Pastor Scott Hogle
August 15, 2021 - W2133

Friendship at Work

Friends: Guardians and Guardrails

Pastor Scott Hogle

August 15, 2021

Aloha and welcome, New Hope Oahu--those in person, online, and around the world! Thank you for choosing to worship with us today! The title of the message is "Friendship at Work." as we continue the series Friends: Guardians and Guardrails.  Today, we will talk about a very important friend in the Bible named Nathan. How important was this man? He only shows up three times in the Bible, and God devotes quite a bit of column inches in the Bible to David, but we’ll be talking about a friend of David's, Nathan. How great was this King David? God says he was a man after His own heart. 

We will learn how to be a friend like Nathan. God sends friends in our lives for a reason; and there are roles and responsibilities in being a friend. 

The context between Nathan and David happens at work. How many of you have friends that are difficult to work with? Nathan is known as someone who studied under the Prophet Samuel; he was a counselor to King David, and they probably shared meals together. Did they have a responsibility to one another? Think about the three conversations listed below that God wanted them to have: 

1. Friends Stand Up and Speak Up to Assist in Searching God's Assignment and Purposes for Your Life

Friends come in all shapes and sizes. We pick our friends; but friends pick us, too. Friends are loyal and feel what you feel. Friends give permission to other friends to speak into their lives. Friends see blind spots that you don’t see. You need friends to laugh with you. Friends play a lot of different roles and it’s not all fun! We do have a responsibility to each other, and God knows that--Nathan did that with David.

Is there somebody new in your group? Maybe in your job or a neighbor? Be the first to reach out to them. Friends love what you love. They protect your back even when you are not looking. How many of you need a friend to have your back? Is it possible for God to ask you to speak to a certain friend when they need it? 

If you are a friend, this is a role you need to do for your friends--my friends do that for me. You must be smart about doing this sometimes. 

Towards the end of David's life, he is old and feeble and is not paying close attention to what is going on around him--he is probably in bed during this conversation with Nathan. David had promised Bathsheba that Solomon her son would succeed him on the throne; but a plot erupts, and David's other son Adonijah takes over the throne! 

Nathan stands up and speaks to David to assist him in stewarding God's assignment and purpose for his life. This is one of the responsibilities we need to do for a friend, to remind us of our assignment and purpose that God has for us! 

1 Kings 1:11-12 NIV says: “Then Nathan asked Bathsheba, Solomon’s mother, “Have you not heard that Adonijah, the son of Haggith, has become king, and our lord David knows nothing about it? Now then, let me advise you how you can save your own life and the life of your son Solomon." 

Nathan would be very strategic about his friend David--friends must be strategic at times. Nathan was looking out for David when David wasn’t looking out for himself. If you have seen something no one else has seen, it is possible God wants you to speak up. It’s difficult to speak up sometimes; and Nathan didn’t have a choice in what to say to David.

Friends are watchful to protect God's purposes and plans for our lives, even when we can't see or believe what the enemy is doing! Wake up! Your assignment is in jeopardy! Is there something or somebody that God is talking to you to speak to, because if you don't, bad things will happen to them! 

Ezekiel 3:17-21 NIV says: "¹⁷ Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the people of Israel... give them a warning from me. ¹⁸ When I say to a wicked person, ‘You will surely die,’ and you do not warn them...that wicked person will die for their sin, and I will hold you accountable for their blood. ¹⁹ But if you do warn the wicked person and they do not turn from their wickedness...they will die for their sin; but you will have saved yourself. 

²⁰ “Again, when a righteous person turns from their righteousness and does evil, and I put a stumbling block before them, they will die. Since you did not warn them, they will die for their sin. The righteous things that person did will not be remembered, and I will hold you accountable for their blood. ²¹ But if you do warn the righteous person not to sin and they do not sin, they will surely live because they took warning, and you will have saved yourself.”

Action Item: Affirm your friend’s assignment by reminding them of God’s calling on their life. 

2. Friends Are Courageous to Biblically Correct and Confront When Necessary

It takes courage to correct and confront; this is quite possibly the most difficult and important thing to do. Friendship is a two-sided coin: Speak up like a Nathan; but also receive like a David!  

If someone breaks through the wall of fear and tries to help you, don’t be defensive! When someone corrects me, I ask myself if it is true--so I give people permission to speak into my life. I’ve been corrected a lot! We've seen each other at our best; and we've seen each other at our worst! So, is it possible that God would speak to us to have a specific conversation with a friend? Sometimes it's more difficult to speak into someone's life than it is to receive correction.  

When David had a low moment in his life because of what he did, God sent a friend, Nathan.  Nathan handled the situation in such a way that David was quick to repent. Nathan's strategy was to tell David a story and it took away the sting! God is always quick to forgive! 

2 Samuel 12:1-7 NIV says: "The Lord sent Nathan to David...and he said, 'There were two men in a certain town, one rich and the other poor. ² The rich man had a very large number of sheep and cattle, ³ but the poor man had nothing except one little ewe lamb he had bought. He raised it, and it grew up with him and his children. It shared his food, drank from his cup, and even slept in his arms. It was like a daughter to him.

⁴ “Now a traveler came to the rich man, but the rich man refrained from taking one of his own sheep or cattle to prepare a meal for the traveler who had come to him. Instead, he took the ewe lamb that belonged to the poor man and prepared it for the one who had come to him.” ⁵ David burned with anger against the man and said to Nathan, “As surely as the Lord lives, the man who did this must die!... ⁷ Then Nathan said to David, “You are the man!'"

We don’t need a prophet to tell us the right thing to do; we usually know what to do. We can tell when God wants us to share a message with someone. God cared enough to send us a Nathan. 

The Art of Confronting and Correcting with the Kindness of Christ

A: Affirm their value to you by articulating the qualities you appreciate and respect the most.

C: Confront the issue with candor, the person with compassion.

T: Talk through the change you need to see, how you/others are affected, and the outcome/consequences if change does not occur.  

Action Item: Be willing to speak up like a Nathan or listen and receive like a David. 

3. Friends Remind and Declare to You God’s Promises Over Your Life 

True friends talk to God about you; and talk to you about God and His promises.  

Action Item: Speak God’s promises to your friends, then ask them to do the same over you.

Faith comes by hearing. We must hear it audibly. 

1 Chronicles 17:10-11 NIV says: “I declare to you that the Lord will build a house for you: When your days are over and you go to be with your ancestors, I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, one of your own sons, and I will establish his kingdom.”

You don’t need a prophet to speak to you; friends declare God’s promises to you. Go and speak this over a friend and ask them to do the same for you.

PROMISE WALKING 

There are over 8000 promises that God has given us: 

2 Corinthians 1:20 NIV says, "For no matter how many promises God has made, they are 'Yes' in Christ. And through him the 'Amen' is spoken by us to the glory of God."

Action Item: Pick 3 promises that resonate with you--God has given these to you in this present season.

1. ________________________________________________________________________  

2. ________________________________________________________________________

3. ________________________________________________________________________

SAMPLE SCRIPTURES:

Deuteronomy 28:8 NKJV says: "The Lord will command the blessing on you...in all to which you set your hand, and He will bless you in the land which the Lord your God is giving you."

2 Kings 20:5 NKJV says: "Thus says the Lord, the God of David your father: “I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears."

Isaiah 50:4 NKJV says: "The Lord God has given me the tongue of the learned, That I should know how to speak a word in season to him who is weary. He awakens Me morning by morning...to hear as the learned."

Jeremiah 1:12 NIV says: "The Lord said to me, “...I am watching to see that my word is fulfilled.” 

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:

1.      How are you speaking God’s promises to your friends?
2.      What are you doing to become a better friend to someone in your life?
3.      How are you learning to confront a friend with the kindness of Jesus?
4.      How are you being a better listener to a friend? 
5.      What will you do to let others know about God’s word in your life?