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Kids day church and we do have the nacho feed after the service so stick around for that Miss Jessica, and the gals always make good food, so we are looking forward to that as well So if we could all begin to make our ways to our seats Please and when you get there grab a hymn book it should be the red book directly underneath the chair in front of you And Soul-stirring Psalms and hymns Go ahead and grab that book and turn to song 147 leaning on the everlasting arms And we'll sing it out loud as unto the Lord song 147 leaning on the everlasting arms great song Right on the first What a fellowship what a joy to my knees on the Everlasting arms what a lesson is what a piece is mine Last day Say Oh, how sweet to walk On the everlasting arms Right the path flows from day to day on the everlasting Oh Me On the everlasting arms, what have I to dread what have I to fear Last thing I have blessed peace with my Lord On the everlasting arms Oh Hey member the scope we open us with word prayer, please I Man all right, let's turn back a few pages to song number 45 when I can read my title clear Sombre 45 when I can read my title clear Read my Sky To every fear and why Why my weeping Farewell to Every fear and why my Should earth against my soul Then I can smile at Satan's rage and face a frowning And I can smile at Satan's rage and face a frowning There's like a wild May I but safely reach my My god my heaven my all May I but safely reach my home my god my heaven my My weary soul Oh My Amen All right, well good morning Welcome to shield of faith baptist church If you need a bulletin or a pen just raise your hand and keep your hand up and we'll have somebody get you one So let's go through these announcements here front page of the bulletin weekly church service time So we have sunday morning 10 30 sunday evenings at 6 and wednesdays at 7 p.m Now underneath there is a list of our soul winning times. So we have saturday mornings at 10 30 meeting right here sunday afternoons at 2 with brother david mondays at 6 30 with brother mouser Wednesdays at 11 a.m. With brother briley and thursdays about 6 30 So if you want to go soloing on thursdays, don't forget to call our text 208 391-5323 Uh praise report, so we finished august it says six, but we actually had seven salvations which would be 74 year to date um Baptism so up to eight for the year so far and last week. We had a total of 17 soul owners out in the community Uh back page announcement, so tonight we will be in second samuel chapter number 13 And today is kids day So we've got a special gift for the kids and a nacho feed Which you don't have to be a kid to attend that you just have to be hungry And that'll be right after the service. So try to pay attention I know it's going to start to smell good here in a minute, but you got to focus, right? so Um, let's see here a look ahead. So october 3rd. It says come join us for young adults day There'll be a meal after the morning service and a gift for all young adults under the age of 30 So our goal is, you know, we've got mother's day. We've got father's day. So we've got kids day We've got every kind of day for everybody. Okay? It comes to the church. That's the goal there Um and the bottom little note there don't overlook that it says start practicing your chili Um your chili recipes because we're having our annual chili cook-off october 31st after the evening service and This year we're gonna do the judging different so we're just gonna let everybody judge So if you want to vote for your own chili, that's fine. If your conscience smites you then that's that's on you So mike's getting excited so i'm looking forward to it All right birthdays and anniversaries for september. So next up will be brother jeff on september 11th Let's see here. This week's memory verse is john 15 14 which says you are my friends if you do whatsoever I command you Um, we are a family integrated church and what that means is we don't separate children from their parents for any reason We do have a daddy baby room right over here to your left and a mother baby room right across the hallway Uh all set up ready to go for you. Should you need privacy? Ties and offerings are right below that And don't forget to turn your phones off or place them on silent so they're not a distraction And the blessing rack in the back there all those clothes hanging up there. Um, everything's free We don't charge for stuff in church. So something fits take it out of here If you have stuff that you would like to donate bring it in and if it's not gone by october Probably the middle of the month and we will get rid of it for you And the very bottom line says you are in control when you understand But you are not in control when you need to be understood. We talked about that last sunday morning, you know about how to Have a good relationship with your family members that maybe don't believe the same as you And what that means is, you know when you spend all your energy and all your time just trying to constantly be understood Well, what does that do? Well, it braids arguments. We took that from luke chapter 2 Uh, so check that out if you missed it and we will have one more song before we receive the offering All right, let's grab those hymn books one more time please turn to song number 324 Draw me nearer Song 324 draw me near On the first I have heard thy voice and it's old thy love to me But I long to rise in the arms of faith and be closer To thee Draw me Nearer nearer blessed lord to the cross where thou has died Draw me nearer nearer nearer blessed lord To thy precious Fleeting side Consecrate me now to thy service By the power of grace By Let my soul look up with a steadfast hope and my will be lost in Draw me Draw me To thy precious Leading side Oh the pure delight of a single hour that before thy throne When I kneel in prayer and with thee my god I commune As friend with friend Draw me nearer Nearer blessed to the cross where thou has died Draw me nearer nearer nearer blessed lord To thy precious Fleeting side There are depths of love that I cannot know till I cross the Narrows There are heights of joy that I may not reach till I rest in peace with thee Oh Nearer blessed lord to the cross where thou has died Draw me nearer nearer nearer blessed lord To thy precious Fleeting side Amen All right, well, let's go ahead and pray thank you so much lord for allowing us to be able to meet here this morning I just prayed bless the service lord and the fellowship. So I want everything that we have going on today Let me thank you for all that you do for us in. Jesus name. I pray amen So So All right, please in your bibles to john chapter number 15 John chapter number 15 Matthew mark luke john john chapter 15 and as our custom we'll be reading through the entire chapter starting at verse 1 the bible reads I am the true vine and my father is the husbandman 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 as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself Accepted abide abide in the vine. No more can ye accept ye abide in me I am the vine ye are the branches he that abideth in me and I and him the same bringeth forth much fruit For without me you 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 you will and it shall be done unto you Herein is my father's is my father glorified that ye bear much fruit. So shall you be my disciples as the father have loved me So have I loved you Continue ye in my love If you keep my commandments you 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 you love one another as I have loved you Greater love hath no man than this that a man laid down his life for his friends Ye are my friends if you 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 You have not chosen me But I have chosen you and ordained you that you should go and bring forth fruit and that your fruit shall 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 If the world hate you, you know that it hated me before it hated you If you were of the world the world would love his own But because you 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 seen and hated both me and my father But this cometh to pass that the word might be fulfilled that is written in their 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 he also shall bear witness Because you have been with me from the beginning but the bradley would you pray for us? Please All right, well good morning again, amen john chapter number 15 look down at verse number 13 says this Greater love hath no man than this that a man laid down his life for his friends verse 14 Ye are my friends if ye do whatsoever. I command you now keep your place there because we're going to come back to that But go to john chapter number 13 So the title of the sermon this morning is did they pretend to be your friend or did you pretend they were your friend? and so if you've been with us for the last several weeks, we've been talking about relationships how to get along with people how to Optimize that how to properly place people in your life last week We talked about family beefs right family troubles how to survive a family that maybe is against you and stuff like that Well today on our church is kids day where we're going to celebrate Just the fact that we have children, you know children are precious And so this mirror, uh, this message is geared towards children, but it's for everyone everybody in here needs to understand This topic today and so we're going to start moving towards understanding what real friends are what real friendship means Now to be honest I wish that I would have known these things when I was a kid when I was younger It would have saved me a ton of trouble a ton of heartache in school It would have saved me trouble in my early career in the military. I mean it just would have helped me out a lot So don't just tune me out. You know, you guys need to understand this stuff if there's one thing that's on my heart for you Kids is to understand that you have to learn who is your friend and who are not your friends Okay, and that is very very very important the bible says this it says foolishness is bound in the heart of a child But the rod of correction shall drive it far from him So there's a tendency for the kids, you know, and I was there one day myself, you know Where you think you know everything right? Well, I got it. I understand but the problem is you don't yeah You need hard preaching. You need your parents. You need that guidance. You need people to tell you. You know what guess what? You don't know everything you don't know the whole law you need to still learn So take it from me and just learn from people that have experience that understand Um how people operate okay, i've worked around thousands of people There are people in here who've had multiple jobs spent a lot of time around a lot of personalities And i'm telling you right now. We have a lot of valuable experience and so just a quick review. Okay When I talk about how to properly place people in your life I'm not saying that you've got your friends people that you just like and you just discard everyone else No, that's not what jesus did right. Jesus treated everyone right, but he didn't treat them all equal Okay And so if you heard my sermon at the red hot preaching conference I talked about three categories of people that you want to have properly placed in your life Those are your friends, right? These are to be honest by the end of the sermon. You're going to realize this These are the hardest to find. Okay These are going to be like the the this is going to be the group that you have the the least amount of people in And then you've got your friendlies. Okay. These are people that are just you know Going the same direction you are people maybe you work with your neighbors just people that you're you're not hostile with People that are coming into your life that you haven't proved yet now Obviously you want to take those people and try to uh prove them right and try to move them into the friend category But there's certain things that you don't want to just trust These friendlies with because you haven't proved them. You haven't tested them. You don't know if they're steadfast. You don't know If they're honest you don't know a lot of things about them Okay, and this is what people get in trouble for is because we're taught in our culture just oh You know as long as I like you and you like me and we just met the other day, you know I could just tell you my feelings I could just tell you my thoughts In my opinions and what typically winds up happening that person goes and tells somebody else the next thing, you know You're just in perils. You're in all sorts of turmoil and trouble And that's what we're trying to avoid in the third category what we call frenemies These are people that you have a dislike there's some kind of a rivalry maybe But you're still friendly on a face-to-face basis Okay And so that is what i'm talking about and i'm telling you right now you kids you gotta understand this stuff If you don't understand this you will get crushed when you go out into the world And that is very important for you to understand now john chapter 13 So before we really get into the meat of john chapter 15, uh versus 13 and 14 We need to understand what happened in john chapter 13 So we're in the passage of the last supper here and jesus mentions Um, he says hey guys, you know, basically i'm going to tell you Something that i'm about to be delivered up right and he starts to uh to communicate that truth And if you would look at verse number 18, jesus says this he says this I speak not of you all I know whom I have chosen but that the scripture may be fulfilled he that eateth bread with me hath lifted up his heel against me Right, so you gotta kind of understand what's going on here they're having this the meal here the disciples They think everything's good to go. Everything's grand and all of a sudden jesus just comes right out and says hey I've got some bad news. Somebody here is going to betray me verse 19 now I tell you before it come that when it has come to pass you may believe that I Am he? And I mean just just based off of these two verses right away. You can see what what is a characteristic of a friend here? Well somebody that's going to tell you the honest truth even though it may hurt you, you know The bible says faithful are the wounds of a friend, you know So a real friend is somebody that's going to tell you the truth because they value you More than the friendship and they're actually willing to put that on the line and give that up if necessary to protect you So just keep that in mind now if you would jump down to verse number 21 says this when jesus had thus said he was troubled in spirit and testified and said Verily verily I say unto you that one of you shall betray me And we said this a couple of weeks ago Remember the most scariest thing about betrayal is the fact that it never comes from your enemies, right? I mean your enemies don't betray you because they're your enemies It's always going to come from the people that you think are your friends or the people in that friendly category And let me just also say this, you know, we can learn all these things about relational intelligence and stuff like that But you have to understand we're all at some point going to get betrayed Okay, we're human. We're not jesus christ. We can't see the inside of people's hearts So sometimes people are going to meet all the requirements of being an actual friend or they're going to be a friendly and you know what? Circumstances in their lives are just going to they're going to happen They're going to turn that person against you and they're just going to stab you in the back and you know That's just a part of life But the goal is to understand the signs that are often displayed before that happens look down to verse number 22 It says then the disciples looked one on another doubting of whom he Spake so they're like, okay, they I mean think about this. They don't know it's judas. They're just like, okay Well, who could it be? You know, i'm sure some of them are like well, you know, peter's pretty competitive, you know, it could have been him, you know It doesn't say but you know, the point is jesus knows who's at the table and what does the table represent? Well, it represents the table of your life the people that are in your bubble if you will Or you know trying to come into your bubble look at verse number 23 It says this now there was leaning on jesus bosom one of his disciples whom jesus loved. We know that to be john verse 24 Simon peter therefore beckoned to him that he should ask who it should be of whom he spake verse 25 He then lying on jesus breast saith unto him lord, who is it? Look at verse 26. Jesus answered he it is to whom I shall give a sop when I have dipped it And when he had dipped the sop he gave it to judas iscariot the son of simon and so what happened here is peter's like John, like you're right there. Just ask him. Okay, ask him what's going on? And what does jesus do? He says, okay I'll tell you it's he it's going to be the person that I give the sop or this morsel of bread to so You know, there's a lot going on here if you really think about this. So jesus is still being nice to judas He knows he's a devil right remember a few chapters prior to this. What did jesus say? Have I not chosen you 12 yet one of you is a devil Right, but he treated him friendly the entire time now. Did he give him access at the mount of transfiguration? No, did he give him access to a lot of other things? No Right a lot of times jesus waited till he was gone before he would say or do something And so that's important for us to understand that even up until the last minute. Jesus is saying hey You know, it's he whom I give the sop to he's not like, you know what? You're just a rep get out of here You know, i've got you know, i've got you dialed in you you're done for he doesn't do that So what does that mean for us? Well, it means this here's the bottom line for my sermon this morning be real with everyone But give access to only those that you trust, okay Only give access to those that you trust we ought to be authentic We ought to be nice to everyone but that doesn't mean that we have to treat everyone on an equal basis You see what's you say? Well, what's the problem with doing that? Well when you do that guess what you wind up getting exhausted It's exhausting, you know when you feel like you have to please everyone like you have to do everything for everyone all the time This is what causes people, you know to just basically implode And to just go absolutely crazy and to have mood swings and all sorts of problems But when you understand what jesus is doing here how he properly placed people You know what that frees you from that obligation that you feel internally to man I gotta be the same with everybody, you know, isn't that what new evangelical christianity is teaching? You gotta love everybody the same no matter what even the child molesters. That's not bible doctrine. That's wrong. That's disgusting is what that is Okay, that is not true And so all i'm telling you this morning is be real with everyone be authentic with everyone But only give access to those that you trust and here's the thing you need to be careful Again with who you trust especially you kids You need to understand that because kids, you know If you you put a bunch of kids in a room together and throw some toys out there and they're friends man They're getting along great. Usually, you know, they're getting along great and stuff But you know what there comes a point in time in your life where something happens where people grow up You know the hormones start going the experiences start coming into play people start having different opinions and you know what? It starts to get real and that's when you need to be careful and you know what? There's no better time to start practicing this than now And i'll say this just because somebody goes to church doesn't mean that they are safe for your feelings Okay, look down at verse number 27 So it says this and after the sop satan entered into him then said jesus unto him that thou doest do Quickly verse 28 now no man at the table knew for what intent he spake this to him And also understand what's going on here. There are a lot of different personalities at this table I mean the disciples didn't all just come from the the fishing world, you know, there was the tax collectors, you know We knew the fishermen Um, there's disciples that we don't know a whole lot about and that's kind of how it is in our lives, right? You got your blue-collar workers You've got your white-collar workers and there's people that come and go through church and you know people we just don't know very well And that's just a part of life But look down at verse number 29 It says for some of them thought because judas had the bag that jesus had set unto him by those things That we have need of against the feast or that he should give something to the poor now keep your place there But go to uh first corinthians chapter 15. So what's the result going on right now? confusion absolute confusion because remember They don't know a hundred percent for a fact that it's judas that it's going to betray them. They're still confused They're like wait, why did jesus say what thou doest do as quickly that doesn't make any sense Oh, he must have to go buy something or he's going to go get to the poor because you know What do the judas types always do they always brag about how righteous they are? Look at all the works that i've done. Look at all the stuff that i've done, right? It's a smokescreen most of the time because if you're anything, you know, if you're real, let's just be honest You know that you really have problems everybody in here has got problems Okay So when you get people that come into an organization like this and they're just they just can't stop They just can't cease to tell you how much good that they've done Look i'm not saying they're reprobate but I am saying, you know, that's something that maybe you just need to pay attention to okay Because that's exactly what we see judas doing, you know, shouldn't this ointment have been sold for 300 pence and given to the poor Right, you know what those tactics work on people I mean because he said that because that was judas's personality At this point in time when jesus is trying to say hey, guess what somebody is going to betray you What do they say? Oh, well, it couldn't be him Right, he's going to probably go out and feed the poor that's probably probably what's going on here So first corinthians chapter 15 look at verse number 33 What does paul tell the corinthians? Says be not deceived evil communications corrupt good manners Verse 34 awake to righteousness and sin not for some have not the knowledge of god. I speak this to your shame So if you know anything about the book of corinthians, it is a book It is a letter of rebuke paul's not writing them saying hey, you know what? You guys are doing a great job of getting people saved and just keeping doctrine in line and doing things in a good decent order Okay, that's not he's trying to straighten all sorts of a mess out now Here's something that I just want you to understand here you go back to john 13 in that situation there, right? And you look at the disciples. They're confused What do you see after that after the resurrection after jesus opens up their understanding of the scriptures? You know what you don't see throughout the rest of the new testament you don't see them being hoodwinked by people It's the churches. It's the corinthians, right? It's the glations right paul's having to write to the glations saying hey you know that guy that came into your congregation is telling you you have to keep the All the cardinal ordinances and that you have to work for your salvation You know and that you gotta you just just be a good boy and everything will be fine Guess what? That's not what the bible teaches, right? So who's getting deceived here? It's the people in the congregation So jesus is making sure that the disciples understand relational intelligence So that they can go out and start these churches and pass that discernment down to the people so that they Can watch out for the wolves in sheep's clothing that often come in to churches And if you've been here with us any length of time, we have seen that multiple times So going back to verse 33 here be not deceived evil communications corrupt good manners And I say this all the time because it is so true. You have to understand what paul's trying to say here He's saying you know what it's possible for you to have a relationship in your life And for that person to corrupt your manners and you not even be aware of it And I have seen this with children more times than I care to admit This happened to me. I can't tell you how many times I was burned as a kid Elementary school junior high high school thinking people were my friends and then all of a sudden turns out Oh, I guess not. They just wanted to be popular. They just wanted to be in, you know They just wanted to be in the the end crowd they were just using me everybody in here has probably got a story Very similar to that. Okay, but the bible's got the answer the bible leaves us with these clues and with this great teaching and this Discernment that we can take and apply to our lives so that we don't have to go through that pain And it's so important in any organization, but especially the local new testament church Right because what happens when we just throw caution to the wind and we just oh, let's just love everybody the same It doesn't matter what you do. It doesn't matter what you say if somebody comes in here and they're like Oh, you know, I think you have to repent of your sins to be saved and you're just like, okay Well, that's just your opinion and I value you and I just respect you and I just no matter what that's fine Guess what's going to happen? We're going to become like the corinthians and then what's going to happen? We're going to be gone Nobody wants that here because that's false doctrine. You're not saved by your works Right, and so we have to be a strong people. We have to know the bible We have to know these things and we have to look for the signs that people often will bring into a church That could damage people damage relationships damage lives ruin marriages ruin children and things of that nature Okay, now go back to john chapter 13 real quick Look at verse number 30 It says this He then having received the sop verse number 30, he then having received the sop went immediately out and it was night Now go to john chapter number two So you say why did you read that last verse there because you have to understand that judas is not Present when you're reading john chapter 14 and you're reading john chapter 15 in john chapter 16 So when jesus is talking in verse 13, he says greater love hath no man than this that a man Lay down his life for his friends. Guess what at this point in time now, he's not talking to judas Because the time has come that he would betray him So, you know what that tells me? It tells me it's okay to take people that are bad that have betrayed you that have betrayed us And to actually call that out and to actually say that and to actually mention that And you say oh, but that's so unloving. Well, jesus did it. So why can't we do it? Right In fact, if we don't do it, we become nothing more than your average fund center We become nothing more than an event that people show up to to listen to a ted talk Who wants that if you want that then get out of here and just go find the ted talk Just go down to the boise state, you know and just hop on to the next lecture that's going on there. Come on So greater love hath no man than this that a man lay down his life for his friends What we need to understand about that obviously jesus is you know being prophetic here and he's talking about You know how he's gonna lay down his life for humanity But what else that means to us is before we go committing our lives for someone else Right, there's some things we need to understand about people There may be some judices there may be some unsafe people That we need to remove or that we need to properly place before we go doing that Because the fact of the matter is you take a room of a hundred people Most of those people you'll be friendly with but very few you will ever wind up becoming friends with You're there in john chapter 2 look at verse number 23 And i'll show you an example of this In john chapter 2 look at verse 23 says this now when he this is jesus now when he was in jerusalem at the passover in the feast day Don't miss this Many believed in his name when they saw the miracles which he did But jesus did not commit himself unto them because he knew all men In verse 25 says and needed not that any should testify of man for he knew what was in man So these people here they see the miracles. They hear the teaching that's going on and it says in verse 23 that many believed in his name And guess what happened in they're like, you know, come be with us. Let us be with you Let us hang out with you. Let us join your team, but jesus doesn't commit himself unto them. Why because he knows all men So there's obviously something in that group of people that wasn't safe. You say what's the big deal? Why bring that up and here it is not everyone that's saved is safe Not everyone that's saved is safe Not everyone that just comes to church is safe Not everyone that just comes and you know to your job site and is friendly with you is safe now I'm, not necessarily saying that they're a danger, but they just might not be safe for you They might not be safe for you to tell them your feelings and your problems and how you feel Look, i'll be honest as a pastor i've got opinions and i've got things that I believe that i'm not there's certain people I just won't tell And you say why because most people have a tendency to talk And by the way, that's that's all of us, you know, it takes a lifetime I mean it takes a lot of lifetime of study. It takes that internal desire To be the kind of person that says you know what I can actually keep, you know, your information confidential Why do you think the government goes through great lengths before they're going to issue out a security clearance to somebody? I mean they look i've had one i've had top secret before and they borderline threaten you Say, you know what by accepting this confidentiality this level of confidence, you know, you're giving us access to your phone your home We can do this to you. We can do that to you If you do this you're going to federal prison stuff like that Why do you think they have to do that because even they know that it is very difficult to get people to keep confidential information Confidential and so all i'm trying to tell you is what we read here in this passage is not everyone that's saved is safe Because think about this when you get saved you don't just automatically become the government Become the greatest christian in the world. You don't automatically just start singing the hams and realize everything that the bible says You have to learn these things You know, you know what we're finding though out today in the community You're knocking somebody's door and they're like, oh, yeah The bible says that you have no need that man teach you so I don't need to go to church I don't need to read the bible. I just you know, I just I just the holy ghost just fell on me and I just know everything It's like actually you don't because what about the verse that says not forsaking themselves That's after the manner of of some but go to luke chapter number six, so obviously that is true that is Truth there. So not everyone that is saved is safe, you know people have different experiences life, you know Some people have just been you know in families where their manners have been corrupted They've been around people that are toxic and they just need those things worked out of themselves before They could actually be moved into that position where you could commit yourself onto them So you're there in luke chapter number six and just to read one more verse for you I'm going to read for you proverbs chapter number 18 verse 24. You don't have to turn there It says this a man that hath friends must show himself Friendly and there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother Listen to that again a man that hath friends must show himself friendly. So kids, please understand this Before you go making a friend before you move somebody into that category of a friend And i'm talking about a biblical friend not a friendly, right? We should be friendly with everyone Until they give us the judas reason. Okay, but before you move a person into that category of friend What does the bible say a man that hath friends must show himself friendly? You know what? That means that there's a proving process that needs to take place. Are they steadfast? Are they honest? Do they love at all times the bible says a friend loveth at all times, you know, are they honest? Are they going to tell you when you're doing something stupid? You know like hey, I don't think that's a good idea You know when you start to see these things develop and you start to see these characteristics and people think guess what? You're starting the process of proving somebody whether or not they can be a real friend to you and you are going to save yourself From so much trouble and drama and turmoil in your life just by understanding that You can treat everybody good You can be real with everyone but you can not trust everyone the same. It doesn't work like that That is a big time lie But the verse says a man that have friends must show himself friendly And there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother and we kind of mentioned this last week You know, you can develop a friendship with somebody else And that bond is going to be thicker than people that are that share the same womb So you're there in luke chapter number six Look at verse number 41 Look at verse number 41. So i'm going to show you these passages here We're going to kind of look at some signals or some signs some symptoms of people that may not be good for us To move to that friendly category or that friend category Luke chapter 6 look at verse 41. It says this and why beholdest thou the moat that is in thy brother's eye But perceivest not the beam that is in thine own eye Verse 42 either how canst thou say to thy brother brother? Let me pull out the moat that is in thine eye when thou thyself beholdest not the beam That is in thine own eye thou hypocrite cast out first the beam out of thine own eye And then shalt thou see clearly to pull out the moat that is in thy brother's eye Okay, very important here. What is jesus doing? He's talking about the same subject We talked about last week how to you know get along with your family your church family how to settle problems You know, obviously we don't want to be hypocritical, you know, if you struggle with something, you know Say you struggle with you know, listening to gangster rap Okay, you don't want to go up to other people and say hey man Why are you listening to that trash, you know, because you're guilty of the same thing. Okay, look at verse 43 He says this for a good tree Bringeth not forth corrupt fruit neither doth a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit Everybody read that You know what that means you go see an apple tree it's not going to bear oranges that is impossible That is not going to happen. Okay, same concept with people Bad people and you guys got to understand this bad people are not going to do good things They are going to be pretenders. They will pretend to be your friend They will pretend but you know what there will be signs along the way and this is why look you have to learn People you have to prove them before you're going to move them to be your close friend You have to guard your heart look at verse 44 for every tree is known By his own fruit for of thorns men do not gather figs nor of a bramble bush gather they grapes You know, it's kind of funny people today like uh, we were soul winning on thursday And uh caden had this lady, you know, he knocked on her door and she she opens up doors I don't believe in god. I believe in science. Boom slams the door Okay, it's kind of funny that we got these people, you know, these these super intellectual people, right? Oh, we've got all this technology you can build rockets we can build all this stuff, but you can't identify who your friends are Right Because when you hang around those people They're always talking about the the last person that stabbed him in the back and why woe is me willing to me You know someone called or they didn't call they texted the church phone a couple weeks ago She said I just moved here from california, you know And I take my i've got my 15 year old son and i've been taking him to the park and nobody wants to play with him Well, first of all just that that statement there god i'm like You know, he's 15 and you're taking him to the park, you know, they're I've got an issue here, you know, so i'm going back and forth with her and it turns out that the son's just a jerk He's just rude because mama babied him so much that this guy's got no people skills I'm, like look you just need to come to church. Okay, and I haven't seen her yet, but we've been praying Hopefully she'll come by okay, because obviously you know what if you want friends You got to show yourself friendly You got to put yourself out there to some degree And if you have an niv, I forgot to mention mention this here that verse that I read to you in proverbs It says a man of many companions will be uh, it will be ruined What does that mean? That's totally different. That's totally different It's not what the bible teaches but anyways, what is jesus saying here? Hey Very simple concept but yet most people miss this good good trees bring forth good fruit Okay, bad trees bring forth bad fruit verse 45 a good man out of the good treasure of his heart bring it forth That which is good and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bring forth that which is evil for of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh Okay, who's ever heard of dimas in the new testament? Right? A lot of you have right? What did he do to paul? What did he do to paul? He forsook him for the world, right? You know what? He didn't do he didn't forsake him and then set up a false facebook page And go to instagram make up a fake youtube channel You know and go around and start trolling people He just left and went into the world And you might think you know because i've heard this preach before well dimas lost his salvation because he forsook the way He turned his back on god. Okay. No No, he would be an example of a good tree. That's just not bringing forth any fruit Right and even though that you know that situation is terrible, you know It's always bad when you see somebody just quit on god. They just go back out in the world That's horrible. But you know what that doesn't mean that they're bringing forth evil fruit. Okay, you know, he just went about his way We don't know what happened to him. He just went off into the world Okay, and we've had people here like that and you know what we love those people and we pray hopefully someday They'll come back whether it's here or some other church that's preaching the the right gospel and has the right bible Right You know what? But why is it that a lot of people that leave all of a sudden they want to send Messages in the middle of the night. They want to get on youtube and start accusing us of preaching a false gospel You know and saying that we're out for this and we're out for that It's because they were a bad tree from the beginning and now they're starting to bear to i'm sorry to bear forth their bad fruit Okay So just something you guys need to understand you need these bible stories You need this teaching because this is going to come into play in your life and especially you kids I can't explain this enough go to matthew chapter 12 matthew chapter number 12 So we're going to take a look at this same parallel passage here But from a different angle because what you've got to understand here is that jesus is talking to several groups of people And he's addressing different things. So in luke chapter 6 he's saying hey christians, you know, if you want to improve your relationships You know first thing start by not being hypocritical. Okay, so if your brother You know has an issue make sure you don't have that same issue before you go talking to him about it Okay, very simple, but now over here in matthew chapter 12, we're going to get that same teaching but from a different angle So now he's talking to the evil fruit here. So look at verse 33 So we're going to pick the same conversation up, but he's talking to the evil people. He's talking to the pharisees You know these guys the sadducees the scribes those that just want to question him They want to question the word of god look at verse 33 It says this either make the tree good and his fruit good or else make the tree corrupt and his fruit corrupt For the tree is known by his fruit. Now. Look at what it says in verse 34. He says oh generation of vipers How can he being evil speak good things for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh? So again same teaching but recorded in a different way because remember he's talking to many many different people here And he's using the same principle But when you compare the two passages, right when we rightly divide the word of truth We get how this applies to christians in our life in luke chapter 6 And then we get an example of how it applies to our lives in matthew chapter 12 regarding people that are bad the bad fruit The bad trees look at verse 35. He says a good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth Good things and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things so again remember What do what what do evil communications do well they corrupt good manners, right? That's what jesus is telling us here now Look at verse 36 But I say unto you that every idle word that men shall speak they shall give an account thereof in the day of judgment For by thy words thou shall be justified and by thy words thou shall be condemned look again This is why we ask people questions. We ask people questions for clarification Hey, if you were to die today, are you 100 sure that you would go to heaven? Right what they say next reveals what's the abundance of their heart? So when they're like, yeah, because i'm a good person, you know, i've done a lot of good stuff, you know And I haven't killed anybody. Okay. Well, what are they saying? I'm trusting in my works Okay, this is why we ask questions because from the abundance of the heart the mouth Speakers but what jesus does now is he gives us an example Of a bad tree bringing forth bad fruit immediately after he says this so look at verse 38 matthew 12 look at verse 38 So immediately after he says that what does he say this time? Then certain of the scribes so this is the narrator speaking here This is the narrator saying this then certain of the scribes and pharisees answered saying master We would see a sign from thee. So jesus just gets done telling them. Hey A good tree brings forth good fruit an evil tree brings forth evil fruit from the abundance of the heart to mouth speaker Okay, and it goes right over these guys head. Okay, and they're like, hey show us the sign So in other words, hey give us proof Show us proof that the bible's true show us proof that jesus is who he said he is What did jesus say that you know a wicked and an adulterous generation seeks after a sign? That's what he says. Look at verse 13. Uh, yeah verse 39, but he answered and said to them an evil and adulterous Generation seeketh after a sign and there shall no sign be given to it But the sign of the prophet jonas Wow You know what that tells me An evil tree questions the word of god over and over and over and over again Show us a sign Subtly taking jabs at the word of god, right? Saying hey, I read something in the bible and it doesn't make sense because my history teacher told me this What do you got to say for that? Huh When people do oh in the original languages In the original documents, oh you've been to heaven and you've seen them That's what I thought And this has never failed when people attack the word of god you need to understand this they are bad There is something going on now I'm not saying that every single one of them that the people that have you know All these people that have questions like look this is really bothering me. I'm not understanding this, you know bring those questions We can help answer them. You know, it's no problem. But when somebody is just constantly constantly constantly doing it Can you tell them upset? Can you tell that this bothers me? You know why this bothers me because not a week goes by that somebody doesn't do this Yeah And i'm not saying we have a church full of people that do this, okay But I get questions from all sorts of people. Okay people all over the country all over the world And it's just every week. There's one of them. Well, how can this really be? Can you just show me a sign? Can you just show me a manage a manuscript? Can you just point me in the right direction so that I can just see the proof? Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of god Okay, so when you go to somebody's door and you know, you're trying to get them saved and they're just constantly showing me I need proof. I need this proof I don't know go point to the near go point to the building who built that building over there Do you think that building had a builder? Yeah, it had to have right we'll go look at the tree the tree's more complex in that building Okay There's your proof What must I do to be saved believe on the lord jesus christ and thou shall be saved there's your proof That's what jesus responds with you know what look at verse 39 But he answered and said to them an evil and adulterous generation Seeketh after a sign and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet jonas So what is he saying there? You have the word of god. There's your sign. There's your proof either take it or you can leave it It's the word of god or you could just get lost unfortunately, you just don't want to believe it So go to first samuel chapter 16 first samuel chapter number 16 You know you kids you just need to understand this concept because as you get older As you start interacting with more and more people, you know And this is going to help you out soul winning too This is going to help you when you're giving the gospel because you need to be a people of perception You need to understand when someone's not interested when somebody is subtly saying I don't believe the word of god I'm, just trying to waste your time You know when I first started sony, I thought that that would be like a few and far in between type situation But it is literally every single time practically that we go out there is somebody It's it's almost like the devils just show up and they're like, hey There's going to be a group of people that come by knocking on doors waste their time You know and these people are good at doing it too. Oh, yes. Tell me i'm not sure if i'm saved you know, but as you're going through it, they're like Just subtly just questioning it. Well, but I also heard over here. It says, you know, it says this But I heard science disproved that But man wrote the bible and man's corrupt so how could it be preserved And they just keep at it, right? That's what you need to understand when they keep wanting the signs the proof Right. It may just be time to move on But for you as a bible-believing christian and everybody needs to understand this when people are constantly questioning The validity of the word of god what they're doing is they are violating the word of god That is what they're doing And they are bad They are bad You don't have to turn there john 15 13 greater love hath no man than this that a man I mean lay down his life for his friends. So again, we need to understand what a friend is What does culture say a friend is? Well, the culture says that basically anybody that likes you and that you like or you have anything in common is your friend Oh the person, you know just came up shook my hands. Hey, how you doing? All of a sudden we're friends and so you have your friends and then you got your best friends Okay Right. So I mean that's that's pretty shallow, isn't it? Because because when you think about it, what's the requirement according to the world to have a friend? Well, we're just cool with each other Oh, he agrees with me. We agree with each other on on a couple things. So we're friends No No You've begun the process now. You got a friendly Okay. Now you got a friendly now. You may have somebody you can work with somebody you can do something with But are they really your friends in the biblical sense Have they met that criteria are they steadfast well you just met them You you don't know if they're really honest A friend loveth at all times. Have you been through all times with them? You don't know And kids you need to start thinking about that before you get into adulthood because it is going to save your life What do most churches say? Well, as long as they come to this church, they're good to go You can just leave your kids with them. You can do whatever you want but How's that working out Of course if you have an niv where it says, you know a man of many companions, you know, she'll come to ruin I don't know. Maybe maybe it does work out for them Of course, i'm just teasing But what does the bible say the bible says that a friend is hard to find they loveth at all times they're steadfast They're unshakable so when someone says something bad about you To them, you know what they do. They say hey, wait a second here. Let's go talk to him Let's go talk to her and let's sort this out. They're like, yeah, that's true That's a good point. Hey just between you and me. I I see that I agree just between you and me, right? That sort of thing happens all the time And when it does guess what? We ain't friends I'm going to show you an example of this here. I'm going to show you why this is so important first samuel chapter 16 So david has just come on to the scene. Saul is king of israel And I want you to look down here at verse number 21 It says this and david came to saul and stood before him and he loved him greatly and became his armor bearer, you know We've uh, we've been going over the books of samuel sunday evening So this is hopefully familiar to you guys But look at verse 22 says this and saul sent to jesse saying let david I pray thee stand before me for he hath found favor in my sight Verse 23 and it came to pass when the evil spirit from god was upon saul that david took and harp and played with his hands So saul was refreshed and was well and the evil spirit departed from him So, you know why god sent the evil spirit to saul we've talked about this in great detail It's because of his disobedience remember, you know, he was just well i'm gonna offer the sacrifice even though samuel told me to wait Right. He was just doing his own thing The kingship was starting to get to him the fame Was starting to get to him the popularity was starting to get to saul and god is not happy about this So he sends an evil spirit and then they they hear about this guy. Well, we know this guy David, you know, he's he's a good player, you know, we should go Send for him, you know, he'll kind of interview and if you like him, you know, maybe he'll help and obviously What does it say here in verse 21? It says and he loved him greatly. So you got to understand this This is the beginning of a relationship here David meets saul and the bible is very clear that saul loved him greatly go to chapter number 18 And look at verse number 10 So chapter 16 saul loves david greatly. That's what the narrator's saying Okay, that is the that is the official story. That is what's going on saul actually when he meets david. He loves him greatly He's a good worker. He's honest. He's playing the the music and saul feels better, right? He's making feel good This is a great thing. Well In chapter 18 something happens here right By this point in time david's had several battles under his belt and people are starting to sing songs about it And what do they do will they attribute thousands to david and only a thousand to saul Okay, and saul's not happy about that Look at verse number 10 It says and it came to pass on the morrow that the evil spirit from god came upon saul And he prophesied in the midst of the house and david played with his hand as at other times And there was a javelin in saul's hand now look at this look at verse 11 And saul cast the javelin for he said I will smite david even to the wall with it and david avoided out of his presence twice So wait a second here. How do we go from chapter 16 saul loving david greatly? To him actually trying to kill him with a javelin in chapter 18 And here's the thing As long as david was behind saul. It was okay to be friends It was okay, then he loved him greatly But as soon as his work started to surpass saul guess what he don't love us at all times anymore now It's i'm going to kill you and what you guys need to understand is people today They may not be throwing javelins at you, but they're going to start throwing the comments That's what they're going to do. They're going to make a fake youtube account They're going to get on there and they're going to come after you Or worse. They're just going to go around all the other people that know you and start throwing javelins to you that way You know what? She did you know what she said, you know one time she said, you know people love that stuff And it spreads like wildfire Think about that think about how important that is Saul loved david at the beginning of the relationship And wants to kill him two chapters later And it's not only the fact that he wants to he actually attempts it And this is the beginning of obviously many chimes or many times that he's going to try to uh, To kill david and chase him into the wilderness and things of that nature You say well, what's the big deal? The big deal is just because someone loves you greatly and you just met Don't mean they're your friend Because they haven't been proven And this is so important because this good is going to tie in to john chapter 15. In fact go back there Because we begin the verse we begin the sermon in verse 13 john chapter 15 verse 13 Where we understand the concept that jesus is saying hey, you know the greatest love that a person can have The greatest love that a person can have is that they would lay down their life for another person Which obviously is a rare thing You know christ set the example he did that But guess what saul didn't do that even metaphorically speaking He's like no no as long as david as long as everyone's behind me as long as they don't have more subscribers than me As long as they don't have more people in their church than me As long as they don't have more friends than me more influence. We're good And this is something you guys need to watch out for Those are the types of people you're going to have to balance between just being friendly and in that frenemy category And what does david do he doesn't count saul for an enemy? He never does that even though he's trying to kill him. He keeps him in that frenemy category See what's the big deal look at john chapter 15 in verse 14 and i'm going to wrap this up here This is the what I want you guys to seriously understand. He says this you're my friends if you do whatsoever I command you Doesn't say you're saved if you follow all the commandments to a t and turn from every sin That's not what he's saying. He's simply saying you're my friends if you do whatsoever. I command you, okay You have to understand that this is a mentor mentee type relationship Which you can which all you kids are in? Okay, you have authority over you you have parents that are over you And the goal is to hopefully someday get to the point like this Where your parents say you know what? You're my friends Now that you've done whatsoever. I've told you you see I you know as a kid or as a maybe even as a teenager I want more responsibility. I want more autonomy in my life or you're an adult here and you want that same thing from your employer You know how you get it by doing what you're told because that's what builds trust That's how you advance in that relationship. That's how you become friendly in that context with your boss With those that have authority over you kids with your parents. That's how you do it. Look at verse number 15 So he says 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 on to you so again If you want more responsibility if you want more autonomy you guys you kids you young people everybody in here You need to do what you're told that's the key you see what my boss is a jury i've been there I've been there, but you know what when you follow the process And you do what you're told they know internally that they can trust you And that's the goal right? We want to raise these kids with autonomy We don't want them calling up every single day when they're 35 years old. Hey, what do I do in this situation? Whatever that you're gonna go nuts So parents save yourself some trouble Right and start teaching them now. Hey the way up is down humble yourself realize you don't know everything Okay, you don't know it all you need to be corrected And you need to follow up on that correction because if you are not applying you are dying and that is across the board back up to verse number two Same chapter john chapter 15 look at verse number two Jesus says this 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. So you know what that means? It means when you get on board with the program So, you know what? I actually want to be a disciple. I actually want to follow christ I'm going to read my bible every day. I'm going to pray every day I'm going to come to church when the doors are open. I'm going to do all of these things It's not going to get easy necessarily Because he's going to purge you he's going to try he's going to start to get things out of your life You know, that's what your parents are trying to do to you kids You know when they see you and you're on that right path and you're starting to follow the program You're starting to do your chores without being told you know what? They might actually just just decide to test you to see if you can handle more autonomy Handle more responsibility and that's what jesus does to us. Look at verse three It says now you're clean through the word, which I have spoken unto you and you say What what's the big deal here? Well, you remember that group of people that we read about in john chapter two where jesus didn't commit himself unto them It's probably because he knew they weren't going to bear fruit So he's like i'm not going to spend a lot of time on this group of people here They're saved they're clean through the word which he's spoken Okay, but he's telling the disciples now after judas is gone. Hey, you guys are clean, you know, you're gonna break forth this fruit You're gonna receive the holy ghost soon. You're gonna teach you're gonna disciple people look at verse four He says abide in me and I in you as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself excepted abide in the vine No more can ye except ye abide in me What is he saying? He's saying hey look it's impossible To get discipleship right and get relationships wrong Okay, because when you decide in your heart, you know what i'm gonna hear the word of god I'm gonna read the word of god. I'm actually gonna make some changes i'm gonna actually apply this stuff And I want you kids to understand something church is not just for the grown-ups. It's for everyone. It's for you, too You need to apply these things that you're learning Because if you don't Your life is going to get turned upside down. I promise you I promise you you are going to put the trust That you have in the wrong person and they are going to destroy you They're going to ruin you they're going to cause you harm. They're going to cause you pain Then you're going to come to me. Why does this always happen to me? And it's because you don't understand you not everybody that's saved is safe Some people need work. They need prayer. They need help. They need to be taught. That's what jesus is saying here You're not going to be rambo You're not just going to go on the internet and just watch a bunch of sermons and be a great christian and give the gospel Show me the person that's done that show me right now show me It doesn't exist. We all need help everybody in here if you're honest with yourself You can look back and see people that have helped you in your life And we want to be that person. We want to be those people don't we? We want to help each other out and you kids you need to understand this You don't have it figured out you don't because i've been watching and even my kids All of you you need work So don't be like, oh why does he keep talking about this relationship stuff on sundays I'm gonna keep talking about it until I start to see changes You better wake up don't come to me when you're 22 years old and you can't make a friend And people keep stabbing you in the back and how come I can't find somebody It's because you weren't paying attention you were sleeping you're thinking about mario brothers or something. I don't know Whatever it is that you're into And so again Be real with everyone be authentic with everyone but be careful who you give access to Don't just tell everyone your feelings and your thoughts In your heart because not everyone that is saved is safe If you can understand that you can begin to apply that and you can just start to realize you know what I need to look for certain characteristics in people before I move them from the friendly category to the friend category I'm telling you you're gonna be way ahead of me You're gonna be way ahead of a lot of us. They didn't know this stuff And you know what you're gonna need it because it's not getting easy out there People what does the bible say that people will be like in the last days? Yep lovers of their own selves selfish Turning each other in for the stupidest things. I heard he didn't get the vaccine I heard he wasn't wearing a mask Right, you know, you know that commie mayor we have as soon as she put out that deal last year, you know See something say something Right that phone that phone line was blowing up people diming each other out You have people calling the cops on each other for playing basketball Yeah Now man Just need to be careful Okay Learn who you can trust because some of those people and i've seen the comments some of those people are so upset That they are purposely going into churches and infiltrating Now again, we don't i'm not trying to sow paranoia here. Okay, not trying to sow paranoia Which is why I had that bottom line. Hey be real with everyone. Okay, give everyone a chance Jesus did that with judas. Okay, be real with everyone, but don't give access to everyone. Okay? It's gonna ruin you but man I mean there there's people there's people calling churches right now from other states, especially washington And what they're doing is they're saying hey, can you write me a letter to get me out of the vaccine for my job? And then if you do it guess what they go call uncle joe bud and dirty riding by and they don't call him But you know, they turn you in We were reading about that the other day people around here are doing that You think it's gonna get better No, it's gonna get worse. So we just need to be you know, we just need to to be a prudent people Okay, and I just want you kids to understand that not everyone is your friend. This is why we're family integrated This is why we don't separate children from their parents. You guys realize why we do that, don't you? And so that we can minimize the chances of somebody coming in here and taking advantage of the children Because our government's not doing anything about it They're enabling these people we're not gonna we're not gonna take it we're not gonna stand for it So if I could just get you kids to understand One thing it would be that be real with everyone but be careful who you give your hearts to okay Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer. Thank you so much lord again for just bringing us so much truth week after week Service after service. So I want to pray for all these kids for it I just pray that you bless our children And that you'd make them strong because we know that this generation is going to have it far worse than we did And we just pray that you would give our church strength And I pray you bless the fellowship after the service lord. Please bless this food to our bodies And bless us a winning time today lord, and I pray you bring us all back safely tonight lord in jesus name. I pray. Amen So All right, so for our final hymn this morning let's turn to number 439 count your blessings We have a lot to be thankful for amen, it's number 439 count your blessings When upon life's billows on the first when upon life's billows you are tempest-tossed When you are discouraged thinking all is lost Count your many blessings name them one by one And it will surprise you what the lord has done Count your blessings name them one by one Count your blessings. See what god have done count your blessings Name them one by one Count your many blessings. See what god hath done Are you ever burdened with a load of care? Does the cross seem heavy you are called to man? Count your many blessings every doubt will fly And you will be singing as the days go by Count your blessings name them one by one Count your blessings. See what god has done Count your blessings Name them one by one Count your many blessings. See what god hath done When you look at others with their lands and gold Think that christ has promised you his wealth untold Count your many blessings money cannot buy You're rewarded heaven or your home on high Count your blessings name them one by one Count your blessings. See what god has done count your blessings Name them one by one Count your many blessings. See what god hath done So amid the conflict whether great or small Do not be discouraged. God is overall Count your many blessings angels will attend Help and comfort give you till your journey's end Count your blessings name them one by one Count your blessings. See what god hath done Count your blessings Name them one by one Count your many blessings. See what god hath done Amen All right, brother. Timo. Will you close us with a word of prayer and pray for the food, please? I'm, sorry. Pray for what? Yeah, thank you lord for uh bringing us again here on sunday morning lord You blessed pastor for just putting a sermon together lord, and I pray you bless the fellowship in the food you provide for us So