Proverbs 17, 17, a friend loveth
at all times, and a brother is born for adversity. Adversity,
one of the key words here, means difficulty, distress, about what
you think it means, trouble. And it's interesting that that's
mentioned here in the context of a friend loveth at all times. The context suggests that this
would be a time where someone just pretending to be a friend
or someone who's less than a friend would not love you in a time
of adversity and when you're in trouble, when you're distressed,
when you're sad. Just an acquaintance is not going
to, somebody said, you know, you find out who your friends
are when you're down. That saying was born from experience. There's a lot of truth to that,
but I think God said it better. At all times, times such as times
of adversity, Love that endures our Lord Jesus
Christ being the perfect example of this and everything good His
love shines particularly during difficulties Particular during
particularly during sorrow and heartache We take his love for
granted mostly In good times what we would call
good times and until we get in trouble. And then when we look to him for help,
we see that he brings trouble to us for this very reason, to
remind us of his love for us and how lost we are without him. We spoke of a friend being such
a precious gift from the Lord. A brother is another precious
gift from the Lord. And we're given a reason here
why God gives us that gift. Not that a brother doesn't mean
anything else but that, and was born for no other reason than
that. It's good to have a brother to share. And of course, this
includes a sister, a sibling to share in all types
of experiences. But particularly in adversity,
God gives us brothers for this reason especially. Think about it. So that when
there is trouble, distress or difficulty, we'll have someone
by our side to help us. to comfort us, to encourage us,
to share the burden. Our Lord taught us in the New
Testament to bear one another's burdens and so fulfill the law
of Christ. What a precious thing that is.
We see this in a natural brother. The Lord has made it generally
speaking this way in natural things. When I was a young boy
all the way up to my, teenage years when I could pretty much
fend for myself. If anyone would have hurt me
or even bothered me or even looked at me wrong, they would have
had to deal with my big brother. And it wouldn't have been fun
for him. My brother was about half looking to whoop somebody
all the time anyway. If you gave him an excuse, he
would have taken it. But according to God, he was
born for me. And I was born for him. If you're no good to your brother
in a pinch, you've missed your purpose, at least part of it,
at least one of them. I don't have a lot in common
with my brothers now, and we've let foolish things come
between us, as that so often happens in life, but I suspect
if it came down to it even now, we'd be there for each other.
This is much more true in spiritual things. As always in scripture,
the Lord takes earthly relationships and examples and causes us to
look beyond those to the spiritual. We understand the earthly. and
it causes our minds to go further. It gives us a picture, if you
will, of what he's talking about when he gives us these spiritual
lessons. And it's much more true always
in spiritual things. People say all the time, And I'm guilty of it too, I'm
sure, saying, well, that's not true except in Christ, as though
that was an afterthought. I'm holy, but it's only true
in Christ. What's true in Christ is most
true. Everything else is another thing. And this, listen to Matthew 12,
turn with me if you would, I think we'll have time this morning. Matthew 12, 46. This is important to always remember.
This was a pivotal and very instructive. Our Lord, instead of trying to
just define things the way men do with words upon words, he
gives us examples, living examples of his truth. And this is a really,
really precious one. Matthew 12, 46. It says, while
he yet talked to the people, the Lord Jesus Christ was inside,
I guess, either someone's house or a common building where they
could meet. And he was speaking to his disciples,
those who followed him there and were listening to him. And
behold, his mother and his brethren stood without, desiring to speak
with him. Then one said unto him, behold,
thy mother and thy brethren stand without desiring to speak with
thee. While he yet talked. Those are
key words. While he yet talked. Somebody
interrupted and said, apparently they weren't just standing out
there, you know, off at a distance waiting for him to get done.
They were making their presence known. They were insistent about
it. They were clearing their throat
and stuff like that or something to get his attention. And everybody
in there could hear him. And somebody had to say, they're
out there wanting to talk to you. It interrupted the whole
thing. Your mother and your brothers
are out there wanting to speak with you. But he answered and
said unto him that told him, who is my mother? Now the Lord's
not disowning his earthly family, but he's making something real
clear. Do we see what it is? He's making something real clear
here. He's drawing a distinction. He's setting a priority that
can never change. Who is my mother and who are
my brothers? And he stretched forth his hand toward his disciples,
toward those that were sitting there in that room, hearing him
speak. You couple this story with the
story of Mary and Martha, when Martha was cumbered about much
serving and Mary was sitting at the feet of Christ. And Martha
interrupted, didn't she? Lord, tell my sister to help
me, I'm trying to serve you here. Martha, Martha. You see the similarity, you see
the, again, the priority set. There is nothing more vital and
urgent and important than sitting where you're sitting right now,
hearing the Lord speak through his word. Nothing, nobody. Don't ever let anybody get in
the way of that. Don't let anything get in the
way of that. And he stretched forth his hand,
behold, my mother and my brethren for whosoever shall do the will
of my father, which is in heaven. What were they doing? What's
the will of the father? They were sitting there listening
to the son of God teach. The same as my brother and my
sister and my mother. Now it might seem rude of the
Lord to do that, to just dismiss them like that. It might seem
even irresponsible. But I want you to notice two
words in verse 46. His mother and his brethren stood
without. They stood without. You think
about it. He said, you always have the
poor with you, but you don't have me always. And there's the
son of God speaking to sinners and they're outside. That's a problem. They interrupted the Lord Jesus
Christ speaking to his disciples, stood without, and caused an
interruption, apparently thinking that whatever they wanted to
talk to him about was more important than what he was talking about. It says in the text there, they
desired to speak. The ones that the Lord said,
this is my real family, they wanted to hear. They stood without thinking that
what they had to say was more important, was more urgent than
what he had to say. Now who's irresponsible? The Lord had brothers that day.
but it wasn't who people would have thought they were. Me too. Me too. My brothers are right here. They
are, and I am for them, born for times just like this, when pretenders are exposed. Here I am, there you are. When people believe lies about
us, here we are, here we are. Most importantly, when we find
ourselves to be much worse than the lies that are told about
us, here we are for one another in
the same boat. looking to the same hope, our
Lord Jesus Christ. And above all, we brethren and
sisters, we have a brother that even in
all of our sin and failure is not ashamed of us. Turn with me please to Hebrews
chapter two, Hebrews 2.10, for it became him for whom are
all things and by whom are all things. Now you think about that.
I've never seen the context like this before. For whom are all
things and by whom are all things. What does he need? What in the
world did he want with us? in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their
salvation perfect through sufferings. For both he that sanctifies the
Lord Jesus Christ, and they who are sanctified, those for whom
he shed his precious blood, are all of one. for which cause he is not ashamed
to call them brethren, saying, I will declare thy name unto
my brothers. In the midst of the church will
I sing praise unto thee. The one for whom is all things is not ashamed to call us his
brother. The Lord Jesus Christ, to say
the least, was born into this world for our adversity, to carry
our adversity, to bear our sicknesses and our sorrows. And as this
passage we just read says, he sanctified us with his precious
blood so that we are born of God just like him and brothers
and sisters. There's no sorrow that exists,
but he has felt it and is able to secure us. Hebrews 2.17, wherefore
in all things it behooved him to be made like unto his brethren,
that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things
pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people, his
brothers. for in that he himself has suffered
being tempted, being tried. He is able to secure them that
are tried. Secure means to help, to bring
aid. How our Lord Jesus Christ has
come to our aid, our good Samaritan. Listen to Psalm 46. Let's turn
there in closing, because we've got a few minutes left. Turn
to Psalm 46.1. Remember, he was born. It behooved him to be made like
unto his brethren. In other words, he was born into
this world a man, the God-man, that he might be our high priest,
that he might represent us before God and sanctify us with his
precious blood as no high priest ever entered into the presence
of God without somewhat to offer. He did that to help us. And when
we say, let me help you, that means we just want to have some
little part in it. When the scripture says God helped
us, that means he saved us. Plum saved us. God is our refuge and strength. A very present help in trouble. Therefore will not we fear. Is that true? If that first part
is true, then the second part must be true. A very present
help. Is he that to you? Is he that
to me? Therefore will not we fear, though
the earth be removed. Though every foundation, everything
we count on is pulled out from under us, we won't be afraid. and remove, though the mountains
be carried into the midst of the sea, though the waters thereof
roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the
swelling thereof. There is a river, the streams
whereof shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of the
tabernacles of the Most High. God is in the midst of her. She
shall not be moved. God shall help her. And that right early. May the Lord give us grace to
all day today think about the glorious truth that he's
not ashamed to call us his family. And may we fit the description
of his family as he described it. Those that sit at his feet and
hear from him, learn of him and find rest under our souls.