Grace Fellowship Church Pastor/Teacher Jim Rickard Tuesday, August 17,

Doxology Praise God, from whom all blessings flow; Praise Him, all creatures here below; Praise Him above, ye heavenly host; Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.— Amen.

Memory Verse John 15:13, “Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends.”

John 15:12-14 Doctrine of Friends, Friendship.

V. Principles of True Friendship with Fellow Believers.

1. Your fellow believers should be considered “friends”, (loved ones), 3 John 14.

3 John 1:14, “But I hope to see you shortly, and we will speak face to face. Peace be to you. The friends greet you. Greet the friends by name.”

2. True friends are not wishy washy, or Johnny come latelys. A true friend is a consistent companion, Prov 17:17; 18:24.

Prov 17:17, “A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.”

Prov 18:24, “A man of too many friends comes to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.”

3. True friends do not hold back punches. In a loving way they tell it to you straight, Prov 27:6, 9-10, 14.

Prov 27:6, “Faithful are the wounds of a friend, but deceitful are the kisses of an enemy.”

Prov 27:9, “Oil and perfume make the heart glad, so a man’s counsel is sweet to his friend.”

4. Believer friends should be an encouragement and uplifting to one another, especially when one is going through various difficulties or trials, Job 6:14; Prov 27:10.

Job 6:14, “For the despairing man there should be kindness from his friend; so that he does not forsake the fear of the Almighty.”

Prov 27:10, “Do not forsake your own friend or your father’s friend, and do not go to your brother’s house in the day of your calamity.”

5. Believer friends should not cause trouble or dissentions against fellow believers, Psa 15:1-5.

Psa 15:3, “He does not slander with his tongue, nor does evil to his neighbor, nor takes up a reproach against his friend.”

6. Believers lay down their lives for fellow believers, John 15:13; Psa 35:9-14.

Psa 35:14, “I went about as though it, (the afflictions of a friend), were my friend or brother; I bowed down mourning, as one who sorrows for a mother.”

Conclusions:

If you have fellowship with positive believers who have virtue, integrity, and recognize the privacy of your priesthood, you will have a wonderful relationship with them.

The advantage to such friendships is that you are not depending on them; you are depending on the Lord. (Spiritual Self-Esteem)

As a result, you never feel threatened by them and do not get upset when they turn nasty and sarcastic and turn sour.

If you enter into Christian fellowship with unrealistic expectations, you will never grow in grace and never have the type of friendship God desires for you.

VI. Prosperity and Friendship

1. The appropriate application of prosperity blessings is to use that wealth to make friends with the lost and dying to win them for Christ, Luke 16:9.

Luke 16:9, “And I say to you, make friends for yourselves by means of the wealth of unrighteousness, so that when it fails, they will receive you into the eternal dwellings.”

Warren Wiersbe, “All that we have comes from the Lord and must be used for the good of others and the glory of God.”

“One day we must give an account of what we have done with what God has shared with us.”

“Jesus did not commend the steward for cheating his master, but for making good use of his opportunity.”

“If we use God’s wealth as He wills, then He will give us true riches which are our own.”

2. The fool with his money thinks he has many friends, yet he does not, Prov 19:6.

Prov 19:6, “Many will seek the favor of a generous man, and every man is a friend to him who gives gifts.”

3. All believers (friends) will rejoice together in heaven with the knowledge of those who were lost that have been saved, Luke 15:6, 9.

Luke 15:6, “And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!’”

Grace Fellowship Church Tuesday, August 17, 2010 Tape # Friendship with God, Part 3 Upper Room Discourse, Part 403 John 15:13-14; Prov 17:17; 18:24; 27:6, 9-10; Psa 15:3 James H. Rickard Bible Ministries 2010