Verse 16. Do you need a friend? A real friend? A faithful friend? A proven friend? I suspect some of you desperately
need such a friend. I have such a friend. I want
to talk to you as plainly and simply as I possibly can. I wish I could speak to each
one of you personally. I hope you'll hear the message
just that way. I want you to know, trust, and love my friend. I want you to know that you are
loved of him. I want you to walk in his company,
in his presence, in his companionship with the full focus of his care
and attention on you all the time. This is the only friend
in the world of whom there is no need for any envy or jealousy
because someone gets close to him. I want you to be as close
to him as you can get. I want you to have everything of him.
To know everything about him that you can possibly know. To
walk with him and his company incessantly. Song of Solomon
chapter 5 and verse 16. Here he is. His mouth is most
sweet. Yea, he is altogether lovely. This is my beloved. And this
is my friend. The friend, of course, I speak
of is the Lord Jesus Christ, God the Son, that one who is
described in scriptures by his enemies, and yet we cherish the
description as the friend of publicans and sinners. Someone once said, friendship
is the only thing in the world concerning the usefulness of
which all men are agreed. A friend, a friend is one of
the greatest blessings in the world. The poorest man in the
world is that man who is friendless and alone. If you would be happy
in this world, the more friends you have, the better. And if
you desire happiness in eternity, you must find your friend. your soul's friend, your everlasting
friend in Jesus Christ the Son of God, the only Savior of poor
sinners such as we are. This world is so full of sorrow
because it's full of sin. Every sorrow, every pain, Every
heartache, every difficulty, everything that causes your heart
to ache and your eyes to weep is the result of sin. This dark,
dark world is a lonely, disappointing place. And the brightest sunbeam
in this world is a friend. Oh my, sometimes you think to
yourself, if I just had one real One friend in whom I could absolutely
confide. One friend whom I could absolutely
trust. A friend will make your sorrows
half what they would otherwise be. A friend makes all your joys
to be doubled. There are many, however, who
pretend to be friends. They'll eat and drink and laugh
and walk with us in the sunshine of prosperity, but man, when
the chips are down, When trouble comes, you can't find them for
anything. I think of that Particle Son,
as I was looking over these notes today, I can picture that old
boy, when he had his father's money, was wasting his substance
in riotous living, and he had lots of friends. But when he
crawled over in that hog trough, he was helpless and alone. when
he was, had plenty of stuff by which his friends could use him.
Lots of friends were around him. In his reveling and in his rioting,
lots of friends around him. But when he was in desperate
need, not a friend to be found. There are many like that, but
a real friend is scarce, rare, a scarce, rare treasure. You
see, there are not many who will stand with you in the night of
weeping. Not many who will walk with you when you're in trouble.
Not many who will welcome you when you're in need. Not many
who will comfort you when you desperately need comforting.
Not many who will bear your burdens and carry your sorrows. There
are very few above all who care for your soul. not many. As a pastor, I fear this painful
thing. I fear it, but I know it's a
fact. There are not many who are closest
to you who really care for your soul. Not many moms and dads really
care for the souls of their sons and daughters. They begin to
get a little anxious when they get old and grow up and realize
they can really get into trouble, but all along the way, don't
really care for them, not for the souls. They want the sons
and daughters to love them, approve of them, and cherish them, and
honor them, but they don't really care for their souls. Not many
of your closest companions really care for your soul. The friendship
of this world, no matter where you find it, is as bitter as
it is brittle. Trust it, and you have trusted
a robber. Lean upon it, and you will lean
on a spear that will pierce your heart. The Lord Jesus Christ
is a friend, a real friend, a real friend. he's the friend you need. May
God the Holy Spirit now give me special anointing and grace
as I try to commend this friend to you. First, let me say this, Jesus Christ the Lord is the
friend of sinners. He's the sinner's only only one. Turn to Matthew 9, Matthew the
ninth chapter. Our Lord had just called Matthew
the publican. He had been converted by God's
free and sovereign grace, this publican whom everybody despised,
this publican nobody wanted to see him around, this publican
who abused and stole from everybody. And in verse 10 we read, it came
to pass As Jesus started meat in the house, behold, many publicans
and sinners. You find somebody that will have
something to do with these fellows that nobody else has anything
to do with? Well, they all gather around. Many publicans and sinners
came and sat down with him and his disciples. And when the Pharisees
saw it, they said to his disciples, why eateth your master with publicans
and sinners? We wouldn't be caught dead doing
that. But when Jesus heard that, he said to them, they that behold
need not a physician, but they that are sick. But go you and
learn what that meaneth. I will have mercy and not sacrifice. Then he says, I am not come to
call the righteous, but sinners to repent. Did you hear that? Jesus Christ
came specifically on an errand of mercy for sinners. He came
specifically in law of mercy and grace to save sinners. He
lived for sinners. He died for sinners. He rose
again for sinners. He intercedes in heaven for sinners. He loves sinners. He saves sinners. He does. In Luke chapter 9, you
don't need to turn there, but in verse 11, there's just one
little sentence in the last part of that verse that strikes me
as being one of the most overlooked passages in all the gospel narratives.
This is what it said. He healed them that had need
of healing. He still does. If there's anybody
here who has need of healing, I'm not talking about healing
a body. I'm not talking about healing
of sickness. You'll take care of that soon enough. I'm talking
about healing of your soul. If there's anybody here who has
need of healing, healing from a heart of sin and death and
darkness, depravity and corruption, I'm telling you, if you have
need of healing, he's going to heal you. He came here to do
that. Our Lord Jesus Christ is the
only true friend a sinner has. Look in Romans chapter 5 for
a second. Romans chapter 5 verse 6. This is what the Apostle Paul
says when he describes the work of Christ in redeeming and justifying
our souls. When we were yet without strength, in due time, Christ died for
the ungodly. Folks debate and argue about
limited atonement and there's no reason for the debate. If
Jesus Christ died for you, he's going to redeem, he's going to
save you. You've been redeemed, justified, you shall be glorified.
But if you want to know for whom did Christ die, here it is. Merle Hart, he died for ungodly
folks. ungodly folk. That's just about
the lowest description I can think of of a human being. Ungodly. Ungodly. In due time, Jesus Christ
died for the ungodly. Do you write that? If you can
take that ground, if you can stand before God, Well, you can't
stand before God. If you can fall before the Lord
God, his throne of grace and mercy on the ground of your ungodliness,
Jesus Christ died for you. He died for you. We don't, for
scarcely for a righteous man will one die, yet for adventure
for a good man, some would even dare to die. But here's God's
commendation of his love toward us. while we were yet sinners, Christ
died for us. What love is that? Greater love
hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his And
the Lord Jesus Christ laid down his life for us, who were his
enemies by nature, because he was the friend to our souls from
eternity. And he is determined by his blood
to reconcile us to himself, make us his friends forever. All right,
now turn to Proverbs 18. Proverbs chapter 18, verse 24.
First thing I want you to understand is that Jesus Christ is the friend
of sinners. Here's the second thing. Our Lord Jesus Christ is that
friend that sticketh closer than a brother. Look at verse 24, Proverbs 18. A man that hath friends must
show himself friendly. Now on a purely earthly level,
Solomon tells us that if we would have friends, we must ourselves
be friendly. That's the sermon in itself.
I have never yet known an obviously warm, friendly person who did
not have an abundance of friends. I never have. I have never yet
known an outgoing person who just embraces people. who didn't have lots of folks
to embrace him. If you would have people be thoughtful
of you, be thoughtful of others. If you'd have folks be kind to
you, be kind to others. If you want folks to speak well
of you, speak well of others. If you want folks to be generous
toward you, be generous toward others. I've observed that usually,
usually, not always, but usually, Those who are most easily offended,
those folks who kind of walk around with a chip on their shoulder
waiting for you to look the wrong way, you know. He didn't say
that like I ought to. I'm upset with her. Those who
are most easily offended are those people who think nothing
of offending others. They don't think anything of
it. Those people who take every word the wrong way are folks
who don't mind what on earth they say to you. Those who complain
most about doing things are folks who don't do anything to start
with. They gripe, but they don't do anything to start with. Those
who are most selfish, most self-centered, most consumed with their pleasure
and their honor and their name and themselves. are the ones
who are most quick to point out and complain about the selfishness
of others. Those who are most unfriendly
are the very ones who complain most about folks being unfriendly.
I have seen this so many times, you know, try to look like I
do. People will come, sit in church, come visit, And you know,
a congregation this size, my soul, would take you maybe all
of 30 seconds, maybe 90 seconds to speak to everybody here. And
some folks walk in the doors and walk out and don't speak
to anybody. And if you speak to them, you've got to stop them
on the run, dead out, because they're just, you know, self-centered. And they go somewhere and sit
down. You know, nobody came and spoke to me. Not one person in
that church spoke to me, most unfriendly folks. That's because
you're an iceberg. Nobody, nobody, nobody, nobody
wants to be around folks who have no want about them. A man
who has friends, he must show himself friendly. Our Lord Jesus
Christ, however, is that one of whom this text speaks most
specifically of. He showed himself friendly. Oh,
he has shown himself friendly. Solomon says there is a friend,
there is a real friend. He shows himself friendly in
that this friend, he is a friend who sticketh closer than a brother. Solomon didn't find this friend
in his unbridled pursuit of his pleasures. He didn't find this
friend Among the wanderings of his unlimited research, oh no,
this wise man found this friend in the pavilion of the Most High
God. He found this friend in the secret
dwelling place of the Almighty, in the person of the Lord Jesus
Christ, the Son of God. Now I can tell you both from
the Word of God and from the experience of more than thirty-two that our all-glorious Christ,
God the Son, our Redeemer, our Savior, is indeed the greatest,
best, wisest, most disinterested, faithful friend there is. How
happy is that family whose family friend is the Son of God. How happy, how blessed is that
man whose best friend is Jesus Christ the Lord. There is a friend
that sticketh closer than a brother. His name is Emmanuel, God with
us. I've never been much of a friend
to him. He deserves far better than I've
ever given him. But oh, what a friend he's been to me. Poor,
weak, and worthless, though I am, I have a rich, almighty friend. Jesus the Savior is his name. He freely loves and without end. He ransomed me from hell with
blood and by his power my foes controlled. He found me wandering
far from God, brought me to his chosen foe. He cheered my heart
my waltz supplies, and says that I shall shortly be enthroned
with him above the skies. Oh, what a friend is Christ to
me. But oh, my inmost spirit mourns,
and well my eyes with tears may swim to think of my perverse
returns. I've been a faithless friend
to him. Sure were I not most vile and base I could not thus
my fiend requite, and were he not the God of grace, he had
frowned and spurned me from his sight. But he is the God of grace,
and he will never frown and spurn me from his sight. This brother,
he sticks closer than a brother. Now let me deal with one last
thing. I want you to see that Jesus
Christ the Lord is the one friend you need. He's the one friend
you need. I cherish you who are my friends,
my brothers, my sisters, my companions in this pilgrimage. I cherish
you. I always hate to ever lose a
friend. I've lost a few. Hate to lose
a friend. Don't have enough out in the
cold to lose one. See Larry, sitting there, we've been friends
a long, long time. Longer than I've known anybody
here except my wife. Hate to lose that friend, but
I could get along without you. I wouldn't want to, but I could.
James is one of the newest friends. I'd hate to lose him, but I could
get along without you. I can't get along without Christ.
And I've got news for you. You can't either. You can't either. The Son of God is a friend in
need. And there's no creature on God's
earth so needy as fallen, depraved man. There's no need so great
as that of sinners. We need righteousness. We cannot
stand before God Almighty except in Him. We cannot escape the
damnation of hell without perfect righteousness. And we can't do
one thing to get it. We need atonement. Somehow our
sins must be paid for. The soul that sinneth, it shall
die. And there's not any possibility
of any of us standing before God justified without complete
satisfaction and atonement for our sins. And we haven't one
thing with which to attain it. More than that, being dead in
trespasses and in sins, we need life. And there's not anything
we can do to give ourselves life. We need pardon, pardon. There is forgiveness with thee,
O Lord, that thou mayest be feared. But if you should mark iniquities,
O Lord, who shall stand? We need deliverance from the
guilt of conscience, and the fear of death, and the torments
of the damned. But we have no power, no ability
to deliver ourselves. The Lord Jesus Christ, his name
is Deliverance. He said, I am thy Redeemer. His
name is atonement. He has put away our sins by the
sacrifice of himself. His name is the Lord our righteousness,
Jehovah seeking you. Oh, what a friend he is. The Lord Jesus Christ came into
this world to relieve us of our great need, the need caused by
our sin. To remove our guilt. to save
us from our sins, to deliver us from the curse of the law.
This is what the book says of him. Thou shalt call his name
Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins. This
is a faithful saying, worthy of all acceptation. Christ Jesus
came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief. Listen carefully. to make four
or five statements concerning the work of Christ as our freedom.
And your conscience, I guarantee you, will echo every word I had
to say. Your conscience will say amen
to everything I've got to say. It's according to the book of
God, and it's according to the law of God written on your conscience. The Lord Jesus Christ came here
to take for his people all the guilt and condemnation which
they have incurred by the sin and fall of their father Adam,
and by our own sin and fall, chosen willfully day by day. And he suffered the wrath of
God as our substitute, that he might deliver us from the disease
that he alone can cure. We are, all of us, described
in Isaiah chapter 1 as a people laden with iniquity, a seed of
evildoers, children that are corruptors. We have forsaken
the Lord, we provoke the Holy One of Israel to anger. We are,
every one of us, going away backward. The whole head is sick, the whole
heart faint from the sole of the foot, even to the head. There's
no soundness in us but wounds and bruises and putrefying sores. They've not been closed, neither
bound up, neither mullified with ointment. You see, the plague
of sin is in our hearts. The heart is deceitful above
all things and desperately wicked. The imaginations of man's heart,
the Lord God says, are only evil continually. The heart. And I
say, well, if the Lord knows my heart, you can bank on it.
He does, you don't. The heart's deceitful. Deceitful. Deceitful above anything in the
world. There's never been a con artist
like your heart. Never been a deceiver like your
heart. Well I think your heart's deceitful. Well I feel your heart's deceitful. Well this, your heart's deceitful. Don't let your heart rule you,
be ruled by God's book. The heart's deceitful above all
things. Out of the heart proceed evil
thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witnesses,
blasphemies. These are the things that defile
a man. Our problem is that we have a heart disease. The root
of all sins in our hearts. The heart must be changed and
Christ alone can do it. Christ alone can give you a new
heart. I've been where some of you are.
I want to change but I can't. I know. I know. I want to believe
but I can't. I know. I know that. I want to
trust the Lord but I can't. I know. I understand that. I've
been there. I've been there. The only one
who can give you a new heart is the Son of God. Only Christ. Only he can give you a new nature.
Only he can give you repentance. Only he can give you faith. Only
he can give you grace. Only he can bring you into union
with God Almighty in righteousness. More than that, the Lord Jesus
came to deliver us from a debt that only he could pay. Oh, what a debt he paid. Jesus paid
it all. All the debt I don't. You remember the parable? It
wasn't really a parable. I think our Lord was referring
to an actual experience. Talking about what I know he
was in Luke 7. He asked Simon the Pharisee,
he said, here's a man who owes 10,000 talents and here's a fellow
who owes a couple of pennies. And the Lord to whom the dead
throw comes and freely forgives them both. Which one loves most? And Simon said, but one who was
forgiven most. And the Lord said, you judged
right there. Oh, how I ought to love you. No sinner out of hell ever owed
so much. No sinner out of hell for whom
the Son of God paid such a debt as when he paid my debt. been bought with a price. The
precious blood of Christ, he alone could satisfy the justice
of God for my sins. He alone could put away my sins. He alone could write cancel against
my deal, blot out my transgressions, and cast them into the back of
God himself, into the sea of forgetfulness. The Lord Jesus
Christ came here. to deliver us from a curse that
only he can remove. Do you know what it is to be
cursed? I mean under the curse of God's law. Under the curse
of divine justice. Christ has redeemed us from the
curse of the law. What a friend, what a friend. And our Lord Jesus came here
to accomplish a salvation that only he could perform. We could never have been saved
without God the Son, assuming human flesh, living in perfect
as a representative and surety for children sinners and going
to Mount Calvary and taking on himself our iniquities, our transgression,
our sin. He was made to be sin for us
that we might be made the righteousness of God. This is my friend. I'll tell you one more thing
about him. Unlike any of us, he loves for
his friends to use him incessantly. I get bothered sometimes with
my dearest friend, not him. He says, cast all your care on
me. I care for you. He says, come
now, bode me to the throne of grace and obtain mercy, find
grace to help as often as you need it. Come on, use this friend. God makes him your friend. Amen.