https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/Friends.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n\tby Jeffrey W. Hamilton<\/p>\n\t
Text: Psalms 119:57-64<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
I. You can tell much about a person by the friends he keeps<\/p>\n
A. “Wait a minute! I’m my own person!”<\/p>\n
B. Perhaps, but outside our family, our friends hold a strong influence in our lives<\/p>\n C. You can’t choose your family, but the people you choose to be your companions\ntell others a lot about what you think is important\n
II. The value of true friends<\/p>\n
A. Examples<\/p>\n
1. Jonathan and David – I Samuel 18:1<\/p>\n
2. Ruth and Naomi – Ruth 1:16-17<\/p>\n
B. Having God as your friend is the best thing you can obtain<\/p>\n
1. Abraham – II Chronicles 20:7<\/p>\n
2. Moses – Exodus 33:11<\/p>\n
C. A true friend is permanent – Proverbs 17:17<\/p>\n
1. True friendship lasts through difficulties – Proverbs 18:24 (last part)<\/p>\n
2. The example of God<\/p>\n
a. Joshua 1:5 – I will not forsake you or fail you<\/p>\n
b. Isaiah 54:10 – God’s love for us will last longer than the hills<\/p>\n
D. Friends are mutually beneficial; they improve each other – Proverbs 27:17<\/p>\n
1. They help each other out – Ecclesiastes 4:9-12<\/p>\n E. Our greatest friend is Jesus, who, not thinking of himself, laid down his own life\nfor his friends – John 15:13\n
III. To have friends, you must be a friend<\/p>\n
A. “A man who has friends must himself be friendly …” (Proverbs 18:24 NKJV)<\/p>\n
B. Don’t leave your friends behind. – Proverbs 27:10<\/p>\n
1. Friendships grow when you lean on your friends for help<\/p>\n
C. But you must be careful who you claim as friend<\/p>\n
1. I Corinthians 15:33 – Evil companions will corrupt our good morals<\/p>\n 2. Gluttonous friends (people without self-restraint) will bring shame, not\njust to yourself, but also to your own family – Proverbs 28:7\n
3. Hang around angry people and you will learn their ways – Proverbs 22:24-25<\/p>\n
D. Evil must always be resisted<\/p>\n
1. Proverbs 1:10, 15 – Don’t be enticed, don’t consent<\/p>\n
2. Psalms 141:4 – Don’t eat the delicacies of the wicked<\/p>\n
IV. Sometimes having God for your friend makes it hard to have friends in this world<\/p>\n A. Psalms 31:11 – Every one leaves. This world does not follow God and does not\nunderstand His gentle ways.\n
B. Job too experienced rejection of his friends during his trials – Job 19:19<\/p>\n
C. Even Jesus experience abandonment<\/p>\n
1. Though He loved His disciples to the end – John 13:1<\/p>\n
2. They left him and fled in his time of greatest need – Mark 14:50<\/p>\n
V. Pick for yourself good friends<\/p>\n
A. Psalms 119:63 – A companion to all who fear God and keeps His laws<\/p>\n
B. Proverbs 13:20 – Walk with the wise and it will rub off on you<\/p>\n C. I John 1:6-7 – There are friends waiting with common belief, won’t you join\nthem?\n D. That we all can say as Paul, “I thank my God in all my remembrance of you.” –\nPhilippians 1:3\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Psalms 119:57-64 I. You can tell much about a person by the friends he keeps A. “Wait a minute! I’m my own person!” B. Perhaps, but outside our family, our friends hold a strong influence in our lives C. You can’t choose your family, but the people you choose to be your companions…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[119,32],"tags":[233,579],"class_list":["post-37601","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-audio","category-sermon","tag-friends","tag-friendship"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":31535,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-it-a-lie-to-friend-someone-on-facebook-that-you-dont-know\/","url_meta":{"origin":37601,"position":0},"title":"Is it a lie to friend someone on Facebook that you don’t know?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 30, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hi there, Please tell me, if we have sent friend requests to people on Facebook that we had never met before and do not know that is like lying then what? Will we keep sinning by lying as long as we leave the friend requests stand to the persons\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":55480,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/choosing-friends\/","url_meta":{"origin":37601,"position":1},"title":"Choosing Friends","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 4, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"by James E. Cooper One of my college professors observed: \"Fate made your relatives; choice makes your friends.\" Those whom you choose to be your closest friends indicate what your attitude is toward spiritual things. It is a psychological fact that we are drawn to those who share our interests.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/11\/friends.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":33230,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-do-i-tell-family-and-friends-they-are-living-in-sin\/","url_meta":{"origin":37601,"position":2},"title":"How do I tell family and friends they are living in sin?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 12, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: How do I know what to say when telling people that they're living in sin, like my family and friends? I'm scared that whatever I say will not even be listened to and then it's just going to be a squabble afterward. But I know, obviously, it is more\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":9834,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/should-i-be-friends-with-an-annoying-person\/","url_meta":{"origin":37601,"position":3},"title":"Should I be friends with an annoying person?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 17, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: In math class, there is a student who is kind of annoying, but very social and has other friends. He wants to be friends with me, but he annoys me, or maybe it's just his way of being a friend. For example, the last time I saw him he\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":23567,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-does-the-bible-say-about-accountability-between-friends\/","url_meta":{"origin":37601,"position":4},"title":"What does the Bible say about accountability between friends?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 14, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Where in the Bible does it say that one should have a good group of friends to keep him accountable? I had a friend who said I should stop seeking my friends' help for accountability and just ask God. If that is true, why does God talk about the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":26265,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/making-friends\/","url_meta":{"origin":37601,"position":5},"title":"Making Friends","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 1, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Text: Proverbs 18:24 (KJV or NKJV) \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0I received a note from a fourteen year old boy. He has moved a lot in his short life, attending ten different schools. The school he is currently attending was the first one where he stayed for more than one year. But it\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Sermon"","block_context":{"text":"Sermon","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/sermon\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37601","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37601"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37601\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37601"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37601"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37601"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}