The Strength of the Bond

We all know that life is better when we're walking it with the right people. But are we allowing our friendships to sharpen us?
​Last Sunday, we continued our series, "A Cord of Three Strands." We took a look at the biblical power of friendship. We’re studying the bond between David and Jonathan to see how we can move from simple social connections to the kind of life-changing, iron-sharpening friendships that God designed us for.

Transcript

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Howdy, y'all. It's the Preacher Man here on a wonderful, fabulous, cool Friday morning. We are recording this podcast on Fridays. And uh when I got up this morning to uh go over to Sonic to get my uh Sonic drink, it the temperature in my truck said it was 78 degrees outside, which I'm sure is a wonderful break for many of us who have been probably had to get out in the heat sometime this week. I get tickled when people start talking about the weather and how the first thing they go to is the fact that, you know, um extreme weather that we get in the wintertime has an effect on you. And extreme weather in the summertime also has an effect on you, and they always kind of talk about the fact that for some reason hot temperatures makes everyone's temper get shorter and uh puts people in a bad mood. So maybe this uh nice cloudy day with some cooler temperatures will cool everybody off for a little bit. Uh make sure you're thanking the good lord for good weather. Um we've been fortunate this so far so far this year to have some good rain, some good temperatures at the beginning of summer. Hey, we know it's gonna get hot in Texas, so that's beside the point. So last Sunday we were continuing to go through um the Court of Three Strands series, looking at different relationships that we are involved in in our lives. And when we think about the relationships that are considered extremely close, um best friends, uh close friends, uh friends who um you feel more like they're they're a brother or a sister than just a good friend. It's been said, and I use it in the lesson, it's been said that the spiritual discipline of Christian friendship is something that is taken for granted in many cases. It's taken for granted in our churches, and it's taken and granted by our ministers and our church leaders. Well, that's that's a a jig toward me when you think about it. I mean, um, but in either case. But um I can see how someone would want to say that. We sometimes want to categorize and and micromanage our friendships. We have our workplace friends, we have the friends that we may have grown up with since we were kids, and then we have our church friends, and depending on what size of town you're in, you know, a lot of times those those three sections are separated, but in other cases it may not be. But the point of the lesson that you're gonna listen to here in a minute is the idea of we all need we all need Jonathan's and David's in our lives. We need that bond that is talked about in Proverbs, that um a friend is born uh is as for is there with you at all times, then a brother is born for adversity. We need that sharpening. We need we need to have people who are um as dedicated to the Lord as you are, to be able to rub off on us as iron sharpens iron. And that might be a kind of a thing to understand, you know, and warn and and basically kind of do a little self-evaluation of hey, who's who who am I rubbing off on and who's rubbing off on me? Because as, you know, like the proverb says, iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another, Proverbs 27, 17. And then we need to have that that we need to be willing to be okay with the idea of just how close Jonathan and David were. They they had a a an appreciation, a love for one another, to the point where Jonathan wanted those who were looking at David's basically because of all the items that he gave David, wanted them to see. When you see David, you see me. That's that's that's the kind of thing you need to understand. I am David, and David is me. I'm giving him a uh my coat, I'm giving him my sword, I'm giving him my belt. All of these things are uh things that have significance to being a prince, and it was a way to not only show honor and glorify David, but it was also to show that this guy is as close to me as a brother they can possibly get. The only relationship when it comes to Christian friends, when it comes to having a best friend who is also a God-fearing, baptized believing follower of Jesus, when it comes to Christian friendship, the only relationship that I could say that would elevate that to a higher plane is the marriage bond between a husband and a wife. And so we're going to um play the sermon that was recorded from last Sunday, and it is titled The Strength of the Bond, and the text that we used in our lesson from last Sunday is found in Proverbs 17-17 and chapter 27-17. And then also we look at the beginnings of the relationship that Jonathan had with David in 1 Samuel 18, verses 1 through 4. And like always, after we get done playing the sermon for you, we will have some closing thoughts. Last Sunday we continued our series on the quarter three strands, looking into different uh relationships that we all know and that we all know we have, that um my goodness. Three, two, one. Last Sunday we looked into another lesson on the Court of Three Strands, been spending our time, as you know, looking into the different relationships that we have as Christians, whether it be in the workplace or whether it be with um other other aspects and areas of our lives. And if I were to tell you to close your eyes and answer this question with a with a mental picture, and I said, Who is your best friend? I think you could honestly know who would pop up in your head. I refer to it in this in the sermon as well, but it's been said that the spiritual discipline of Christian friendship, I don't want to say it's um not being used or practiced, but I think it's a safe bet to say that sometimes it it's taken for granted. We um tend to categorize people into a well, I some well, maybe some some of you do, some of you may not. I don't know. But we tend to categorize um too many things, and it's unfortunate. Um we we have our work friends, we have our uh friends that we grew up with, and then we have our church friends, and and um sometimes some of us may not be comfortable with those three types of friendships intermingling. Um I can see how living in a smaller town or or something like that, that would be a little more difficult. You may not have as many categories, but the it's been it's been said that the spiritual act of Christian friendship is not being practiced enough, not being used enough by churches and by ministers and by church leaders, and that's unfortunate. But we need a Jonathan in our lives. We need a David in our lives, we need to have that bond that um is can only be found when we uh uh establish a relationship that is like Proverbs, where um a friend is forever, a friend is for you, or a friend's gonna be for with you or for you or help you at any time, and a brother is born for adversity. That's another what we talk about, another verse we get we're gonna talk about today in Proverbs, but um the importance of having a a band of brothers, a band of sisters, a a group of good Christian friends is so vital in our relationship with each other, but also our relationship with God. So it's important for us to understand that when we are three, two, one, when we are trying to work this this cord of three strands, we know that we're one of them. We know that a Christian friend is another, and then we have Christ also there as well. And that is a bond, that is a cord that man, when it's working good, it's working great. Because you you have accountability, you have dependability, you have genuine love and trust and care for each other and for the Lord. It is a bond that is not going to be easily broken. The only thing that I could see would be the equivalent or something would be the only or not equivalent, but a a better, a better bond, a closer bond is the bond between husband and wife, man and woman. Um and I talk about that a little bit toward the end of the lesson. So we're gonna go ahead and roll our lesson from last Sunday. And uh the sermon title is The Strength of the Bond. And the text that we rig from in this lesson is gonna be found in Proverbs 17:17. It's gonna be also Proverbs 27 17, and then I'm going to refer to the verse about Jonathan's first established relationship with David in 1 Samuel 18 one through four. And after that we will have some closing thoughts, I think. God wants us to be happy. I mean, yeah, that's that's a that's a very that's a that's a statement that I can say, yes, God if if if God wanted anything for us, it would be that God there that that our lives would be would be would have joy in them. Don't get me wrong on that. But what's more important than happiness when it comes to the to Jehovah is that God wants us to be holy. And so for there to be holiness, there has to be a sense of accountability and help and a family type atmosphere, which is only which is found in the church, obviously. It's found in in biological families in some cases, but you also have to have people around you who are who have been given the freedom and the blessings to come into your life and come into your in your inner circle. You you there there it holiness is a attribute that is learned, is processed, and is practiced. And if the good Lord wants us to be holy, then we need to make sure that everything we do is falling under that guideline. And I I hope that this lesson didn't seem one-sided. And I I wasn't trying to um tell the people last Sunday that you know you need to find Christian friends, you need to find Christian friends, you need to have Christian friends. I wish I could have had more time because the Paul tells us in Corinthians, I believe, that bad company corrupts good morals. And and and there's a lot to say about that. But um maybe I can plug it into um another lesson here uh down the line. But when you think about holiness, when you think about having and and and the desire to have a close bonded friendship like Jonathan and David, if you are surrounding yourself with people who have the same concept of holiness over happiness, and that's what they're trying to do, and that's what you're trying to do, then you're going to have a very, very good bonded relationship. Christian friends are more concerned about helping their friends get to heaven. They're more concerned about having their Christian friends be the good example, to have good fruit, to have to represent Jesus more than anything else. So this is not a lesson about trying to um be to be more sociable, to be more involved in people's lives. No, no, no, no, no. In this day and age, you need a band of brothers, a band of sisters, who will be willing to celebrate with you and not be jealous of your accomplishments, who will be willing to hold you accountable when you're not thinking right, to be willing to suffer with you when things are not so great, and will be willing to defend you shoulder to shoulder, back to back, when the fiery arrows of the devil are being shot at you. Because holiness, I believe, is only elevated in the fact that we are required to be in a group of people who are also trying to be holy. And that group can get bigger, and that group should be open to accepting other people who are wanting the same thing. Something to think about as we continue in our lessons on the chord of three strands. Lord willing, next Sunday, we are going to talk about that elevated relationship that I mentioned in the beginning of this podcast. I said that other than a relationship like Jonathan and David had, that was as close as as being brothers as they could, the love that they had for one another, the only the only relationship that I could say that elevates and be and is higher than a good Christian friend who is also a brother in Christ and is just, you know, your best Christian friend. The only relationship that I can say is elevated higher than that is the marriage bond. So uh this coming Sunday, Lord dwelling, we are going to look at the relationship between a husband and a wife. I titled them, I titled the sermon The Marriage Cord, and just how that chord of three strands is intertwined between man, woman, and Jesus. Look forward to talking about that, and I look forward to having it on the podcast in the next coming weeks. If you have a question about anything that we have been looking into on this podcast about the sermons that were uh done in the past, maybe you have a question about um uh just uh an off uh a topic that we haven't touched on yet. Uh I would love to hear from you. Uh it might can get up, be it might be put on the show, and uh would love to um just read some some uh uh inform you read some about my people who are watching and uh not watching who are listening faithfully. You can contact me. Uh first of all, you can contact me through Facebook. Um there is a Preacher Man Podcast Facebook page. Um I just go to the search engine and type in Preacher Man Podcast and and it'll pop up. And then uh there's a message tab. So you can message me through Facebook through the Preacher Man Podcast, or you can uh do it with uh internet uh gmail. Um I have a Gmail account. It's preacherman1178 at gmail.com. Preacherman1178 at gmail.com. Uh shoot me a message and uh I will reply as soon as I can. Hope that you are having a wonderful day. I hope you have a safe and prosperous and blessed weekend. I hope you're able to uh go to uh church on Sunday and worship with your Christian family in spirit and in truth. And we look forward to having uh another podcast up and coming uh in a couple of days from uh you know my next Friday, Lord willing. In the meantime, um have a good one. Love ya. This is the Preacher Man signing off, and always remember who you are and whose you are.