BAITS OF SATAN – BAD FRIENDS

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Text: Prov.12:26, ICor.15:33

INTRODUCTION

Friendship can be a truly fulfilling and rewarding relationship. The vibe, the jokes and the adventures that you can have are some of the greatest experiences in life. It is unfortunate that most people don’t have true friendships. Like any other relationship, a friendship can either be healthy or unhealthy. It can be based on growth or insecurity. Some are very constructive while others, to say the least are very destructive.
Who is a friend?

A friend can be defined as one whom we love and esteem above others. Someone we open up to and have good will towards.
A friend is someone that:
Has access to our – Emotions
Feelings
Thoughts
Someone that can influence us.

A friend is the person whom you:
Share breaking news with or bounce off your ideas with.
The person whose advice you seek when a decision is to be made
The person you share your secret dreams and aspiration with.

Some friends stay with you throughout life, others for a season but they have the ability to have positive or negative effects on you.
What Bad Friends will do – 1Cor 15:33
Influence you with wrong suggestions
What to do or experiment with
Make fun of your principles
Make fun of your positive values.
Introduce you to destructive and self defeating habits.
You are where you are today because of the types of friends you have.
Isolate you from source of good counsel
Done by undermining sources of good counsel
Talking down your church, Pastor, Christians etc.
Inject you with their own weakness.
Not comfortable with your strength
Seek to pass on their weakness to you to make you become like them
Your strength makes them feel weak so they want to bring you to their level.

Who are the friends in your life?
Who are the people speaking to your life?
Three (3) Kinds Of Bad Friends You Must Avoid

Read Ps. 1:1
They are:
The ungodly – they operate or influence through counsels or advice
The sinners – they operate or influence by enticement and deceit getting you interested in their methods, manner or ways. You submit yourself to them because you are intrigued by their ways.
The scornful – you are intrigue by their manner of life. They seek to display contempt to norms and often give the impression that smartness and rebellion is an alternative

The ungodly
Read Prov. 12:26
They canvass for subtle irreverence and disobedience to God. Always seek for clever ways to circumvent righteousness or right living e.g.
JONADAB –II Sam.13:1-3
KJV – Subtle – Cleverly indirect and ingenious operate secretly like poison.
NKJV & AMPLIFIED – Very crafty
NIV – Very shrewd
MSG – Exceptionally street wise
The act like catalyst in a chemical reaction
In chemistry, a catalyst is a substance that assists a chemical reaction without taking part in it. For example …
Try to set a sugar cube on fire. It will bubble and melt, but as soon as you remove the match any flame generated will go out. However, rub a small amount of ash on the cube and it will catch fire and burn steadily. It is not the ash that is burning; it is acting as a catalyst while remaining unchanged itself.
Hydrogen peroxide will gradually decompose into oxygen and water if it is exposed to warmth or light. But sterilize a wound with hydrogen peroxide and the iron in your blood will act as a catalyst to cause the release of oxygen through violent bubbling.
Talk to anyone who has fallen into destructive lifestyles and sinful habits, and 99 times out of 100, you’ll find a “friend” in the shadows! It’s hard to put a finger on the exact details of their influence, but it’s easy for the spiritually discerning to detect the “catalyst” at work!
When did you first start doing drugs, drink, and smoke? I had a friend …
When did you first look at pornography or begin cheating on your spouse? I had a friend …
When did you first start criticizing the church? I had a friend …
When did you stop listening to your pastor? I had a friend …
When did church become more ritual than reality? I had a friend …

SHOW ME YOUR FRIENDS AND I’LL SHOW YOU YOUR FUTURE!
Amos 3:3 (KJV) Can two walk together, except they be agreed?
Proverbs 13:20 (MSG) Become wise by walking with the wise; hang out with fools and watch your life fall to pieces.
James 4:4 (NIV) You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.
Meanwhile, the crafty Jonadab walked away unscathed by the whole sordid situation. In fact, it is Jonadab that brings the news of his (Amnion’s) death to King David! What a “friend” he was! 2 Sam 13:32-33.

The sinners:-
Hebrew – “Hatta” – some of the meaning of this word speaks of:
Breach of civil law and failure to live up to expectations.
Failure to observe the laws of God and
Failure to respect the full rights and interest of others.
Read Prov.1:10 and 2Chro.18:19-21
They operate by enticement powered by deception i.e they deceive people to get and hold their attention.
They have problems with everybody. Nothing pleases them.
They have very critical spirits.
Always bitter, unforgiving, vengeful and easily angered – Prov.22:24-25
Happiest when they have “shown” somebody.
Create a siege mentality
They attempt to control through unjustified anger
They push you to have enemies you have no business fighting.
They are very competitive.

The scornful
Make fun or jest at God or the things of God.
Always on the lookout for things to use in mockery.
Attempts to make fun of spiritual things.
Always cracking jokes at the expense of God or holy things or people.
They use intelligence and humor to defend sin.
Misquote, misrepresent the scripture.
By means of great intellectual ability they attempt to make you feel that what you believe has no validation or basis.
They glamourize sin without any shame.
Attempt to make sin glamorous
They make you feel as if you are missing something by not sinning with them
Make sin very appetizing
Attempt to pressurize you to join them in their sin.

CONCLUSION
Prov.13:20 – MSG Bible
Become wise by walking with the wise; hang out with fools and watch your life fall to pieces.
James 4:4 – NIV
You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.

Dr. Udoh
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