(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.)

["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] Thank you very much. All right everybody, welcome to Steadfast Baptist Church. Thank you all for being here tonight. If we could go ahead and take our seats to song number 257, Look and Live. Your red hymnal there, song number 257, song number 257, Look and Live. I've a message from the Lord, hallelujah, the message unto you I'll give. Tis recorded in his word, hallelujah, it is only that you look and live. Look and live, my brother, live. Look to Jesus now and live. Tis recorded in his word, hallelujah, it is only that you look and live. I've a message full of love, hallelujah, a message oh my friend for you. Tis a message from above, hallelujah, Jesus said and I know tis true. Look and live, my brother, live. Look to Jesus now and live. Tis recorded in his word, hallelujah, it is only that you look and live. Life is offered unto you, hallelujah, eternal life the soul shall have. If you'll only look to him, hallelujah, look to Jesus who alone can save. Look and live, my brother, live. Look to Jesus now and live. Tis recorded in his word, hallelujah, it is only that you look and live. I will tell you how I came, hallelujah, to Jesus when he made me whole. Twas believing on his name, hallelujah, I trusted and he saved my soul. Look and live, my brother, live. Look to Jesus now and live. Tis recorded in his word, hallelujah, it is only that you look and live. Amen. Let's bow out the word of prayer. Dear Father, we thank you again that we could come before you in your house tonight with your people and I pray you would bless Pastor Thompson as he preaches your word to us. Lord, help us to hear the message and apply it to our lives and we just thank you for everything you do. Thank you for the salvations that you continue to bring to this church and just continue to bless this church and our soul winning efforts to reach the city. Yay in the whole world. We love you in Jesus name. Amen. Next song is gonna be song number 136, Master the Tempest is Raging. Song number 136. Song number 136, Master the Tempest is Raging. Master the tempest is raging, the billows are tossing high. The sky is our shadow with blackness, no help for help is nigh. Caris thou not that we perish, how canst thou lie asleep? With each moment so madly is threatening, a grave in the angry deep. The winds and the waves shall obey my will, peace be still. Whether the wrath of the storm tossing or demons or men or whatever it be, no water can swallow the ship where lies the master of ocean and earth and skies. They all shall sweetly obey my will, peace be still, peace be still. They all shall sweetly obey my will, peace be still. Master with anguish of spirit, I bow in my grief today. The depths of my sad heart are troubled, awaken and save I pray. Torrents of sin and of anguish sweep o'er my sinking soul and I perish, I perish dear master, oh hasten and take control. The winds and the waves shall obey my will, peace be still. Whether the wrath of the storm tossing or demons or men or whatever it be, no water can swallow the ship where lies the master of ocean and earth and skies. They all shall sweetly obey my will, peace be still, peace be still. They all shall sweetly obey my will, peace peace be still. Master the terror is over, the elements sweetly rest. Her son in the calm lake is mirrored in heaven within my breast. Linger, oh blessed Redeemer, leave me alone no more and with joy I shall make the blessed harbor and rest on the blissful shore. The winds and the waves shall obey my will, peace be still. Whether the wrath of the storm tossing or demons or men or whatever it be, no water can swallow the ship where lies the master of ocean and earth and skies. They all shall sweetly obey my will, peace be still, peace be still. They all shall sweetly obey my will, peace peace be still. Good singing. If you need a bulletin, you can still just slip up your hand nice and high and an usher can get you a bulletin. Welcome to Steadfast Baptist Church. We're actually on week six of six, Psalms chapter 23, and if you're lucky you'll get a grace week. But if you can quote this entire chapter to a non-family member, you can receive a special prize for that. On the inside we have our service and soul winning times, as well as church stats. I'm gonna go and get a count for the last few days. Is there anything to report from Thursday? Anything on Thursday? Okay, what about Friday? Anything on Friday? Two over here. Okay, two for Friday. What about Saturday? What about yesterday? It's like 18 for Saturday, and then today the van had one. Was there anything outside of the van group? Looks like 14 total for today, so praise the Lord on that. And then on the right hand side we have the list of our expecting ladies, as well as our prayer list. Please email those or put those in the communication cards and you can put that in the offering plate. We also have Pastor Roger Menes coming for us on Wednesday, January 27th. That's a Wednesday, and please make sure to thank him when he comes. Also please sure make sure to thank Pastor Thompson and his wife Sherry for coming out here. He already preached a really good sermon, so don't screw this one up, all right? No, I'm just kidding. And on the back, I hope I'm in that friend sermon, all right? No, I'm just kidding. And then on the back we have the list for some baby showers in honor of Allison Holden on the 23rd, and also Miss Eve Garcia on the 6th. If you'd like to be a participant, it's from 1 to 3 p.m. both times. You can bring a snack or dessert for both, and it's also nursing's only preferred. Allison is registered at Bye Bye Baby, and Miss Eve Garcia is registered on Amazon. Also we have the same day, the 23rd, a film showing. It's gonna be here at the church at 6 p.m. It's the Sodomite Deception and we'll have some popcorn and some candy, and so if you'd like to show up, we'd love for you to come. We'll also be putting this on a website where people can view it and you can share it and everything like that, and so hopefully you can do that. We'll also make some DVDs and stuff like that that you can hand out to people if you'd like, but we'll also just have it available online. That's the goal. We also have these cards that just came in. They're just God resource cards, and on the back they have a list of some foreign languages that we have people that have done gospel presentations in these foreign languages, and I mean the goal would be to have every single foreign language that we could muster a gospel, and so hopefully this will grow even, but at least it just has a handful of languages here for now, some of the more common ones that you may run into, and then as time goes on, hopefully we can continually update this and put even more out there, and so we also have a YouTube playlist, I believe, that has those, but you know anything with YouTube, we all know it's not to last forever, okay? So hopefully, you know, having our own website will do a little better. One other note, we've been handing out giving statements to people. If you haven't received one, you can see Brother Dylan after the service, and if not, we'll try to just mail them out to everyone, but we do have giving statements for everybody that gave online or through check or anything like that, so you can make sure to pick them up from him. If for some reason you notice any kind of error on any of those or something that needs to be corrected, please just email or contact me, and I'll make sure to get that corrected or updated or let you know what's, why we have the discrepancy, so just to make sure, because there could always be human error in those things, but we want to make sure that we have everything accurate for you guys. That's pretty much it that I have for announcements. Let's go ahead and go to our handouts, Psalm 139. We'll sing this one in honor of Pastor Mejia and all the fags that are raging at his church, all right? Amen. Psalm 139. If you need a handout, raise up your hand or turn your King James Bible. Psalm 139. Surely thou wilt slay the wicked. Surely thou wilt slay the wicked, O God. Depart from me, therefore, ye bloody men. Depart from me, therefore, ye bloody men. Do not I hate them, O Lord, that hate thee? Do not I hate them, O Lord, that hate thee? For they speak not of thyself against thee. Do not I hate them, O Lord, that hate thee? For they speak against thee wickedly. For they speak against thee wickedly. And thine enemies take thy name in vain. And thine enemies take thy name in vain. Do not I hate them, O Lord, that hate thee? Do not I hate them, O Lord, that hate thee? Am not I grieve with those that rise up against thee? Do not I hate them, O Lord, that hate thee? I hate them with perfect hatred. I hate them with perfect hatred. I count them mine enemies. I count them mine enemies. Do not I hate them, O Lord, that hate thee? Do not I hate them, O Lord, that hate thee? Am not I grieve with those that rise up against thee? Do not I hate them, O Lord, that hate thee? As offering plates are being passed around, please turn your Bibles to 1 Samuel, chapter 18. 1 Samuel, chapter 18. 1 Samuel 18. The Bible reads, And it came to pass, when he had made an end of speaking unto Saul, that the soul of Jonathan was knit with the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul. And Saul took him that day, and would let him go no more home to his father's house. Then Jonathan and David made a covenant, because he loved him as his own soul. And Jonathan stripped himself of the robe that was upon him, and gave it to David, and his garments even to his sword, and to his bow, and to his girdle. And David went out whithersoever Saul sent him, and behaved himself wisely. And Saul sent him over the men of war, and he was accepted in the sight of all the people, and also in the sight of Saul's servants. And it came to pass, as they came, when David was returned from the slaughter of the Philistine, that the women came out of all cities of Israel, singing and dancing, to meet King Saul with tabrets, with joy, and with instruments of music. And the women answered one another as they played, and said, Saul hath slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands. And Saul was very wroth, and the saying displeased him. And he said, they have ascribed unto David ten thousands, and to me they have ascribed but thousands. And what can he have more but the kingdom? And Saul eyed David from that day and forward. 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. 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. And Saul was afraid of David, because the Lord was with him, and was departed from Saul. Therefore Saul removed him from him, and made him his captain over a thousand. And he went out and came in before the people. And David behaved himself wisely in all his ways, and the Lord was with him. Wherefore when Saul saw that he behaved himself very wisely, he was afraid of him. But all Israel and Judah loved David, because he went out and came in before them. And Saul said to David, behold my elder daughter Mirab, her will I give thee to wife. Only be thou valiant for me, and fight the Lord's battles. For Saul said, let not mine hand be upon him, but let the hand of the Philistines be upon him. And David said unto Saul, who am I, and what is my life for my father's family in Israel, that I should be son-in-law to the king. But it came to pass at the time when Mirab, Saul's daughter, should have been given to David, that she was given unto Adriel the mahalathite to wife. And Michael, Saul's daughter, loved David. And they told Saul, and the thing pleased him. And Saul said, I will give him her, that she may be a snare to him, and that the hand of the Philistines may be against him. Wherefore Saul said to David, thou shalt this day be my son-in-law in the one of the twain. And Saul commanded his servants, saying, commune with David secretly, and say, behold the king hath the light in thee, and all his servants love thee. Now therefore be the king's son-in-law. And Saul's servants spake those words in the ears of David. And David said, seemeth it to you a light thing to be a king's son-in-law, seeing that I am a poor man, and lightly esteemed? And the servants of Saul told him, saying, on this manner spake David. And Saul said, thus shall ye say to David, the king desireth not any dowry, but an hundred foreskins of the Philistines, to be avenged of the king's enemies. But Saul thought to make David fall by the hand of the Philistines. And when his servants told David these words, it displeased David well to be the king's, I'm sorry, it pleased David well to be the king's son-in-law, and the days were not expired. Wherefore David arose and went, he and his men, and slew of the Philistines two hundred men. And David brought their foreskins, and they gave them in full tale to the king, that he might be the king's son-in-law. And Saul gave him Michal, his daughter, to wife. And Saul saw and knew that the Lord was with David, and that Michal, Saul's daughter, loved him. And Saul was yet the more afraid of David, and Saul became David's enemy continually. Then the princes of the Philistines went forth, and it came to pass, after they went forth, that David behaved himself more wisely than all the servants of Saul, so that his name was much set by. Let's bow our heads for a quick word of prayer. Father, we thank you so much for Pastor Aaron Thompson, Lord, and his church, and I just pray now that you would fill Pastor Thompson with your spirit. Just help him to preach his sermon boldly, and also, Lord, help us to listen, to pay attention, to learn from the sermon tonight, and apply lessons from it to our lives to be better Christians moving forward. In Jesus' name, I pray. Amen. Amen. All right. Well, it's great to be back tonight, and again, I just want to thank Pastor Shelley and his family and the whole Steadfast Family for having me come up here. I really appreciate everybody's fellowship, and I don't know some of you as well as I'd like to know you, but I also know some of you pretty well. And I'm pretty happy to have friends, and so I'm preaching about friendship tonight, and so just want to, you know, the reason I'm preaching is because I think it's important for people to have friends, and some of you I know just aren't that friendly, and so I just want to help you tonight. No, I'm just kidding, but you know, hey, you know, if you want to be friendly, that's how you get friends, and so there's a lot of different types of people in the world, and some people just are introverts, and it's really hard for them to reach out to people, but you know, that's how you get friends. Sometimes you just have to get out of your comfort zone and talk to people and be friendly with them, but you see in this story here two different types of friends, don't you? You see Jonathan, who just listened to what David said after he killed Goliath the Philistine, and how Jonathan's heart was knit with David's, and they became quick friends, instant friends, and you know, it doesn't say that Jonathan had a reason why other than just the fact that he heard him talk, and so David had an excellent spirit, and Jonathan noticed that, and they became friends, you know, but then you have Saul, who basically is kind of using David to get what he wants, because he was too chicken to go fight Goliath the Philistine, and he was like me, head and shoulders above everybody else, right, but he was the one that was afraid to fight Goliath, and then he and David ended up going and using, you know, one rock. That's all it took is one rock to bring down the Philistine, then of course David gives this talks to Saul and behaves himself wisely, but Saul is constantly, so you have two different things going on here. You got Saul constantly trying to trip David up and pretending like he likes him, pretending like he's his friend, but in reality he's setting him up to try to fail, and so we have people in our lives that do that to us all the time too, and so it's just part of being a friend. You know, I think that as Christians we should always try to be friendly towards other people and just expect that people are going to stab us in the back, but you know what? You don't have to let that ruin the fact that you reach out and still make more friends afterwards, so I believe that we should be friendly at all times as much as is in us to be friends, and so I want to teach tonight about how to be a good friend, number one, and I'm going to actually give about 10 statements on friendship tonight. They're not going to be super long, so I probably only preach about two hours tonight instead of my normal hour and a half, so no, I'm just kidding, but I want to also teach about what type of friends we should be friends with. You know, not everybody is fit to be your friend, you know, and obviously we should love our enemies, love those that do good to those that hate us and things like that, but when it comes to being friends, there's certain types of people we should be friends with. There are certain types of people we should avoid being friends with. So I'm going to give you 10 statements tonight on friendship. So statement number one, we get from 1 Samuel chapter 18, verse number one, it says, And it came to pass when he had made an end of speaking unto Saul that the soul of Jonathan was knit with the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul. And so you see here, Jonathan and David's friendship beginning. So number one, we should make friends with people for who they are, not for our own advantage, not for our own advantage. See, Jonathan just liked David because he liked him, because he liked what he had to say, but see, the difference is Saul, you know, wanted David because he wanted him to be his mighty captain, you know, the giant slayer that he was, and so he wanted to, you know, how they say, keep your friends close but your enemies closer. That's kind of what Saul was doing, and he even set him up to marry the not-so-good daughter and try to trip David up, and just try to trip him up in many different ways. But you see, Jonathan wanted to be friends with him just because he liked him, and that's pretty much the way we should be also, is that we should like people for who they are, not what they can do for us. And so turn to Judges chapter 14 verse 20. We'll see, you know, and Samson is a man that's a saved man, but he wasn't really that good of a friend, and so he wasn't very good at picking women either. He had a really hard time with that. So, but Judges chapter 14 verse 20 says, but Samson's wife was given to his companion whom he had used as his friend. And so it doesn't say that it was Samson's friend, it was somebody he used as a friend. And so we shouldn't be getting into friendships just so we can use people for the advantages that we can get out of them. And really what ended up happening is Samson ended up reaping what he sowed, didn't he? You know, he ended up getting, his wife ended up being given to his, the person he used as a friend. Statement number two tonight is friends should love each other. Friends should love each other. I know guys, I mean, this kind of, you know, we don't want to get, you know, unmanly here, but hey, there's nothing wrong with loving your friends. So look at verse number three in our text. So we're going to go back and forth. I'm going to skip to some other chapters, and mainly I'm going to talk about Jonathan and David tonight, but I'm going to talk about some other different things just as we go along here. But statement number two, friends should love each other. It says in verse three, then Jonathan and David made a covenant because he loved him as his own soul. And so you see that Jonathan, this wasn't just a regular friendship, this is a great friendship. And, you know, a lot of people will try to bring in this thing and say that David and Jonathan were queers. There's nothing further from the truth that they were queers. And if you even, that even enters into your mind, I'm wondering if you're a queer. Okay. So, you know, I watched this out of my deception film, so it kind of got me fired up, and I was like, man, maybe I should change my sermon. But you know what? I'm not going to, but I do want to address this thing where people will say, well, you know, their friendship passed with the love of women or whatever, what it says at the beginning of 2 Samuel chapter one. That's not talking about their fags. All right. They were definitely not fags or they would have been stoned to death. Okay. But that's what queers and that's how queers minds work is that they want to make everything dirty and filthy like they are. They want to drag people into the hog pen with them and wallow in the mire. But David and Jonathan were friends and they loved each other as brothers in Christ. There's nothing weird about them. So, and then look at, let's turn over to Proverbs chapter 17 verse 17. So, friends should love each other. You know, it shouldn't be a one-sided friendship. You both should show love towards each other. And, you know, you can have a lot of friends. I mean, I would say that I have a lot of friends. And I like to, you know, the love between friends should be reciprocated between two people. It shouldn't just be you calling your friend all the time and they never call you. That type of thing. Or help, one helps the other person out and doesn't help. You know, that's not reciprocated back and forth. But also, you shouldn't expect things that are unreasonable. So, but look at Proverbs 17. 17 says, a friend love, loveth at all times. And a brother is born for adversity. A friend should love at all times. It should be a friendship of love. And we should do things for each other. We should be kind to each other. And there's, you know, obviously love is the thing we should show. The Bible says in Matthew 22 verse 39, and the second is like unto it, the second commandment, the second most important commandment is thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. We're supposed to love our neighbor. And so, you know, would a friend be your neighbor? Absolutely. So if we're just supposed to love our neighbor as ourself, we're supposed to absolutely love our friend as we love ourselves. And that's what it says here is that Jonathan loved him as his own soul. So he loved him as himself, didn't he? So nothing weird about that. That's a totally normal thing. And society is what gets abnormal. And people, you know, there's a lot of people that are fair weather friends and people that are not very good friends and friends that don't show love to their friends. That's not really friendly, is it? It's not a good attribute of a friend. Statement number three, friends do nice things for each other. Friends do nice things for each other. Look at verse four in our text. It says, and Jonathan stripped himself of the robe that was upon him and gave it to David and his garments, even his sword and to his bow and to his girdle. So David talks in this chapter about how he's poor and he doesn't have a lot of money. And, you know, obviously he's hanging out with a prince, you know, the king's son. And he probably is realizing, hey, David doesn't really have anything of his own. And so friends do nice things for each other because they love them. Friends do nice things for each other because they want to help them. And so if you have a lot, then to share those things with your friend, I mean, Jonathan's literally giving him the shirt off his back here. And that's what true friends do, is they help each other in times of need. Hey, my car's broken down, my tire's flat, can you come help me? Friends go and help each other. Friends show up, we drive four hours to hear their friend preach. You know, I got some friends that live from out of town and they came up here and obviously to be my friend and, you know, I'm happy that they did. I want to spend some time with them while they're here. We should do nice things for each other as friends. Number four, or statement four, friends should be peacemakers between other friends. Now sometimes you get a friend that's not really, you know, they don't like this friend. Have you ever been in that situation where, you know, they don't really want to hang out because that friend's there or whatever? Well, this is a really extreme case here in First Samuel chapter 19. Look at verse number one. So, and this case is kind of like, you know, hey, my dad doesn't really like you. I've actually been in that situation where, you know, I had a friend and his dad didn't like me, he was a police officer. So, and I can see why he didn't like me. I mean, I was always respectful over at his house and stuff like that, but I wasn't exactly a great influence on his son at that time. But this isn't the case here. This is just the case that Saul is hating on David and he's actually trying to kill him. So, I mean, this is, like I said, an extreme case here. Look what it says in verse one. It says, And Saul spake to Jonathan his son and to all his servants that they should kill David. So he's trying to get Jonathan his son to betray David and kill him. And he says, But Jonathan Saul's son delighted much in David, and Jonathan told David, saying, Saul my father seeketh to kill thee. Now, therefore, I pray thee take to hide thyself until the morning abide in a secret place and hide thyself, and I will go out and stand beside my father in the field where thou art, and I will commune with my father of thee. And what I see, that I will tell thee. And Jonathan spake good of David unto Saul his father, and said unto him, Let not the king sin against his servant, against David, because he hath not sinned against thee, and because his works have been to thee ward very good. And so here's Jonathan trying to be the peacemaker between Saul and David. Saul wants to kill David. Saul tries to get Jonathan to help him kill David. But what's Jonathan do? He tries to play the peacemaker. Blessed are the peacemakers, the Bible says. And so it's a good thing that Jonathan's trying to do for him. Now, look what it says in verse 5. It says, For he did this, for he did put his life in his hand and slew the Philistine, and the Lord wrought a great salvation for all Israel. Thou sauc'd it, and didst rejoice, wherefore then, without sin against innocent blood, to slay David without a cause. And Saul hearkened unto the voice of Jonathan. See, Jonathan's intercession for David there with his dad actually got Saul to stop trying to kill him for like five minutes or so. But the point is, is that he's trying to help and be a peacemaker and try to help mend this friendship that's been broken. And Saul swear, as the Lord liveth, he shall not be slain. Which of course, like five minutes later, he's trying to kill him again. And it says, And Jonathan called David, and Jonathan showed him all these things, and Jonathan brought David to Saul, and he was in his presence as in times past. So he did repair the relationship there for a little bit, but Saul's got way bigger problems than what Jonathan probably realizes that he has. But you know, a lot of times people will come to you and talk to you about another friend of yours, and instead of trying to help and try to be a peacemaker, people will join in talking smack about somebody else. And that is not being a good friend. That is being a bad friend. Okay, so we should be good friends. And hey, when our friend, maybe another friend wants to get in on your circle or whatever, I mean we really shouldn't have where we have all these different factions of people. But sometimes that happens as the church gets bigger and people have their friends that they have. But you know, you shouldn't shun other people. You should try to be a peacemaker and add to your friend's circle. There's nothing wrong with everybody in here being friends. Obviously you don't have to be friends with everybody. I understand that. But why not be friends if you can be? You know, not everybody is the same. Not everybody has the same kind of likes and stuff. I get that. But instead of being a backbiter, be a peacemaker and try to help and repair broken friendships if you can. That's a good thing to do, isn't it? Statement number five, a true friend is willing to lay down his life for a friend. And I've never been in the military before, but I know that that's part of a military thing. People band up like brothers and some people will fight for each other and try to help save each other's lives and things like that. Look at 1st Samuel chapter 20 verse number 30. So here we have Saul trying to kill David again after he promised. He swore not to do it again, but he's just like, can't help himself. He's too far gone. And 1st Samuel chapter 20 verse 30 says, then Saul's anger was kindled against Jonathan because Jonathan was trying to go to him again and try to help out this situation. But Saul was mad because he tried to intervene this time. And it says, and he said unto him, thou son of the perverse rebellious woman, do not I know that thou has chosen the son of Jesse to thine own confusion and unto 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 Jonathan answered Saul his father and said unto him, wherefore shall he be slain? What hath he done? And Saul cast a javelin at him to smite him whereby Jonathan knew that it was determined of his father to slay David. So here's Saul casting a javelin. First he cast the javelin at David in chapter number 18. And he must not have been a very good aim. Maybe that's why he didn't want to fight Goliath because every time he throws a javelin at somebody, he misses. So I don't know how far he was away from him, but it doesn't even say that he like dodged it or anything, you know, because David ran and escaped out of his side or whatever, but Saul throws it at Jonathan. He just like, yeah, right. What? But he says, so Jonathan arose from the table in fierce anger and did eat no meat the second day of the month for he was grieved for David because his father had done him shame. So the Bible says in John 15 13, it says greater love hath no man than this that a man lay down his life for his friends. Jonathan got in between Saul his father, which I'm sure he loved Saul, and David his friend and almost got killed for it. And the Lord Jesus Christ did the same thing for us when he died for his friends. You know, the Bible says greater love hath no man than this that a man lay down his life for his friends. And to be a good friend, I think it, you know, if you're ever in that situation where you would die for your friend, the Bible says that that's the greatest love that you can show somebody is dying for them, right? So statement number six, who we should and should not be friends with, who we should and should not be friends with. We should be friends with people that, you know, we should love our brothers and sisters in Christ. We should be friends with people that are saved. That's what I believe. I don't think that we should be friends with worldly people or people that are unsaved. I mean, I'm not saying not be a friend and give them the gospel or something like that. I'm just saying that that's not somebody that you should hang out with in your daily life. So if you're going to choose a friend, it should be someone that you're friends with here in this church or maybe in other churches or things like that. And we should choose friends of our own kind. The Bible says everything brings forth after its own kind. And the Bible says that God separated the light from the darkness. And so, you know, those are pictures of us, you know, as saved people, we're not supposed to mix with that darkness. Darkness represents sin and the light represents righteousness. So we should walk with people that are in the light, right? Not with people that are in darkness, because you know what's going to happen? If you walk in darkness, then your eyes are going to be blinded and you're going to walk in wrong ways. You know what? And I said this earlier in my sermon, you know, people are the bad friends that you choose are the ones that are going to drag you down. You're not going to change them. They're going to change you. I was actually talking about that with marriage, right? It's the same thing with friends though. You know, who you hang around with is who you're going to be. And, you know, who you marry is who you're going to, you know, you're stuck with that person for the rest of your life. So you better find someone you can be friends with, you know, because marriage can get ugly. So I don't know why I keep talking about marriage so much, but anyway, somebody in here has got a bad marriage and I'm trying to, no I'm just kidding. Just kidding. All right, so 2 Corinthians chapter 6 verse 14. Turn there please. 2 Corinthians chapter 6 verse 14. So we should be friends with our brothers and sisters in Christ. We should be friends with people that are saved. Those are the people that we would want to influence us. And obviously there's bad Christians too. So don't gravitate towards the worst people in the church. Gravitate towards the most spiritual. Because what do you, do you want to be the least spiritual? Do you want to hang out with the least spiritual? And look, I hope everybody in this church is spiritual, but that's not always the case. There's always someone that's the least spiritual. It's brother Alberto I'm pretty sure, but no, I'm just kidding. Just kidding. Someone said come on. So maybe I'm hitting on, no I'm just kidding. I'm teasing. He knows I don't think that. He loves, you know, the best restaurant in the world, which is Texas Roadhouse. Amen. My heart was knit with him as soon as he mentioned that to me. So anyway, so 2 Corinthians chapter 6 verse 14. It says, be not unequally yoked together with who? Unbelievers. For what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? And what communion hath light with darkness? Isn't that what I was just saying? Yes. Be not unequally yoked together with unbelievers. Unbelievers shouldn't be the people that we hang out with all the time, unless you're trying to get them saved. If you want to get your buddy from high school saved, get your buddy from high school saved, then hang out with them. But you know, if they're not saved, eventually things are going to happen in your daily life with hanging out with them or whatever that are going to drag you back to the place that you once were. And you're going to go back to your old ways. And you're going to go back to your old life. And you're going to start to get backslidden in your Christian life. But it says straight up, you're not to be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. And hey, not just in friendships. How about business? How about marriage? How about anything involving your daily life on this earth? I mean, obviously if you work for some unsaved person, that's your boss. And you know, that's one thing. But I'm talking about if you went into business with a person that's a Jehovah's Witness, just say that. Hey, let's be business partners. If you are business partners with a Jehovah's Witness, you are unequally yoked with that person. And you know what? They're probably going to end up ripping you off or doing some other weird thing and ruin your business. Because those two minds can't come together and make the right decisions. Especially because they're Jehovah's Witnesses. I mean, come on. But anyway, it says in verse 15, and what concord hath Christ with Belial? What does Christ have to do with the devil? Nothing. What part hath he that believeth with an infidel? I mean, it's just flat out saying it. So hey, if you have friendships, and I'm not saying like just completely hate that person or something like that, obviously if you want to be friends with that person, you should probably get them saved. Because God's pretty serious about this. I mean, he's saying it as many ways as he possibly can, right? What part with he that believeth, who's that person that believeth? That person's a saved person and an infidel is an unsaved person, okay? And it says in what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? You know, if you put an idol in God's house, it's wicked as hell. And you're supposed to not do that, obviously. For ye are the temple of the living God, as God hath said, I will dwell in them and walk in them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Wherefore, come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing. So when it comes to friendships, what's it talking about? Don't be friends with people that are infidels. Don't be friends with people that would be in league with the devil. You know, I mean, what does Christ have to do with Belial? Nothing. So if your ex-band member friend or whatever, I mean, I don't know who you used to hang out with, but you know, it's really easy to just sink back into those old things when you start to hang out with one of your old friends, right? So God says to be separate from them. Separate from that person. Does that mean end the friendship? Yeah, that's what it means. If you have to, end that friendship. Because He's saying, hey, don't be unhelically yoked with unbelievers. And He says, and touch not the unclean thing, and I will receive you. So it sounds like something that God had, you know, it's a conditional thing for Him. If you're not willing to separate from those things from your old life, or if you're not willing to just, you know, not keep trying to find friends that are worldly. And look kids, let me tell you something right now. Who you hang out with is very important. And sometimes you want to hang out with the person you think is cool because they're the ones that are always running over to the ice machine and sneaking scoops of ice out, huh? Just kidding. I don't know if you're doing that, but don't let anybody tempt you to follow you to that ice machine. It's wicked. You'll be thrust through with a dart. No, I'm just kidding. But don't ever come up to this stage. You understand what I'm saying? Don't let your friends tempt you to come up to this stage, all right? I'm just saying, you know, if you, kids, if you have friends that are not good influences, those are people you should not hang around with because they're going to influence you to do things that you shouldn't do. And then guess what? Your parents are going to spank you. Hopefully, you know, hopefully that's a practice that's in your family, you know, when you disobey and break the rules. But it is important because, you know, it might not be a big deal now, but in high school when that kid's doing drugs, you know, or whatever, that's not the kid you want to hang around with. They're going to pull you away from God. They're going to pull you away from your parents. They're going to pull you away from the things of God. And, you know, the end is going to be bad in the latter end. Take some counsel from me tonight, and don't hang out with kids that are bad influence. And look, kids, you know who they are, all right? And I'm not trying to point any fingers at anybody's kids or anything like that. I don't know whose kids are bad and whose aren't. I'm not, maybe there's no bad kids in here. I would venture to say that there's perfect children in this church, and that's all there is. No, I'm just kidding. I'm sure that kids do bad things, right? But just don't, hey, be good influences on each other. Instead of being a bad influence on your friends, hey, why don't you try to be a good influence? And, you know, hey, let's memorize these Bible verses together. That doesn't sound like fun. Well, it's fun at the end when you get the ice cream bar, isn't it? Or the candy. And what, do you get a special prize at the end of the six weeks? Is that how it works? Okay, it's even better than ice cream and candy? Or it is ice cream and candy, okay. Anyway, so I'm just saying, you know, and everybody in here, you know, you want to be the best Christian you can be, and God actually does have rules about who you should be friends with. Like, how dare you, Pastor Thompson, tell me who I should be friends with. Well, again, let's talk about wise counsel, all right? God's given us some wise counsel here, and He's trying to spare you some heartache and some pain. And so He says, come out from among them and be you separate, saith the Lord. Turn to James chapter 4, verse 4. James chapter number 4, verse 4. James 4, 4 says, ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that friendship of the world is enmity with God? Whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God. So if you think that, you know, I'm going to leave this double life, you know, I'm going to hang out with my friends outside of church, and when I come, I'm going to act all Christian, right? But what's the Bible say that if you are a friend of the world, then you're an enemy of God. Do you want to be an enemy of God? I mean, I don't think anybody in their right mind wants to be an enemy of God because God, He's way more scary than the devil is to me. I mean, I want to fear the Lord, and I want to serve Him, and I want to worship Him in spirit and truth. Turn to 2 Chronicles chapter 19, verse 2. 2 Chronicles chapter 19, verse 2. This is probably should be in your new IFB manual of great verses that we love, right? 2 Chronicles chapter 19, verse 2. The Bible says, And Jehu, the son of Hanani, the seer, went out to meet him and said to King Jehoshaphat, Shouldst thou help the ungodly and love them that hate the Lord? Therefore is wrath upon thee from before the Lord. Now, I've heard this preached a lot of times, I've preached this verse a lot of times, but the Bible says, Should we help the ungodly? What's he talking about here? Well, Jehoshaphat has made a league with Ahab, one of the most wicked kings that ever lived in Israel, and he's making confederate with his family and marrying his son to their daughter, and it's a wicked thing, and God is very angry with him about this. Now, Jehoshaphat was a saved man, he was a good king, but here's a picture of someone trying to unequally yoke with someone that he shouldn't be yoking up with, and so God actually sends a prophet to him and says, Shouldst thou help the ungodly and love them that hate the Lord? But what do you see today in Christianity? You see a bunch of people that are making friendships with people that hate God. You got all these fag protecting pastors, these pastors are like, Please come to our church, we love you, we're gonna kiss your feet, and they put these rainbow flags up. You know in Portland where I'm from, that pretty much every church has a rainbow flag hanging off of it, and you know, in the, you know, I don't want to divulge the film, but there's a part where it just kind of shows like a couple churches like that, but that's how all the churches are there. I mean imagine, you know, you don't want to, you probably wouldn't want to go downtown Portland and look at the church buildings down there because they have fag flag draped on every part of it, but you know what? God's saying here that we should not love those people that hate him. I mean that should be pretty plainly obvious, but you know, you know, things have changed. Things have changed, but you know what? They're not changing this church, and they're not going to change my church. I'm not going to change the thing. Fag lovers and friends of false prophets have wrath upon them, and those people hate the Lord, so don't be friends with them. Don't be friendly toward them. If you've got a queer cousin, shut them. Don't have anything to do with them. Don't show them love because all you're doing is just, you know, compromising at that point, just like Jehoshaphat was compromising in this situation, and so we should not be friends with not only just someone that's not saved, but someone that hates God. Don't buy your fag sister a Christmas present this year. Shun them. Have nothing to do with them. They hate God. They hate the God that you love, so don't be friends with them. Don't show them love. Don't do nice things for them. You should completely shun them out of your life and have absolutely zero to do with them, even if it's your Siamese twin, all right? Don't be friends with fags, all right? Don't love them. Don't love false prophets. Hey, if someone says that God didn't die, I don't want to be friends with that pastor anymore. You know, quit feeling sorry for them. You know, if you're a Manly Perry or Joe Major sympathizer, you need to get your heart right with God because they've told their heart to you, haven't they? What good friends they turned out to be. A bunch of leeches. A bunch of leeches that just want to leech onto something that's better than they are so they can get followers and drag them away. It's the false prophet in them that wants to do that kind of thing. Then it gets people all upset and like, I can't believe this rift in the new IFB. Hey, God said that these things were going to happen. Paul said grievous wolves would come in not sparing the flock. It shouldn't catch us by surprise anymore. I mean, how many times have we had some weird people infiltrate? Let's do like an accounting of this. Let's do an accounting of this. Who remembers Ram and Gad? Anybody remember Ram? Okay, that's a blast from the past. What did we do? Tried to help him. Pastor Anderson sent people down there to preach. What was it over? Like a song, right? Then there was this big rift and it was actually Garrett. Look, we've had all kinds of people rise up and pretend to be our friends and actually they were not our friends at all. I mean, Matthew, what was his last name? He was that weird pastor in Phoenix, Matthew Faludius. I mean, I've been around the new IFB for a while. So, you know, of course, Garrett, Dominique, these types of people that were like seemed to be pillars in churches. Who else? Yeah, Wesley Tomlinson. Good old, I murdered my father. Hey, come to my church. Who else? Tyler the Faker Baker. Tyler Half Baker. Who else? Fannin, Adam Fannin. Has he been preached about recently in the church? I'm kidding. Who else? Tyler Doka, the flat earth master of disaster. He looks like one of those bad guys with the curly mustaches, like it would be on the end of a train or something. Who else? LeBlanc, Matt LeBlanc. He brought forth the doctrine of roasting in hell for a thousand years or something like that and then we get to get out. Isn't that what his doctrine was? Who else? Michael Johnson. Yeah, not the runner. Not the runner. He doesn't want to rub shoulders with people that rub shoulders with people that rub shoulders for Calvinists. Like Manley Perry who went on the Reason Files to, you know, it's funny because he's like, I don't condone what you believe or whatever, but I'm just going to let you interview me so you can trash my old friends in the new IFB. Who else? Can you think of anybody else? There's been a lot, huh? Doug Trowbridge. I actually expected him to do a lap around here, but Patrick Boyle. He's a deceiver. He's a liar. And you know what? When they get exposed, God does not want us to be friendly towards them anymore. You know what? I have friends that are pastors that are in this movement or whatever. They're independent Baptist pastors that I'm friends with. You know what? If someone trashes my friend, I don't want to be friends with them anymore. I have no use for them. And you're going to destroy and uproot people that help build your church. You're going to go against the pastor that got more than half your church saved. That's weird. Probably the whole church saved. And then you're going to go against them, the person that actually planted your church and helped them. That's not a friend that I want to have. We shouldn't be friends with fags or false prophets. We should be friendly towards them at all. Number seven or statement seven, a friend must show himself friendly. If you want to be friends, be friendly. So that's a pretty simple concept. Proverbs chapter 18 verse 24 says, a man that hath friends must show himself friendly. And there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother. So maybe you're that person that you're just not that friendly. And you're like, why don't I have any friends? I don't understand it. Well, try being friendly. There's this thing called smiling. And don't be creepy about it. But you can still smile and be friendly with people. And that's going to be, that's like, you know, when someone sees someone smiling, you know, they're going to be more approachable. But like, please don't be awkward. Just like, shake my hand. You know, that's pretty creepy. But hey, if you want to be, if you want to make some friends, be friendly to other people. It's really that simple. That's what God says to do is that we must show ourselves friendly. And number eight, good friends are honest to each other even when it's hard. So that's a quality that you should have as being a friend. Turn to Proverbs chapter 27 verse six. Proverbs chapter 27 verse number six. Don't worry, it'll be over soon, hun. All right, so it says in Proverbs chapter 27 verse six, it says, Faithful are the wounds of a friend, but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful. Faithful are the wounds of a friend. Hey, if you're a good friend, sometimes you're going to wound your friend with the hard truth. You know, and we should be willing, if we're a good friend, we should be willing to tell people the truth when they're messing up, when they're wrong about something. And sometimes people don't like to take that, do they? And so when people don't want to take correction, that usually shows that they're filled with pride. So maybe that person isn't a very good friend if they can, you know, and obviously not everybody's going to be corrected the instant you say something to them. Sometimes it hurts. Sometimes it hurts to be corrected because it does hurt your pride to realize, guess what, I do stuff wrong or I'm not, maybe my decision wasn't very good. But you know, if you're a godly person, you should be willing to not be offended by anything. Great peace if they love thy law and nothing shall offend them. So we're supposed to be people that are not offended easily. So if your friend comes and says, hey, you know, I've noticed this or, you know, your shirt's ugly or whatever it is, your hair's all wrong girl, you know, you should pull it back or whatever. Don't be offended by that. They're just being honest. Isn't it funny, guys, how our wives will be like, hey, does this shirt make me look fat or, you know, it's never the right answer to be truthful at that point. You're just like, no answer. Sometimes if you shut your lips, you're esteemed as wise, right? But we should be willing to be honest with our friends, you know, and it does wound you sometimes when someone's honest with you, but that is a good friend. Someone that will tell you the truth and say, hey, what's your opinion about this or what do you think about this and they're honest with you about that. That's a good friend. That's a quality of a good friend and if you don't want to be friends with the person that's honest with you, then you're probably not a very good friend. That would be a quality that you should change about yourself, being willing to be corrected by people and it doesn't mean that they hate you or they don't like you. It means that they love you. It means that they care about you and want to be honest with you. Number nine, good friends make each other better. Good friends make each other better. Turn to Proverbs chapter 27. Well, you're already in Proverbs chapter 27. Look at verse 17. The Bible says, iron sharpeneth the iron so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend. So when we're around each other, we should sharpen each other. What does sharpening do? It makes you more sharp. It makes you pointed and so when we're sharpening each other, that's going to make your friend better and it says, so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend. So we're supposed to be like iron and when we get together, we talk about God's word that's going to sharpen us up. I mean, what do we talk about at church besides the Bible? I mean, I guess there's other things to talk about, but I like talking about the Bible. I like it when I see people in my church going like this at the end of the service and they're like, Pastor Tom was wrong here. No, I'm just kidding. They're like, you know, I'll walk into church after soul winning or something and like four guys are standing there with Bibles in their hands looking at scriptures together. You know what that does? That sharpens you. That's good to sharpen each other with the scriptures and Pastor Shelley sharpens me. Sometimes I'll say stuff and he's like, well, I don't agree with you on that. I'm glad that he says that to me. He's wrong, but no, I'm just kidding. I'm kidding. But we're supposed to sharpen each other and so if he never sharpened me and I never sharpened him, it wouldn't be a very good friendship because I think that we're supposed to, as friends, try to make each other better. We're supposed to be honest with each other, but we're also supposed to make each other better and that's what I think is an important aspect of that. Number 10, don't be surprised when you get stabbed in the back by your friends. Don't be surprised. Like that really should not surprise you. I just can't believe that. Really? You can't believe that? I mean, have you ever read the Bible before? There's a lot of people stabbing each other in the back of the Bible too and we should expect to get stabbed in the back in this life. Jesus Christ was stabbed in the back by one of his own disciples, Judas. And turn to Psalm chapter 41, verse number 9. Psalm chapter 41, verse number 9. This Psalm is written about Judas when he betrayed the Lord Jesus Christ. It says, Yea, my own familiar friend, my own familiar friend in whom I trusted. See, we should be willing to trust people. Obviously, the Lord Jesus Christ knew who Judas was and all that, but it says, Which did eat my bread hath lifted up his heel against me. So Judas stabbed Jesus in the back, he lifted up his heel against him, and he betrayed him in the Garden of Gethsemane. And he betrayed the Son of Man with a kiss. And he was a bad friend. And so we should expect that in this life we're going to get betrayed by people that are supposedly our friends. Who's gotten betrayed by a friend before in this room? Hands all around, even the little kids. No, I'm just kidding. He told me he was going to give me that toy. But remember there's bad friends out there that will use you for a friend just like Samson used his friend, right? And they'll act like they're all for you and then will literally stab you in the back. Proverbs chapter 4, verse 23. And this is something, and take this with a grain of salt, but I kind of think this is applicable. Proverbs 4 23. So our heart is something that we've tried to protect. God protects it with a rib cage, first of all. But people buy like jacket, or you know, what are those called? The teflon, or what are they called? Kevlar. Kevlar body armor. Why do they do that? None of the major organs get shot, right? Why do people wear armor when they fought in battles? Because they want to protect the vital organs. They want to protect that heart. The Bible says here, keep thy heart with all diligence. With all diligence. It's really important to keep your heart. It says for out of it are the issues of life. And one thing I've noticed is that sometimes people tell their whole heart to everybody, you know, and they shouldn't, you shouldn't do that. There's probably things in your life that you're not proud of. I don't think that you should just spew every wicked thing you've ever done to your life to your brand new friend that you just met yesterday, okay? And you know, there's a lot of people that have betrayed people in this room that used to be in this church, didn't they? And here's the thing, sometimes there's a friend that betrays you and you wish you'd never said some whatever it was to that person. Because that person will take that and use it against you and maybe you've already repented of that sin or whatever it is, but people will take those things that are your betrayers and they'll use them against you later on. And you don't want, there's certain things you just probably don't want out publicly that you've done in your life. I'm sure that everybody has something that they're ashamed of. And so I believe that this is talking about that you should keep your heart with all diligence. Don't tell your whole heart to everybody. Maybe you're, you know what, your spouse is the one that's probably going to know you the best in this room. If you're married, your spouse knows, you know, what color underwear you have. They know, they know, you know, your habits that they don't like and there's just a lot of things that we reveal to each other as husband and wife that we would never share with anybody else, right? So I just think personally that you shouldn't tell everybody everything about yourself though because I think it can come back to stab you in the back later on. And I'm not saying like, you know, everybody tells every little dirty secret to everybody, but I just think it's something you shouldn't just fully give your heart away to the first friend that walks up to you. Be diligent to keep your heart, I think. So because what comes out of your heart? The issues of your life. And if you want to tell everybody all your stories about all your pasts and all this stuff, then don't be surprised when they stab you in the back and use your secrets against you. So, and obviously if you're saved, you know, everybody still has a past. And so I would just say this, don't give, you know, because how many people had a Judas that they thought that they were, that there was a true friend and they just stabbed him in the back? Happens all the time and then they use your words against you over things and you wish you hadn't said it. So I believe that there's people that are Judases that are not necessarily not saved. Now what I mean by that, though, is that there's people, what I call a Judas, and maybe this is just my my thing, right? So I think that someone could be a Judas to you, but not necessarily be not saved, okay? So what I mean is that that person just stabbed you in the back, that person just betrayed you. There's friends that betray you that aren't necessarily not saved. And so I've called people Judases in the past and they're like, you're telling me I'm not saved? No, I just say you're a Judas. You're a betrayer. You're someone that stabbed me in the back. And, you know, maybe that isn't the most biblical way to explain it, but I just think that sometimes people, you know, some people get that moniker of Judas in my mind because they're just a betrayer, you know, and obviously Judas in the Bible was not saved. But I think that people, sometimes people that stab us in the back are just bad friends, or maybe they're a bad person. I mean look at Saul. He was saved and he was stabbing David in the back on multiple occasions, always trying to betray him, always trying to kill him, and he was still saved. So we got to be careful who we're friends with, you know, and when they reveal themselves, I would just say don't have anything to do with that person. So Matthew chapter 26, turn to Matthew chapter 26. Here we see the story of Judas actually betraying the Lord Jesus Christ. Matthew chapter 26, verse number 48, the Bible says, Now he that betrayed him gave him a sign saying whosoever I shall kiss, that same as he, hold him fast. And forthwith he came to Jesus and said hail, master, and kissed him. And look what Jesus says to him, because you know what, Jesus was a friend to Judas, even though he was a devil, even though he knew he would betray him, even though he knew he was wicked. What's he say to him? He says, friend, wherefore art thou come? Friend, wherefore art thou come? Then came they and laid hands on Jesus and took him. He comes to him, he says hail, master, he kisses him, and then Jesus calls him his friend. You know, that just shows you right there what kind of friend Jesus actually was. To the very end he was friends with Judas, but at the same time he said it'd be better for him that he had never been born, because you know, it's real interesting though, why would he say that it'd be best that he'd never been born? Because he was getting all those people saved, you know, right? So I guess all those people should have just died and went, you know, died and went to hell instead. I mean it's just stupid logic. I'm sorry, I gotta kick that dog though. I gotta kick that dog. How are you gonna say that Judas got more people saved than the rest of his disciples? That is insanity. But yet you got people that are still hanging with Pastor Perry like, yeah Pastor Perry. Pastor Anderson was friends with a Calvinist and that got him, you know, disfellowshipped with all these guys. But you can literally say that Judas got more people saved than the rest of the disciples. You can say that God didn't die. You could say hell wasn't hot or it was like, maybe it was hot but it was like a sauna, right? And they'll still hang with that guy. You see how these people are? You see how these people are? Is that a friend? No, they're a Judas. That's what they are. They're a Judas. They betrayed their friends and, you know, apparently he got a lot of people saved. So, you know, but you see how that doesn't make sense though? Because Jesus Christ said it'd be better for him to never be born. What did Jesus Christ come to do? He came to seek and save that which was lost. So if Judas really was getting people saved then he wouldn't have said that. I mean, that's just logic 101. You know, these guys, I'm telling you, to continue to be friends with these guys and have a bleeding heart towards them, that makes you wicked. That's why I say you should just get your heart right and cut ties with those clowns. You know, they talk crap about your pastor. And your pastor did nothing but try to be friends with those guys and to sit there and betray him and then still talk crap about his back even now because they're wrong and they got proven wrong in sermon after sermon after sermon after sermon. And that's why they hate Pastor Shelley. You know, Pastor Shelley is very hated. But, you know, I love Pastor Shelley. He's my friend. And I want to stick by Pastor Shelley through thick and thin. And I feel like, you know, he's been a very good friend to me in the last two years. So we've known each other. He's been a great friend to me. We've actually known each other more than two years. But like we've been starting to become really good friends after all this unfortunate business happened with Donny Romero. So Donny Romero wasn't your friend. He might have acted like he was your friend, but he wasn't your friend. And just like Saul betrayed David, Ahithophel betrayed David too, Judas betrayed the Lord Jesus Christ and all of his friends. You know what you don't want to be? If you see someone whispering about your friends or whispering about your pastor behind his back, you know what you should do? You should rebuke that person because they're wicked. Your pastor is your friend. Your pastor tries to do everything he can to make this church better. This building is awesome. And a lot of work went into it. You know, two years ago, Pastor Shelley took over this church and he got flack for it. And all he wanted to do was something that was good, you know. And so I was looking at the video that he made and it was it was January 4th, 2019, where Pastor Shelley offered himself to this church in a time of need. And a lot of people, a lot of you were here. There's a lot of people that aren't here anymore because old Donny boy brought in a lot of, you know, he brought a lot of weird people with him. So like flat earthers to the max. I mean, some bad people. But Pastor Shelley was able to spot those wolves and get them out of here. That's good. But one of the things he said in that video, he said, today is the day of salvation, providing myself a wonderful gift and a bestowment as a pastor. But you know, a lot of people criticized him for saying that. I'm not going to tell you who they were. No, I'm just kidding. But a lot of people criticized him for that. But you know, he wasn't saying that he was the wonderful gift. He was saying that he was the wonderful gift as a pastor. To be your, you know, what better friend is that for someone that you hardly know to come and step up and be your pastor at this church and get all these weirdos out of here and kick them out and try to get things going the right way. It's been two years and look at this church. It's better than it ever was. And the people are better. The preaching is better. The preaching is way better. But I really think that Pastor Shelley is a great guy. And you know, people are cutting down your pastor. I would say this, don't have anything to do with those people. Because why would you want someone to be your friend that talks crap about your pastor? Those people are weasels. Patrick Boyle is a weasel. He's a piece of crap. That's what he is. Yeah, I said crap. Two years later, Pastor Shelley has proven himself to be a friend to Steadfast Baptist Church. And I think that he has done a great job. And even now, he still has frenemies that are out there talking crap about him and pretending and saying that they love him and they're talking crap about him behind his back. Such great friends. I love you. Stab in the back. For what? Because he exposes your little boys that suck like Josh Gander. That suck like Josh Gander? I forgot about Josh Gander. He's going around, not even a pastor, saying he's a pastor and talking crap about Pastor Anderson, talking crap about me, talking crap about Pastor Jimenez. He's not even a pastor. He's not even been anything. He's filming himself in a video with him in this crawl space with a lighter saying that we're scared to have church services or whatever his macho stand was with his 10 people in his church or whatever. Nobody even knows that anybody was in the parking lot. But Pastor Shelley's been a good friend to me. I appreciate his continued friendship. And hey, he's your friend. Just like Jesus was our friend also. And he sacrificed a lot. Pastor Shelley sacrifices a lot. And he didn't pay me to say all this stuff, just so you know. Maybe he'll get a bonus. No, just kidding. But look, turn to John chapter 15. John chapter 15 verse 13 says, greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. You're 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 I have heard of my father I have made known unto you. You know what? If you're that person that just has zero friends, you know who you can be friends with? You can be friends with God. If the dog won't even play with you, if nobody likes you, you know who will like you? The Lord Jesus Christ. He wants to be our friend. And he died for his friends. And he says you're his friend if you do whatever he commands you. And so even if you're just like the worst introvert ever and you just can't talk to anybody, hey Jesus will still be your friend. And he paid a huge price for us. But you know Pastor Shelley was a gift given to this church. He did give himself for this church. I'm talking about the Lord Jesus Christ gave this church a second chance to be even greater than what it ever was. Turn to Ephesians chapter 4 verse 11. Ephesians 4 verse 11. See Pastor Shelley was what this church needed at the time. And some people didn't even believe that that was true. Like Adam Fannin who was self-willed, self-ordained. I don't call him Pastor Fannin. I call him Dakota Fanny. That's what I call him. I call him Fanny Pack. You never heard that one? Fanny Pack? Oh, anyway, okay. Anyway, Ephesians chapter 4 verse 11 says, And he gave some apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers. Who gave them? God gave them. And so you know my sermon is about friendship. And I'm again happy to have Pastor Shelley as my friend. I'm happy for all my friends that I have in this room. I appreciate you coming tonight and listening to the preaching. But I do want you to appreciate your pastor. I'm not saying like go right up after the service and go, Pastor I really appreciate you. Don't be weird about it, okay? But you know a lot of people thanked me today after I preached the sermon. And I appreciate that thanks. But you know Pastor Shelley deserves your thanks. So whatever if you have any kind of grudge against him or anything like that, just know this that even if you don't see what he's doing for you, just know that he's doing the best that he can for you at this church. And he deserves respect. So and I wouldn't think that anybody in here disrespects Pastor Shelley. But if you do, you need to think about what you're doing because he's your friend. And you know there's nothing wrong with your pastor being your friend. I'm not saying you're going to go for windy walks with them or anything like that. But I'm just saying that he doesn't do this for his own money, for his own glorification, for any of the things that people accuse him of being. He does it because he cares about you. And that's what real friends are. People that care about others, tells you the truth when you need to hear it. I mean if there's anything he does, he will tell you the truth if you need to hear it. So and sometimes that hurts. But you know what? He's doing it because he's a good friend. He's doing it, he's trying to help you to be a better Christian. He's trying to edify the body of Christ. And like he's called out a lot of false problems. Oh yeah, Tim DeLillo, don't forget about him. But God gave this church a pastor. And not only just a pastor, a friend. And it says it's for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, and for the edifying of the body of Christ. And so there's a lot of people in here that wish they had a pastor. There's a lot of people around the country that wish they had a pastor like Pastor Shelley. But here you are in Mecca. Is that what you guys call it? No. What do you call it? The promised land. Texas. You know he would, I had heard that he would, Pastor Anderson wanted to go to Seattle. Is that true? Seattle. What good thing can come out of Seattle? But I think he made the right choice. You know and Seattle is going to happen anyway. So but hey don't forget to thank your pastor. And hey if there's anything that you can get out of the sermon just get this. That we need to be better friends to each other than we are right now. And we need to realize that it's important for us to tell the truth. It's important for us to go out of our way to help each other. You know fellowship is important at this church. You know what fellowship is? When people are in fellowship with each other and helping each other out. And you know I'm sure that you guys do help each other out. But have you been a good friend? That's a question to ask. Have you been a good friend? And you know maybe you need to put some of the principles that we're preaching this sermon into practice. Maybe you've slipped in the friendship level and you need to step it up. Maybe you don't have any friends and you just need some friends. Hey be friendly to people. That's a that's a real easy fix. Because if you're friendly with people they're going to want to be your friend. And remember that pastors are just men. And it does it does feel nice to know that you're appreciated. So anyway let's pray. Heavenly Father we thank you Lord for this great church Lord. I pray that it just continues to like I said before be a beacon to this community Lord. And Lord just all the great things I see starting here and that have been started Lord. I pray that you just increase the power of this church Lord. That your spirit would be upon it and upon the pastor here and upon the people here. And I pray that you'd help us to understand when we're maybe not in the friendship we should be. Maybe someone stabbed us in the back Lord. I pray that you'd help us to just still continue to be friendly even when people stab us in the back Lord that you would just help us to move on to that next friendship. And Lord still be willing to put our necks out on the line for each other and for new friendships Lord. But help us to guard our hearts and not maybe give our whole heart to people in the way of just telling information that we don't need to do. And I pray that you'd bless this church Lord everybody that's traveling everybody that's come. I thank you Lord for my friends here and Jesus name I pray. Amen. Amen. Thank you all for being here tonight. Let's go ahead and turn to our last song. Song number 247. Saved saved. Song number 247. Song number 247. Saved saved. I found a friend who is all to me. His love is ever true. I love to tell how he lifted me. And what his grace can do for you. Saved by his power divine. Saved to life sublime. Life is now sweet and my joy is complete. For I'm saved saved saved. He saves me from every sin and harm. Secures my soul each day. I'm leaning strong on his mighty arm. I know he'll guide me all the way. Saved by his power divine. Saved to life sublime. Life is now sweet and my joy is complete. For I'm saved saved saved. In love he said to me. Come on to me and I'll lead you home to live with me. Saved by his power divine. Saved to life sublime. Life is now sweet and my joy is complete. For I'm saved saved saved. Thank you so much for those sermons Pastor Thompson and I have some good news. We broke our record this evening and so we were really close this morning. We had like 176 so we were like four off but we broke it this evening. It was 129 and we're at 133. So we are gonna have ice cream. If we'll have some ushers help us just get that all organized and stick around grab an ice cream bar. Other than that God bless. You are dismissed. Have a good night. Thank you.