Becoming a True Friend

Ecclesiastes 4:9-12; Proverbs

 Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 (ESV)
9 Two are better than one,
because they have a good reward
for their toil. 10 For if they fall,
one will lift up his fellow. But woe
to him who is alone when he falls
and has not another to lift him up!
 Eccl 4:9-12 (ESV)
9 Two are better than one,
because they have a good
reward for their toil.
The most beautiful word
LOVE
The most bitter word
ALONE
The warmest word
FRIENDSHIP
We were never designed
to function in complete
isolation
 Genesis 2:18 (ESV)
Then the Lord God said, "It is
not good that the man should
be alone; I will make him a
helper fit for him
 Eccl 4:9-12 (ESV)
10 For if they fall, one will lift up
his fellow. But woe to him who is
alone when he falls and has not
another to lift him up!
 Proverbs 13:20 (NLT)
Walk with the wise and become
wise; associate with fools and get
in trouble.
 1 Cor 15:33
Do not be misled: "Bad
company corrupts good
character."
Three types of friends in Proverbs

FATAL Friends
FAITHFUL Friends
A FOREVER Friend
FATAL FRIENDS

Fatal friends will use you for

selfish gain
 Proverbs 18:1 (NLT)
Unfriendly people care only about
themselves; they lash out at
common sense.
 Prov 19:4
Wealth brings many new
friends, but a poor man is
deserted by his friend.
The word “deserts” refers to
being “out of joint” with
someone.
FATAL FRIENDS

Fatal friends are someone

who
gossips
 Prov 20:19
A gossip betrays a confidence;
so avoid a man who talks too
much.

Fatal friends are

someone who gossips

 Gossip is when someone says
something negative or unkind about
someone who is not present, whether
it is true or not

Fatal friends are

someone who gossips

 James 3:5
the tongue is a small member,
yet it boasts of great things.

Fatal friends are

someone who gossips

 Eph 4:29
Let no corrupting talk come out of
your mouths, but only such as is
good for building up, as fits the
occasion, that it may give grace to
those who hear.

Fatal friends are

someone who gossips

FATAL FRIENDS

Fatal friends will lead you to

trouble
 Proverbs 22:24-25 (NKJV)
24 Make no friendship with an
angry man, And with a furious
man do not go, 25 Lest you learn
his ways And set a snare for your
soul.
Fatal friends
will lead you to trouble
 Proverbs 23:19-21 (NLT)
Listen, my son, and be wise, and keep
your heart on the right path. 20 Do
not join those who drink too much
wine or gorge themselves on meat, 21
for drunkards and gluttons become
poor, and drowsiness clothes them in
rags.
Fatal friends
will lead you to trouble
 Proverbs 24:21-22 (NLT)
21 My child, fear the Lord and the
king. Don't associate with rebels, 22
for disaster will hit them suddenly.
Who knows what punishment will
come from the Lord and the king?
Fatal friends
will lead you to trouble
 “Jesus never intended that the
enjoyment of his presence would
replace the enjoyment of the presence
of Christian friends.”
–John Piper
FAITHFUL FRIEND

A Faithful Friend is

LOVING
 Proverbs 17:17 (ESV)
A friend loves at all times, and
a brother is born for adversity.

A Faithful Friend is
LOVING
 “A friend is someone who
knows all about you and
still loves you.”

A Faithful Friend is
LOVING
 Ecclesiastes 4:9
Two are better than one,
because they have a good
reward for their toil.

A Faithful Friend is
LOVING
 “good reward” can be translated “good
return”

The very best investment you will ever

make in life will not be a financial one,
but rather the investment made in
relationships.
A Faithful Friend is
LOVING
 Proverbs 18:24 (NLT)
There are "friends" who
destroy each other, but a real
friend sticks closer than a
brother.

A Faithful Friend is
LOVING
FAITHFUL FRIEND

HONEST and
A Faithful Friend is
CONFIDENTIAL
 Proverbs 27:5-6 (NLT)
5 An open rebuke is better than
hidden love! 6 Wounds from a
sincere friend are better than
many kisses from an enemy

A Faithful Friend is
HONEST and CONFIDENTIAL
 Galatians 6:1-3 (ESV)
Brothers, if anyone is caught in any
transgression, you who are spiritual
should restore him in a spirit of
gentleness. Keep watch on yourself,
lest you too be tempted.
A Faithful Friend is
HONEST and CONFIDENTIAL
 Galatians 6:1-3 (ESV)
2 Bear one another's burdens, and so
fulfill the law of Christ. 3 For if anyone
thinks he is something, when he is
nothing, he deceives himself.

A Faithful Friend is
HONEST and CONFIDENTIAL
 Matthew 18:15 (ESV)
“If your brother sins against you, go
and tell him his fault, between you
and him alone. If he listens to you,
you have gained your brother.”

A Faithful Friend is
HONEST and CONFIDENTIAL
FAITHFUL FRIEND

A Faithful Friend is
FORGIVING
 Proverbs 17:9
Love prospers when a fault is
forgiven, but dwelling on it
separates close friends.

A Faithful Friend is
FORGIVING
 1 Corinthians 13:5
[Love] keeps no record of being
wronged.

A Faithful Friend is
FORGIVING
 Colossians 3:13
Make allowance for each other's
faults, and forgive anyone who
offends you. Remember, the Lord
forgave you, so you must forgive
others.
A Faithful Friend is
FORGIVING
 James 4:4 (NLT)
You adulterers! Don't you realize that
friendship with the world makes you
an enemy of God? I say it again: If you
want to be a friend of the world, you
make yourself an enemy of God.

A Faithful Friend is
FORGIVING
 …but God shows his love for us
in that while we were still
sinners, Christ died for us.
Romans 5:8-9

A Faithful Friend is
FORGIVING
Jesus Friend of
Sinners
 Romans 5:10-11 (ESV)
10 For if while we were enemies we
were reconciled to God by the death
of His Son, much more, now that we
are reconciled, shall we be saved by
His life.
 If we confess our sins, he is
faithful and just to forgive us
our sins and to cleanse us from
all unrighteousness.
1 John 1:9
 Colossians 1:19-22 (NLT)
19 For God in all His fullness was
pleased to live in Christ, 20 and
through Him God reconciled
everything to Himself. He made peace
with everything in heaven and on
earth by means of Christ's blood on
the cross.
 Colossians 1:19-22 (NLT)
21 This includes you who were once
far away from God. You were His
enemies, separated from Him by your
evil thoughts and actions.
 Colossians 1:19-22 (NLT)
22 Yet now He has reconciled you to
Himself through the death of Christ in
His physical body. As a result, He has
brought you into His own presence,
and you are holy and blameless as
you stand before Him without a single
fault.
 Jeremiah 31:3
I have loved you with an
everlasting love…
 Psalms 103:10-12
10 He does not deal with us
according to our sins, nor repay us
according to our iniquities. 11 For
as high as the heavens are above
the earth,
 Psalms 103:10-12
so great is his steadfast love
toward those who fear him; 12 as
far as the east is from the west, so
far does he remove our
transgressions from us.