I thought about it before Brother Bill said what
he said. We've been through some tough
times. But I thought about it coming
down here. I've never once, for a moment,
regretted identifying with Bill Parker. Never once. Had some friends to leave, depart. But my association with him was
not bound on just personality. It was on what he preached. I
knew that was the word of God. That's the binding thing. I want you to turn with me this
morning to the book of Proverbs. I'm not gonna read a bunch of
verses, I'm just gonna read one verse. Because if you get started
in the book of Proverbs, it's like there's 10 servants in every
verse. Proverbs chapter 18 and verse 24. A man that hath friends must show himself friendly. And there is a friend that sticketh
closer than a brother. The reason that some people don't
have any friends is set forth by Solomon right
here in this verse. They don't show themselves friendly. That's just true. That's true
in the natural realm, that's just true. But as all of the scriptures,
this has to do with Christ. Brother Richard read Luke 24,
all those verses. It has to do with Christ. with his salvation of his people,
his elect, who are called by many names. There is elect, there's the redeemed,
there's children, there's sons, there his friends. I entitled this message this
morning, Always friends. Or I could have said forever
friends. Because they've always been his
friends. God's people have always been
his friends. And one thing that we fail to
realize sometimes is that God is immutable. He is the Lord
who changes not. And while we see God in scripture,
and I believe this would answer a lot of confusion people have,
while we see him at times speaking of how they are in Adam. Sometimes in the same verse,
he speaks of how they are in Christ. How they are naturally, and how
they are by grace. We saw it in the very text that
Brother Richard preached on. how this man Manasseh was by
nature and by his acts and how he was by the grace of God, mercy
of God. But God has these friends because he first showed himself
friendly to them. He chose his friends, don't you? It's funny that we would not
allow God to do what we do every day in our lives. God chose His
friends. He chose them in sovereign, divine
election. They're chosen friends. Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, chose us, blessed us with all spiritual
blessings. But his friends fell in Adam. They all fell in Adam. They became sinners in Adam. They were born sinners. And after birth, they showed
themselves as sinners. But they never ceased being his
friends. If you turn with me to the book
of Ephesians, in Ephesians 2, listen to what
the apostle says in Ephesians 2 and verse 3, among whom also we all had our
conversation in times past He's describing all by nature, all
of God's people as they are in Adam, but he says, among whom
also we all had our conversation in times past, in the lust of
our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind,
and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others. They weren't the children of
the devil. They were always the children
of God. They were always the friends
of God, but they were by nature. Those two words need to be noted.
They were by nature the children of wrath, but they were still
the children of grace. They were the children of God.
They were the friends that He chose and made His friends. And the truth is, they still
are. They remain so in Him. They remain so by Him. From that very hour of election,
they were chosen friends, but the problem is that we acted
our actions, we acted as enemies to him, but he never was to us. You see the difference? We were
by nature the children of wrath. We are by nature acting as enemies
to Him. We act as enemies to Him, but
He never has acted so to us. The Bible says here in 1 Thessalonians,
God hath not appointed us to wrath. We can't be the children
of wrath, God's people can't. He's not appointed us to wrath,
but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ. And the distinction,
in my mind, is seen so clearly in Colossians. If you turn over
to the book of Colossians, and here Paul's description of
each of God's people here in Colossians chapter 1 in verse
20. We know as was just quoted about
the carnal mind, the natural mind is what? Enmity against
God. But he says here in Colossians
chapter 1 in verse 20, of Christ, having made peace by the blood
of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself, by him,
I say, whether they be things in earth or things in heaven,
and you, this is written to God's people, and you that were sometime
alienated There's no doubt that we were alienated from God. You that were sometimes alienated
and enemies in your mind. Every one of God's people, though
they're the friends of God, they're enemies in their mind. How? By wicked works. because we trusted, not just
that we did wicked works, but because we trusted in that which
can never be the basis of friendship with God, self-righteousness. religious professions, all those
things that in our minds alienated us from God. We were enemies
in our minds by these wicked works, yet now he hath reconciled. Reconciled. Turn over to 2 Corinthians
chapter 15 and listen to what Paul says
in 2 Corinthians Chapter 15. Second Corinthians. I'll get it here in a minute.
I told somebody that the thing one of the things I miss most
about getting old. And buddy, when you get 75 year
old. But I missed the. how supple
your fingers are in your youth. While you can pick at the thinnest
piece of paper or turn a page, I miss that more than anything,
I think, except for my mind. Look at what Paul says here in
2 Corinthians 5 and verse 17. He says, therefore, if any man
be in Christ, he is a new creature. Old things are passed away, and
behold, all things are become new. Now, if that's talking about
regeneration there, I missed it. But he's not talking about that.
He's talking about how we are if we're in Christ. If any man
be in Christ, he is a new creature. Old things are passed away. Behold,
all things are become new. And all things are of God who
hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ and hath given
us the ministry of reconciliation. In other words, these friends,
they're born in sin, they're what they are by nature, but
what they are by grace is something entirely different, and they,
in Christ, have therefore been reconciled to God. This morning, had an instant
flashback in my mind. And I hurried to look it up and
search and find out what was said, but it was something that
John Gill said a long time ago, an old preacher. He said, reconciliation supposes
a former state of friendship. the very idea of reconcile, being
reconciled. He said, you don't reconcile
enemies, you reconcile friends. Reconciliation supposes a former
state of friendship and a breach of that friendship and a renewal
of it or bringing into open fellowship and friendship again. Christ didn't die to make us
his friends. He didn't die to change us from
enemies to friends. Just like he didn't die to make
goats sheep. He says that we are reconciled
to God, and this is the way that these friends have been reconciled. How? Through the dying of Christ. Turn back over to John chapter
15. John chapter 15, and listen to
what it says. John chapter 15 and verse 13,
greater love hath no man than to lay down his life for his
friends. Isn't that what the shepherd
said? I lay down my life for the sheep. I give my life for
the sheep. Greater love hath no man than
this, than to a man lay down his life for his friends. Ye are my friends if ye do whatsoever
I command you, henceforth I call you not servants, for the servant
knoweth not what his Lord doeth, but I have called you friends.
For all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known
unto you." Christ makes known this relationship, and not only
this relationship, this reconciliation, among friends that he has accomplished
on behalf of them in the Lord's purpose and grace. He says that
he lays down his life for his friends. He didn't lay down his
lives for his enemies, though they acted in their minds as
enemies, but he laid down his life for his friends and accomplished
this reconciliation, God in him reconciling them unto himself. You see, God did not need to
be reconciled. He never changed. He never changed
in His love. He never changed in His relationship
to His people. He never altered any way against
them. He never turned on them. He never
unfriended them. Oh, that's a thing in our day, isn't it? You
mess with me, I'll infringe you. I'll block you. God didn't do that. He didn't
change. He's not a fickle friend. He is the friend of his people. He has chosen them to be friends. He has reconciled them as friends. And though they are rebellious in Adam, and though
what he endured for them in this life, in this world, and on this
cross, though he did all these things regarding them, still,
it's a friend. He sticks closer than a brother. Because, you see, if you turn
back to the book of Proverbs, Proverbs chapter 6. There's a
warning here in Proverbs chapter 6 of what's going to happen in
relationship to a friend if you do something. Proverbs 6 and verse 1. My son, if thou be surety for
thy friend, If thou hast stricken thy hand
with a stranger, thou art snared with the words of thy mouth,
thou art taken with the words of thy mouth. Do this now, my
son, and deliver thyself." Well, the Bible says that Christ became
surety. Who did he become surety for?
His friends. And you could have, in one sense,
have warned him. If you become friends with that
crowd or if you, they're a bunch of sinners and rebels and godless
people, enemies in their own mind, holding up for God everything
except your perfect righteous. If you become surety for them,
you're gonna smite for it. And he did. He did. He was smitten of God. He was smitten by divine justice,
but not for himself, but because he stood as surety for his friends. If he delivered them, you see,
in salvation, God must not only deliver them, he's got to deliver
himself. He's got to pay the debt. Because in a suretyship, we not
only find like is a guarantor that somebody has taken a pledge
whereby if one fails to pay, he'll step up and pay. That's
not suretyship. A surety assumes all the responsibility
all the debt, everything that is required at the first. And Christ showed himself that friend that sticketh closer than a brother. And he delivered not only his
people in a just fashion according to this surety ship, but he delivered
all himself and the Godhead in justice and righteousness and
holiness in doing what he does as a just God and a savior. Look over in chapter 17. Chapter 17 and verse 17. It says, a friend loveth at all
times. Christ did not die to make God
love us. And Christ did not die to make
us lovable. He loved us and gave himself
for us. You see, his love, a friend loveth
at all times, and a brother is born for adversity. He stood and bore that adversity
on the cross. And Christ has stuck by them, not only dying for them, dying
as their surety and as their substitute, but also raising
them up together with him and seated with him in the heavenlies. I like the word in Ephesians
2 that often occurs, that word together. Everything he did, he did with
them bound to his heart like the stones on the breastplate
of the priest and like the shoulder plates that bore the inscriptions
of the name of the tribes of Israel. Everything that priest
did when he went into the holy place, when he offered up the
blood sacrifice, when he poured it out on the mercy seat, everything
which pictures Christ and Paul says, it was together. In John 15, if you notice where
we read, he said, you are my friends. If you do whatsoever, I command
you. If you do whatsoever, I command
you. You're my friends. And like Brother Richard said,
that doesn't mean law keeping. That's not what Christ commanded. His commandment was whenever
what one was to do, his command was to believe, to trust, to rely on him alone. You're my friends. If you do
whatsoever, I command you. What do you command us to do?
Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and love the brethren. Love the
brethren. Believe on him whom God has sent. Believe his word. Believe his
gospel. And some take, as in 1 John,
and they say, and don't forget, and do righteousness. We know that man that God used
in 1 John to describe that doing of righteousness. Who was he? What do we know about him? Or
them, I should say. The two men are used as an example. Cain and Abel. What do we know
about those men? The only thing that scripture
records about them is when they came to worship God, when they
came to offer up sacrifices, one went one way, one went the
other way, Cain offered up the fruit of his own labors out of
the ground that was cursed. But Abel, he offered that lamb
without spot and without blemish. He shed that blood and God looked
upon them and he said, as he did others, he said, Abel, he did righteousness. And Cain, wickedly, God received
Abel's offering. He rejected Cain's offering. And the result was, As all through
history, Cain, the works monger, the works righteousness, the
works man, he rose up and he slew his brother. So what is it to do what he commands
us? What is it to do righteousness? It's to trust Christ. It's to
plead his blood as the total satisfaction of divine justice
in the matter of our sin. It's to look to Christ alone. It's to plead his righteousness
as our only righteousness. It's to flee from all such works,
offerings, and sacrifices as Cain. It's to not go the way
of Cain. It's the way to go to enable
God's friend. Do you ever think of what it is
for God to call somebody like you or me his friend? You know, when I was growing
up in religion, Abraham and a few other biblical characters. Abraham
was, he was like pictured as a super saint or something. You know, that's Abraham. He's
the friend of God. He was a lying rascal. He stood before King. and told
him that Sarah, his wife, was really his sister. Deliberately, knowingly, God
called for it. But he said, Abraham is my friend. In Isaiah 41, he says, but thou
Israel art my servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the seed
of Abraham, my friend. But you know Abraham isn't the
only friend of God. Every one of his elect, every
one of his children, every one that God chose in that election
of grace, Everyone that truly believes the gospel of Jesus
Christ, they're his friends. James said, and the scripture
was fulfilled, which said, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed to him for
righteousness. Abraham looked to the coming
Christ. Abraham looked in salvation by
this sacrifice, one sacrifice. Abraham looked to Christ, the
Messiah, who'd come as his king, his prophet, his priest. He believed
God. How did he believe God? Well,
he believed God because God gave him faith. We know that since
Abraham believed God. And every time in the New Testament,
mostly, where you read something about Abraham, it always has
something to do with righteousness. How did he believe God? Because
God pointed out to him, God spoke to him and showed him, not only
vocally, but by all the types and things that he ordained for
Abraham and promised Abraham. He promised him that promise
of righteousness, that gift of righteousness in the coming Messiah. He just believed what God said. And the scripture was fulfilled,
which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed to him
for righteousness, and he was called the friend of God. The friend of God. He's our friend
that sticks closer than a brother. He's that friend that has promised
never to leave us or forsake us. He sticks by us and he's
close to his people to provide for them and to protect them. Turn over to Luke chapter 12. And I say unto you, verse four
of Luke 12, and I say unto you, my friends, be not afraid of them that kill
the body. It's a fearful time. And after that, have no more
that they can do. But I will forewarn you of whom
you shall fear. Fear him which after he hath
killed hath power to cast into hell. Yea, I say unto you, fear
him. We fear God. We reverence God. Because he's not only our friend,
but we believe him, we know what He's able to do what he's pledged
himself to do. We know all these things because
he's declared it to us. We believe God. Like Abraham,
we believe God. I always like that verse over
in the book of Acts where it speaks of Paul being on the ship
in the storm and that you're rock lid and wind coza and Paul
stands up out of a sleep and he speaks to the men on board
that ship and he said, he said, don't be afraid. I believe God. What do you believe Paul? I believe
that it shall be as he has said unto me. That's what I believe. Nothing
more, nothing less. Because my believing won't make
it true. That's, you know, God is who
you believe he is? No. I believe that God is who
He says He is, who He records that He is. I believe God that
it shall be as He has spoken, as He has said it will be. And
He says it will be well with the righteous. I don't care what it is. Saying to the righteous, it will
be well with him. The only righteous that there
are are His friends. They've been made the righteousness
of God in their friend, the Lord Jesus Christ. The Song of Solomon records in
chapter 5 the words of the bride, speaking of the bridegroom. His mouth is most sweet. Yea, he is altogether lovely. This is my beloved, and this
is my friend, O daughters of Jerusalem. He's my beloved, and he's my
friend. He's my friend, and he is also
my elder brother. The hymn writer said, what a friend we have in
Jesus. All our sins and griefs to bear. And friends have fellowship. I want you just to look in 1 John 1 a minute. 1 John 1. Now he's talking here
about the fellowship of God with his friends. First John 1 and verse 3, John
writes, that which we have seen and heard declare we unto you. We're telling you what God says. God has revealed this truth. That which we have seen and heard
declare we unto you. that ye also may have fellowship
with us. And truly our fellowship is with
the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. And these things
write we unto you, that your joy may be full. This is the
message which we have heard of him and declare unto you that
God is light and in him is no darkness at all. If we say we
have fellowship with him and walk in darkness, we lie and do not the truth. Now most commentators And most
preachers have this business of fellowship with God, like
a seesaw. You have fellowship in Him, but
if you walk in darkness, you won't have fellowship with
Him. But I say, He's my friend. They say if you have walk in
darkness, you lie and do not the truth. And that has to do
with your character and your conduct and your life and how
you live in the Christian life. If we say we have fellowship
with him and walk in darkness, we lie and do not the truth. But if we walk in the light,
as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another,
and the blood of Jesus Christ, his son, cleanseth us from all
sin. If we base this fellowship, which
is based on relationship with our friend, If we base it on
our walk of life, our ability to overcome in this life, our
ability to cease from sin, that's so degrading to our friend. Why? For us to imagine at any
time that we could on any level of human life, even any level
of the so-called Christian life, if our fellowship with him would
be based on that. Either a lack of it or a improvement
in it. That's so self-righteous and
that's so contrary to grace. of what John is talking about
here when he says, if we walk in the light. Where's the light? If we walk in the light of Christ,
if we walk in the light of his gospel, if we walk in the light
that every sinner must come to God on or in and the basis of
Christ in Him crucified. If we walk in the light, we have
fellowship one with another. We have fellowship with God. And it's the blood of Jesus Christ
that cleanses us from all sin. That's the only way you can ever
stand before God, be accepted by God, enter into heaven, and
all these other glorious things. And fellowship, the only way
is for you to be without sin, to be cleansed from all sin. And that's not accomplished by
your walk of your life. That's accomplished by the dying
and the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. You cannot ever come
before God in any way apart from this sacrifice of Christ. Everywhere
you look in this book, when men and women worshiped God, came
before God, called upon the name of the Lord, it was through this
priest and this God-appointed sacrifice. Somebody wrote a song that said,
me and Jesus have got a good thing going. No, you don't. It's not a cooperative
effort. You're not a friend of God on
that basis. You can't fellowship with God
on that basis. But in the light, How did Manasseh fellowship with
God? By grace, in Christ, by faith,
in the gospel. It's that gospel life. Here I
see myself in myself as a sinner coming before God, but in truth,
I'm just like Christ coming before the Father. I have fellowship
with God, and this is the basis of all true Christian fellowship. Somebody said, well, brother,
why don't you come over? We'll have some fellowship. Not
if we don't believe the same gospel. Can two walk together except
they be agreed? Can we, I know that all of us,
we are so different, we're so sinful, we can't apply this to
anything natural. Because you're gonna be from
the north, I'm gonna be from the south, you're gonna like
to, one football team, I'm gonna
be like another one, and you're gonna be obnoxious about Kentucky
baseball or something like that. Hank, I can't have any fellowship
with you on that basis. But we have fellowship with God. And we have fellowship with our
friends in one fellow. I've laid hold of one on one
that is my fellow. That's Christ. That's what it
is to walk in the light. It's to walk in the light of
the gospel truth, the gospel revealed to our hearts by the
Spirit of God, wherein we see ourselves as nothing but sin
and Him as nothing but righteousness. and Him giving righteousness
like He did to Abraham, imputing it to Him, charging it to His
account before God, before divine justice, so that God sees Him
just like His Son. One more place. Turn over to 2 Peter chapter
1. I know this has been like tossed
salad, but I'm trying to get it out. You know, if we'd look, if we would interpret the Bible
by the Bible, If we would follow such things as the law of first
mention, see how something is first mentioned in the scripture.
If we would search through the Bible to see how many times this
word is used and how it is used, we'd save ourself a lot of trouble. But listen to Peter in verse three. 2 Peter 3. According as his divine power
hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness
through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory
and virtue. Everything we need is in Christ. Everything. It says, whereby
are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises, that by
these things we might be partakers of the divine nature, having
escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. Some people believe, and not
a few, they believe that when we're
saved or when we're regenerated, we get a divine nature. They
use this as one of those proof texts, divine nature. You're made partakers of the
divine nature. But I'm telling you this right
now, anybody with a divine nature is divine. Mark it down. Just at a first
glance of this thing, you got to interpret the scriptures in
light of the whole. There is only one divine nature. That's the divine himself, God. So what does it mean that he's
made us partakers of the divine nature? Well, that word that
is translated in 1 John chapter 1 several times as fellowship
is the same word that is translated here, partakers. So we're made to have fellowship
with the divine nature, with God himself. What has he given us other than
establishing that relationship himself, securing that relationship
by Christ's death? What has he given us whereby
we can have fellowship with the divine, joy with the divine,
coming to the presence of God, the divine? Well, look right
at the first of that verse. whereby are given unto us exceeding
great and precious promises. That sounds like the word and
gospel of God. All the promises are yea and
amen in Christ. If I'm in Christ, if I'm trusting
Christ, if I believe on Christ alone, I can go and every promise
of God's grace is yay and amen to me in Christ. And by these great and exceeding
promises, we can have fellowship with God. Come before God as His child. Come before God as one of His
elect. Come before God as believers. Come before God and have fellowship
with God as friends. Fellowship depends upon our agreeing
with God on this one fellow, the Lord
Jesus Christ. He said he laid down his life
for his friends. He says that he finished the
work. Me and God agree on that. by
His grace. You know what? There are a lot
of things in this book I don't understand. But I agree with
God on them. When He gives me understanding
of my will. But if He said it, I agree with
Him. I agree with the way He saves
sinners. I agree with his character. I agree with his grace. I agree
that Christ is all. I don't have to worry that I'm
going to offend my friend or he's going to disagree with me.
We have fellowship. We have fellowship. We agree
with God. about Christ. God bless you.