“There is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother” (Proverbs 18.24.)
Introduction. He who would be happy must have friends. He who would be happy hereafter must find a friend in the world to come, in the person of God the Father. It is sweet to repose in some one; but O! how bitter to have that support snapped. Fidelity is absolutely necessary in a true friend. The world’s friendship is brittle. Solomon found no friend in the haunts of his unbridled pleasures, but in the pavilion of the Most High. We have read stories of valiant deeds done for love of brother. Yet, says Solomon, “there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother.”
(1) Christ is a Friend that Sticks Closer than a Brother. You who have had him for a friend will agree. He loved you before all worlds, before the wing of angel flapped the unnavigated ether. He has been a certain friend in uncertain circumstances. You fell in Adam. Did he cease to love you? He became the second Adam to redeem you. You sinned in practice, and brought condemnation upon your head. Did he forsake you? He arrested you by grace, brought you to his feet, and forgave you. Others have been faithless. Has he? In your blackest hour, could you say so? Ask the bright ones before the throne. What do they say? Through the agonies of our expiring moments, he has been with us, ‘a friend that sticks closer than a brother.’
(2) Why Christ Sticks Closer than a Brother. His goodness guarantees his fidelity. He does not flatter. He hazards a dislike by being honest. Has he not told you your faults right truly? Hasty friendships may soon run out of breath. Slow friendships last. His friendship has matured from the ages before you were born. O! his friendship is so old that it must last. Young lady, you acquired a dear friend last nite at the ballroom, did you? Will he be your friend when you are driven to beg bread? Give me a friend who was born in the wintertime, not in the hothouse of pleasure. Has Jesus not been with you in the house of mourning? Did you not find him in your hour of trouble? A friend who gave his heart’s blood for you will never forsake you. He sticks closer than a brother. Again, a friend acquired in folly is confederacy in vice. Such friendship is worthless. Jesus has chosen us, not blindly and rashly, but with judgment and prudence. A friendship of ignorance may suddenly die upon better acquaintance. Our Lord Jesus can discover nothing worse in us than he knew beforehand. He knew we would oftentimes rebel. He loved for his own sake. Surely he will stick closer than a brother. Yet again, friendship lies in deeds, not words. The world is a great house of sham. You write, ‘Yours very truly.’ It is a sham. You don’t mean it. Courtesies may be untruths. Christ does not say, ‘Dearly beloved’ simply. He hangs on the cross, and there we read ‘Dearly beloved’ in red letters. He gives himself for us, and then he gives himself to us. Such a friend sticks closer than a brother. Once more, friendship bought with pearls is not worth pebbles. Christ’s love was unpurchased love. You did not even promise to love him. Nothing can cause Christ to love us less.
(3) A Lesson Drawn from the Doctrine. Lavater says that the degree of your friendships will be proportionate to that of your enemies, whether hot or cold. Because Christ sticks close to a Christian, the dog of hell will be at him with howlings. Satan’s roar is a proof of Christ’s love.
Selection from Conclusion. “Remember, dear hearer, the love of men and women is very sweet; but all must pass away; and what will you do, if you have no wealth but the wealth that fadeth, and no love but the love which dies, when death shall come? O! to have the love of Christ!”
