Grace Bible Church
Tree of Life
A Weekly Review
Week ending 011115
Review of 2014. Friendship.
One of the most precious moments of our memory is that memory includes the concept of people living in your soul even when they are no longer here. It is the perpetuation of thinking about people you loved and are still loving. One of the true tests of love is that: Do you think of them when they are gone? You remember them in a very beautiful and wonderful way. PRO 17:17 A friend loves at all times, And a brother is born for adversity.
They will never stab you in the back socially or economically. Your true friends, which is what Ray was, also will guard your privacy. They will not gossip or malign you as a main principle of friendship. True friends protect your back. You can be honest with your friends; you can level with them, and that is a part of you being faithful to them. Cicero said, “A friend is, as it were, a second self”. Aristotle asked a question, “What is a true friend?” And then he answered by, saying, “A single soul dwelling in two bodies”!
PRO 27:10, “Do not forsake your own friend or your father’s friend.”,
And so my one message for the month of February will dwell with the principle of friends and how very fortunate we are to have them .
PRO 12:26, The righteous is a guide to his neighbor, But the way of the wicked leads them astray.
The godly give good advice to their friends; the wicked lead them astray. On the other hand , the Bible says gossip also separates best friends.
PRO 16:28, A perverse man spreads strife, And a slanderer separates intimate friends.
We are also told that a troublemaker plants seeds of strife; gossip separates the best of friends. (NLT)
PRO 17:9, He who covers a transgression seeks love, But he who repeats a matter separates intimate friends.
There are friends who destroy each other, but a real friend sticks closer than a brother.
Reliable friends are hard to find. PRO 20:6, Many will say they are loyal friends, but who can find one who is truly reliable?
Purity and integrity gain the friendship of Kings in PRO 22:11, Whoever loves a pure heart and gracious speech will have the king as a friend.
The wrong friends can have a negative influence as PRO 22:25 states as being identified with angry people or associate with hot‑tempered people.
PRO 27:5-6, Better is open rebuke Than love that is concealed. Better than hidden love! Wounds from a sincere friend are better than many kisses from an enemy.
Counsel from a friend is also said to pleasing; PRO 27:9, The heartfelt counsel of a friend is as sweet as perfume and incense. Friends shape and sharpen one another.
PRO 27:17, As iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend.
True friends strengthen and help each other ECC 4:9-12. And they help each other succeed. If one person falls, the other can reach out and in trouble . But someone who falls alone is just real trouble. Likewise, two people lying close together can keep each other warm. But how can one be warm alone? A person standing alone can be attacked and defeated, but two can stand back‑to‑back and conquer. Three are even better, for a triple‑braided cord is not easily broken.
JOH 15:13-15, There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for ones friends. You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you slaves, because a master doesn’t confide in his slaves.
Such wicked people are detestable to the LORD, but he offers his friendship to the godly. Believers enjoy friendship with God ROM 5:10. For since our friendship with God was restored by the death of his Son while we are still his enemies, we will certainly be saved through the life of his Son.
Examples of Good Friends in the Bible
David and Jonathan (1 Sa 18:1‑3, 20:17, 42; 2 Sa 1:26).
David and Abiathar (1 Sa 22:23).
David and Nahash (2 Sa 10:2).
David and Hushai (2 Sa 15:32-37).
Elijah and Elisha (2 Ki 2:2).
Job’s Friends (JOB 2:11).
Ruth and Naomi (RUT 1:16‑17).