Address—J.N. Hyland
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84 in the appendix. If someone could please started.
Why should we?
Destroy smart, dare him.
Oh.
He loves.
Prove his name. We are forgiven, Thy word shall not.
Oh my God.
Let's ask God's health and blessing. Our God and Father, how thankful we are this afternoon for the Lord Jesus Christ. And we thank Thee that we have indeed found a friend in that blessed One, a friend for time, and then the enjoyment of Himself through all eternity in the Father's house. How our hearts rejoice as we think of the nearness of that moment when we will be caught away to be with and like Him forever.
But now, in the meantime, we thank thee for a few moments together.
With Thy precious living Word before us and our God as we open it and read it this afternoon, we pray that our meditation may be sweet, and that it may be of Christ that there would be that which would be for the edification, the exhortation, and the comfort of each one. Our God and Father, thou knowest the need of each young and old, and we pray that there might be something for every one of us to take away for our eternal profit and.
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So we ask thy help and blessing. We only have no might of ourselves, but our eyes are upon thee. We look to Thee for blessing in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and for his glory. Amen. Amen. Turn with me, first of all, please, to John's Gospel, chapter 15.
John's Gospel chapter 15 and verse 13.
Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. Ye are my friends if ye do whatsoever. I command you well as our him. And this portion we began with suggests I have it on my heart this afternoon to take up the subject of friends or friendship. You know it's a very wonderful resource that God has given us for the path of faith.
Through this world and for our lives here, in a natural sense. Usually when we think of friendship, we think of it in that way. That which is given for time, that which a relationship that God has given for our blessing and happiness here on earth. And that's the way we're going to particularly look at it. And what I have on my heart to do this afternoon, at least for the 1St.
Part of this meeting is to go to 8 different portions of the Word of God.
That bring before us 8 different attributes or qualities of a friend as seen in the Lord Jesus Christ because he's the greatest friend that anyone of us could ever have. Someone was telling us just the other day that they met a little boy and they got talking to him. And as it turned out, this little boy knew the Lord Jesus Christ as his Savior. But you know he said in parting with the person that was telling me this.
He said, you know, I really don't have any friends, not very popular at school. I just don't fit in and I just really don't have many friends. But the person he was talking to said, oh, remember, you always have the best friend and that's the Lord Jesus Christ. And isn't that wonderful? Maybe there's someone here this afternoon, a young person or someone who's not so young and you just feel like maybe you don't have many friends and maybe a good friend.
In recent time, but we want to bring before our souls the greatest friend that a person could ever have and we're going to see as we go through these qualities and attributes of the of the Lord Jesus as the perfect friend that hears one who will never disappoint US1 who will never let us down. And so I began here in the book of John where the Lord Jesus Speaking of what was ahead the.
He encourages his disciples and he calls them friends. Isn't that wonderful? You know, I would think that as the disciples sat and listened to the discourse of the Lord Jesus, that while it's true as we if we were to turn back a page, their hearts were troubled. They were afraid, many thoughts were going through their minds, yet to hear the Lord Jesus tell them that they were his friends.
Not a tremendous thing. Wouldn't you love to have the Lord Jesus come to your side this afternoon and say.
You know, I consider you my friend. That's what the Lord Jesus was really saying to these, to these disciples. Ye are my friends. What kind of friends were they? Well, you know, they weren't the most faithful kind of friends, were they? If we were to back up in their history and walking with the Lord Jesus during his public ministry, you would find there was quite a bit of failure here and there. There was sometimes a strife. Who would be the greatest?
Who would sit on His right hand and his left hand? In the Kingdom? They often misunderstood what the Lord Jesus was saying and doing. There were many failures amongst the disciples during the Lord's pathway. When Mary poured out her ointment at the feet of the Lord, all the disciples spoke against her, and so on. And there was plenty more failure to follow this. He calls them friends here, but he knew he had a perfect understanding of what was going to happen.
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That all his friends were going to forsake him and flee, That one of those friends was going to deny him three times with oaths and curses. And yet he could say to them, Ye are my friends, You know. Again, when we think of friendship, as I said, we usually think of it in the natural sense. And really natural friendship depends on a response from the object. It looks for something lovely.
In that object, and when it gets that response, sees that something lovely in the object, then your friendship flourishes and grows. And often, and I know we've all experienced it in our own lives, often when that response isn't there, when sometimes little idiosyncrasies and other things come to the surface that aren't so pleasant.
Sometimes friends, or those who were friends, they separate, they split ways.
There isn't a closeness any longer because of something that has come between them. But here was the Lord Jesus, as I say, the perfect friend, and he could say the disciples, in spite of all that had happened during their walk with him in those years previous, and in spite of all that he knew that was ahead in the next few hours and days he could say.
Ye are my friends, but I mentioned that I want to notice 8 different attributes of this friend, the Lord Jesus Christ.
And what I want to pinpoint here is that here was a sacrificial friendship. You know, true friendship is willing to make sacrifices if you have a friend who is a true friend. I suppose the ultimate test of friendship is, are we willing to make sacrifices? Are we willing to put our life on the line or to make some other kind of sacrifice for that friend?
And here the Lord Jesus, as he looked into the spaces of these ones that he loved so dearly that he could so affectionately address as his friends, he knew what the ultimate sacrifice was going to be. He knew what it was going to be. If I can and I want to speak carefully when we take up this side of things with the Lord Jesus.
But to to make sure.
That these this friendship, I want to be so careful because I know they were going to be brought into a deeper relationship with himself as a result of Calvary and the ascension of Christ and the Spirit of God coming and so on. But so that this relationship, this friendship could continue. He knew that he was going to have to pay the ultimate price, that he was going to go and lay down his life for his.
Friends for those that he had had around him as that inner circle during his public ministry, those who were closest to him as he walked through this world. It's just as if he said, in order that this might continue so that I don't have to set them aside, now I'm going to have to go and lay down my life.
For my friends and all to think what the Lord Jesus paid.
For you and for me, so that we could sing that hymn together at the beginning of the meeting. We have found a friend in Jesus. Oh, how he loves here. They He was anticipating the cross. Now we look back and the work has been accomplished, the sacrifice has been made, and we are now brought into that position.
Of his friends, the friends of the Lord Jesus. Oh how we appreciate friends.
But I say, here's a friend that made the ultimate sacrifice and as we go along, brethren, I want to just make some practical comments to.
Because, you know, we have the perfect example in the Lord Jesus and the Lord Jesus who made that ultimate sacrifice for us.
Of giving his life and shedding his precious blood, Then what is anything?
Any little sacrifice that we might make for one another compared to that.
You know, it tells us in first John chapter 3 after it speaks of Him laying down His life for us. It says, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. Do we really appreciate in our souls the sacrifice that He made in the measure in which we appreciate the sacrifice of Him giving Himself for us in that measure?
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We will make that sacrifice.
For one another, we may never be called on to give our lives in sacrifice like the Lord Jesus did in death. We may never be called on to be martyrs, like many of our brethren have and are to this very moment. But we are called upon to give ourselves as a living sacrifice, to lay down our lives in that way for the service of Christ and for the service of one another.
To serve his friends, to serve those that he considers his friends. You know when you give a cup of water in his name, or any little service to one of his own, you are serving one that he delights to put in that circle as his friend. And so friendship makes sacrifices. True love, true friendship, is willing to give itself.
For one another and the blessing of others. Now I'd like to go back to Luke's Gospel for a moment, to Luke's Gospel Chapter 7.
Luke's Gospel Chapter 7 and verse 34. I just want to notice an expression at the end of the 34th verse.
A friend of Publicans and sinners.
You know, when the Lord Jesus was here, he was despised because he was a friend of publicans and sinners. You know, they said on one occasion really in derision, this man receiveth sinners and eateth with them. But you know, I'm glad, you know, the enemy said many wonderful things about the Lord Jesus and it's interesting to go through the Gospels. This is just a little side, but go through the Gospels sometime and see the things that were said by those who had no.
For the Lord Jesus, those who said things really in derision, but the statements in themselves are are wonderful. Have thou nothing to do with this just man? He was a a just man, Pilate said. I find no fault in him. There was no fault in in him. Surely this was a righteous man. And here we find a friend of publicans and sinners and we find with the Lord Jesus.
Here in this world, how he delighted not only to speak to the masses, not only to address crowds in houses and down by the seashore and up on the mountain, but he delighted to get alone with the Sinner. He delighted to make that personal contact with those who had a felt need. And doesn't it rejoice our hearts, brethren, to look back to that time in our lives?
When we realized that there was a friend of publicans and sinners. When there was that personal contact in our lives that brought us to the Savior.
And I know if we had time to go up and down these rows and talk to each individual, and each individual had time to tell their story about how they were brought in contact with the friend of publicans and sinners and how the Spirit of God worked with them. If there were 200 people here, we'd have 200 different stories because He takes us up all as individuals. We're saved as individuals and as His friends, we are individuals.
And so we find a friend of publicans and sinners. Now again, what I'm going to say next I want to say very carefully. I realize that the Lord Jesus being wholly harmless, undefiled and separate from sinners, He could touch the leper and not be defiled. Anybody else touch the leper? Under the Levitical law, they were defiled. And anybody who touched them and on down the line, He could touch the coffin of a dead boy and not be defiled.
Because of who he was, he could sit and eat with Republicans and sinners, and he wasn't defiled because of who he was. And I realized that in our zeal and energy, and I trust we all have to some degree, zeal and energy to reach out to sinners. I realize we need to be careful and we never want to compromise in reaching out to others, but how much are we a friend of publicans and sinners? I don't mean.
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Now in a social way, I know we have to be careful and I know even at work we have to be careful, but how much does our heart go out to those that we meet every day? Maybe it is the coworker or the student who sits at the next desk, Maybe it's someone that lives next door to us, or whoever it is, are we a friend of publicans and sinners? Do we have a desire to in some way?
Present to them the true friend of publicans and sinners.
You know, and I again, I want to say this very carefully, but separation is not isolation.
We are not to live like the monks lived in past centuries, isolated in some mountain retreat somewhere locked away from the world. That is no testimony. That is not being a friend of publicans and sinners. We are responsible here when the Lord Jesus was here.
He was a friend of publicans and sinners, and he has left us here to reach out with the gospel, whether it's on an individual basis or whatever way it might be, maybe a more public sphere for a few, but we are here to be a testimony and point to the greatest friend that this world has ever known. And so here he's a friend of grace.
We noticed that he was. He was. We noticed the the quality or attribute of being a sacrificial friend.
Hear the Lord Jesus was that friend who in grace sought to reach out to publicans and sinners, And we know that many who had a felt need were drawn to himself. Now let's go to the book of Proverbs, Proverbs chapter 17.
Proverbs chapter 17 and verse 17.
A friend loveth at all times. Well, we've spoken of the attribute of of making sacrifice. We've spoken of grace. But here's a friend that loveth at all times. Now, what other friend could this statement be made of? I don't believe there's really another friend. There may be, but it would be pretty rare to find another friend who loves at all times. You know, I have many friends. I have some good friends. I have someone I consider.
Best friend. But you know, sometimes little things come in and there isn't that outflow of love and friendship that there ought to be. Sometimes our friends disgust us. Sometimes they rub us the wrong way. Sometimes we don't show that affection that we ought to show. But here's a friend that loves at all times. Do you ever feel unloved? You ever feel like your friends just don't love you anymore?
You ever say, well that person? I really thought they were a good friend.
I really thought that person loved me, but boy, they've sure let me down. You know, I often think in that regard of what the psalmist said in the 119th Psalm, he said I've seen an end of all perfection. If you're looking for perfection in human friendship or relationships, you're always going to be disappointed. You're going to see an end of all perfection and certainly in the day in which we live.
Where natural affection is wanting and it's a day without it, it tells us in Timothy.
That that is one of the characteristics of the last day. And we see the breakdown of natural relationships at every level. But all there's a friend who loves and as we were singing, oh, how he loves. And I want to encourage you when you feel unloved and unwanted, just to get into the presence of this friend at a Bible conference, really, it was mentioned that how it's good sometimes to just sit and let this friend love you.
Maybe just not reading your Bible, perhaps maybe not even praying, but just sitting in a quiet spot alone with the Lord Jesus, feeling the warmth of his love, feeling those arms that are always about us. Just let him love you as that friend that wants to you to experience that great love. And so a friend loves at all times. I say there's only one friend that this could be truly.
Said about, but let's go on in Proverbs to the next chapter.
Chapter 18 and.
Verse.
24.
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A man that hath friends must show himself friendly, and there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother. Now before I comment on the last part of the verse, which is particularly on my heart, I've heard the first part of this verse quoted the way it appears in the King James Version of our Bible, and I have no problem with quoting it the way it is, but it's really not the sense of the verse. If you look in the best manuscripts, you'll find that. Really.
Sense of this first part of this verse is a man that hath many friends shall come to ruin.
I want to say a little word and.
Again, I'm trying to be as circumspect as I can because I, I don't want to criticize. You know, I had somebody recently tell me that on Facebook, they have 365 friends. I wonder how many they've really met.
You know a man that has many friends comes to ruin. You know the trouble today is.
We've got these friends through social media, most of which we've never met, many of which perhaps we've only met casually, some of which perhaps we've only talked to through social media, perhaps rarely talked to face to face. Is that really what friendship is? I I'm, again, I'm not criticizing, I'm not saying that you can't utilize those things. And we'll speak of that a little bit later when we go to the New Testament.
But I'm just saying, let's be very, very careful. A man that has many friends shall come to ruin. But, you know, there's a friend that sticks closer than a brother. Aren't we thankful for that friend? You know, you might have someone and you always felt that you could go to them in a difficulty. You say they were just always there for me, and then something arose and they weren't. You know, I appreciate very much that verse.
46 Psalm that says of the Lord, he's a very present help in trouble. You know, I like that because he's always right there. You might have a friend and they're not always right there. You say, I just know that friend could help me, but I couldn't get a hold of him. He wasn't available. You ever call someone and you got a machine or a voicemail that said to leave a message and they get back to you and then they never did get back to you say I know they could help me or.
Hold of the friend and they listen to your situation and maybe they've always helped you in the past and they shake their head and they say well I'm sorry I just can't help you on this one you ever go to a doctor and maybe the doctors helped you for years and then the doctor reviews your presence status and he says I'm sorry this one's too much for me I'm going to have to refer you to somebody else or I think it's a little bit of a hopeless case there's nothing more frustrating than that but here's a friend that.
Closer than a than a brother, you know, I suppose it's to a great degree to my shame, but you know, the brother I grew up with in the home, I rarely see him because of circumstances and many things. I rarely see my, my, my brother. I'm speaking in a natural way now, but there's one that I can go to at any time. And not only is he always available, but he's able for the situation and I really believe.
The thrust of the statement in Philippians 4 that says the Lord is at hand, if you notice the context there, it's not so much the Lord's coming. He's talking about the Lord's coming is at hand too. We have plenty of scripture to verify that, but it's in connection with prayer and making requests and the difficulties and trials of the path of faith and what comes in between brethren sometimes and so on. But the Lord is always at hand. We can always turn to Him.
In every situation, to have someone at hand means they're right there, You know, again, the psalmist said, nevertheless, thou art continually with me. Thou hast hold of me by thy right hand. Thou wilt guide me with thy counsel, and afterward receive me to glory. Don't you have someone you can feel that pressure on your hand? You know, they're holding your hand and helping you over that rough spot. And so there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother. You know, the problem is.
We don't always realize He's there. He'll never leave you nor forsake you. You say I just didn't feel comfortable to turn to the Lord in that situation. Why? Because he wasn't there? No, because you've allowed something to come between you and Himself. And if you have, get before Him, confess it so that you have a sense of His presence. You know, we don't have to get up in the morning and ask this friend to be with us as much as we need to get up in the morning.
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Ask this friend that we would walk in the conscious sense of His presence with us. You know, sometimes we ask a friend to come and be with us in a certain situation or maybe we're going to take a little trip somewhere and we ask a friend to be with us. We just feel more comfortable and companionship to have them. But you don't have to ask the Lord to be with you. What you have to do is pray that you'll be in the state of soul to realize that He is with you and enjoy His company.
In that way, again, I want to go on in Proverbs to the 27th chapter.
So if I again can recap, we have perhaps in this that 4th attribute. We noticed in the 18th chapter, we have a consistent friend. We like consistency in people, don't we? And we have the most consistent friend that a person could ever have. Now in the 27th chapter and the ninth verse.
It says.
Oh, I want to read the sixth verse first. I'm first. I'm sorry. Faithful are the wounds of a friend, but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful. Well, here we have a faithful friend, not a friend that's just going to lull us along when there's danger and not say something. Faithful are the wounds of a friend. You know, the Lord Jesus as that friend is faithful with us, isn't he? And I doubt there's anybody here who's.
The Lord Jesus for very long that won't attest to the fact that there have been times when perhaps she didn't always appreciate it, but the Lord was faithful in one way or another in coming in, maybe even in chastisement. You know a parent isn't faithful to their child unless they chastise and guide when there are things that need to be directed. None of us love our children if we let them go their own way when it's going to lead to.
Their detriment and hurt? No, we seek to guide and chasten our children for their good and for their blessing. And we have one whose faithful with us. As I look back on my life, I haven't always appreciated at the time the way the Lord has. A lot has dealt with me. I haven't always appreciated the things He's allowed others to say to me or do toward me. But you know, as I look back in retrospect, at least for many of those things, some of them I may have to wait.
Glory to understand fully, but at least in many of those things, I can thank him now for his faithfulness because I realized that I would have gone in a wrong direction. I would have brought done something that was a poor testimony, something that brought shame to the Lord Jesus, something that didn't bring glory to himself or was for my hurt or detriment. And I'm thankful now for the faithfulness of the Lord Jesus and I want to encourage.
Be thankful for the faithfulness of the Lord. Is he allowing something in your life that seems hard, something that seems really tough? You say? I just, if he's such a loving, consistent friend, a friend of grace, I just don't see why he's allowing this in my life.
You know, you may not always see it at the time, but you'll see it in retrospect. And as I say, there are many things I think you're going to have to leave till the judgment seat of Christ. You know, when the disciples, as I mentioned earlier, spoke against Mary, that was pretty hard, wasn't it? I don't suppose Mary really understood at the time, but you know, she never said a word about it. She just left it for the Lord to vindicate.
The Lord gave his approval, you say I tried to do something for the Lord, and even those that I thought were my friends and closest to me and would understand.
I thought that they would at least appreciate it, but they didn't seem to think of the Lord Jesus. You know, there was one in the company of disciples who was not a true friend of the Lord Jesus, and yet the Lord Jesus referred to him as a friend.
No, it says of Judas. Prophetically, it says mine own familiar friend whom I trusted, who ate bread at my table, had lifted up his heel against me.
Think of how the Lord Jesus must have felt at when he knew what was going to take place and he refers to him as his friend. He, the Lord Jesus, was misunderstood and then, as we've said earlier, misunderstood by those who truly were his own. And yet the Lord Jesus was that faith, faithful friend. And again, I want to just make a practical comment in this regard for our relationships.
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One to another, you know, there's not, there's nothing that's more hurtful and detrimental to our friendships and relationships with one another than not being faithful with one another. Now, you know, there's a way to admonish without scolding. There's a way to direct that I believe can be used in blessing to others. And again, we want to exercise grace, but faithful.
Are the wounds of a friend, you know, again, I didn't know. I haven't always appreciated at the time, but I can think back on friends and brethren who have been faithful with me, who have come to me. And maybe it did seem harsh. Maybe I felt at the time it wasn't always in the proper spirit. And in seeking to be faithful with others, I haven't always done it in the proper spirit either. I'll be the first to admit it, but faithful are the wounds of a.
You know, I would rather have a friend who would put a roadblock in my way and let me bump into that roadblock, then go full tilt over a precipice. You say, why did you let me bang into that roadblock? Then you see what's ahead. You say, oh, thank you for your faithfulness. A little bang on the head is nothing compared to what it could have been. And so we need to seek grace. Yes, in grace and love and in the proper spirit to be faithful.
With one another we see something in a friend that perhaps needs to be directed or corrected. Let's seek in the Spirit of Christ to be faithful one with another. Now let's notice a another verse in the same chapter. In the 9th chapter, the ninth verse, ointment and perfume rejoice the heart. So does the sweetness of a man's friend. By Hardy counsel. So we've seen the faithfulness of this friend.
Now we find one who's our counselor, you know, a friend is one who is going to take the time to counsel and one who is going to in a natural sense, seek to give the best counsel that they possibly can. But all again, we have one whose very name is Counselor. We have 1. And in incarnation, it's one of the names that's given in the book of Isaiah, you know.
You're young people, you go to school and you have counselors, guidance counselors and career counselors and so on. And they may be very necessary and helpful in bringing before you certain bends to your nature and abilities and so on, but they often just give the wisdom and counsel of this world. But there's one who will never give you false counsel, never give you faulty counsel, one whose very name is wisdom.
And he wants to be your guide and counselor. You know, it just seems today, even in business, there's a there's a consultant for everything. In fact, it just seems like if you can't get a job in your field, you hang out your shingle and you become a consultant. But do we go to the one who's our best friend and the best consultant that you could have? You know, the Queen of Sheba, when she came into the presence of Solomon, a picture of the Lord Jesus, she had a lot of hard questions.
Lot of enigmas, a lot of things that were really troubling her. She didn't understand, you know, when she got into the presence of Solomon, it tells us that he answered every one of our her, her hard questions. There wasn't anything hid from the king that he told or not. And her heart was satisfied with his answers. You ever go to somebody even with a question from the Bible and you ask another brother or sister and you get an answer and you say, yeah, that was good. I got a little light on.
Matter, but really didn't fully answer the question. I'm not just quite satisfied. Then you go to somebody else and you get another aspect of things. You say, yes, that was good as well, but there's one. You go to him for the answers. And again, I'm glad for brothers and sisters who can help us out with spiritual questions. But we have the answer book from the one who wrote it. We have one.
Who's above all those counselors and the wisdom of this world?
And I think it was David who said I have more understanding than all my teachers because I love thy precepts. When you get into the Word of God and search it for the answers and you get his instruction and counsel, you're going to find that your heart will be fully satisfied and everything will be answered to your satisfaction. So we have one who counsels us. He's our great counselor.
Now I'd like to go to John's Gospel Chapter 11.
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Just mentioning these things very quickly and then I'll leave them for your further meditation.
John's Gospel, Chapter 11.
And verse 11.
These things said he, and after he had said, he saith unto them, Our friend Lazarus sleepus sleepeth, but I go that I may awake him out of sleep. We're going to talk in connection with this portion of the Lord Jesus as the sympathizing friend you know here the Lord Jesus referred to Lazarus as.
Our friend Precious, isn't it?
You know there was this little home in Bethany was one of the few homes in the pathway of the Lord Jesus.
Where the Lord Jesus was really welcome, the foxes had holes in the birds of the air had nests, the Son of Man had not where to lay his head. We read later on. Every man went to his own house. Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. But there was one home at least, where the Lord Jesus on a number of occasions delighted to turn his weary steps, to sit down in the midst of those that he considered his friends, and to have his Spirit refreshed by being encircled.
By those that loved him, you know, we love to be with friends that refresh us, don't they? Don't we? You say, you know, I just love to be with that person. I love to be with those people. You know, those young people when we're together, there's a lot of refreshment. They really encourage me on in the Lord. You know, again, David said I am a companion of all them that love thee and that keep thy precepts just a little aside from our portion. But are are those the kind of companions or friends we really choose?
I'm not talking about casual acquaintances. I'm not talking about our schoolmates. I'm not telling talking about our fellow workers. But those that are, we really consider our true friends. You know, someone has said that our friends are like the buttons of an elevator. They take us either up or down and they will they'll pull you either up or down. They'll be for your good and encouragement. They'll spur you on in the path of following the Lord, or they will drag you down and be a.
To you in your path of faith. Well, here we find that a sorrow had come into this home. And I have no doubt that this afternoon there are brethren here and sorrows have come into your home, and sorrows do come into our home. But you know the Lord Jesus, he had a plan for this home and this one who had died, He considered a friend. And later on, if we had time, we'd find that as He eventually goes to that home and then out to the grave.
As the sympathizing friend, he weeps with these sisters. He weeps as he saw the awful effects that sin had brought into the world. And he wept in sympathy with Mary and Martha, who felt the loss of their brother so keenly. And if you're going through a sorrow today, or just remember, there's one who weeps with.
There's one who sympathizes with you. The great physician now is near.
The sympathizing Jesus, he speaks, the drooping heart to cheer. O hear the voice of Jesus. He's there as that friend in every trial. He knows every tear. And in the Psalms it tells us that so much does he sympathize with us and know our sorrows, that he takes our tears and he puts them in his bottle, doesn't forget them. I've forgotten a lot of tears and sorrows that I've been through. The Lord Jesus has them all stored up.
His bottle and he's the sympathizing friend, no matter what the sorrow. Oh, go to him. Wonderful to have earthly friends and brethren that sympathize with us. But there's nothing, there's nothing like getting alone with this friend who weeps with us and fully not only understands. You might have a friend who understands and even weeps with you. But the Lord Jesus empathizes with us because then he was in all points tempted like us we are.
Yet without sin. Now one more attribute before we pass on this is the 8th 1:00 and it's back in the Song of Solomon. Song of Solomon chapter 5.
And I just want to read the last part of verse 16. This is my beloved, and this is my friend, O daughters of Jerusalem. In one way, I suppose we could use this to sum up the seven attributes that we've spoken of already in connection with the Lord Jesus as the friend. But you know, really this is.
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And the attribute of loveliness, because if we were to back up in this dialogue and we find that the bride has been speaking in the previous verses.
And she has been enumerating the qualities and glories of her bridegroom. And at the end of it she says, this is my beloved, this is my friend. I didn't read the statement. I meant to read the previous statement. He is all.
He's altogether lovely. You know, you have a friend and you first get to know that friend and there's some very pleasing qualities in that friend. But you know, the more you get to know that friend, the more you realize there are just some of those little idiosyncrasies and personality traits that aren't so pleasing. You say, well, I just wish there wasn't this, and I just wish I didn't see that in the friend. But the more you get to know the Lord Jesus, the more you realize.
He's all together lovely. You won't find any imperfection.
In the person of the Lord Jesus in fact, the better you know him, the better you understand and appreciate those qualities that he is altogether lovely and so before I pass on I just want to encourage each of our hearts to develop more the intimacy of friendship with the Lord Jesus. It's a wonderful resource and privilege that is given to us for the path of faith through this life we.
And appreciate what natural friendship is. Let's learn to understand and appreciate more the friendship of this divine person, the Lord Jesus. I want to then just very quickly notice two people who are referred to as the friend of God. We know them well, but let's go first of all to the book of James.
James Chapter 2.
James chapter 2 and verse 23.
And the Scripture was fulfilled, which saith Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness.
And he was called the friend of God. We often speak of Abraham as the man of faith, and he was, but he was not only a man of faith, but as a result of being a man of faith, he was a man of obedience too. And as a result, we find that he is referred to as the friend of God. Again, wouldn't you like that kind of a commendation from the Lord Jesus?
And how much, brethren, is it true in your life and mine?
How much is it true that we are characterized as men and women of faith and obedience? That's what He wants. And for every spark of faith there is in your life and mine, He's going to reward. Cast not away. Therefore thy confidence for of such is great recompense of reward every time there's an act of faith in your life and mind. Every time we simply trust Him.
For the circumstances of life, every time we act in obedience to his word, he values it so much that he jots it down in his book of remembrance. And he says, here's another commendation for my friend. Every time Abraham exercised faith, every time there was obedience, I just picture and I, I don't want to go beyond what Scripture says, but I picture that book of remembrance open in heaven with Abraham's name.
Abraham, the friend of God obeyed today, put his confidence in me today, took his son to Mount Moriah, whatever it was, moved his tent to where I told him looked heavenward like a wouldn't you like those kinds of things written after your name, brother and sister, so and so the friend of God, obedience and faith. There's one more. Let's go to the book of Exodus.
Exodus chapter 33.
Exodus chapter 33 and verse 11.
And the Lord spake unto Moses, face to face, as a man speaketh.
Unto his friend.
You know, I mentioned earlier in this meeting that really friends, and certainly in the scriptural sense of it, a friend is someone that you spend time with, not someone that you simply know through social media. It's someone that you get to know. You know, the problem today is there's more communication but less interaction, but what God wants and what the Lord Jesus wants with himself.
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Is communication, yes, but interaction as well.
Here was the Lord Jesus speaking face to face with Moses. Do you and I really get into the presence of the Lord Jesus as our friend like that? Not just to speak to him as somebody that's a far off, somebody that's up in heaven, but somebody that is right with us in every circumstance of life. Who knows? And how could the Lord on this occasion speak to Moses face to face, you know, if we were to back up failure and.
Come in to the camp of Israel and very grievous failure and sin, and you only have to read to see.
How it really grieved the heart of God and it caused the governmental ways of God with his people. They hadn't got very far in their wilderness journey till this kind of sin came in. But you know, Moses hadn't been part of that. Aaron said to say had been, But Moses had been up on the mount with God. He hadn't been part of the failure and the moral ruin that had come in and because he had been in the presence of God previously.
And because he had been preserved in personal purity.
And holiness, He was able, as the friend of God, to have God speak face to face with him.
You want to have a relationship like that with the Lord. You've got to maintain personal purity. You say, well, everybody's doing it. You know, all the people of God were doing it. When Moses looked out, it was the whole camp, all the people of God. But Moses kept himself pure. Joshua too, but Moses kept himself pure. And as a result, there was a relationship, and he's referred to as the friend of God. We're moving very quickly. There's three more.
I want to notice before we close the first one is in James chapter 4. Going to change gears a little bit now at the end of the meeting. James chapter 4.
And verse 4.
Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world.
Is enmity with God. Whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world, is the enemy with God. And I want to read a verse in or two in Luke 16.
Luke's Gospel, chapter 16.
And verse 9 And I say unto you, make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness, that when ye fail, or really it's when it fails, they may receive you into everlasting habitations. Well, these two scriptures might at first seem like a bit of a contradiction, but first of all, we find in James that we are not to make friendship with the world now again.
That doesn't mean we don't need to be friendly.
And certainly we need to get along with our neighbors and our Co workers and our fellow students and those that we operate.
And rub shoulders with from day-to-day. But again, who are we really intimate with and what is what is it that really takes our heart? Is it those that are ungodly and is is it those things that will take our hearts away from the Lord Jesus and following him. What really has the first place in my heart and yours this afternoon? I really want us to search. I want to search my own heart, but if what searches my heart searches yours as well, then so.
But let's search our hearts. Where do our hearts go out? You know, it was impressed in going through the Psalms some time ago to notice how often we read of wholeheartedly heartedness. The Lord doesn't just want part of our heart. He doesn't want half of our heart. The psalmist said, with my whole heart have I sought after Thee? He wants all of our hearts and anything that takes our hearts away from following Him.
He calls it adultery.
Not interesting if it takes our hearts away from following the one who has espoused us to himself.
It's adultery. That's why he accused them of adultery in the Old Testament when they turned to idols, because it was a very serious thing for their hearts to go after something or someone other than himself. And so we are not to make friends with the world in that way, but just say, how does that correspond with what we read in Luke? Well, there is a way that we can take what God has given us in a natural way and use it for his glory.
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I'm going to give you just a little story that perhaps illustrates at least part of the thought in this verse. When we were growing up in a suburb Of Montreal, we grew up in a predominantly English suburb Of Montreal, but there were those on the street who only spoke French.
My mother coming from a farm community in Ontario, she spoke no French and.
We all got along on the street. Everybody was neighborly, and the neighbor across the street could only speak French. My mother only could speak English, my father could speak French. But I remember the day my father went off to work, left mother home with two small children, my sister and I, and it wasn't very long after that that the railing on the back deck broke. My mother went over.
And broke her arm. The man across the street and he was not a believer. He came over when he saw what happened and though he couldn't communicate by word, he took my mother and my sister and I to the hospital. He looked after my sister and I while mother had her arm set. He was the epitome of solicitude and kindness. When we got home, he made sure that two small children had some lunch before he went off home.
If my parents had not been kind and neighborly when they needed the unrighteous mammon, it wouldn't have been there. There was an ungodly man who, because of the friendship and kindness that my parents had exhibited in their day-to-day life and their neighborly interaction on the street, it came back and the Lord used it to take care of my mother and her two children at that time.
That and I know it's only part of the thought in this verse and our time is gone, but.
That is at least part of what this verse is telling us about using the unrighteous mammon. And there is a way, you know, I carry a cell phone with me that can be abused, social media can be abused. But there are also ways it can be used for the Lords glory, the furtherance of the gospel and the blessing of the people of God. I do want to read one last verse in closing. It's in.
3rd John.
3rd John.
I'm yes, third John and the last verse, but I trust I shall shortly see thee and we shall speak face to face. Peace be unto thee, our friends salute thee, greet the friends by name. You know, I just say at the end of the meeting, we've spoken much about that wonderful friend that we have in the Lord Jesus. But let's learn then with amongst those that he calls his friends.
To cultivate that friendship too, for our blessing and encouragement as we go through this world so that we can refresh one another's spirit.
And that as iron sharpeneth iron as a face answereth to face in a glass, so an iron sharpeneth iron. So the counsel of a friend. I'm not quoting that exactly correct. But we can, as friends, encourage one another. And let's learn intimacy with one another in the context of friendship, and learn to greet one another by name. Not just casual acquaintance, but to greet one another by name. John had friends.
Brethren that he delighted to call by name. And I love to be at meetings like this and to be able to call one another by name and a hearty handshake and a a hug and sometimes a holy kiss too. And how wonderful it is to have these friends that encourage us, but more wonderful to have the greatest friend, that friend who sticks closer than a brother and who will never leave us nor forsake us. Let's pray. Our God and Father, we thank thee for the Lord.
And we thank Thee for these scriptures that bring before us.