There is a term that all of us
take lightly. It's a subject that we all take
for granted. And there's a person that none
of us fully appreciate, and that is a friend, a friend, a real
and true friend. You know, the more friends, true
friends, special friends that I lose along this way in life,
The more I see that to be so. We wish we'd spent more time
with them. We wish we had done more for
them. We wish we had expressed our
love and our gratitude to them more often. Friends are like
good health. One used to say, you don't realize
what a gift they are until you lose them. A young boy wants
to find friend as someone who knows all about you and likes
you just the same. Well, that's true. That's true.
Our English dictionary defines a friend as a person whom one
knows and with whom one has a bond or mutual affection for. And in the broadest sense of
the word, a friend is one who's not an enemy, not one who's actively
opposed or hostile to you, but one who is supportive and on
the same side, one that loves you, as a young boy said, in
so many words, in spite of yourself. This morning, it's my desire
for us to consider three kinds of friendship spoken of in the
scripture. As you might have noticed, our
hymns this morning were around a friend. I found a friend. Now,
he found me. He found me. But I found him
because he found me. And those three kinds of friendship
spoken of are the friendship of the world, the friendship
of believers, and the friendship of the Lord Jesus Christ. I remember
my father telling me when I was a young man that when I grew
older, closer to his age, that I would be very fortunate if
I could count my true friends on one hand. And I found that
to be true in this natural world, but completely untrue in the
spiritual realm. Those two environments make up
our first two categories, the friendship of the world, and
the friendship of believers. The scriptures, the Bible, this
is God's holy word, says a great deal about friends. As we'll
see, the Lord Jesus Christ uses the term friends and friend frequently. In the Old Testament, the Hebrew
word for friend is re'al, and it's translated not only in the
English language as friend, but also as brother, fellow, that's
where we get the word fellowship, companion, and neighbor. And in the New Testament, the
word friend in the Greek is philos, meaning timely, affectionate,
and giving the preeminence. Now, that's what a true friend
is. They give you the preeminence in the relationship. They prefer
your happiness over their own. Now, a true friend is that way.
In other variations of the original Greek word for friend is the
Greek word phileo, which actually means kiss. A kiss is, as you
know, an expression of sentiment and feelings and fondness and
tenderness of the heart and an outward expression that reveals
an inward emotion of love. I think all of us have experienced
the specialness of having a friend, and some friends are especially
special. Over, or on several occasions,
Paul wrote, salute one another with a holy kiss. He said, greet
ye one another with a holy kiss. Greet all the brethren with a
holy kiss. And a kiss on the cheek is a
Eastern expression of love and affection for someone. And for
the believer, it's a Christian expression of love. So let's
consider first. the first division of friendship
that the scriptures describe, and that's the friendship of
the world. You know, James talks a great
deal about this group of friends and friendship that's found in
the world, and all of us have friends or acquaintances, most
of the time what we call fair weather friends in this world. And after all, we were all once
in and of this world ourselves. Even now we're in the world,
but the Lord says, we're not of the world. And it's obvious
that we live in this world. And the Lord Jesus said, if the
world hates you, you know that it hated me before it hated you.
And if you were of the world, the world would love his own,
but because you're not of the world, but I have chosen you
out of the world, therefore the world hated you. Now the Lord
had just expressed to His disciples how much He loved them and that
He had chosen them. They didn't choose Him. And He
wasn't the one that was lost. They were lost. He found them.
He called each one of them. He chose them. And He had told
them what great things that He had done for them and what great
things He was going to continue to do for them. And then He immediately
acquaints them with the world's hatred Out of love for them,
He lets them know what to expect from the friendship of the world.
The Lord Jesus told them straightforwardly that the world would hate them
because the world hated Him beforehand. And those in and of the world
called the Lord Jesus, they called Him a gluttonous man. They called
Him a wine-bibber, a drunkard. They called him a sinner, a Samaritan
who the Jews hated. They called him a madman. One
with the devil, they said. God in the flesh, they called
the devil. Even Beelzebub himself. More than once, they took up
stones to stone him. When he went to his own hometown
and stood up that day to read the scriptures, They took him
to the brow of a hill and was going to throw him down head
first. But his time had not yet come, so he walked through the
midst of them. From his infancy until his crucifixion,
this was the result caused by the enmity between Satan and
Christ as the seed of the woman. Pilate sought to kill all children
under the age of two, I believe. to kill the Lord Jesus Christ.
The Lord told His disciples the truth when He said to them, the
time is coming that whosoever killeth you thinks that he's
doing God service. He said if you were of the world,
if you belonged to the world, if you had this world spirit
and principles, if you pursued the same practices, the world
would love you. Why? Because the world loves
its own. But you're not of the world, He said. You once were. You were born into the world.
You were brought up in the world. And you by nature are carnal
and worldly and fleshly minded, just like those in the world.
But I called you out. Aren't you glad He did? Aren't
you glad He called you out of the world? And He said, the same
as I am, you're not of the world. And the Lord Jesus said, I've
chosen you out of the world. I separated you from the world.
I affectionately called you to come out from among them. And
because of this, the world hates you. Have you ever spoken to
someone in this world, even a religious person, most of the time a religious
person, and they truly hear about your Savior, they truly understand
what you believe, and it makes them angry. It makes them angry. That's what he's talking about.
You can't be friends with someone who hates you. Turn with me to the Old Testament
book of Micah, chapter 7. Micah, chapter 7. Towards the end of the Old Testament,
Amos, Jonah, and then Micah. Micah, chapter 7. I'll give you
a moment to get there. A little book, you'll go right
past it if you're not careful. Micah chapter 7, verse 2, Micah the prophet by
the inspiration of the Holy Spirit says here in verse 2, the good,
that meaning the godly man, is perished out of the earth, and
there's none upright, there's none righteous among men. They
all lie in wait for blood. They hunt every man his brother
with a net, that they may do evil with both hands earnestly. The prince asketh, and the judge
asketh for reward, and the great man, he uttereth his mischievous
desire, so they wrap it up. The best of them is a briar,
the most upright is sharper than a thorn hedge. The day of thy
watchman and thy visitation cometh, now shall be their perplexity. Trust ye not in a friend, earthly
friend, natural friend. Put ye not confidence in a guide. Keep the doors of thy mouth from
her that lieth in thy bosom. For the son dishonored the father,
the daughter rises up against her mother, the daughter-in-law
against her mother-in-law, and a man's enemies are the men of
his own house. But look at verse seven. Therefore,
meaning because of those in the world, I will look unto the Lord. I will wait for the God of my
salvation. My God will hear me." The Lord
is telling us that He's the only one that we can fully and truly
trust. You know, Psalm 53, you're very
familiar with that passage of Scripture. It says, the fool
hath said in his heart, no God. There's no God, no God for me.
He's saying, no to God. I'm not going to have God to
rule over me. I'm going to do my own thing.
I'm going to do things my way. And the psalmist went on to say,
corrupt are they and have done abominable work, there is none
that doeth good. And God looked down from heaven
upon the children of men to see if there were any that did good. Are there any that do good? Are
there any that understand and that seek after God? And what
was his conclusion? Every one of them has gone by.
Every one of them are altogether become filthy. There's none that
doeth good, not a single one. Had the workers of iniquity no
knowledge, who eat up my people as they eat bread, they have
not called upon God. So we're also told by James,
and we know it to be so, that the friendship of the world is
enmity with God. The prince of this world is opposed
to Christ. The spirit of this world is opposed
to Christ. The natural man in this world
is opposed to Christ. And one cannot love the ways
of the world and love God also. The Lord said, you can't serve
God and mammon. So, should we be unfriendly to
those in the world? Is that what you're saying, Brother
David? Absolutely not. Our acquaintances with those
in the world may be the means that God uses for them to hear
the gospel and to be saved. But be sure, be sure that you
understand who and what men are by nature. They are incapable
of loving you as a friend in Christ unless God makes them
so. Now, turn with me to Jeremiah
chapter 9. Jeremiah chapter 9. Verse 1. We're talking about the friendship
of the world. We're talking about friends in
this world that don't know Christ. Jeremiah chapter 9 verse 1. Oh, that my head were waters
and mine eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night
for the slain of the daughter of my people. Oh, that I had
in the wilderness a lodging place of wayfaring men, that I might
leave my people and go from them, for they be all adulterers, an
assembly of treacherous men, and they bend their tongues like
their bow for lies. but they're not valiant for the
truth upon the earth, for they proceed from evil to evil, and
they know not me, saith the Lord. Take ye heed every one of his
neighbor." That's a friend in the world is what that's talking
about. "'And trust ye not in any brother, for every brother
will utterly supplant, and every neighbor will walk with slander.'"
That's talking about friendship of the world. And verse 5, and
they will deceive everyone his neighbor, his friend, and will
not speak the truth. They've taught their tongue to
speak lies and weary themselves to commit iniquity. Thine habitation
is in the midst of deceit. Through deceit they refuse to
know me, saith the Lord. Therefore thus saith the Lord
of hosts, behold, I will melt them and try them, for how shall
I do for the daughter of my people? Their tongue is an arrow shot
out, it speaketh deceit. One speaketh peaceably to his
neighbor with his mouth, but in his heart he layeth his way. And sadly, that's just the way
it is. That's the way it is in this
world. Men and women by nature hate God. Their mind is enmity
against God. That word means hostile. They
hate God and they'll hate you. This is human nature in all its
corruption, depravity, selfishness, hatred, malice, envy, slander. It's what is in all of us by
nature, unless the Lord makes us to differ. And those of you
that are honest with yourself, you know it to be so. You know
what you are outside of Christ. Now let me read Zechariah chapter
13 to you, verse 6. This is speaking of Christ. And one shall say unto him, speaking
of the Lord Jesus, what are these wounds in thine hands? then he
shall answer, those with which I was wounded in the house of
my friends." Those who claim to be my friend, they're the
ones that did this to me. They're the ones that crucified
me. Psalm 41 verse 9, the Lord by prophecy through the psalmist
is speaking of Judas. And he said, long before Judas
was ever born, yea, mine own familiar friend, in whom I trusted,
which did eat of my bread, hath lifted up his heel against me."
If there's such a thing as a friend to be found among those living
in this world, I don't know who they are when it comes right
down to it. Look at Matthew chapter 26 with me. Matthew chapter 26. Matthew 26, 47. And while he yet spake, Lo, Judas,
one of the twelve, came, and with him a great multitude, with
swords and staves, from the chief priests and elders of the people.
This is when the Lord is in the garden of Gethsemane. Now he
that betrayed him, Judas, speaking of, gave them a sign, saying,
Whomsoever I shall kiss, that same as he, hold him fast. And forthwith he came to Jesus
and said, Hail, Master, and kissed him. And Jesus said unto him,
You scroungy devil. No, that's not what he said,
is it? He said, Friend, friend, Wherefore art thou come? Then came they, and laid hands
on Jesus, and took him. And Judas is an example of a
worldly, natural friend. You know, a wealthy man's got
a lot of friends. Have you ever noticed that? I
remember reading about a man one time who won the lottery,
and he was broke in no time. And they asked him why, and he
said, I got too many friends. They come out of the woodwork.
They interviewed this man. He said he had friends and he
didn't even know their name. And these are the friends of
the world. That's who the Lord's speaking
about. Proverbs 14, 20. The poor is hated even of his
own neighbor, his own friends. But the rich have many friends.
They have friends to spare. Proverbs 19 verse four, wealth
maketh many friends, but the poor is separated from his neighbor,
from his friend. That's what James warned us about.
He said, for if they're coming to your assembly, coming to your
church, a man with a gold ring and goodly apparel, expensive
suit, alligator boots, and there come in also a poor person, and
bow Raymond, and you have respect to him that weareth the goodly
clothing, and saying to him, sit thou here in a good place.
You take my seat up front. And then you say to the poor
man, stand thou there or sit there under my footstool. He
said, are you not impartial in yourselves? And are become judges
of evil thoughts? So, Brother David, are there
friends among natural men? Oh yeah, there's friends like
Judas. There are friends of the world who are found among those
that are wealthy. If you win the lottery, you better
keep it quiet. There are friends among those
who hand out favors. Many will entreat the favor of
the prince, and every man is a friend to him that giveth gifts.
Proverbs 19, six, and this, my friends, is the friendship of
the world. There's no true friends, no true friendship outside of
Christ. That's what Job said, that's
what Micah said, that's what Zechariah said, that's what Jeremiah
said, that's what David said, and that's what Solomon said,
and that's what the Lord Jesus is telling us. What do you say? What have you
experienced? And then we come to the second
division, the friendship of believers. Well, now we're gonna get somewhere.
The wise man Solomon said this, a man that hath friends must
show himself friendly and there is a friend that sticketh closer
than a brother. The friendship of believers,
well, it's mutual and it's reciprocal. I immediately think of David
and Solomon when I think of believing friends. One who receives such
friendship returns it. To not do so is to be guilty
of great ingratitude. A believer, a child of God, is
a man or woman of friends. They have many friends. Believers
are friends of one heart and one soul. Why, we have the same
God. We possess the same Spirit. We have the same Savior. We have
the same faith. We encourage one another to the
highest good. Paul said in 1 Thessalonians
5, verse 11, wherefore, comfort yourselves together and edify
one another, even as you also do. That's what I'd love to. to see after service here, folks
fellowshipping with one another, can't you seem to get enough
of one another? That's what that's talking about. You encourage
one another, you lift one another up. Believers as friends forgive
one another and help one another in difficulties. Colossians 3.13,
forbearing one another and forgiving one another. If any man have
a quarrel against any, even as Christ forgave you, so also do
you. We forgive others because Christ...
What have we not done to our Lord Jesus that someone has done
to us? Absolutely nothing. We're all
guilty. Ecclesiastes 4.10, if they fall, the one will lift
up his fellow, his friend. But woe to him that is alone
when he falleth, for he hath not another to help him up. I
am so thankful that I've got friends. I've got you as my friend. You have me as your friend. Help
us to be better friends, Lord. Help us to be better friends.
Believers honor their friends above themselves. Paul said,
be kindly affection one to another with brotherly love and honor
preferring one over another. Preferring one another. Excuse
me, not over another, but preferring one another. Believers as friends
never withhold kindness. They never withhold mercy to
one another. Job, remember his friends? They were fair weather
friends. To him that is afflicted, Job
wrote, pity should be showed from his friend, but he forsaketh
the fear of the Almighty. When we don't show pity and mercy
to one of God's sheep, we're forsaking the fear of God, knowing
that our brother's affliction was sent to him by God. And we
could easily be afflicted in the same way. True friends endeavor
to love as their love. True friends endeavor to forgive
as their forgiven. I so desperately need to hear
these things. I'm preaching to me this morning.
I hope you know that. I'm preaching to me. I want to
be a good friend and brother. I want to be a compassionate
pastor, but it's my nature. And if you're honest with yourself,
it's yours to take the attitude that people are getting what
they deserve. You know, it's so easy to feel that way. Well,
they're just getting what they deserve. And that's true of every
one of us. We all deserve hell. Anything
apart from hell is the mercy and grace of God. That's not
what grace and mercy is, not the attitude of people getting
what they deserve. Mercy is not getting what we
deserve. And grace, we deserve the wrath
and judgment of God. And grace is us getting what
we don't deserve. We don't deserve forgiveness
and Christ's perfect righteousness. God helped us to be conformed
to the Lord's image. And then that brings me to the
last consideration. And oh, what a friend we have
in Jesus. The friendship of Christ. There
is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother. The Lord Jesus
Christ is my friend. Isn't that an amazing thought?
If you're one of His, if you believe and trust in Him, He's
your friend. We're told in Exodus chapter
33, verse 11, and the Lord spake unto Moses face to face as a
man speaking to his friend. Well, if I'm talking to Chris,
who's my friend, I don't go up to him, turn my back to him and
talk to him. No, I talk to him face to face. As a friend, that's
the way friends talk, face to face. The sons of Korah, they
didn't like Moses. The Egyptians, they didn't like
Moses. Pharaoh, he didn't like Moses.
The people of Israel, his own people, didn't like Moses. But
I know one who did. The Lord Jesus, the Lord Jesus
loved Moses. He was Moses' friend. Christ
spoke to Moses face to face as a man speaks unto his friend.
Isn't that something? Abraham was God's friend. Isaiah
41 verse eight reads, but thou, Israel, art my servant, Jacob,
whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham, my friend. I'm God's friend. Christ has
made me so. Isn't that an amazing thought?
James 2.23, if the scripture was fulfilled, would say, if
Abraham believed God and it was imputed unto him for righteousness,
and he was called the friend of God. Do you believe God? If you do, then it's accounted
unto you for righteousness. Christ's righteousness is imputed
to you. You had no righteousness, nothing
but self-righteousness. That won't make you a friend
of God. It'll make you an enemy of God. But because of Christ's
righteousness given to you, charged to your account, you're the friend
of God. Our friendship and fellowship
with God is in Christ. We don't deserve it. We didn't
earn it. We didn't merit it. It was a
gift given to us. God is not our friend because
of something we are, or something we did, or something that we
said, or something that we gave. We are nothing, have nothing,
can do nothing. I've said that a couple times today. You know
why? Because it's the truth. Men and women by nature have
way too high an opinion of themselves. How do I know that? Well, I can
prove it to you by one verse of Scripture. God told Israel,
He said, why did you declare my statutes? Why do you take
my covenant in your mouth? And then He said this, He said,
you hate instruction. You hate my instruction. You
cast my words behind you. You don't pay a bit attention
to what I told you. You consent unto thieves. You
partake with adulterers. You give your mouth to evil.
He said, your tongue frames deceit. You speak against your brother.
He said, you even slander your own mother's son, your brother.
These things thou hast done, God said, and I kept silent about
them. Thou thoughtest that I was altogether
such a one as thyself. Now that's thinking way too highly
of yourself to think that God is at all like you or that you're
at all like God. And he said, what's God gonna
do about it? He said, I'm gonna reprove you and I'm gonna set
things in order before your eyes. I'm gonna show you, if not in
this life, in the life to come, who's the boss. Who is the boss? Jesus Christ is the ruler and
the sovereign reign. To do these things takes one
who thinks way too highly of themselves. And here's a description
of one that has an exaggerated view and opinion of themselves. God says, now consider this,
ye that forget God, lest I tear you in pieces. and there's none
to deliver. Whosoever offereth praise glorifyeth
Me, and to him that ordereth his conversion aright will I
show the salvation of God." Men and women better change their
conversation. You know that word conversation
means road? I thought that was interesting.
You better change the road that you're on. You better get off
this broad road that leads to destruction, and get on that
narrow road. You need to change roads. You
better change the road that you're on. That word conversation means
course of life. You better change your course
of life. You better change your God, which you better do. Because
you've made yourself to be God, and you're not God. You better
change God. It means a mode of action. Men
and women had better change their conversation. But only God can
make one to differ. But you can beg Him to make you
differ. Did you know that? Only God can
make you to differ, but you can pray and beg God to make you
differ. That's right. Those who are well
have no need of a physician, but those that are sick do. And
what does a sick man do? He cries out for help. Lord,
help me. That's what Bartimaeus did. He cried all the more. They said,
be quiet. Don't bother the Lord. He's too busy to mess with a
blind beggar like you. And Bartimaeus said, that's who
He came to save! He came to save a blind beggar
like me. And it says the Lord Jesus stood
still. He stood still. He said, who
was that I heard? Oh, she said, old blind beggar.
Bring him to me. Bring him to me. What can I do
for you, Bartimaeus? Oh, that I might receive my sight. That I might see. That I might
see you. The Lord said, have compassion
on him. That's what it takes. It takes
compassion from the Lord, doesn't it? Oh, Jesus Christ is my friend. The psalmist wrote, he said,
when my father and my mother forsake me, then the Lord will
take me up. Jesus Christ is my friend. I
found a friend. No, He found me. He loved me
ere I knew Him. He loved me before I knew Him.
He drew me with the cords of love and thus He bound me to
Him. I found a friend cause He found
me. He bled, He died to save me. And not alone the gift of
life, but His own self He saved me. He died in my room instead. He kept God's law perfectly for
me. He satisfied God's holy justice
in my place. He's my friend. Oh, there's no
friend like Him. He sticketh closer than a brother.
I found a friend, for He found me. All power to Him is given. He guards me on my own course.
He's the one that brings me safe to heaven. Now that's a friend.
I found a friend. No, He found me. He's kind, He's
true, and He's tender. He's a wise counselor in God. He's a mighty defender. Turn with me to John 15 and I'll
finish up. John chapter 15. Look at verse 13, John 15, 13. There's a friendship of the world,
there's a friendship of a believer, and there's the friendship of
Christ. My, my. Chapter 15 of John, verse 13. Greater love hath no man than
this, that a man lay down his life for who? For his friends. That's the greatest love of all. Whitney Houston used to sing,
the greatest love of all is learning to love yourself. That's not
the greatest love of all. No. That's the banest love of
all, but it's not the greatest love of all. I'm learning to
love myself. Ain't nothing to love. The vainest
love of all. Greater love hath no man than
this. This is the greatest love there
ever was. It was a love that God made Christ
come into the world to be incarnate here. God sent forth His Son. He was made of a woman. He was
made under the law to redeem them that were under the law.
We deserved hell. We were under the law. We were
guilty of the law. Why did He do this? That we might
receive the adoption of sons. Friends, that's the greatest
love of all. There's no greater love found among men, no greater
friend found among those for whom Christ came. He showed His
great love to His friends and calling them to Himself one by
one. One day, in the fullness of time,
God called me by His grace. He drew me with the cords of
love. He revealed Himself to me. I'd been reading the Bible
for a great deal of time. Thought I knew something. Didn't
know nothing. Didn't know anything. The Lord revealed Himself to
me. He showed me what I was. He showed me my need of Christ.
And He gave me Christ. He's my friend. No greater love. He showed them
His love by dying in their room instead to put their sin away. To die for such wicked men and
women gives us evidence of greater love still. You look at who he
died for. Greater love hath no man than
this." Then what? Then a man laid down his life
for his friends. And when the time came, he didn't
make the slightest effort to escape from death. He met death
head on. He voluntarily laid down his
life. Why, he met those soldiers in
Gethsemane's garden head on. He said, who are you seeking?
They said, Jesus of Nazareth. And He said, I am. And they fell
backwards. He's God. He's God. What greater love is shown in
the fact that Christ did actually die for His friends, and He was
not only willing to do so, He did so. You know, we talk a lot
about what we're going to do. You know, I've seen these little
things cut out hanging on walls, and it says, round to it, or
to it. I'll get around to it. Oh, I'm
going to do that for you. I'll get around to it one of
these days. No, the Lord Jesus Christ willingly laid down His
life, and laid down His life He did. Oh my, is there a greater
love than that? Is there a greater friend than
that? Christ died forsaken of His Father. Christ's death was
attended by cruelties of the worst sort while they beat Him
to where He didn't even resemble a man. His visage was so marred
that He didn't even look like a man when they got through with
Him. They shoved a crown of thorns
down on His head as the blood ran into His eyes and into His
mouth. They nailed railroad spike nails
into his hands and his feet and a spear into his side. My, they
plucked out his beard, they mocked him, they made fun of him. That's
what my friend did for me. There's no friend like him. Greater
love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his
friends. And our Lord manifested greater
love in that than by laying down His life for enemies. And I'm the enemy, and you're
the enemy. It's indeed surprising that He
should lay down His life for those who were His enemies and
who are only His friends because He made them so. We scorned Him. We despised Him. We hated Him
without a cause, the Scripture says. We hated Him freely. That's
what that means. He freely loves us and we crucified
Him. Is there a greater love than
that? Is there a greater friend than
that? Why should he have ever loved us? I ask myself that question
all the time. Why would he ever love me? He
shouldn't have. That's why there's no greater
love than this. I recently read a story about
Thomas Jefferson, and during his days as president, he and
a group of companions were traveling across the country on horseback.
And they came to a river that had flooded, over flooded the
banks during a great downpour, and the swollen river had washed
away the bridge. So each rider was forced to ford
the river on horseback, and each one fighting for his life against
the rapids to get to the other side. And the very possibility
of death threatened each of the riders. And there was a traveler
that wasn't with the president and his companions, not part
of their group. who was watching this, and he
needed to cross to the other side, too. And after several
had plunged in and finally made it to the other side, risking
their life, that stranger asked President Jefferson if he would
ferry him across the river. And the president agreed without
hesitation, and the man jumped up on his horse with him, and
shortly thereafter, the two of them made it safely to shore
on the other side. And as the stranger slid off
the back of the saddle onto the dry grim, one in the group asked
him, said, tell me, why did you select the president to ask this
favor of? And the man was shocked. And
he admitted that he had no idea that it was the president who
helped him. And he said this, all I know
is that on some of your faces was written the answer no. Don't
ask me. Don't jump up on my horse. And some of you had the answer,
yes. And he was a yes face. I thought about that when I read
that story. Friends, if you haven't come
to Christ, come and taste the great love of God, is in Christ
Jesus our Lord. He'll accept you. You know why?
He has a yes face. He's never denied one who's in
need. He's never denied one that asks
for his help. Never. May his gracious spirit
bring your starving soul to this great gospel feast For your sake,
who need it, and for Christ's sake, who gives it. Come to Christ. There's no friend like Him. No
friend like Him. No greater love than this, than
a man lay down his life for his friend.