Robert McLaughlin Bible Ministries |
New England Bible Conference 2008. Part 4. Wednesday PM.
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
THANK YOU FOR BEING A FRIEND
MAR 6:4
Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his hometown and among his own relatives and in his own household.”
How am I at BEING a friend?
1SA 18:1 Now it came about when he (Jonathan) had finished speaking to Saul, that the soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him (David) as himself.
1SA 18:2 And Saul took him that day and did not let him return to his father’s house.
1SA 18:3 Then Jonathan made a covenant with David because he loved him (David) as himself.
1SA 18:4 And Jonathan stripped himself of the robe that was on him and gave it to David, with his armor, including his sword and his bow and his belt.
ITEM ONE – The Robe
To be a great friend you must be transparent… completely aboveboard.
1SA 18:4 And Jonathan stripped himself of the robe that was on him and gave it to David, with his armor
ITEM TWO – The Armor
To be a great friend you must get your friend’s back… you must cover your friend.
1SA 18:4 … including his sword and his bow and his belt.
ITEM THREE – The Sword
HEB 4:12 For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and fable to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
To be a great friend you must have truth circulating in the seven compartments of your stream of consciousness…
1SA 18:4 … including his sword and his bow and his belt.
ITEM FOUR – The Bow
To be a great friend you must stand up for your friend… defending them against injustices… defending them when they can’t defend themselves.
1SA 18:4 … including his sword and his bow and his belt.
ITEM FIVE – The Belt
ISA 11:5 Also righteousness will be the belt about His loins, and faithfulness the belt about His waist.
To be a great friend you must have virtue… a mental attitude of respect for what is right.
What kind of friend are you BEING?
Reaction and Distraction can take place in Christian fellowship and friendship which is why you should be very careful to choose your friends wisely and never let someone stop you from continuing to take in doctrine.
They think that fellowship means putting your doctrinal differences aside and “loving” each other.
PHI 1:9 And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more by means of epignosis knowledge and all discernment,
Kenneth Wuest –
“Paul prays that this love may overflow more and more, but that its application might be brought within the guiding limitations of an accurate knowledge of God’s word”
2SA 1:26 “You have been very pleasant to me. Your love to me was more wonderful than the love of women.”
1SA 20:23 “As for the agreement of which you and I have spoken, behold, the Lord is between you and me forever.”
This is not the Greek word for spirit which is pneuma; this is psuchos which is soul, and it speaks of unity based on metabolized doctrine.
1CO 6:7 “Why not rather be wronged? Why not rather be defrauded?”
You cannot grow spiritually or execute the PPOG through Christian fellowship or social life with Christians.
Wrong experience with God results in wrong experience with people.
They hated each other before, but when it came to crucifying TLJC, they became friends.
GAL 5:15 But if you bite and devour one another, take care lest you be consumed by one another.
If you are a believer in Jesus Christ, the plan of God for you calls for God to be your #1 priority over people. If God is not your #1 priority, then Bible doctrine, which explains invisible God, is not your #1 priority.
All of us rub someone the wrong way at some time, so do not let a personality conflict cause you to be distracted from God’s plan for your life and God’s local assembly for your growth.
Paul says you followed my –
Teaching = doctrine
Conduct = application of that doctrine
Purpose = the glorification of God
Faith = his perception, metabolization, and application of Bible doctrine.
Patience = composure and tolerance under pressure.
Love = his impersonal unconditional love for all.
Perseverance = he didn’t quit in spite of…
Persecutions, abuse, harassment, mistreatment, sufferings = his undeserved sufferings for spiritual growth.
Because spiritual growth and the execution of the PPOG and subsequent glorification of God only occurs through perception of doctrine, not through Christian fellowship.