Who are your best friends?

1
Who are your best friends?

• These choices often will reveal your values as
  well as your future! (Prov 2717)

2
Who are your best friends?

• (Proverbs 2717) As iron sharpens iron, So a man
  sharpens the countenance of his friend.

3
Who are your best friends?

• Judge yourself by the friends you choose.

4
Who are your best friends?

• Judge yourself by the friends you choose.
• Wise men know this! (Prov 2210-11)

5
Who are your best friends?

• (Proverbs 2210-11) - Cast out the scoffer, and
  contention will leave Yes, strife and reproach
  will cease. 11 He who loves purity of heart And
  has grace on his lips, The king will be his
  friend.

6
Who are your best friends?

• We most of all need to be a friend of God and of
  Christ. (Jn 1111 1514-15 Jas 223)

7
Who are your best friends?

• (John 1111) These things He said, and after
  that He said to them, Our friend Lazarus sleeps,
  but I go that I may wake him up.

8
Who are your best friends?

• (John 1514-15) You are My friends if you do
  whatever I command you. 15 No longer do I call
  you servants, for a servant does not know what
  his master is doing but I have called you
  friends, for all things that I heard from My
  Father I have made known to you.

9
Who are your best friends?

• (James 223 NKJV) And the Scripture was
  fulfilled which says, Abraham believed God, and
  it was accounted to him for righteousness. And
  he was called the friend of God.

10
Who are your best friends?

• Do not let your friends come by accident. Parents
  can have a great influence here!

11
Who are your best friends?

• Do not let your friends come by accident. Parents
  can have a great influence here!
• What made king David the great man that he was?
  (1 Sam 1314 Acts 1322)

12
Who are your best friends?

• (1 Samuel 1314 NKJV) But now your kingdom
  shall not continue. The LORD has sought for
  Himself a man after His own heart, and the LORD
  has commanded him to be commander over His
  people, because you have not kept what the LORD
  commanded you.

13
Who are your best friends?

• (Acts 1322 NKJV) And when He had removed him,
  He raised up for them David as king, to whom also
  He gave testimony and said, I have found David
  the son of Jesse, a man after My own heart, who
  will do all My will.

14
Who are your best friends?

• David had much opposition and turmoil in his life.

15
Who are your best friends?

• Early in his life he made a decision to walk by
  faith. What follows is no accident!

16
The Making of a Friendship --- Two Great Stands
of Faith

• Men of faith will have occasions in life where
  their faith stands out. (Jas 218)

17
The Making of a Friendship --- Two Great Stands
of Faith

• (James 218 NKJV) But someone will say, You
  have faith, and I have works. Show me your faith
  without your works, and I will show you my faith
  by my works.

18
The Making of a Friendship --- Two Great Stands
of Faith

• To live by faith will cause you to go against the
  crowd.

19
The Making of a Friendship --- Two Great Stands
of Faith

• When this happens it is a characteristic of your
  life rather than an occasional
  choice to be different. (Rom 122)

20
The Making of a Friendship --- Two Great Stands
of Faith

• (Romans 122 NKJV) And do not be conformed to
  this world, but be transformed by the renewing of
  your mind, that you may prove what is that good
  and acceptable and perfect will of God.

21
The Making of a Friendship --- Two Great Stands
of Faith

• Jonathans faith caused him to be placed at great
  risk. (1 Sam 141, 8-10)

22
The Making of a Friendship --- Two Great Stands
of Faith

• (1 Samuel 141 NKJV) Now it happened one day
  that Jonathan the son of Saul said to the young
  man who bore his armor, Come, let us go over to
  the Philistines garrison that is on the other
  side. But he did not tell his father.

23
The Making of a Friendship --- Two Great Stands
of Faith

• (1 Samuel 148-10 NKJV) Then Jonathan said,
  Very well, let us cross over to these men, and
  we will show ourselves to them. 9 If they say
  thus to us, Wait until we come to you, then we
  will stand still in our place and not go up to
  them. 10 But if they say thus, Come up to
  us, then we will go up. For the LORD has
  delivered them into our hand, and this will be a
  sign to us.

24
The Making of a Friendship --- Two Great Stands
of Faith

• All Jonathan needed to know was the will of God!

25
The Making of a Friendship --- Two Great Stands
of Faith

• All Jonathan needed to know was the will of God!
• This stand of faith would cause a victory for the
  people of God. (1 Sam 1414-15)

26
The Making of a Friendship --- Two Great Stands
of Faith

• (1 Samuel 1414-15 NKJV) That first slaughter
  which Jonathan and his armorbearer made was about
  twenty men within about half an acre of land.
  15 And there was trembling in the camp, in the
  field, and among all the people. The garrison and
  the raiders also trembled and the earth quaked,
  so that it was a very great trembling.

27
The Making of a Friendship --- Two Great Stands
of Faith

• Sadly, Jonathan had a faith that his father could
  no longer understand. Often they would now be in
  conflict. (1 Sam 1439, 43-45)

28
The Making of a Friendship --- Two Great Stands
of Faith

• (1 Samuel 1439 NKJV) For as the LORD lives,
  who saves Israel, though it be in Jonathan my
  son, he shall surely die. But not a man among
  all the people answered him.

29
The Making of a Friendship --- Two Great Stands
of Faith

• (1 Samuel 1443-45 NKJV) Then Saul said to
  Jonathan, Tell me what you have done. And
  Jonathan told him, and said, I only tasted a
  little honey with the end of the rod that was in
  my hand. So now I must die! 44 And Saul
  answered, God do so and more also for you shall
  surely die, Jonathan.

30
The Making of a Friendship --- Two Great Stands
of Faith

• 45 But the people said to Saul, Shall Jonathan
  die, who has accomplished this great deliverance
  in Israel? Certainly not! As the LORD lives, not
  one hair of his head shall fall to the ground,
  for he has worked with God this day. So the
  people rescued Jonathan, and he did not die.

31
The Making of a Friendship --- Two Great Stands
of Faith

• Jonathans faith caused him to have the right
  kind of influence! That would make
  a difference in his choice of friends.

32
The Making of a Friendship --- Two Great Stands
of Faith

• What would a young person do who live by faith
  today?

33
The Making of a Friendship --- Two Great Stands
of Faith

• What would a young person do who live by faith
  today?
• David also placed himself at risk against
  Goliath.

34
The Making of a Friendship --- Two Great Stands
of Faith

• What would a young person do who live by faith
  today?
• David also placed himself at risk against
  Goliath.
• Did Saul understand this kind of faith? No, he
  had turned to a self-centered faith which was
  no faith at all. (1 Sam 1732-37)

35
The Making of a Friendship --- Two Great Stands
of Faith

• (1 Samuel 1732-37 NKJV) Then David said to
  Saul, Let no mans heart fail because of him
  your servant will go and fight with this
  Philistine. 33 And Saul said to David, You
  are not able to go against this Philistine to
  fight with him for you are a youth, and he a man
  of war from his youth.

36
The Making of a Friendship --- Two Great Stands
of Faith

• 34 But David said to Saul, Your servant used
  to keep his fathers sheep, and when a lion or a
  bear came and took a lamb out of the flock, 35
  I went out after it and struck it, and delivered
  the lamb from its mouth and when it arose
  against me, I caught it by its beard, and struck
  and killed it.

37
The Making of a Friendship --- Two Great Stands
of Faith

• 36 Your servant has killed both lion and bear
  and this uncircumcised Philistine will be like
  one of them, seeing he has defied the armies of
  the living God. 37 Moreover David said, The
  LORD, who delivered me from the paw of the lion
  and from the paw of the bear, He will deliver me
  from the hand of this Philistine. And Saul said
  to David, Go, and the LORD be with you!

38
The Making of a Friendship --- Two Great Stands
of Faith

• David even let Goliath know who was to get the
  glory. (1 Sam 1745-47)

39
The Making of a Friendship --- Two Great Stands
of Faith

• (1 Samuel 1745-47 NKJV) Then David said to the
  Philistine, You come to me with a sword, with a
  spear, and with a javelin. But I come to you in
  the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the
  armies of Israel, whom you have defied.

40
The Making of a Friendship --- Two Great Stands
of Faith

• 46 This day the LORD will deliver you into my
  hand, and I will strike you and take your head
  from you. And this day I will give the carcasses
  of the camp of the Philistines to the birds of
  the air and the wild beasts of the earth, that
  all the earth may know that there is a God in
  Israel.

41
The Making of a Friendship --- Two Great Stands
of Faith

• 47 Then all this assembly shall know that the
  LORD does not save with sword and spear for the
  battle is the Lords, and He will give you into
  our hands.

42
The Making of a Friendship --- Two Great Stands
of Faith

• If Saul had this kind of faith the later
  bitterness and envy would have not risen
  up to destroy him. (1 Sam 187-8)

43
The Making of a Friendship --- Two Great Stands
of Faith

• (1 Samuel 187-8 NKJV) So the women sang as they
  danced, and said Saul has slain his thousands,
  And David his ten thousands. 8 Then Saul was
  very angry, and the saying displeased him and he
  said, They have ascribed to David ten thousands,
  and to me they have ascribed only thousands. Now
  what more can he have but the kingdom?

44
The Making of a Friendship --- Two Great Stands
of Faith

• Why did David and Jonathan become friends? (1 Sam
  1757-181)

45
The Making of a Friendship --- Two Great Stands
of Faith

• (1 Samuel 1757-58 NKJV) Then, as David returned
  from the slaughter of the Philistine, Abner took
  him and brought him before Saul with the head of
  the Philistine in his hand. 58 And Saul said to
  him, Whose son are you, young man? So David
  answered, I am the son of your servant Jesse the
  Bethlehemite.

46
The Making of a Friendship --- Two Great Stands
of Faith

• (1 Samuel 181 NKJV) Now when he had finished
  speaking to Saul, the soul of Jonathan was knit
  to the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as
  his own soul.

47
The Making of a Friendship --- Two Great Stands
of Faith

• Here were men of faith and because of that they
  were men of principle.

48
The Making of a Friendship --- Two Great Stands
of Faith

• Here were men of faith and because of that they
  were men of principle.
• Few delights can equal the mere presence of one
  whom we trust utterly.

49
The Making of a Friendship --- Two Great Stands
of Faith

• They made a commitment to the genuine good
  towards each other that no force
  on earth could move. (1 Sam 183-4)

50
The Making of a Friendship --- Two Great Stands
of Faith

• (1 Samuel 183-4 NKJV) Then Jonathan and David
  made a covenant, because he loved him as his own
  soul. 4 And Jonathan took off the robe that was
  on him and gave it to David, with his armor, even
  to his sword and his bow and his belt.

51
The Testing of Their Friendship

• In time every friendship based on faith and
  principle will be tested.

52
The Testing of Their Friendship

• In time every friendship based on faith and
  principle will be tested.
• Anything built on real faith will stand the test.
  (1 Jn 54-5)

53
The Testing of Their Friendship

• (1 John 54-5 NKJV) For whatever is born of God
  overcomes the world. And this is the victory that
  has overcome the world our faith. 5 Who is he
  who overcomes the world, but he who believes that
  Jesus is the Son of God?

54
The Testing of Their Friendship

• There are other kinds of friendship that will
  fail under test or compromise faith for the sake
  of friendship. Neither of these are worth having!

55
The Testing of Their Friendship

• There are other kinds of friendship that will
  fail under test or compromise faith for the sake
  of friendship. Neither of these are worth having!
• A friend is one who makes me do my best.

56
The Testing of Their Friendship

• There are other kinds of friendship that will
  fail under test or compromise faith for the sake
  of friendship. Neither of these are worth having!
• A friend is one who makes me do my best.
• It is better to keep a friend from falling than
  to help him up.

57
The Testing of Their Friendship

• Sauls irrational hatred of David provided a
  great test.

58
The Testing of Their Friendship

• Sauls irrational hatred of David provided a
  great test.
• Saul became in many ways a spear thrower. (1
  Sam 1810-11)

59
The Testing of Their Friendship

• (1 Samuel 1810-11 NKJV) And it happened on the
  next day that the distressing spirit from God
  came upon Saul, and he prophesied inside the
  house. So David played music with his hand, as at
  other times but there was a spear in Sauls
  hand. 11 And Saul cast the spear, for he said,
  I will pin David to the wall! But David escaped
  his presence twice.

60
The Testing of Their Friendship

• Have you ever had to go against your own parents?
  (Mat 1037)

61
The Testing of Their Friendship

• (Matthew 1037 NKJV) He who loves father or
  mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he
  who loves son or daughter more than Me is not
  worthy of Me.

62
The Testing of Their Friendship

• There are great prices to pay when you go against
  the irrational bitterness of a father, especially
  when he is the king.

63
The Testing of Their Friendship

• Jonathan was loyal to David because the
  friendship was based upon faith.

64
The Testing of Their Friendship

• Jonathan was loyal to David because the
  friendship was based upon faith.
• He boldly spoke the truth to his father because
  he was a man of principle! (1 Sam 194-6)

65
The Testing of Their Friendship

• (1 Samuel 194-6 NKJV) Thus Jonathan spoke well
  of David to Saul his father, and said to him,
  Let not the king sin against his servant,
  against David, because he has not sinned against
  you, and because his works have been very good
  toward you.

66
The Testing of Their Friendship

• 5 For he took his life in his hands and killed
  the Philistine, and the LORD brought about a
  great deliverance for all Israel. You saw it and
  rejoiced. Why then will you sin against innocent
  blood, to kill David without a cause? 6 So
  Saul heeded the voice of Jonathan, and Saul
  swore, As the LORD lives, he shall not be
  killed.

67
The Testing of Their Friendship

• A man of principle will defend a friend when he
  is right and rebuke him when he is wrong. (Prov
  276,9,17)

68
The Testing of Their Friendship

• (Proverbs 276 NKJV) Faithful are the wounds of
  a friend, But the kisses of an enemy are
  deceitful.

69
The Testing of Their Friendship

• (Proverbs 279 NKJV) Ointment and perfume
  delight the heart, And the sweetness of a mans
  friend gives delight by hearty counsel.

70
The Testing of Their Friendship

• (Proverbs 2717 NKJV) As iron sharpens iron, So
  a man sharpens the countenance of his friend.

71
The Testing of Their Friendship

• Real friends will not follow anothers personal
  vendetta!

72
The Testing of Their Friendship

• Real friends will not follow anothers personal
  vendetta!
• Jonathan warned David in spite of Saul.

73
The Testing of Their Friendship

• Real friends will not follow anothers personal
  vendetta!
• Jonathan warned David in spite of Saul.
• Even after a successful first rebuke, Saul went
  back to pursuing David.

74
The Testing of Their Friendship

• Saul tries to entice Jonathan by the prospect of
  the kingdom being his one day. (1
  Sam 2030-31)

75
The Testing of Their Friendship

• (1 Samuel 2030-31 NKJV) Then Sauls anger was
  aroused against Jonathan, and he said to him,
  You son of a perverse, rebellious woman! Do I
  not know that you have chosen the son of Jesse to
  your own shame and to the shame of your mothers
  nakedness?

76
The Testing of Their Friendship

• 31 For as long as the son of Jesse lives on
  the earth, you shall not be established, nor your
  kingdom. Now therefore, send and bring him to me,
  for he shall surely die.

77
The Testing of Their Friendship

• The kingdom was not Sauls to give. (1 Sam
  1313-14)

78
The Testing of Their Friendship

• (1 Samuel 1313-14 NKJV) And Samuel said to
  Saul, You have done foolishly. You have not kept
  the commandment of the LORD your God, which He
  commanded you. For now the LORD would have
  established your kingdom over Israel forever.

79
The Testing of Their Friendship

• 14 But now your kingdom shall not continue.
  The LORD has sought for Himself a man after His
  own heart, and the LORD has commanded him to be
  commander over His people, because you have not
  kept what the LORD commanded you.

80
The Testing of Their Friendship

• Friendship cannot be bought with things!

81
The Testing of Their Friendship

• Friendship cannot be bought with things!
• Many parents make this mistake.

82
The Testing of Their Friendship

• In the second rebuke Saul tried to kill his own
  son. (1 Sam 2032-34 228)

83
The Testing of Their Friendship

• (1 Samuel 2032-34 NKJV) And Jonathan answered
  Saul his father, and said to him, Why should he
  be killed? What has he done? 33 Then Saul cast
  a spear at him to kill him, by which Jonathan
  knew that it was determined by his father to kill
  David.

84
The Testing of Their Friendship

• 34 So Jonathan arose from the table in fierce
  anger, and ate no food the second day of the
  month, for he was grieved for David, because his
  father had treated him shamefully.

85
The Testing of Their Friendship

• (1 Samuel 228 NKJV) All of you have conspired
  against me, and there is no one who reveals to me
  that my son has made a covenant with the son of
  Jesse and there is not one of you who is sorry
  for me or reveals to me that my son has stirred
  up my servant against me, to lie in wait, as it
  is this day.

86
The Testing of Their Friendship

• Men of principle will stand up against the spear
  throwers.

87
The Testing of Their Friendship

• Men of principle will stand up against the spear
  throwers.
• The pain would be relieved because Jonathan did
  what was right and would not remain silent. May
  we have more men like this in the church!

88
The Loss of a Great Friend

• There came a time where they had to separate. (1
  Sam 2041-42)

89
The Loss of a Great Friend

• (1 Samuel 2041-42 NKJV) As soon as the lad had
  gone, David arose from a place toward the south,
  fell on his face to the ground, and bowed down
  three times. And they kissed one another and
  they wept together, but David more so.

90
The Loss of a Great Friend

• 42 Then Jonathan said to David, Go in peace,
  since we have both sworn in the name of the LORD,
  saying, May the LORD be between you and me, and
  between your descendants and my descendants,
  forever. So he arose and departed, and
  Jonathan went into the city.

91
The Loss of a Great Friend

• There was no selfish interest here. This had to
  be done!

92
The Loss of a Great Friend

• Jonathan knew that the Lord would be with him.

93
The Loss of a Great Friend

• Jonathan knew that the Lord would be with him.
• They had one final meeting. (1 Sam 2315-18)

94
The Loss of a Great Friend

• (1 Samuel 2315-18 NKJV) So David saw that Saul
  had come out to seek his life. And David was in
  the Wilderness of Ziph in a forest. 16 Then
  Jonathan, Sauls son, arose and went to David in
  the woods and strengthened his hand in God.

95
The Loss of a Great Friend

• 17 And he said to him, Do not fear, for the
  hand of Saul my father shall not find you. You
  shall be king over Israel, and I shall be next to
  you. Even my father Saul knows that. 18 So the
  two of them made a covenant before the LORD. And
  David stayed in the woods, and Jonathan went to
  his own house.

96
The Loss of a Great Friend

• What would you tell your best friend if you knew
  it would be your last?

97
The Loss of a Great Friend

• No problem is ever as dark when you have a
  friend to face it with you.

98
The Loss of a Great Friend

• No problem is ever as dark when you have a
  friend to face it with you.
• There was no regret over the kingdom because
  Jonathan had put God first.

99
The Loss of a Great Friend

• No problem is ever as dark when you have a
  friend to face it with you.
• There was no regret over the kingdom because
  Jonathan had put God first.
• Friendship is in loving rather than in being
  loved.

100
The Loss of a Great Friend

• No problem is ever as dark when you have a
  friend to face it with you.
• There was no regret over the kingdom because
  Jonathan had put God first.
• Friendship is in loving rather than in being
  loved.
• What would your friend strengthen you in? What is
  first in your life?

101
The Loss of a Great Friend

• The death of Jonathan

102
The Loss of a Great Friend

• Jonathan died with his father in battle. (1 Sam
  316)

103
The Loss of a Great Friend

• (1 Samuel 316 NKJV) So Saul, his three sons,
  his armorbearer, and all his men died together
  that same day.

104
The Loss of a Great Friend

• Jonathan loved his father and willingly died with
  him.

105
The Loss of a Great Friend

• Jonathan loved his father and willingly died with
  him.
• A man of faith will always stand where he should.

106
The Loss of a Great Friend

• David remembered both Saul and Jonathan in the
  Song of the Bow.

107
The Loss of a Great Friend

• David remembered both Saul and Jonathan in the
  Song of the Bow.
• David never gave in to be bitter like Saul. (2
  Sam 118, 23)

108
The Loss of a Great Friend

• (2 Samuel 118 NKJV) and he told them to teach
  the children of Judah the Song of the Bow indeed
  it is written in the Book of Jasher

109
The Loss of a Great Friend

• (2 Samuel 123 NKJV) Saul and Jonathan were
  beloved and pleasant in their lives, And in their
  death they were not divided They were swifter
  than eagles, They were stronger than lions.

110
The Loss of a Great Friend

• Jonathan loss was a great loss to David. They
  were separated only for a while. (2 Sam 125-27)

111
The Loss of a Great Friend

• (2 Samuel 125-27 NKJV) How the mighty have
  fallen in the midst of the battle! Jonathan was
  slain in your high places. 26 I am distressed
  for you, my brother Jonathan You have been very
  pleasant to me Your love to me was wonderful,
  Surpassing the love of women. 27 How the
  mighty have fallen, And the weapons of war
  perished!

112
The Loss of a Great Friend

• Will you have a great reunion one day?

113
The Loss of a Great Friend

• Will you have a great reunion one day?
• Old friends, old scenes will lovelier be As more
  of heav'n in each we see.

114
The Loss of a Great Friend

• Will you have a great reunion one day?
• Old friends, old scenes will lovelier be As more
  of heav'n in each we see.
• May each of you find this kind of friendship in
  your life.

115
The Loss of a Great Friend

• You should have that kind of friendship in your
  marriage. (1 Pt 37)

116
The Loss of a Great Friend

• Will you have a great reunion one day?
• Old friends, old scenes will lovelier be As more
  of heav'n in each we see.
• May each of you find this kind of friendship in
  your life.
• You should have that kind of friendship in your
  marriage. (1 Pt 37)

117
The Loss of a Great Friend

• (1 Peter 37 NKJV) Husbands, likewise, dwell
  with them with understanding, giving honor to the
  wife, as to the weaker vessel, and as being heirs
  together of the grace of life, that your prayers
  may not be hindered.

118
The Loss of a Great Friend

• If we would build on a sure foundation in
  friendship, we must love our friends for their
  sake rather than for our own.

119
The Loss of a Great Friend

• We surely ought to have it among our brethren.
  (Jn 1334-35)

120
The Loss of a Great Friend

• (John 1334-35 NKJV) A new commandment I give
  to you, that you love one another as I have
  loved you, that you also love one another. 35
  By this all will know that you are My disciples,
  if you have love for one another.

121
The Loss of a Great Friend

• There is no friend like an old friendWho has
  shared our morning days,No greeting like his
  welcome,No homage like his praise. - Oliver
  Wendell Holmes