the right guy in this situation.
But, you know what's interesting?
After this, we never hear about Barnabas in the book of Acts ever again.
Right.
It's the Acts of the Apostles.
And sometimes you're going to like wonder like, well, who was right in this situation?
Well, I don't know. How about the guy that the Bible mentions for the rest of the book
versus the guy that's not mentioned?
Don't you think that's important? One guy makes his decision and then he just disappears off the
plant. I mean, he's just riding with Paul and he's just doing great. It's just good, good, good.
They're doing the work of the Lord. They're starting all these churches, all these great things are
happening. And then finally he deserts Paul. He backs off Paul and then it just disappears.
Because Barnabas wasn't right or die with Paul, was he?
He chose family.
He chose someone close to him over Paul, which was not the spiritual decision.
It was a carnal decision, and as a result of that, he ends up just disappearing off the map.
Because we need to pick the spiritual decision, not the carnal decision.
Sometimes you don't just pick the person that's close to you or the family member.
You do what's right, and you know what? God will bless and honor that.
And pretty much the only other really mentioned we have of Barnabas in the New Testament.
There's one in 1 Corinthians, but that's kind of like an early epistle, is Galatians.
Barnabas is making a mistake. Barnabas is getting carried away in the the simulation of Peter and James in their persuasion
And he makes a big mistake in the book of Galatians
So we see look it's not like Barnabas is perfect Barnabas makes mistakes Barnabas gets carried away in the simulation
Which is the same thing that the apostle Paul has to call Peter out on later?
Barnabas for sakes Paul
and clings to Mark, and then guess what?
We don't hear from him.
That doesn't mean that Barnabas didn't get someone saved.
It doesn't mean that Barnabas wasn't saved.
It doesn't mean bad things about Barnabas.
It's just, look, it was the wrong move to forsake Paul.
And it's super interesting.
Go if you would to 2 Timothy chapter number four.
Go to 2 Timothy chapter number four.
This is what I think is interesting.
Why can Paul and Barnabas not work together?
because of John Mark, because, you know, they don't agree on this so then they end up separating, okay?
So they can't really work together. So there's no way for John Mark to work with Paul
because, you know, they're, they're divided on this particular issue, but then later in 2nd Timothy chapter number 4
it says in verse 11, only Luke is with me, take Mark and bring him with me, for he is profitable to me for the ministry.
Now this is interesting because it doesn't mention Barnabas
So it's like Mark is now hanging out with Paul
But he's not hanging out with Barnabas. It's it's almost like he realized
Hey Barnabas didn't really make the right decision and then he gets on Paul's team
because he's now benefiting Paul
and he's on Paul's side of the equation.
And you know what?
That even to me confirms even further
that Paul was on the right side of this.
Paul made the right decision.
Of course, obviously God was with Paul.
Paul and Silas do these great works.
And you know what Silas is that ride or die guy
that sticks with Paul
and then we see Silas all the way through, don't we?
Obviously, the Bible ends, you know, we don't always know, but even throughout recorded
history, Fox's Book of Martyrs, things like that, Silas ended up continuing doing great
things as well.
I don't know if that's true, but that's the rumor, right, from Fox's Book of Martyrs.
Go over to Luke chapter number 16, go to Luke chapter number 16.
Hey, you know what, it's important to the decisions that you make.
And some people think like there's no problem in forsaking people or dropping people or
switching friends or doing whatever, but that's not Bible.
The Bible tells us as a commandment to not forsake your friends.
And I even think you should find some people that are real faithful and are going to reciprocate
and you become right or die friends with them.
You just say, hey, I'm going to stick with you, I'm going to be your friend, I'm your
ride or die.
And it's not about saying it, it's about doing it, because saying it's meaningless really,
for the most part.
I'm not saying it's meaningless completely, but I'm just saying like it's not that important
because I've had people tell me that.
I've had people that I'm almost best friends, if not virtually best friends with, literally
tell me, I'm ride or die with you, you're stuck with me, you can't get rid of me.
No matter what and then just totally drop you like a bad habit won't text you won't do anything just gone
So like if someone so if someone came up to me and said that to me and I'm not just like cool awesome or whatever
Just because I may be jaded right
But I'm just telling you it's the one thing to say that and it's another thing to do it
You know don't worry so much about saying it to that person just do it
Just be that person
And you know what? The Bible even says you should make friends.
This is what is interesting to me. You should make rich friends.
The Bible literally says. Look at Luke chapter 16 verse 9.
And I say unto you, Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness
that when you fail, they may receive you into everlasting habitations.
I'm not saying don't be friends with poor people because you should.
We shouldn't be respect of persons, but you should also be friends with rich people.
And notice, when you fall, when you fail, when you screw up,
they're always ready to catch you because they have so much money,
it's like they have an everlasting habitation.
I mean, I'm not making this up. This is the Bible.
The Bible is saying, hey, make some rich friends.
There's nothing wrong with making some rich friends
that hey, they can help you out when you need something.
But you know what? That's the kind of guy you want to be a ride-or-die friend with, don't you?
Matthew 24, go to Matthew 24.
I have a few more verses that I want to finish on.
Look, there's so much Bible in this.
And I just showed you a handful of examples.
There were some pretty cool ride-or-die friends in there, wasn't there?
Jonathan and David, Ruth and Naomi.
I mean, we could just keep going through the list.
And...
You know, it would be nice if people could have that kind of a relationship with others.
Matthew 24, look at verse number 9.
Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you, and ye shall be hated
of all nations for my namesake, and then shall many be offended.
Notice this, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another.
You know why it's important for you to have some ride-or-die friends?
Because there's coming a day when your trust is going to be at an all-time low.
And it would be nice that when everybody's just kind of failing you,
family members are betraying you,
all kinds of things are uncertain,
that you just have, well, but I have this one guy,
and he is with me.
He is my ride or die though.
You know, and isn't it sad that, like, when we're reading this,
I mean, they're delivering you up to be afflicted and killing you.
And it's like people today will forsake their friend
Like if you can't even like stick with somebody because of just like online pressure or social pressure
How are you gonna do it when it's like your life's on the line?
You know if you're gonna be beaten. I mean, you know people
Help help Lord for the godly man seeseth for the faithful fell from among the children of men
They speak vanity every one of those neighbor with flat and lips and a double tongue. Do they speak? I mean, it's just like
Sad
And there's coming a dark, dark, dark, dark time.
Go to Luke 21.
The Bible says,
Now the brothers shall betray the brother to death.
And the father, the son, and the children shall rise up against their parents and shall
cause them to be put to death.
You know, sticking with family might not be the best in the end times.
This is the end I was telling you.
Like, when I read the end times, this is like, dang.
And I think some of us, if we were real brutally honest,
we could say we have some family or extended family.
That would probably do that to us right now.
Let alone with the antichrist system
and full power and all that pressure,
just right now, they might not even
have that big a problem with it.
Luke 21, verse 16, the Bible says,
And ye shall be betrayed both by parents
and brethren and kinsfolk.
And notice this, friends.
And some of you, so they cause to be put to death.
And that's sad, that's sad.
Go to second Timothy, we'll finish
in the book of second Timothy.
We need some real riot or die friends
because trouble is times await,
the world's getting darker,
and I don't know if we're in the end times
or if we ever will be in the end times in our lifetime,
but no matter what, it's slowly trending
just being worse in general anyways.
And because people are just so unfaithful and just so unreliable,
it's nice to have some real friends.
Some people that are just really going to love you, really do you good.
They're going to stick by your side.
They want to be with you.
2 Timothy chapter 3, look at verse number 4.
The Bible says let's get a little context. I'm sorry. I don't want to get right into it verse 1
This know also that the last day's perilous times shall come for men should be lovers of their own selves covetous boasters proud blasphemies
blasphemers disobedient to parents unthankful unholy without natural affection notice this truce breakers
false accusers and continent fears the spiesers of those that are good
Notice this word
traitors
Just sad just traitors
Look at chapter 1, verse 8.
Paul said, you know what?
It's not right for you to be ashamed of me.
You should never be ashamed of me.
Jesus Christ or the work of God, you know what? You need to be a partaker of the afflictions
You need to be willing to be suffering some you know what being my friend you might have to take some hits
And you know that's I have to be honest with people if you want ever be my friend you have to be willing to take some hits
There's a little bit of there'll be at least a little bit of affliction. I'm not the most popular person, you know
People don't really like me, I don't have a good social online reputation.
But people that actually know me, they're not going to give you a bad testimony.
I'm just saying like online and persona and whatever.
Go to chapter four, go to chapter four.
Hey, you want to come to this church?
You're going to have to be willing to be a partaker of some of the afflictions.
But you know what? It's light affliction.
And you know what, if you're not my friend
and you don't go to this church
and you leave right now, you can leave right now.
Let me explain something.
You will still have afflictions.
It's not like on the table is like no affliction
or afflictions.
You will have afflictions.
It's just choose your suffering.
It's choosing what you really want to go through.
And look, if you're anybody's friend,
it doesn't matter whose friend you are,
they're not going to always be perfect.
They're not going to always have money.
They're not going to only be a benefit.
Sometimes they're going to be a liability
because we're all liabilities at some point.
We're all sinners, we all have problems.
And you know what, a true friend is just there
to bear each other's burden, to be with you in the mud.
to pick you up when you fall, to lift you up and pick you up.
Two are better than one, as the Bible says.
I mean, there's just so many examples of the Bible
where we all fall, we all have issues,
and we need people to not forsake.
And I'm just telling you, it's a sin, it's wrong.
Look at what it says in verse 10.
For Deimos hath forsaken me.
It's wrong.
Deimos just forsakes people.
Having loved this present world
and is departed unto Thessalonica.
Crescent's the Galatia, Titus and Adamatia.
Only Luke is with me!
Isn't that sad?
How many people just gave up on Paul?
And of course, Demus' problem is he
having loved this present world.
He loves what he can see right now.
He loves the, the pomp.
And he loves the praise of men, and he loves all the attention, and he loves all the accolades
and the money and the pleasures of this life, and he loves all the special music and whatever,
you know?
He loves everything, and he doesn't want to sacrifice anything, he's just having
loved this present world.
You know, the people that are loved in this world are not godly.
Paul is the great guy in the Bible and he's in prison and afflicted and all bad like bad things are happening to him
The people that are loved of this world woe unto you and all men shall speak well of you
Look if a Hindu Democrat likes you
You're bad
Like I was trying to think like this
How could a fundamental Baptist pastor and a Hindu Democrat go to lunch and hang out like this is like what conversation points
Do they have?
Like hey, I'm pro faggot
Well, then it'd be like oh, sorry. Have you seen sodomite deception?
Yeah, I hate faggots. It's like oh, well, I'm into false gods and Hinduism
Okay, well those are false gods and Hinduism. He's like oh, I didn't order beef because I'm a Hindu. Oh
I'm eating steak because I love God
Oh, I'm pro abortion. Oh abortions murder
I mean, I'm like, what talking points do you even have?
It's insane.
If you don't think it's insane, if I said I have a good friend
that's a Hindu Democrat and he's inviting me
to the National Prayer Breakfast,
if you don't think that's a problem,
there's something wrong with your head.
Something wrong with your brain.
There's something wrong with that relationship.
It's not normal, it's not natural, it makes no sense.
It can't naturally exist.
There's no talking point.
Now, maybe if they're like fags together or something.
I'm just telling you, there's not,
there's something off about that.
Show me in the Bible where there's this godly man of God
just hanging out with the prophets of Baal or something.
It just doesn't exist.
It's not real. It's fake.
What does it say in verse 16 at my first answer no man stood with me, but all men forsook me
I pray God that it may not be laid to their charge notice this
Forsaking Paul was a sin and the Apostle Paul had to pray to God that their sin would not come upon them
Because forsaking the Apostle Paul was a sin. I
Don't know why people don't understand what the Bible is saying here
However, even if every single person forsakes you on this planet, we all have at least one
ride or die friend.
His name is Jesus.
Notwithstanding the Lord stood with me and strengthened me, that by me the preaching
might be fully known, and that all the Gentiles might hear, and I was delivered out of the
mouth of the lion, and the Lord shall deliver me from every evil work, and will preserve
me unto his heavenly kingdom, to him be glory, forever and ever, amen.
Praise God that we have the most faithful friend that a man could ever want. It's not a dog. It's the Lord Jesus Christ
You know the Bible tells us as pastors to be an example of the believers and
Word and conversation and charity and spirit and faith and purity
Conversation is your behavior and the way you act. It's important for a pastor to demonstrate
Being faithful to friends and being loyal
Because there's so many people that won't be loyal and won't be a good friend and won't continue and you know when pastors do that it just
It just makes the it's so is this seed of
Disloyalty in the minds of the congregation and people that's just bad and it needs to be eradicated that leaven needs to be eradicated
And I don't want you to ever think that that's cool
It is not cool to desert people. It's not cool to abandon people. It's not cool to forsake people
It is not cool to do these things. No, you should be a ride or die friend
You shouldn't forsake people and especially if you have to distance yourself in a relationship
It should be crystal clear and it should be a clear biblical line and you should spell it out
Not vague accusations not evil surmises clear and
The whole point of clarifying is saying this is the problem as soon as you change we're best buds again
Not just like bye
Well, how do I fix it? Bye?
Well, how do we make it better? Bye?
That's not a ride-or-die friend
You know the Bible says about charity it bears all things believes all things hope us all things and endures
All things let us be friends that endure all things
Not some things not the pleasant things
All things because you say you know what?
I'm ride-or-die
Let's close in prayer. Thank you heavenly father so much for giving us such a great example of what a friend really looks like a friend
Who lays down his life for us?
who never leaves us or forsakes us,
who hopes all things for us and believes all things for us
and constantly intercedes for us.
Of course, he gives us faithful wounds when we need it.
He instructs us, he loves us, he rebukes us,
he chastens us, but he never leaves us.
He never forsakes us.
He always wants that friendship.
He always wants that relationship.
And I pray that we could take that example,
that model that you've given us,
and we could apply that to the friends in our life.
And not just our friends, our father's friend.
We could extend that.
I pray that you could help build lifelong relationships and lifelong friendships in this church.
I pray that you would help encourage and strengthen the marriages in this church
that people would say, you know, that their ride or die with their spouse.
that they could go beyond their spouse, though,
and they could also do that to their parents.
They could do that to their friends.
They could do that to the church of God,
wherever they find themselves.
They could find men of God
that they would just love with their hearts.
And I pray that you could just form bonds
that could not be shaken
and cords that could not be torn asunder.
And I pray that you would just help us
to have a greater love towards one another.
In Jesus' name we pray, amen.
all right for our last song let's go to song number 412
song number 412
onward christian soldiers song number 412 let's all sing it out
marching as to war, with the cross adjoining.
You
We have a baptism this evening.
Brother Jameson is coming for baptism.
Brother Jameson, do you trust the Christ as your savior?
Yes, sir.
Then I baptize the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.
Buried in the likeness of his death.
Praise the walk and newness of life.
Make sure to congratulate our baptism.
God bless, you are dismissed.