Godly Friendships, Part 6

Dr. Michael Youssef, beginning this episode of Leading the Way Audio. The Bible gives us specific character traits of people whom we should avoid for close friendship. Now, I'm not talking about business associates. I'm not talking about people that you have to deal with all the time. I'm talking about people who are close to you.

That's what I'm talking about. Relationships offer both positive and negative influences in life. And today, Dr. Youssef looks at the long-term impact of relationship choices. It's the final message in his series, Godly Friendships. Do remember that leading the way is listener supported, relying on God's provision through God's people. Learn more about Dr. Youssef and the impact of ministry by visiting ltw.org.

Join me now in listening as Dr. Michael Youssef begins. Sometimes people everywhere, particularly young people, they are so thirsty for companionship. They are so thirsty for friendship. They end up choosing the wrong friends. And yet the Bible tells us again and again that there are some kinds of friends that you are better off without.

The Bible repeats that again and again and shows us example after example. In 2 Chronicles chapter 24, it tells us how King Joash chose the wrong friends and he ended up not only ruining his own life but the life of a nation. Now, you might not be able to choose your neighbors. You might not be able, young man and young woman, to choose who sits next to you in a classroom. You might not be able to choose a colleague at work but you certainly able and the Bible tells us that we must carefully and wisely choose our friends. Choose with whom we're going to spend our time. Choose carefully who is going to spend their life with us. Why is it so important?

Why does the Bible repeats it again and again, both Old and New Testament? Because close friends have enormous impact upon our morals. They have enormous impact upon our character.

They have an enormous impact upon our values. Proverb 1320 says, he who walks with the wise will be wise but the companion of fools will suffer harm. Choose your friends wisely. Ben Carson said that, he said, choosing and surrounding yourself with bad friends is like being a crab in a crab barrel in a fish market. Do you know why they never put a lid on a crab barrel?

Because if a crab starts to crawl out the others will grab hold of it and bring it back down again. And the Bible gives us specific character traits of people whom we should avoid for close friendship. Now, I'm not talking about business associates. I'm not talking about people that you have to deal with all the time. I'm not talking even about people that you have to befriend in order to testify to them and witness to them.

I'm not talking about any of this. I'm talking about covenantal friends. I'm talking about close friends. I'm talking about people with whom you spend the majority of your time. I'm talking about people who are close to you.

That's what I'm talking about. Proverbs teaches to avoid certain types of friends. I have three in number. Let me tell you very quickly who they are. Number one, what the Bible calls the naive. The second one is the scornful. And the third one is the fool.

Let me take those one by one. First, the naive. What does that mean?

Well, the Hebrew word means to be open. Open to the persuasion of others. Easily enticed and duped by others. The person who has no convictions. A person who take a stand on both sides of the issues.

A person whose convictions are negotiable. That's the person to be avoided. That is the person's close friendship has got to be avoided at any cost. Listen, I can tell you from my personal experience how the devil used bad friends to turn me away from the Lord for a period.

I won't get into that. In Proverbs chapter 1 verse 32 says that person is directionless. In 7, 7 it says that person lacks discernment. In 14, 15 it says that person is gullible. In 7, 6 it says that person easily enticed. In 22, 3 it says that person is blind to moral dangers and is to be avoided as a friend. That's the first characteristic of a person to avoid. The second one, the Scripture said, is to avoid the scoffer. In Proverbs 21, 24 says that person suffers from an intellectual arrogance.

They are in love with their opinion. That's the kind of person he's talking about. In chapter 1 verse 22 says he delights in a scornful and mocking attitude towards spiritual things.

Toward God and toward God's truth. That's the kind of person to avoid. In chapter 9 of Proverbs verse 7 and following it says that person hates rebuke. That person hates correction. And that type of character is to be avoided as a close friend.

And the third characteristic is this. The person to avoid is the fool. When you say, wait a minute, we teach our children not to call others fool.

What are you talking about? This word has nothing to do with the person's mental capacity. Certainly it does not mean stupid.

That's not what it means in a way we use that word. This person may be getting straight A at school. That person may be very successful in life.

This person may have string of degrees after their name. But that person the Bible called is a fool. Why? Because that is a spiritual description and not intellectual or mental description. The word here has to do with his spiritual attitude. This is the kind of person who is deeply in love with his own opinion. And in chapter 1 verse 7 it says this person despises wisdom and instruction.

Why? Because he or she is rebellion against God and God's truth. And he's to be avoided. That's not my three points of my sermon. These are just preliminary three points.

I've got three more points to give you. But somebody will say, oh wait a minute, wait a minute preacher. Aren't you being judgmental here? Aren't you being critical? I know that word is a buzzword. It is overflowing in our schools. It absolutely saturates our colleges. Judgmental, judgmental.

You cannot go anywhere without hearing that word. The moment you express an opinion that is contrary to the flood of culture. How are you being judgmental? A university professor who asked the students how do they feel about what Hitler did?

If do they feel what he did was wrong? There's not a single hand that was raised. Then he asked is there Jews in this class?

One girl raised her hand. He said don't you care what Hitler did to your race? Here came the predictable answer for today. Who am I to judge him? Who am I to judge him?

Do you know why we're in a mess we're in? Because of that attitude. We have totally misinterpreted the words of Jesus when he said judge not lest you be judged. He was not talking about this. What Jesus meant when he said judge not lest you be judged, he was talking about the things that are not necessary for salvation.

The way Christians criticize each other, the dress you wear, the worship style, the music, the liberty in Christ. That's what he was talking about. He is not talking about and he does not mean that we are not to evaluate the character of our friends and associates. That is not what it means but it's typical the devil.

He takes part of the truth and he swatches right across the nation and everybody blab about that word. They don't even know where it's coming from. Oh you're being judgmental. Tell them where you get that word from. They wouldn't. Discernment is the mark of spiritual maturity and if we are to learn the way of wisdom we have to be realistic and very careful regarding that impact that ungodly people can have upon our lives.

Do not minimize that. People are not morally neutral. People are not morally neutral.

Nobody is. They either influence our lives for good or they will influence our lives for evil. They help us to become what they are and this is the basic warnings here of Proverbs chapter 1 verse 10. My son if sinners entice you do not consent and the word entice here tells us a great deal about the essential tactics of temptation in its essence is enticing and here it is. It tells you to be open to experiencing new values.

It tells you that you need to be aware and you don't want to miss out on all the exciting things in life. Expand your horizon and live a little but also there is a process for enticement and this process is described here right in chapter 1 verses 11 to 14 of the book of Proverbs. It is a process and I want to tell you it's a downward process not upward process. It's one step, two step, three step and you're down in the bottom.

It is a process. First one is in verse 11 of chapter 1 of Proverbs. The second one is in verse 13 and the third one is in verse 14. The first one is inclusion verse 11 and the second one is inducement verse 13 and the last thing is entanglement verse 14.

I want you to look at those with me please. First is inclusion. Verse 11 says come with us. Come with us. We're going to include you and you know what there is excitement about being included. There's an excitement about belonging.

There is a new excitement about being invited to where the action is and you're not missing out on anything. Teenagers will tell you this and if you hear them talk, did you get invited to this party? Did you get invited to this party? No, you didn't get invited to this party. Oh, you must not be anybody to get not to be invited to this party. I want to tell you something.

Adults are the same and many times we transmit that to our children. If you are not on the right invitation list, you should feel that you are nobody. Let me tell you something.

You're going to hear something that is classically usified. I'm going to give it to you anyway whether you want to hear it or not because they are spiritual fools. They do not know that you are more of a somebody than they will ever comprehend in 10 lifetimes. They do not know that you are an heir to the throne of the living God in the universe. They do not know that your daddy loves you and that you are his precious child. They do not know that you are more valuable than the whole world. They do not know that you are accepted in high society in the heavens. They do not know that you are welcomed in the courts of the king of kings. They do not know that you are loved by the one who matters the most. They do not know that you are chosen, that you've been elected before the foundation of the earth.

They do not understand that you are going to rule and reign with your daddy. First step of temptation is inclusion. We'll let you in. We welcome you in.

We might have you be part of us and isn't that exciting? First step. In fact, that's a technique that gangs use for recruiting gang members. The second step is inducement. Look at verse 13.

In fact, the Bible is so blunt. Listen to what it says. Where it says, come, let us wait for blood. Let's ambush.

Let's fill our houses with spoil. You say, wait a minute. I mean, that's really kind of turn you off. You don't want to tell you to come for this kind of thing. You don't want to be part of it.

Yes. You see, the Bible is so blunt and wants to expose the horrors of sin. And that is why it puts it bluntly and crudely the way it is. The Bible tells us that sin is ugly and reveals its ugliness upfront. But the enticer does not tell you that truth. The enticer makes sin to look attractive.

The enticer puts sin as exciting and beautiful. They tell you, you know, businessmen, business women, it's okay to just tweak this business deal here. And it just, it's okay to twist on that part. And it's all right these days. It's all accepted.

In fact, you'll be an idiot if you didn't do it. It's quite okay. In fact, it's very acceptable. It's fashionable to take drugs.

It's really chic to binge drink. Recently, I saw an interview with a homeless man who lived in Grand Central for 10 years as a homeless until a good Samaritan rescued him. And now he's a best-selling author. And he said, you know, surely a guy goes from it.

No, that's not the whole story. This man was a businessman. He was successful. And he was going through a rough time in business.

And as he said, and he said this and chuckled and he said, a friend, a friend said to me, I know how to help you out of your trouble. And he got him hooked on drugs. And then he starts spending all his money on drugs. And then he sold his furniture. Then he left his house. He'd lost his job.

And he ended up for 10 years in Grand Central. Be careful where you get your advice from. Some people might be leading you to think that they're helping you. If they're not pointing you to Jesus, they aren't helping you.

One of the biggest enticement and inducement that is given to believers today is not to stand up for your faith and not to identify with Jesus. Keep your mouth shut about that. You're going to lose some friends.

I won't tell you some at the end to your friends if you're going to lose them that way. And this is how they do it. Don't you know that people who believe that are called fanatics? And you don't want to be called a fanatic.

Look at the smooth way. Don't you know that people like that are called narrow minded and bigots? And you don't want to be called that. Don't you know that people like that, that are not really fun to be around? They kill joy. They're sad. They don't know how to party. Don't you know that these people are a cult?

Don't you know? Because they're narrow minded. They're not open minded and sophisticated and accept all things like we do. I would rather be narrow minded and go to heaven than open minded and go to hell. Once you have accepted this line, once that hook goes into your jaw, you have made a crucial surrender which brings me to the third step downward which is entanglement. Verse 14, throw your lot with us. You know what? I don't know how long does it normally take from verse 11 to get to verse 14. By starting by saying, come on, we make you one of us. We will include you to being entangled like the crab in the crab barrel can't even get up. I don't know how long it takes.

I think it depends on the person. When my mother died, had just committed my life to Christ, she was my prayer warrior. She actually prayed me into the kingdom. A few months later, she died.

What happened? I have gone through that process. Here's how it began.

You know if God really loves you, who would he take your mother? How can you say that? And that's the beginning of the process. And I met the wrong group and the wrong group basically took me through that process from inclusion to enticement to entanglement.

And it was the power of God's Holy Spirit and the prayers of the saints and some members of my family that was able to get me back again on track. Please hear me right. I don't preach through my hat.

I don't wear a hat anyway, so. But all I tell you is what I know. A fact in my life.

It's the Word of God. It is better to have no friends than to have the wrong friends. It is better to stand alone than to stand with the wrong people. Why?

Because when you get entangled, it becomes harder to get out. Does this mean that I got to write off all my non-Christian friends? Does this mean I've just now got to not have anything to do with the unbelievers?

Absolutely not. In fact, Paul in Corinthians says cut off those who claim to be believers but not living like ones, but be in touch with those who don't know God. Because that's the only way you're going to witness. But here's what I want to tell you.

Listen to me very carefully. The answer is in 1320 of the book of Proverbs. He who walks with the wise shall be wise. If my closest friends are committed to God's wisdom, it means that I have a solid foundation from which I can reach out to the lost, from which I can reach out to the unbelievers' acquaintances, from which I can make Jesus known, from which I can testify. It means that I can make acquaintance with the lost and lead them to Christ from a safe and solid foundation. Having good and godly and wise friend is like the sturdy pier over which you stand and you catch fish.

You don't have to be brilliant to realize that standing in shark infested water catching fish is going to get you into trouble. But that godly friendship that I'm talking about is going to be like that sturdy pier from which you're able. And that way God can use you more mightily than what you think you can testify to him with your own strength. I'm not encouraging you to be a clique. I'm not encouraging you to be inward looking. I'm not encouraging you to be a recluse. I'm not encouraging you to be friendless.

No, this whole series is all about is about friendship. But what I'm encouraging you to do, what I know that God wants you to do is to have godly friends and with their support and prayer and encouragement, you can reach out to the lost. You can show yourself friendly to those who need the gospel but only after you anchor friendship with the godly. You're listening to leading the way with pastor and author, Dr. Michael Yousaf. His most recent book is called My Refuge, My Strength.

Consider ordering that today, ltw.org and call us at 866-626-4356. You know, people appreciate Dr. Yousaf so much, not only for the sound biblical teaching and his books, but also his unique cultural and biblical perspective. In case you didn't know, he grew up in Egypt. In fact, the leading the way team received correspondence from a listener who was touched by Dr. Yousaf's international perspective. Let me just quickly summarize this note. Growing up in Baghdad, I experienced societal abuse that was introduced into our home.

I made bad choices, chasing a lifestyle of drinking, stealing and lying that almost cost me my marriage. But through the intervention of Jesus and teaching of Dr. Michael Yousaf, I now see life through the eyes of the Savior. I no longer listen to the deception of the world. Now I listen to teaching from God's word through the leading the way app.

Isn't that encouraging to hear about the lives changed through the gospel? And it's such a blessing to know that technology, like the leading the way app, is a vehicle that's being used to change lives. If you don't already have that app loaded for your mobile device, do that today. Click the link at ltw.org slash connect, or search in your device's app store.

Once again, the website ltw.org slash connect. Now, of course, the ministry representative can also provide you with information when you have a question or prayer request, give us a call at 866-626-4356. What does God say about government? To what degree are Christians called to be involved in politics?

How does our faith in Christ inform our views? As the United States moves into a hotly contested election season, these questions and more have become polarizing topics in a country that is more divided than ever. In an age when everyone seems to have a bias, what does the Bible really say on these issues? In his free digital resource, a biblical worldview of government, Dr. Michael Youssef answers your most pressing questions, drawing upon 50 years of Bible teaching and his unique background as a cultural anthropologist. Unpack what the Bible says about politics, the role of government, and more in this nonpartisan resource. Visit ltw.org today and download your free digital copy of A Biblical Worldview of Government and be scripturally informed in this election season. This program is brought to you by Leading the Way with Dr. Michael Youssef. Connect further with audio and video content at ltw.org or through your favorite social media platform, including YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, and more.