Amen. All right, we're there in Proverbs chapter number 18. And I'd like you to look down at verse number 24, Proverbs chapter 18, the very last verse of the chapter, verse 24. The Bible says a man that hath friends must show himself friendly. And there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother. And of course, today is I Love My Church Sunday. And this morning I spoke on the subject of how to love your church, how to love the church. And we got some principles from the book of Psalms. And tonight we're going to be here in the book of Proverbs. And I want to speak on the subject of friendships in church and how to build friendships in church. Having friends in church will be something that'll help you get connected to the family of the church family, of course, and it'll help you learn to love. church and to love the church family. And what I found is that the problem when it comes to this idea of friendship is that many people have warped views with regards to friendship. They have thoughts that are not correct with regards to friendship. And I'd like to quickly just give you some thoughts about this from the Word of God. Just three thoughts here from the book of Proverbs on how to have friends in church or how to build friendships in church and I don't want to spend a lot of time obviously we have a potluck and there's food back there so let's try to I'll try to move quickly if you can help me with that I don't know how you can help me with that but just help me alright however way you can and pay attention and say amen and maybe that'll encourage me I don't know let me give you some thoughts with regards to friendships how to build friendships in church how to build friendships in church let me give you three thoughts maybe you can jot these down and we always encourage you to take notes number one I would say this, and you're there in Proverbs 18-24, I want you to notice the Bible says, a man that hath friends must show himself friendly. A man that hath friends must show himself friendly. And when the Bible says here, show himself friendly, this is not only talking about being friendly. Obviously, when we use the word friendly, we're talking about being warm, being kind, being approachable, being someone that's easy to get along with. And I definitely think you can apply this here if you're going to have friends you need to be a friendly person you can't be cold and and mean and on edge. But I think it's more than that. When the Bible says here, a man that has friends must show himself friendly. Yes, of course, be a friendly person, be warm, be approachable, be kind, be someone that's easy to get along with. But I think what it means here and what the deeper teaching is that a man that has friends, they need to have the attributes of friendship. They need to show themselves, show himself And the first thing I'd like to say tonight, and if you want to jot this down you can do that, is this. When it comes to developing friendships, and specifically I'm talking about developing friendships and building friendships within the congregation, within church, how to build friendships in church. Number one, you have to focus on being a friend, not just having friends. You should focus on being a friend, not just having friends. I think that's what this verse is telling us. A man that has friends must show himself friendly. You want to have friends, then you need to be a friend. If you want friends, you have to be a friend. There is a a famous little saying that goes like this, I went out to find a friend, but found none there. I went out to be a friend and found them everywhere. And oftentimes people get this idea and they say, I don't have any friends, or it's hard to make friends, it's hard to find friends. Well, I would say this, it is absolutely difficult to find friends. But if you decide to be a friend, you're going to find that you're going to find friends everywhere. And everyone out there is looking for someone to be a friend. And I think the first thought when it comes to friendship is this. You're there in Acts chapter, excuse me, Proverbs chapter 18. Go with me to the book of Acts, if you would, in the New Testament. Keep your place there in Proverbs. We're going to come back to Proverbs. But go to Acts chapter 9, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John. and then the book of Acts in the New Testament, Acts chapter number 9. The idea is this, that finding friends is difficult, but everyone's looking for a friend, and when you decide that I don't need to find friends, but I need to be a friend, if you focus on being a friend, not just having friends, you're going to find them everywhere. I went out to find a friend, but found none there. I went out to be a friend, and found friends everywhere. You know, something I've learned about friendships, especially as I talk to people with regards to this, sometimes helping people with this, is that I think we have this wrong idea. Oftentimes, we're looking for someone to reach out to us. We're looking for someone to be our friend. The Bible says here, you must show yourself friendly. Sometimes people want friendships that are easy, that don't cost them anything, that doesn't, there's no time invested. They want friends that are available, but available when I need them to be available, not too needy, not too much, not to this, not to that. But the truth is this, that friendship is a relationship and you have to invest in it. The truth is that friendship requires work. It requires investment. And you don't want to sit around and wait for someone to reach out to you. You want to try to be a friend. This is highlighted in the book of Acts. Acts chapter 9. If you look down at verse number 26, I just want to show you this story real quickly. Acts chapter 9 and verse number 26, the Bible says this, and when Saul, and of course, this is the man who will later be known as the Apostle Paul, but he just got saved, the Saul of Tarsus. The Bible says, and when Saul was come to Jerusalem, he assayed, that word assayed is an older word, we don't use it a lot today, but it means he attempted to, or he tried. He assayed, notice these words, to join himself to the disciples. That little phrase there says, means he attempted to join himself to the disciples. He tried to join himself to the disciples, but they were all afraid of him and believed not that he was a disciple. Here the Bible tells us that he tried, he attempted to join the group, to join the church to join the disciples, but he found it difficult. Now he found it difficult because they were afraid of him. And let me just say this, they were afraid of him for good reason. Obviously, there was a reason why they were afraid. In fact, if you look up to verse number 1 in that same chapter, Acts chapter 9 and verse 1, we find the Apostle Paul before His conversion, verse 1 says this, So that's why they were afraid of Him. Because before He got saved, He was breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples. If you quickly look at chapter 8, just the chapter right before, chapter 8 and verse 1 the Bible says this about Saul and Saul was consenting unto his death and of course the first martyr Stephen in the New Testament aside from the Lord Jesus Christ of course the Bible tells us that Saul was there he was consenting unto his death and at that time there was a great persecution against the church which was at Jerusalem and they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria except the apostles. And devout men carried Stephen to his burial and made great lamentation over him. Look at verse 3. As for Saul, he made havoc of the church, entering into every house, and hailing men and women, committed them to prison. So we understand why they were afraid of him. They had good reason to be afraid of him. He was leading the charge against the persecution of the believers. But I want you to notice, if you go back to Acts chapter 9, In verse 26, I think nobody's surprised, if you know the story of the book of Acts and you know the apostle Paul or Saul of Tarsus, it doesn't surprise us that it says that he assayed to join himself to the disciples, but they were all afraid of him and believed not that he was a disciple. But I want you to notice verse 27. Verse 27 might be a little surprising to you if you don't know the story. And verse 27 says this, And he, Saul, was with them coming in and going out at Jerusalem. So notice, in verse 26, He has saved Himself to join them. He tried, He attempted to join Himself to the disciples, was unsuccessful. But then Barnabas reaches out to Him, verse 27. Barnabas took Him and brought Him and declared unto them. And as a result, verse 28, He was with them. He was accepted. Because of Barnabas, Saul was welcomed into the fellowship of believers. The Bible says he was with them coming in and out at Jerusalem. And this is what we need to learn in regards to friendships within the church. Let it never be said, first of all, let me say this, let it never be said of Verity Baptist Church that someone assayed to join themselves unto us and found it difficult. Let's make sure that we have a church filled of Barnabas who are looking out for new people and looking out to welcome people. Let's make sure we're a welcoming church and I'm thankful that we are a welcoming church. But let's make sure that we keep that mindset and that welcoming spirit. Let's strive to be a Barnabas that goes out of his way. Barnabas, Saul wasn't making, Barnabas did not need Saul at this time. Saul wasn't doing anything for Barnabas, yet Barnabas went out of his way to bring him in. He went out of his way to make him feel welcomed. He went out of his way to invest in Saul. He went out of his way to do something for Saul. And this is what we need to learn. You say, I'd like friends at church. I don't have any friends at church. Well, you ought to focus on being a friend, not just having friends. And if you go out and decide, I'm going to be a friend, I'm going to reach out to someone, I'm going to find someone who needs a friend, and I'm going to be a friend to them. I think what you'll find is that when we go out to find a friend, we found none there, but when we go out to be a friend, you'll find them everywhere. And you need to be a friend. You need to focus on being a friend, not just having friends. And let's make sure that we're welcoming people. Let's make sure that we're people that are easy to get along with and likable and friendly. Let's have all those attitudes of friendliness, but let's also have attitudes of friendship. So number one tonight, we have to focus on being a friend, not just having friends. Don't just sit there and say, well somebody needs to reach out to me, and somebody has to make it easy for me, and somebody has to put all the work and effort for me. No, why don't you put the work and effort, why don't you be the Barnabas, why don't you reach out, why don't you make the introduction, why don't you introduce yourself, why don't you say hi, my name is, what's your name, I'm so glad you're here, Saul, thanks for being here. Why don't you be the one that reaches out and be a friend? Because the Bible says, a man that hath friends must show himself friendly. So let's be friendly. Focus on being a friend, not just having friends. Let me give you a second thought this evening. Number one, I said focus on being a friend, not just having friends. If you can, make your way back to Proverbs chapter 27. This time, Proverbs 27, I'm giving you three thoughts from Proverbs. I gave you seven thoughts from Psalms this morning. I'm giving you thoughts from Proverbs this evening. Proverbs chapter 27, and I'd like you to look down at verse number 17. Proverbs chapter 27 and verse number 17, and this is of course a very well-known verse with regards to friendship. Proverbs 27 and verse 17, the Bible says this, iron sharpeneth iron. Iron sharpeneth iron, and the Bible says, so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friends. Number one, focus on being a friend, not just having friends. Let me give you another statement this evening, and it is this. Choose to be a friend who encourages spiritual growth. Choose to be a friend. And I would say this, not only should you choose to be a friend, but you should choose friends that encourage spiritual growth. Why does God, why would God even create this concept of friendship? What is the point of having a friend? The point of having friends is for those friends to make you better. And if you find yourself being made worse by your friends, then you need to find some new friends. Iron sharpeneth iron, the Bible says. So a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friends. You ought to choose and be a friend. You ought to choose and be a friend. I'm saying that very purposefully. Not only should you choose friends that encourage spiritual growth, but you ought to be a friend that encourages spiritual growth. And you've got to ask yourself this question. Keep your place there in Proverbs. Of course, we're coming back to Proverbs, but find with me, if you would, the book of 1 Samuel, 1 Samuel, chapter 23. If you find all the one and two books, they're all clustered together, 1 and 2 Samuel, 1 and 2 Kings, 1 and 2 Chronicles, I'd like you to find 1 Samuel, chapter 23. You've got your place in Proverbs. Do me a favor, when you get to 1 Samuel, keep your place there as well, because we're going to come back to it. 1 Samuel, chapter 23. And you should ask yourself a couple of questions. First of all, ask yourself this, are your friends making you a better Christian? Are your friends making you a better Christian? Or maybe you should ask it this way, are you making your friends better Christians? The Bible says in 1 Samuel 23 and verse 16, of course, if you're familiar with the life of David, you know that Jonathan and David were good friends. The Bible says that their souls have been knit together. And in Proverbs 23 and verse 16, the Bible says this, I want you to notice, that's an amazing verse, I think. The Bible says that Jonathan goes to his friend David, and as a result of Jonathan's friendship to David, Jonathan strengthened his hand. Whose hand? David's hand. He strengthened his hand in God. Now, I've got to ask you the question, could that be said of you as a friend? Could it be said of you as a friend that because of your influence, that because of your friendship, that because of your time spent with an individual, you have strengthened their hand in God? Could it be said of your friends that your friends are making you better? See, you have to not only focus on being a friend, but you not just focus on being a friend, but you have to focus on developing friendships and finding friendships that are going to make you better choose and be a friend who encourages spiritual growth. You have to consider the fact that your friendship should be making you a better person, a better Christian. They should be strengthening your hand in God. Keep your place there in 1st Samuel 23. Go with me if you would to the book of Deuteronomy. Deuteronomy chapter number 13. Deuteronomy chapter number 13, you have to focus on being a friend, not just having friends. And you have to focus on being a good friend. You have to choose and be a friend who encourages spiritual growth. And again, As a result of your influence, when you show up to your little huddle of friends and you've got your group of friends there, are you making that situation better, more spiritual, more godly? People are being sharpened as a result of the things you say, the influence you bring, the things you talk about, or are they becoming worse? Or are your friends making you worse? Are your friends making you better as a Christian or worse? Are you making your friends better as a Christian or worse? Are your friends making you a worse Christian? The Bible says in Deuteronomy 13 and verse 6, I'd like you to see it. Of course, this is in the Old Testament. This is under the Old Testament law. And this doesn't apply to us today. We do not live in Old Testament Israel under this law. So the application, the specific application is not for us, but there's a principle here that we can learn. Deuteronomy 13 and verse 6, the Bible says this. If thy brother, the son of thy mother, or the son of thy daughter, or the wife of thy bosom, notice these words, or thy friend, which is as thine own soul, look at these words, entice thee secretly, saying, let us go and serve other gods which thou has not known, thou nor thy fathers, namely of the gods of the people which are round about you, nigh unto thee. Or far from the one end of the earth, even unto the other end of the earth. Notice verse 8. Look at verse 9. Now again, that doesn't apply to us today. I'm not telling you go out and kill a friend that's being a bad influence. Obviously this is under the Old Testament nation of Israel and the law that they had. But I will say this, obviously this is Old Testament law, but there's a principle here that we can learn from and it is this, that sometimes there are friendships that need to die. Sometimes there are friendships that you just need to kill. There are friendships that you just need to get rid of. Why? Because they're not being a good influence on you. They're not making you better. They're making you worse. The whole point of having friends is that they help you, that they make you better. They're making you a better Christian. Iron sharpeneth iron. And if you have a friend in your life that's making you worse, you need to end that relationship. And if you are a friend that's making others worse, you need to get right with God. But thou shalt surely kill him, thine hand shall be first upon him, to put him to death, and afterwards the hand of all the people." And you've got to ask yourself, are you making your friends better? Are you making them worse? Are your friends making you better or are they making you worse? Does it become a gossip session when you show up? Does it become a carnal conversation when you show up? Iron sharpeneth iron. That is the purpose of having friends. So we need to focus on being a friend, not just having friends. We need to choose and be friends who encourage spiritual growth. And let me just say this to the young people, especially the teenagers. I want to challenge you teenagers. Don't be the rotten apple. Don't be that kid that ruins the youth group. Don't be that kid that needs to bring all the worldly influences and wants to talk about all the bad movies and all the bad TV shows and all the bad YouTube videos and wants to start cussing. Look, just don't be that person. Decide that you're going to be a good friend. You're going to be a good influence. And if you're worldly and you're sinful, keep that to yourself. Don't ruin everyone else. Focus on being a friend, not just having friends, and choose to be a friend who encourages spiritual growth. Choose to be a friend who encourages spiritual growth, and choose to have friends that encourage spiritual growth. Let me give you a third thought this evening, and we'll finish up. I've only been preaching 20 minutes. I'm going to try to close this up in the next 10 minutes so we can get to the potluck, all right? Go to Proverbs chapter 25, if you kept your place there in Proverbs. Proverbs chapter 25. I said focus on being a friend, not just having friends. Choose to be a friend who encourages spiritual growth and make sure you are a friend. Choose friends that encourage spiritual growth and choose to be a friend that encourages spiritual growth. Focus on being a friend. Look, we're about to have a potluck and praise the Lord for it. I'm glad you're here. It's a perfect time to try to be friendly and make friends. You know, sometimes that potluck line can be a little long Take that opportunity to fellowship with your brother or sister in Christ that you happen to be standing with and be a friend. And be a good friend. Number one, focus on being a friend, not just having friends. Number two, choose and be a friend who encourages spiritual growth. But then number three tonight, Proverbs 25. I don't think this will surprise any of you. Proverbs 25 verse 17, the Bible says this, withdraw thy foot from thy neighbor's house. lest he be weary of thee, and so hate thee." Here's point number three. Be careful not to become too comfortable with any one friend. Be careful about spending too much time with any one friend. This is what the Bible says, Proverbs 25, 17. Withdraw thy foot from thy neighbor's house. He says, be careful about spending too much time with any one person. Why? Lest he be weary of thee and so hate thee. Let me just go ahead and say it, and I hope I don't hurt your feelings, but let me just say it. I don't care if you guys want to listen to me about this or not. I'm going to keep preaching it. I'm going to keep teaching it. I'm going to keep preaching it. You do whatever you want. I'm not your mom. I'm not your boss. I don't need to know how you spend your time. I don't care how you spend your time. But I'm going to keep teaching and preaching this because whether you want to listen to me or not, at the very least, the next time you get in a fight with your friend because you're spending too much time with them, at least maybe you'll be so ashamed to make a big deal about it because you'll be like, well, Pastor keeps bringing it up like every other week. That's my goal. Because the Bible says, be careful about spending too much time with any one person. Why? Because you'll end up hating each other. You'll end up getting on each other's nerves. You'll end up saying things you shouldn't say. That's what the Bible says. And look, you do what you want. You do you. But the next time you get in a fight with someone because you spent just a little too much time together, hopefully you'll be like, well, I'm just going to go ahead and forgive him because the pastor keeps bringing this up. If I can shame you into being spiritual, I'll do it. If I can embarrass you into choosing the right, making the right choice, I'll do it. You ought to be careful about spending too much time with any one friend. You say, well, is there anybody I can spend a lot of time with? Here's the people you can spend a whole lot of time with. Your best friend, the Lord Jesus Christ, and your best human friend ought to be your spouse. Spend all the time in the world with your wife. Spend all the time in the world with your husband. Here's the thing. They'll probably get on your nerves, too. And you'll probably get on their nerves, too. But you're married, so they can't do anything about it. You just have to learn to work through that thing and do it. But everyone else, you've got to be careful about spending too much time. Withdraw thy foot from thy neighbor's house, lest he be weary of thee, and so hate thee. And again, I don't care what you do. You do what you want. I'm going to teach the Word of God. 2 Samuel chapter 13. Did you keep your place there in 1 Samuel? Go to 2 Samuel chapter 13. See, here's what happens, and this is the problem with spending too much time sometimes with people, is that you get a little too comfortable. And you get a little too comfortable with any one friend, you never get so comfortable that you sin. with somebody else. 2 Samuel 13 and verse 1. Let me just show you this story. There's so much in this story. I mean, I could preach a whole sermon series just out of this story. But let me just highlight this for you real quickly. 2 Samuel 13 and verse 1. The Bible says this. And it came to pass after this that Absalom, the son of David, had a fair sister whose name was Tamar. And Amnon, the son of David, loved her. And Amnon was so vexed. The word vexed means distressed. that he fell sick for his sister, this is his half-sister Tamar. He's in love with his half-sister Tamar for she was a virgin and Amnon thought it hard for him to do anything to her. So Amnon is in love, quote-unquote, we find out later that it's not really love. But he thinks he's in love with his half-sister Tamar. And to his credit, Amnon thought it hard for him to do anything to her. To his credit, up to verse 2, he has these wrong desires for this young lady, but he's not going to act on them. He thought it hard for him to do anything to her. He thought, you know, I can't do anything about it. I'm not going to act on this. I'm not going to do anything. But the story changes and it hinges on this one little phrase found in verse number three. The Bible says this, but Amnon had a friend. And Amnon had a friend, but it wasn't a very good friend. Amnon had a friend, but he shouldn't have had this friend. Amnon had a friend, but this friend was not sharpening him, was not making him better, was not encouraging him to do right. This was the rotten apple friend. The Bible says, but Amnon had a friend whose name was Jonadab, the son of Shimei, David's brother. And Jonadab was a very subtle man. Doesn't that remind you of the serpent in the Garden of Eden? The serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field. By the way, you know the rotten apples are usually the subtle ones? They're not the ones that get into trouble, they just get you into trouble. In verse 4, the Bible says this, and he said unto him, Why art thou, being the king's son, lean from day to day? You know, you ought to be careful about friends who are always affirming you. You ought to be careful about friends who are always telling you, you're right and you deserve better. You know, the Apostle Paul said, am I therefore become your enemy because I tell you the truth? One thing that my wife and I have found in ministry is that nine times out of ten, you're going to get mad at me, and you're going to get mad at her, and you're not going to get mad at your fellow church members, and you're not going to get mad at the staff and the staff wife. You're not going to get mad, because they're never going to really correct you on anything. See, sometimes people say things in my presence or my wife's presence, and I think to myself, why did you just say that? Now I'm going to have to say something about what you just said. I can't just let you say that. No, that's not okay. That's not fine. Be careful about friends who are constantly affirming you. You're not the Lord Jesus Christ. You're not always right. And if your friends are always telling you like, you're right. You deserve better. You're great. Hey, that's not a good friend. That's a slimy friend. Who's lying to you and telling you everything you do is good. Everything you do is right. The Bible says, that he said to him, why art thou being the king's son, lean from day to day? He says, you deserve more than that. But I want you to notice verse four. Look in the middle of verse four, I want you to notice this. He said unto him, why art thou being the king's son, lean from day to day? And then notice this little phrase. He says, wilt thou not tell me? And the answer that should have came from Amnon at this point should have been, no, I'm not going to tell you. But the problem with Amnon and Jonadab is that they spent a little too much time together. They'd gotten a little too comfortable with each other. In fact, they'd gotten so comfortable that Amnon says, will thou not tell me? Tell me. I need to know. Tell me. And Amnon said unto him, I love Tamar, my brother Absalom's sister. And they began to talk about things they shouldn't have talked about. They began to share things they shouldn't have shared. They got a little too comfortable with each other. Listen, you ought to be careful about spending so much time with someone that you just get, when you get comfortable enough to start sinning and start talking about things, you ought not be, you spend a little too much time. Bible says in verse 5, And John and Ab said unto him, Lay thee down on thy bed, and make thyself sick. And when thy father cometh to see thee, say unto him, I pray thee, let my sister Tamar come. and give me meat, and dress the meat in my sight, that I may see it and eat it at her hand." Here, Jonadab begins to give Amnon a plan. His friend, Amnon had a friend, and Jonadab begins to tell Amnon, well, here's what you should do, and here's how you should, what you should do about it, and here's how you can get your way, and here's how you can get away with it. And I don't want to spend all night on this, but notice how the story ends in verse number 11, 2 Samuel 13, in verse 11, the Bible says this, and when she had brought them, unto him to eat. He puts Jonadab's plan into action and Tamar comes and brings him something to eat because he's pretending to be sick. The Bible says he took hold of her and said unto her, come lie with me, my sister. And she answered him, Nay, my brother, do not force me, for no such thing ought to be done in Israel. Do not thou this folly, and I, whither shall I cause my shame to go? And as for thee, thou shalt be as one of the fools in Israel. Now therefore I pray thee, speak unto the king, for he will not withhold me from thee. Notice verse 14. Howbeit he would not hearken unto her voice, but being stronger than she, look at it, being stronger than she, forced her and lay with her. You know how the story ends? It starts, it starts with Amnon having wrong desires towards a young lady, but he thought it hard to do anything unto her. He wasn't going to act on it. And it ends with Amnon raping her, taking advantage of her, being stronger than she, forced her, and lay with her. And what made the difference? What made the difference was this, Amnon had a friend. But he had a friend he shouldn't have had. He had a bad friend. He had a friend he got a little too comfortable with. He had a friend he spent a little too much time with. Be careful not to become too comfortable with any one friend. Be careful about spending too much time with any one friend. Be careful about getting too comfortable. Look, your job as a friend is to make people better, not worse. You ought to be better church members as a result of your friendship, not worse. Gotta be better Christians as a result of your friendship, not worse. Go back to Proverbs 13, we'll finish this up. Proverbs chapter 13. And by the way, Amnon ends up dying as a result because of this. He gets murdered. And when Amnon is murdered, guess what Jonadab does? He goes to David and he says, let me tell you what Amnon did. That's the kind of friend Jonadab was. And these are the kind of friends we should avoid. And you dead sure should not be this type of friend. When it comes to being a friend, you ought to focus on being a friend, being a good friend, not just having friends. Don't sit around waiting for people to befriend you. Hey, you go befriend them. You go find someone that needs a friend. You go find a soul out there, somewhere out there, and be a partner in this, and be a friend. And make sure no matter who your friends are, whether it's you being a friend to someone or someone being a friend to you, make sure they encourage you in spiritual growth. Make sure they're making you a better Christian. Make sure iron is sharpening iron. And if it's not, maybe you need to kill that relationship. And be careful not to become too comfortable with any one friend. Don't spend too much time with any one person. Don't get too comfortable with any one person. Don't be the Jonadab. To Amnon. Proverbs 13 and verse 20, the Bible says this. He that walketh with wise men, look at it, shall be wise. That's the goal. That's the goal of friendship. Walk with wise men so that you'll be wise. But notice the compare and contrast. But a companion of fools shall be destroyed. That's Amnon. He was a companion of fools. and he was destroyed. So when it comes to friendship, you gotta be a friend. You say, I want friends, then be a friend. A man that has friends will show himself friendly. But let me say this, be a good friend. Be a friend that encourages your friends to do good, to do right, to be spiritual. Iron sharpeneth iron. Don't be a foolish friend and don't have foolish friends. Make sure you don't have people around you that are gonna pull you down and make you worse and get you backslidden. Make sure you're not the Jonadab to an Amnon, and make sure you don't have a Jonadab as an Amnon. Let's bow our heads in that word of prayer. Heavenly Father, Lord, we do love you. And Lord, we thank you for these clear passages with regards to friendship. And Lord, I pray you'd help us to realize that friendship is not just something that we do and there's no purpose to it. It's something that you've instructed us about and help us to have good friendships and spiritual friendships. And Lord, I think the most important thing is that we decide that we're going to be good friends. Help us to be good friends. Lord, I pray you'd help every teenager in this room to make a decision to not be the rotten apple in the youth group and to not be affected by the rotten apple in the youth group. But it's not just teens. I pray you'd help these adults to realize that there is a purpose to friendship. And help us, Lord, to have wisdom when it comes to friendship. And sometimes we need to limit things. Sometimes we need to kill things. And Lord, I pray you'd give us the wisdom to do it. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. All right. Well, God bless you. Thank you for being here tonight. I do just a couple things. First of all, I want to invite you to the