HOW TO CONFRONT YOUR FRIEND PART 9

TEXT - 2 SAMUEL 12:1-14

INTRODUCTION

In front of the Capital in Washington, D.C. there is a massive monument of General Euleses S. Grant, sitting on his horse. At the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue there is a park called Rawlins Park with another statue of John A. Rawlins. During the Civil War, Rawlins was Grants closet friend. In fact, it was to Rawlins that Grant promised to abstain from drinking alcohol. Grant broke this promise however and Rawlins went to confront him and pleaded with him to refrain from drinking, for the sake of his own health and the health of the nation. That statue of John Rawlins serves as a reminder of how he kept his friend on his horse by confronting him with a life-style that would have eventually destroyed him.

This morning as we continue with this series of messages on becoming a friendly church I would like to look at 2 Samuel 12:1-14 and see “How To Confront Your Friends.”

Confronting a friend wither when they have sinned is one of the hardest issues to face in any relationship.

Proverbs 9:7 If you reason with an arrogant cynic, you'll get slapped in the face; confront bad behavior and get a kick in the shins. (MSG)

Proverbs 17:12 It is safer to meet a bear robbed of her cubs than to confront a fool caught in folly. (NLT)

Most of us would just as soon ignore it all together, yet, if you want to build lasting friendships with one another you have to be willing to confront a friend or be confronted by one.

Here in our text we find a classic example of how the Prophet Nathan confronted his friend David, King of Israel.

The reason why Nathan had to confront David was because he committed adultery with Bathsheba and then tried to cover-up his sin by having Uriah fight at the front line where David knew he would be killed.

How did Nathan confront David? How are we supposed to confront one another today?

Here in this passage we are given seven ways to confront one another. Let’s look at them together.