July 19, 2026
How To Be A Good Friend In Suffering
- Lindon Faull
Sermon Notes
Ephesians 5:27 NIV
And to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless.
1 Peter 4:8a NIV
Above all, love each other deeply…
Proverbs 17:17 CSB
A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for a difficult time.
James 3:2a NIV
We all stumble in many ways.
Job 1:8 NIV
Then the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil.”
Friends are willing to go the distance to be with you.
Job 2:11-12a NIV
When Job’s three friends, Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite, heard about all the troubles that had come upon him, they set out from their homes and met together by agreement to go and sympathize with him and comfort him. When they saw him from a distance…
Friends stoop down into your suffering.
Job 2:12-13a NIV
… they could hardly recognize him; they began to weep aloud, and they tore their robes and sprinkled dust on their heads. Then they sat on the ground with him for seven days and seven nights.
Friends weep with you and let their words be few.
Job 2:13b NIV
No one said a word to him, because they saw how great his suffering was.
Ecclesiastes 5:2 NIV
Do not be quick with your mouth, do not be hasty in your heart to utter anything before God. God is in heaven and you are on earth so let your words be few.
Job 6:14 BSB
A despairing man should have the kindness of his friend, even if he forsakes the fear of the Almighty.
A friend doesn’t judge you on the basis of appearance or experience or tradition thinking they have to explain your situation.
John 7:24 NIV
“Stop judging by mere appearances, but instead judge correctly.”
Luke 1:6-7a NIV
Both of them were righteous in the sight of God, observing all the Lord’s commands and decrees blamelessly. But they were childless…
A friend doesn’t judge you out of fear and anger, thinking they have to defend God.
Job 8:4 MSG
It’s plain that your children sinned against him – otherwise, why would God have punished them.
Job 6:28-30 MSG
“Look at me in the eyes! Do you think I’d lie to your face? Think it over – no double talk! Think carefully – my integrity is on the line! Can you detect anything false in what I say? Don’t you trust me to discern good from evil?”
A friend doesn’t play God.
1 Corinthians 4:3-5a NIV
I care very little if I am judged by you or any human court; indeed, I do not even judge myself. My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent. It is the Lord who judges me. Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait until the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of the heart.
Proverbs 14:10 NIV
Each heart knows its own bitterness, and no one else can fully share its joy.
A friend trusts God to defend him when his friends hurt him and are mistaken.
Job 42:7-8 NIV
After the Lord had said these things to Job, he said to Eliphaz the Temanite, “I am angry with you and your two friends, because you have not spoken the truth about me, as my servant Job has. So now take seven bulls and seven rams and go to my servant Job and sacrifice a burnt offering for yourselves. My servant Job will pray for you, and I will accept his prayer and not deal with you according to your folly.”
A friend doesn’t throw his friends away in spite of their folly.
A friend is willing to forgive and extend grace and desires to be restored because of what Jesus has done for him.