This is a study of Jesus as a friend that sticks closer than a brother. He never forsakes His own.

1. JESUS WAS A FRIEND THAT STICKS CLOSER THAN A BROTHER
EDITED BY GLENN PEASE
Proverbs 18:24 24
One who has unreliablefriends soon
comes to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer
than a brother.
BIBLEHUB RESOURCES
Pulpit Commentary Homiletics
The Unfailing Friend
Proverbs 18:24
E. JohnsonIf these words had occurred in a book written any time A.D., we
should unhesitatingly have referred them to our Lord; they are beautifully
and perfectly applicable to him. For closerthan any brother is he who is "not
ashamedto call us brethren."
I. HE COMES NEARER TO US THAN ANY BROTHER CAN. A human
brother can draw very near to us in his knowledge ofus and his brotherly
sympathy with us; but not as Christ, our Divine Friend, can and does. His
knowledge ofus is perfect - of our hopes and fears, of our struggles and our
sorrows, ofour aspirations and endeavours, of all that passes within us. And
his sympathy with us and his succourof us are such as man cannotrender. He
can pity us with a perfecttenderness of spirit, and he can touch our hearts
with a sustaining and healing hand as the kindest and wisestofmen cannot.
II. HE IS ALWAYS THE SAME TO US; OUR BROTHER IS NOT. We can
never be quire sure that our kindest brother will be in a mood or in a position
to lend us his ear or his hand. But we have not to make this qualification or
enter into this considerationwhenwe think of Christ. We know we shall not
find him too occupiedto hear us, or indisposed to sympathize with us, or
unable to aid us. He is always the same, and ever ready to receive and bless us
(Hebrews 13:8).

2. III. HIS PATIENCE IS INEXHAUSTIBLE; OUR BROTHER'S IS NOT. By
our importunity, or by our infirmity, or by our unworthiness, we may weary
the most patient human friend or brother; but we do not wearythe Divine
Friend; and even though we do that or be that which is evil and hurtful, which
is painful and grievous in his sight, still he bears with us, and at our first
moment of spiritual return he is prepared to welcome and restore us.
IV. HE EVER LIVETH; OUR BROTHER MAY BE TAKEN FROM US.
1. Seek the lasting favour and friendship of Jesus Christ.
2. Realize the honour of that friendship, and walk worthily of it.
3. Gain from it all the comfort, strength, and sanctity which a close and living
friendship with him will surely yield.
4. Introduce all whom you canto him, that they may share this invaluable
blessing. - C.
Biblical Illustrator
A man that hath friends must shew himself friendly.
Proverbs 18:24
Duties to equals, neighbours, friends, husband, and wife
J. Hubbard.The carriage ofequals to one anothershould be friendly and
equal on both sides. Almost every relation gives love and benevolence a new
castand form, and calls for a new set of officers, new either for kind, measure,
or manner.
I. DUTIES TO THOSE WHO ARE NEIGHBOURS IN SITUATION TO
ONE ANOTHER. So far as consists with the care of our own spiritual
preservationand with all our engagements elsewhere, the sum of what we owe
to our neighbours is to be as kind, useful, and beneficent among them as
possible, strictly avoiding what may be to the hurt of any. To be courteous on
all occasions ofconverse, and to be ready to do and return those goodoffices

3. which tend to mutual protection and accommodation. We should strive to
promote virtue and goodness in the places of our respective residence.
II. THE DUTIES OF FRIENDSHIP. Friendshiparises from a voluntary
agreementor choice of persons, in other respects independent, to cultivate a
familiar correspondencetogether. Contracting alliancesis not properly a
moral obligation, but rather a matter of private convenience and pleasure. Let
the first rule be, to be agreedon the terms, and neither to raise nor take up
expectations beyond the just intention and import of them. The secondis for a
person to use his utmost endeavours to answerthe confidence he has suffered
another to repose in him. Fidelity must be strictly maintained. A third duty is
to observe a decencyand respectfulness in our own language and behaviour to
them, togetherwith a candid interpretation of their words and actions. A
fourth rule is that all flattery must be banished from friendship.
III. THE DUTIES OF BROTHERS AND SISTERS. This relation is formed
by nature itself. Nature, reason, and Scripture dictate that there should be a
peculiar affection, with very kind effects ofit, passing betweenthose that are
thus related together. Brethren should be speciallycarefulto cultivate peace
among themselves.
IV. THE DUTIES OF THE CONJUGAL RELATION. A relation which
comprehends all the sweets and endearments of the strictest friendship. The
duties are —
1. Love to eachother's persons.
2. A strict care about maintaining peace.
3. The inviolable preservationof conjugal fidelity; a bond of equal obligation
on the husband and on the wife.
4. Constanteffort to promote eachother's interest as one common interest.
The husband's authority should be full of tenderness, condescension, and
forbearance.
(J. Hubbard.)
Human and Divine friendship
Bp. Huntington, D. D.Here is a comprehensive doctrine of Christian
friendship. Friendship is a principle of mutual interchange and mutual
sacrifice. There canbe no onesidedness, no selfishengrossment, no taking
without giving. Selfishness is the death of socialreciprocityand sympathy, as
it is of piety to God. Christianity is not an abstraction. It is all in a person with
every attribute of personallife and love. About all our other friendships there
are some easily-reachedand sorely-felt limitations. Turn, then, to the One

4. Friend. His friendship never fails or disappoints for want of knowledge, or
patience, or skill, or strength, or endurance. Putting togetherthe two
declarations ofthe text — that of the Christian lawfulness and mutual
blessing of human friendship with that of the supreme attraction and fidelity
of the Divine friendship of the Saviour, we have the ground for two or three
greatpracticalprinciples of almost universal application.
1. The Christian guidance we need in the choice of friends and the formation
of friendships.
2. The Christian test of every friendship and every affection.
3. The Christian direction how to hold and handle these friendships so that
they shall bear their part and yield their fruit in the ripening of characterand
the eternallife of the soul.
(Bp. Huntington, D. D.)
Man's clinging Friend
F. G. Collier.I. THE RELATIONSHIP OF A BROTHER. Abrother does
sometimes stick close. The ties of blood are the last thing which prevents us
from sinking into selfishatoms, or hardening into mere machines for minting
money. Eachrelationship in the family has its own blessedmeaning and duty.
Brothers feel that their descentfrom one stock begets mutual alliances and
obligations. But sometimes the links of brotherhood are broken. A brother in
blood has sometimes been unbrotherly in will and in deed.
II. THE MORE THAN BROTHERHOOD OF A BOSOM FRIEND. Probably
the majority of men have friends nearerto them than blood-relations. Our kin
are not always kind, whereas ourfriend is always our brother. There are less
occasions forbickerings betweenfriends than betweenbrothers. Our friend is
not with us constantly, and friendship loses none of its gloss by over-frequent
contact. The superiority of friendship over brotherhood is due mostly to the
fact that a "brother" may be a being apart, while a "friend" is a secondself.
Friends are one in kind, "moulded like in nature's mint." The true melodic
charm of friendship lies in the devotion of both friends to the service of Christ.
III. THE FRIEND MORE THAN A BROTHER CAN BE NO OTHER THAN
JESUS CHRIST. Christ alone has those elements of characterwhichcan
make Him the clinging Friend.
(F. G. Collier.)
Friendship

5. A. Clark.Manis a socialbeing. Religionsanctions and encouragesthe unions
to which nature prompts. Friendship has its inner and its remoter circles. The
heart craves for intimate friends — those to whom it can confide its innermost
thoughts, and to whom it can repair for sympathy and help in times of
trouble. We have here the wayto make friends and the strength of a true
friendship.
I. THE WAY TO MAKE FRIENDS. Reciprocityis the soul of friendship. No
man can expectto be long cherishedas a friend who does not reciprocate the
feeling. At the basis of friendship must be confidence. You must place
confidence in the man whom you desire to place confidence in you. Another
essentialingredient of friendship is fidelity to the trust reposedin you. If you
would wish others to be faithful to you, you must be faithful to them; you
must never make that public which was intended to be private. Friendship
involves the discharge ofall the kind offices of sympathy and help. If you
would wish others to sympathise with you in your troubles, you must be ever
ready to sympathise with them. This is the way in which we are to make
friends. We are to be to others what we wish them to be to us.
II. THE STRENGTHOF A TRUE FRIENDSHIP. The words of the text are
emphatically, but not exclusively, true of Jesus Christ. They here express a
fact of ordinary experience. The ties of a true friendship are strongerthan the
ties of the closestnatural relationship. In the absence of friendship the ties of
nature are often very slender.
1. This is seenin times of adversity.
2. In times of moral delinquency and degradation.
3. A friend will encounter sacrificesand sufferings from which a brother will
often shrink.All that can be said about friendship when it exists betweenman
and man is unspeakablymore true when applied to Jesus Christ. We may
learn from this —
1. The reasonwhy many men are without friends. It is because they do not
show themselves friendly.
2. That the best friend you can have offers you His friendship. And He makes
the first advance.
3. Next to having Jesus Christas your friend, the best friendships you can
form will be with those who are in fellowship with Him. Then strive to make
friends.
(A. Clark.)
Companionship versus friendship

6. C. M. Jones.Thewordrendered "friend" is from a root which means "to
delight in." The word might be rendered "lover." In the former clause of the
verse read "companions," in the latter clause "friend." Then read the verse
thus — "A man of companions breaks himself up, but there is a Friend more
attachedthan a brother."
I. THE SAFEGUARD OF COMPANIONSHIP.
1. Indiscriminate companionships may meet with ingratitude.
2. They may involve injustice.
3. They may produce infidelity.
II. THE SATISFACTIONSOF FRIENDSHIP.
1. Friendship's inspiration is to a higher purpose than companionship's.
2. Its impulse is to a more unselfish relationship.
3. Its industry is seenin assuring a more enduring attachment.
(C. M. Jones.)
Friendship
Jas. Duchal, D. D.I propose to treat of friendship, which is one of the noblest
and, if I might use such an expression, the most elegantrelationof which
human nature is capable. It tends unspeakably to the improvement of the
mind, and the pleasures which result from it are most sincere and delightful.
It is an observationof the bestwriters that friendship cannotsubsist but
betweenpersons of real worth, for friendship must be founded upon high
esteem;but such esteemcannot be — at leastit cannotbe rational and lasting
— where there is not true moral worth. This is the proper object of esteem,
and no natural advantages will do without it. Besides,in friendship there must
be a certain likeness and content of soul, a content in the greatends and views
of life, and also in the principal methods and conduct of it, and this content is
effectually begottenand securedonly by true probity and goodness;this is the
same in every one, and forms the mind into the same sentiments, and gives it
the same views and designs in all the most important affairs of life. Good
spirits, therefore, are kindred spirits, and resemble one another. But what is
principally to be consideredis this, that no friendship canbind a man to do an
ill thing. Friendship, then, must be built upon the principles of virtue and
honour; and cannotsubsist otherwise. But, in truth, a bad man is not capable
of being friend; there is a certain greatness ofsoul, a benevolence, a
faithfulness, an ingenuity, necessaryto friendship, which are absolutely
inconsistentwith a bad moral character. But though every true friend be a

7. goodman, yet every goodman is not fit to be a friend. A person's character
may be, in general, a goodone, and yet he may want many qualities which are
necessaryto friendship; such as —
1. Generosity. Friendship abhors everything that is narrow and contracted.
2. To generositymust be added tenderness of affection. Jonathanloved David
as his own soul. The friendly mind does, with greattenderness, enterinto all
the circumstances andsentiments of his companion; canbe affectedwith all
his cares andfears, his joys and sorrows. Everything is of importance to him
that is so to his friend. And this tenderness of affectionbegets that strange but
affecting harmony of souls, if I might term it so, like the cords of two musical
instruments strained to the same key, where if one of them is touched any
wise, the sound is communicated to the other. Where there is true friendship
there must be an exquisite mutual feeling.
3. And when I have said that the affectionmust be tender, this is saying too
that it must be undissembled. Sincerity in love is essential.
4. I add that there must be in friendship greatopenness and frankness of
spirit; there must be communication of secrets, without reserve;unless that
reserve necessarilyarises from and is causedby friendship, for this sacred
relation cannot bear any other.
5. But although a friend must be ingenuous and open-hearted, a man of
simplicity, and whose very heart, if I might use the expression, is transparent
to his friend, yet he must be discreetand prudent; capable of concealing from
others what ought to be concealed;capable of managing, in anything that is
committed to his care, with wisdom. Menmust not be put to the blush, they
must not suffer by their friends' disingenuity; unfaithfulness is the very worst
thing that can happen in friendship; and, next to that, weaknessand
imprudence, which, though they do not speak so bad a mind, yet may be the
cause ofas greatmischief, and make it impossible for friendship to subsist.
6. Again, it is necessaryto the characterof a friend that he should be of a
constanttemper, directed by reason, and acting unchangeably according to its
direction. A true friend is always the same;that is, his sentiments and conduct
never change but when there is reasonfor it.
7. But there is one particular in which the firmness of a friendly mind is as
much tried as in any other, and that is in resisting any solicitationto do a
thing that may be in itself bad or indiscreet, or hurtful to him that desires it.
What is right and fit must always be our rule, and we ought to observe it
inviolably, not only because the obligation to this is superior to all the
obligations of friendship, but also from principles of kindness and

8. benevolence. Nextto the firmness that ought to be maintained in denying what
is hurtful, there ought to be a resolutionin animadverting upon faults. This is
the most friendly and useful office imaginable, and an office to which an
affectionate mind does with difficulty bring itself. To admonish and rebuke is
to put one to greatpain, and whatever gives pain to a friend is gone about
with reluctance and aversion: yet there is no true faithfulness when this is not
done; and it is one of the noblestends of friendship. Nor can anything give
more satisfactionto an ingenuous mind than to be thus intimately relatedto
one who, he knows, will use faithful freedom with him, and prudently
animadvert upon all his weaknesses. Butthough strict virtue is necessaryas
the foundation of true friendship, and greatfreedom ought to be used in
animadverting upon faults, yet intimate friendship does not bear any rigid
severity, any haughty stiffness of manners. It expects sweetness, and
gentleness, andcondescendency, so far as innocence and virtue will allow.
8. Again, friendship abhors all jealousy — a disposition to be suspicious,
where there is no just cause given. The temper of one that is fit to be a friend
is frank and open; conscious ofno ungenerous cunning in itself, it does not
suspectit in others. And if any circumstance appears less favourable than one
would desire, yet it puts the most candid interpretation upon it that may be;
and will not entertain a bad opinion of a friend, nor break with him, without
manifest proof of his doing what renders him unworthy that relation.
9. Lastly, there can be no fast friendship where there is not a disposition to
bear with unavoidable infirmities and to forgive faults. There may be
infirmities and culpable defects in characters whichin generalare goodand
worthy, and very capable of intimate and fast friendship; yet this cannot be
without that generositywhich overlooks little infirmities, and can fix upon
excellentand amicable qualities (though blended with the others)as the
objects of its esteemand friendship. This generositywe ought by all means to
cultivate in ourselves, considering how much we need it in others, and how
much we expectit. Seeing, then, that so many shining qualities are necessary
to make a perfect friend, they must be very few who are perfectly qualified for
that relation, and men should be very cautious in their choice — careful not to
run into intimacies all of a sudden, intimacies fit to be used only in the highest
friendship; not to run into them, I say, with persons who are not capable of
friendship at all. As there cannotbe too greatcaution in choosing an intimate
friend, so there cannotbe too greatfirmness in cleaving to him when well
chosen. Providence gives nothing in mortal life more valuable than such a
friend, and happy they who enjoy this blessing!But, to conclude the whole, let
it be ever remembered that true friendship, this glorious union of spirits, is

9. founded in virtue; in virtue, I say, in that only. It is this that begets a likeness
in the most important dispositions, sentiments, business, and designs of life; it
is this in which the attracting and cementing powerconsists, whichwe admire
for its own sake, andlove for itself; it is this only that will make friendships
firm, and constant, and reputable; it is this only that will make present
friendship truly gainful, and the remembrance of past intimacies pleasing.
And as virtue must lie at the foundation of friendship, so all friendship ought
to be consideredand improved as a means of confirming and exalting our
virtue.
(Jas. Duchal, D. D.)
Friendship
T. N. Toller.I. THERE IS SUCH A THING, AS FRIENDSHIP AND HUMAN
AFFECTION.
1. God has implanted in our nature a socialprinciple.
2. There are certainqualifications, distinctions, and relations that give scope
to this principle.
3. There have been surprising instances offriendship among mankind.
II. THE WISDOM AND GOODNESS OF PROVIDENCEIN THUS
ORDERING THINGS.
1. It keeps societytogether.
2. The pleasures that attend its exercise.
3. It makes us in a humble degree like God.
4. It is suited to our state both in this world and another.
III. THIS FRIENDSHIP IS IMPERFECT.
1. Peculiarities ofnatural temper.
2. Clashing of interests.
3. Incapacityto help.
4. Want of religion.
5. Distance.
6. Short duration.Conclusion:
1. What reasonto admire the Divine wisdomand goodness!
2. It is a duty we owe to our Makerand our fellow-creatures to cultivate this.
3. Let us not depend on human friendship.

10. (T. N. Toller.)
Making friends a giftWhen Abraham Lincoln was a young man starting in
life, it used to be said of him, "Lincoln has nothing — only plenty of friends."
To have plenty of friends is to be very rich — if they are the right sort. Those
are indeed blessedwho have receivedfrom God this gift of making friends —
a gift which involves many things, but, above all, the powerof going out of
one's self and seeing and appreciating whateveris noble and loving in another.
There is a Friend that stickethcloserthan a brother
The faithful Friend
Enoch Mellor,D. D.The two most eminent philosophers of pagan antiquity saw
in friendship little more than a calculationof benefits which it might be
supposedto confer, and scarcelyrecognisedatall the possibility of its
possessing a disinterestedcharacter. Plutarchaffirmed that in his time
friendship did not exist any longereven in families; that it had once existed in
the heroic ages, but was now confined to the stage. The moral condition of a
nation must have become corrupt below the point of recovery, when so
Godlike a relation as that of friendship can be so discountenanced,
depreciated, and suspected. It is not Christianity which has created
friendship, but Christianity has lifted it up and transfigured it. Even in our
common life we meet with friends who are better to us than even our
relations;but certainly the text does emphatically describe the characterof
One who is pre-eminently the Friend of man, the Friend of sinners, and the
Friend of saints. The history of brothers, as exemplified in the Scriptures, is
somewhatdisheartening. (Illustrate by Cain and Abel; Jacoband Esau;and
Joseph's brethren.) Still, few things are more common than implacable feuds
betweenbrethren. There are jealousies ofbrotherhood.
I. THE LOVE OF OUR BEST FRIEND IS DISINTERESTED.All love,
according to some, is a thing of interest. But there certainly is friendship
which loves, not for what one can getout of the other, but which loves the
other for his own sake. There are friends who live in eachother. And surely
we may say that the love of Jesus is a disinterestedone. He left the world in
which lie is, and was, God over all, not to seek His own happiness, but ours.
His friendship for us would have been noble and disinterestedhad His mission
involved in it no humiliation and no suffering. WhateverGod does for man
must be spontaneous and disinterested, springing from a will which nothing
can coerce, and from a benevolence whichfinds its highestjoy in the holiness
and happiness of those whom it seeks to bless. The recompense which Christ

11. sought was not His own exaltation, but the joy of seeing others rescued,
redeemed, purified, glorified.
II. IT IS AN INTELLIGENT FRIENDSHIP. Itis based on knowledge, a
complete knowledge ofus. The foundation of many friendships is not the rock
of knowledge, but the sand of ignorance. Theyare the creations ofa mere
impulse, the result of a casualmeeting in circumstances which revealed
neither friend in his real character. ButChrist does not throw around us a
glamour of fancy in which we seembetter than we are. He knows what is in
man. He knows the worstof us. It is a friendship in which there is every
conceivable disparity, and yet He stickethcloserthan a brother.
III. THE FRIENDSHIP OF CHRIST IS MARKED BY ITS FIDELITY. And
what is a friendship worth that does not possess this property? If friendship
has its pleasures, it has also its obligations, which must be fulfilled if
friendship is not to degenerate into a soft and contemptible acquaintanceship
without nobleness or true advantage. The only bond of certain friends seems
to be one of mutual flattery. To love one's friend means far more than to love
his comfortand self-complaisance. To tell men of their faults is the luxury of
enemies but the duty of friends. Now, the friendship of Christ is one which
never neglects this essentialduty. Many of the deepestand most sorrowful
mysteries of your life may some day be explained by a single word — the
faithfulness of Christ.
IV. HIS FRIENDSHIP IS MARKED BY ITS CONSTANCY. Few friendships
have sufficient vitality in them to extend from youth to old age. Many
friendships are but summer friendships. The friendship of Christ is the same
yesterday, to-day, and for ever. He does not break off from us because we are
not all we should be to Him. There is a limit to all our earthly friendships, a
limit to their power, a limit to their help. If we need friendship on this side of
the grave, how much more shall we need it on the other side. So we say, "Seek
not friends that die, or whom you must leave, but seek for One who never
dies, and whom you can never leave."
(Enoch Mellor,D. D.)
Christ closerthan a brother
J. W. Reeve, M. A.Christ has shown His friendship towards us —
1. In His incarnation, and in His death for us. He is a brother born for
adversity, the adversity that comes through sin.
2. By tendering to us the means of grace.

12. 3. By protecting us and providing for us so long. He is "a very present help in
our time of trouble." In temptation He has opened a wayof escape,and in
affliction He has sent a Divine Comforter.
(J. W. Reeve, M. A.)
Christ our friend
D. McIndoe.The following excellentqualities of Christ, as a Friend, may serve
to recommend and endear Him to our hearts:
1. He is an ancientFriend. Who candeclare the antiquity of this friendship? Is
it ancient as the incarnation? Is it ancient as His baptism? Is it ancientas the
prophetical or patriarchal age? Nay, it is older than time itself. It is from
everlasting.
2. He is a careful Friend. It was the psalmist's complaint, "No man careth for
my soul." But the Christian has a Friend who cares for him.
3. He is a prudent Friend. Our best earthly friends may err through ignorance
or mistake;but this Friend "abounds in all wisdomand prudence."
4. He is a faithful Friend. Friends frequently prove false, and sadindeed it is
when they prove like a brook in summer. Some men are not to be trusted.
Those in whom you confide most will be ready to betray you soonest. But
Christ is faithful in all His promises.
5. He is a loving Friend. Friendship without love is like religion without love; a
friendless and inconsistent — a cold, unmeaning, and impossible thing.
Christ's love is said to surpass the love of women.
6. He is a constantand unchangeable Friend. His compassionsfail not. Our
Friend is a Friend for ever. "The gifts and calling of God are without
repentance." "Having loved His own, He loveth them to the end." If Christ is
our Friend, we may rest satisfied. All things will work togetherfor our good.
(D. McIndoe.)
Jesus, the true Friend
J. Goodacre.I. REASONSWHY IT IS MOST DESIRABLE THAT THE
YOUNG SHOULD SECURE THE FRIENDSHIP OF JESUS. —
1. His greatknowledge about us and all future events makes His friendship
most desirable.
2. His extraordinary power.
3. His vast undying love. I do not care for that friendship which is basedupon
selfishness, orwhich tries to secure mere personalends. The love of Jesus is

13. the root, the foundation, of His friendship. Love is the most sacrificing
principle in the world. No one ever yet saw all the spirit of sacrifice there was
in the love of Christ, and how He ever sought our good, our pardon, our
happiness, our heaven, our glory. Love is not only the sweetestand most
lovely power, but also the strongestin the universe.
4. His truth to His engagements.
5. Sadconsequencesmust arise if the friendship of Jesus be not secured.
II. HOW SHOULD WE ACT IN REFERENCETO SUCH A FRIEND?
1. We must do what will please Him. The little word "do" must be written in
good, fair characters in our hearts, in our efforts, and in our lives.
2. We must on all suitable occasions acknowledgeHis friendship.
3. We must go direct to this Friend in all our troubles, as well as with all our
joys.
4. We must faithfully look after His interests. Solomonsays that this Friend
"stickethcloserthan a brother"; and they are the wisestwho resolve to stick
the most closelyto Jesus, through sunshine and through shower, through life
and through death.
(J. Goodacre.)
A faithful FriendCicero has well said, "Friendship is the only thing in the
world concerning the usefulness of which all mankind are agreed." He who
would be happy here must have friends. Yet friendship has been the cause of
the greatestmiseryto men when it has been unworthy and unfaithful.
I. CHRIST IS A FRIEND THAT STICKETHCLOSER THAN A
BROTHER.
II. THE REASONS WHY WE MAY DEPEND UPON CHRIST AS BEING A
FAITHFUL FRIEND.
1. True friendship can only be made betweentrue men, whose hearts are the
soul of honour.
2. Faithfulness to us in our faults is a certainsign of fidelity in a friend.
3. There are some things in His friendship which render us sure of not being
deceivedwhen we put our confidence in Him.
4. The friendship that will lastdoes not take its rise in the chambers of mirth,
nor is it fed and fattened there.
5. A friend acquired by folly is never a faithful friend.

14. 6. Friendship and love, to be real, must not lie in words, but in deeds.
7. A purchased friend will never last long.
III. AN INFERENCE TO BE DERIVED FROM THIS. Lavater says, "The
qualities of your friends will be those of your enemies;cold friends, cold
enemies;half friends, half enemies;fervid enemies, warm friends." Then we
infer that, if Christ sticks close,and is our Friend, then our enemies will stick
close, andnever leave us till we die.
( C. H. Spurgeon.)
The friendship of Christ
A. Bonar.I. THE VALUE OF THE FRIENDSHIP OF CHRIST.
1. He is a Friend to His people, and does for them more than what the
strongestearthly friendship candictate.(1)To a kind and constantfriend we
can freely unfold the secrets ofour heart, and look for counseland direction
in every perplexing circumstance. With far greaterfreedom may the humble
Christian apply for direction to the wonderful Counsellorand Prince of
Peace.(2)Froma kind and generous friend we expectcompassionin our
troubles and sympathy in our affliction. The merciful High Priest, and the
Friend of His people, is touched with a feeling of their infirmities.(3) From a
constantand kind friend we expectprotection when injured and in danger.
This also the gracious Friend of sinners willingly imparts to all who, in the
exercise offaith, humility, and trust, betake themselves to Him.(4) From firm,
constant, and generous friends, we receive suchsupplies of goodthings as they
can bestow, whenwe stand in need of them. But what are all the bounties of
the creature when comparedwith the bounty and benevolence of our gracious
Lord?
2. His Divine friendship is free from those imperfections which lessenthe
comfort of human intimacy and attachment.(1)A friend and a brother may
withdraw their regard, and prove inconstant. Some real or imaginary offence,
some impropriety of conduct, the injurious misrepresentations ofthe
malicious, or some scheme of self-interest, may make those whom we have
loved and esteemedaverttheir countenances from us, withdraw their
intercourse, and prove false in their friendship; but this Belovedof the soul
continues steadfastin His love — "the same yesterday, to-day, and for
ever."(2)The best of friends or brothers on earth may not be able to
administer that Divine assistance orsupport which circumstances may
require; they may be ignorant what course should be taken;they may be
oppressedwith poverty, or laid on beds of languishing, or borne down with a
successionofgriefs. But the compassionateRedeemeris a brother born for

15. adversity.(3) The bestof friends and brothers may be called to stations of
work and usefulness in places ofthe world to which we can have but little
access,so that, after years of happy intimacy, distance of place may interrupt
the sweetestfriendship and all the joys of mutual intercourse. But it is not
thus with that best Friend whom the text extols. WhereverHis people are, He
is there to bless them, and to do them good.(4)Deathdissolves the sweetest
friendships. But Jesus, our Redeemerand Friend, is immortal and
unchangeable.
II. I AM TO RECOMMEND THE SAVIOUR TO YOUR ATTENTION,
ADMIRATION, AND ACCEPTANCE.
1. The personal excellences He inherits.
2. The unspeakable blessings He bestows.
III. Let us now direct you to the IMPROVEMENTofwhat has been said.
1. This subjectsuggests important directions to believers in Jesus.(1)He that
has friends must show himself friendly. Beware ofwhatevermay offend your
heavenly Friend, or cause Him to withdraw the manifestations of His
presence.(2)Testify the sincerity and ardour of your friendship, by regard for
those who are the friends of Christ.(3) Testify your friendship to the Saviour,
by warm concernfor His interests in the world.(4) Maintain daily and
delightful fellowship with your heavenly Friend, that thus you may cultivate
the sense ofHis friendship, and may guard againstall distance, coldness, and
reserve.(5)Ye friends of the heavenly Bridegroomlong for the coming of your
Lord, and for the full enjoyment of His immediate presence in heaven.
2. I shall now conclude with addressing men in different situations.(1)This
Friend demands the affection of the young by motives the most engaging and
tender.(2) Are you afflicted? Be entreated to seek your support and
consolationin the friendship of Christ.(3) Are you indifferent and careless
about religion, but pursuing the enjoyments of sense with the whole bent of a
corrupted mind? Yield to the entreaties of a dying Saviour; fly to Him; make
the Judge your friend, and know for your comfort, that in receiving Christ
Jesus the Lord, you become through faith in Him the children of God, and are
made joint heirs with Christ, that best of friends, who stickethcloserthan a
brother.
(A. Bonar.)
Friendship
J. MoffatScott.(a sermonto children): —

16. I. HOW ARE WE TO HOLD OUR FRIENDS? Friendliness preserves
friendship. But what is friendliness?
1. A friendly man is a sincere man. True, trustworthy, transparent in
character. Mocking anddeceitful men, like Mr. Facing-both-Ways, are never
loved and trusted. By their duplicity and insincerity the Stuarts lost a
kingdom, and King George I, who succeededthem, and prospered and won
the affectionof the greatEnglish people, was once heard to say, "My maxim
is, never to abandon my friends, to do justice to all, and to fear no man."
2. A friendly man is frank and generous. A story is told of Demetrius, one of
the conquerers of Athens, that shows the powerof generosityin making
friends. After the glorious victory Demetrius did not harass and humiliate the
inhabitants of the beautiful city, but treated them generously. Commanding
his soldiers to fill the empty houses of the citizens with provisions, they
wondered at his goodness, andfear grew into love.
II. WHO IS THE NOBLEST FRIEND? — "There is a friend that sticketh
closerthan a brother." What a faithful friend was Jonathanto David!
1. In Jesus we have a royal Friend, possessing treasures, and crowns, and
kingdoms such as no earthly monarch owns.
2. In Jesus we have a generous Friend.
3. Jesus is a constantFriend. Some people use their friends as shipwrecked
sailors use their rafts, as masons use scaffolding, as gardeners use clayin
grafting trees. They neglectthem or fling them awaywhenever they have
served their selfishpurposes. But Jesus is a steady Friend, "Everfaithful, ever
true." He will never leave us nor forsake us. After bidding farewellto all his
relations, PresidentEdwards, when dying, said, "Now, where is Jesus of
Nazareth, my true and never-failing Friend?" And immediately the "Friend
born for adversity" came and led him through the valley of the shadow, and
gave him a place among "the shining ones" in our heavenly Father's home.
(J. Moffat Scott.)
An invisible Friend
H. W. Beecher.Notable to conceive ofan invisible Friend! Oh, it is not when
your children are with you, it is not when you see and hear them, that they are
most to you; it is when the sad assemblyis gone; it is when the daisies have
resumed their growing againin the place where the little form was laid; it is
when you have carried your children out, and said farewell, and come home
again, and day and night are full of sweetmemories;it is when summer and
winter are full of touches and suggestions ofthem; it is when you cannot look

17. up towards God without thinking of them, nor look down toward yourself and
not think of them; it is when they have gone out of your arms, and are living
to you only by the powerof the imagination, that they are the most to you.
The invisible children are the realestchildren, the sweetestchildren, the truest
children, the children that touch our hearts as no hands of flesh ever could
touch them. And do you tell me that we cannot conceive ofthe Lord Jesus
Christ because He is invisible?
(H. W. Beecher.)
Christ a personalFriend
J. Starker.Whatmade so greata difference? Of two friends of Alexander the
Great, the historian Plutarch calls one Philo-Basileus,that is, the friend of the
King, and the other, Philo-Alexandros, that is, the friend of Alexander.
Similarly, some one has said St. Peterwas Philo-Christos, the friend of the
Christ, but St. John was Philo-Jesous, the friend of Jesus. This touches the
quick: Peterwas attachedto the person who filled the office of Messiah, John
to the PersonHimself. And this is a distinction which marks different types of
Christian piety in all ages. The Christ of some is more official — the Head of
the Church, the Founder of Christianity, and the like — that of others is more
personal;but it is the personalbond which holds the heart. The most
profoundly Christian spirits have loved the Saviour, not for His benefits, but
for Himself alone.
(J. Starker.).
COMMENTARIES
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers(24)A man that hath friends must
shew himself friendly.—Rather, a man of many friends will suffer loss, for he
will impoverish himself by constanthospitality, and in trouble they will desert
him (Psalm41:9); but “there is a friend,” one in a thousand, “that sticketh
closerthan a brother.” (Comp. Proverbs 17:17.)
BensonCommentaryHYPERLINK "/proverbs/18-24.htm"Proverbs 18:24. A
man that hath friends — Hebrew, a man of friends; either, 1st, Who desires
the friendship of others; or, 2d, Who professes friendship to others; must
show himself friendly — Must perform all kind offices to his friend, which is
the very end of friendship, and the way to preserve it; and there is a friend
that stickethcloser — To him that desires and needs his help; who is more

18. hearty in the performance of all duties of friendship; than a brother — Than
the nearestrelation.
Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary18:19. Greatcare must be taken to
prevent quarrels among relations and those under obligations to eachother.
Wisdom and grace make it easyto forgive;but corruption makes it difficult.
20. The belly is here put for the heart, as elsewhere;and what that is filled
with, our satisfactionwill be accordingly, and our inward peace. 21. Many a
one has causedhis own death, or the death of others, by a false or injurious
tongue. 22. A good wife is a greatblessing to a man, and it is a token of Divine
favour. 23. Poverty tells men they must not order or demand. And at the
throne of God's grace we are all poor, and must use entreaties. 24. Christ
Jesus neverwill forsake those who trust in and love him. May we be such
friends to others, for our Master's sake.Having loved his own, which were in
the world, he loved them unto the end; and we are his friends if we do
whateverhe commands us, Joh 15:14.
Barnes'Notes on the BibleBetter, "A man of many companions is so to his
own destruction, but there is a friend (the true, loving friend) etc." It is not
the multitude of so calledfriends that helps us. They may only embarrass and
perplex. What we prize is the one whose love is strongerand purer even than
all ties of kindred.
Jamieson-Fausset-BrownBible Commentary24. A man … friendly—better,
"A man … (is) to, or, may triumph (Ps 108:9), or, shout for joy (Ps 5:11), that
is, may congratulate himself." Indeed, there is a Friend who is better than a
brother; such is the "Friend of sinners" [Mt 11:19;Lu 7:34], who may have
been before the writer's mind.
Matthew Poole's CommentaryA man that hath friends, Heb. a man of friends;
either,
1. Who desires the friendship of others. Or,
2. Who professethfriendship to others.
That stickethcloserto him that desires and needs his help; who is more hearty
in the performance of all friendly offices.
Gill's Exposition of the Entire BibleA man that hath friends must show
himself friendly,.... Friendship ought to be mutual and reciprocal, as between
David and Jonathan; a man that receives friendship ought to return it, or
otherwise he is guilty of great ingratitude. This may be spiritually applied; a

19. believer is "a man of friends" (b), as it may be rendered; he has many friends:
God is his friend, as appears by his early love to him, his choice of him, and
provisions of grace for him; by sending his son to save him; by visiting him,
not only in a way of providence, but of grace;by disclosing his secrets,
showing his covenantto him, and by making him his heir, and a joint heir
with Christ. Christ is his friend, as is evident from his visiting him at his
incarnation; and in a spiritual way, by the communication of his secrets to
him; by his hearty counseland faithful reproofs;by his undertaking and
doing for him what he has; and especiallyby suffering and dying in his room
and stead. The Holy Spirit is his friend, which he has shownby discovering to
him his woeful estate by nature, and the way of salvationby Christ; by
working all his works in him; by acting the part of a Comforter to him; by
revealing divine things to him, by helping him under all his infirmities; by
making intercessionforhim according to the will of God; and by making him
meet for eternalglory and happiness: angels are his friends, as is plain by
their well pleasednesswith the incarnation of Christ for men; and which they
express at their conversion;by their ministering to them, their protectionof
them, and the goodoffices they do them both in life and at death; and saints
are friends to one another: and such should show themselves friendly to God,
their covenantGod and Father; by frequently visiting him at the throne of
grace;by trusting in him; by a carefulness not to offend, but please him; and
by a close and faithful adherence to his cause and interest: to Jesus Christ
their Redeemer, by a ready obedience to his commands; by owning and using
him as their friend; by taking notice of his friends, and showing them respect,
his ministers and poor saints;by cleaving to him, and renouncing the
friendship of his enemies: and likewise to the Holy Spirit, by not grieving,
quenching, and despising him; but by making use of him, and giving up
themselves to his influence and direction; and by acknowledging him as the
author of all their grace:also to angels, by speaking wellof them, owning their
goodoffices, and reckoning it an honour that they are come and joined to such
a company; and to the saints, by Christian conversationwith them, by
sympathizing with them in all conditions, by hearty counsel, faithful reproofs
and admonitions, and by helping them in every distress, inward and outward;
and there is a friend that stickethcloserthan a brother; who is to a man as his
own soul, Deuteronomy 13:6; and so are of one heart and soul, as Jonathan
and David, and the first Christians, were; this is true of Christ, and may be
expressive of the close union betweenhim and his people; and of his close
adherence to their cause and interest; and of his constancyand continuance as
a friend at all times; and of his faithfulness and unchangeablenessas such;see

20. Proverbs 17:17. The Heathens had a deity which presided over friendship,
which they called Jupiter Philios (c): the characterbestagrees with the true
God, who is a friend to men himself, and loves friendship among them.
(b) "vir amicorum", Montanus, Vatablus, Baynus, Mercerus, Gejerus,
Michaelis;"vir sodalium", Cocceius, Schultens. (c)Aristoph. Acharn. Acts 3.
Sc. 2. v. 2. Pausan. Arcadica sive, l. 8. p. 506.
Geneva Study BibleA man that hath friends must show himself friendly: and
there is a friend that stickethcloser{q} than a brother.
(q) That is, often such are found who are more ready to do pleasure, than he
that is more bound by duty.
EXEGETICAL(ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)
Cambridge Bible for Schools andColleges24. A man that hath friends] Lit. a
man of friends, i.e. one who makes many friends, R.V.; makes them too easily
and indiscriminately.
must shew himself friendly] Rather, doeth it to his owndestruction, R.V. He
will be ruined by extravagance and“evil communications.”
and] Rather, but, in contrastto the many lightly-made friends.
a friend] Heb. a lover. It is a strongerword than that translated “friends” in
the first clause of the verse;and is used of Abraham when he is called, “the
friend of God” (2 Chronicles 20:7; Isaiah41:8; comp. 1 Samuel18:1; 2
Samuel 1:26). See Proverbs 17:17.
Here againis a proverb which only reaches its goalin Him, who says to His
disciples, “I have calledyou friends.” John 15:15.
Pulpit CommentaryVerse 24. - A man that hath friends must show himself
friendly. The Authorized Version is certainly not correct. The Hebrew is
literally, a man of friends will come to destruction. The word ִ‫ת‬ְ‫עות‬ ֵ‫ע‬ַ
(hithroea) is the hithp, infinitive of ‫,עעע‬ "to break or destroy" (comp.Isaiah
24:19); and the maxim means that the man of many friends, who lays himself
out to make friends of bad and goodalike, does so to his own ruin. They will
feed upon him, and exhaust his resources, but will not stand by him in the day
of calamity, nay, rather will give a helping hand to his downfall. It is not the
number of so called friends that is really useful and precious. But there is a
friend that stickethcloserthan a brother (Proverbs 17:17;Proverbs 27:10).

21. Νόμιζ ἀδελφοὺς τοὺς ἀληθινοὺς φίλους.
"Thy true friends hold as very brethren." The Vulgate has, Vir amabilis ad
societatemmagis amicus erit quam frater, "A man amiable in intercourse will
be more of a friend than even a brother."
Keil and DelitzschBiblical Commentary on the Old Testament18 The lot
allayeth contentions,
And separatethbetweenthe mighty,
i.e., erects a partition wall betweenthem - those contending (‫רפה‬ ‫,ַיעפד‬ as at 2
Kings 2:11, cf. Arab. frḳ byn); ‫עימּופע‬ are not opponents who maintain their
cause with weighty arguments (‫,עוּווע‬ Isaiah41:21), qui argumentis pollent
(vid., Rashi), for then must the truth appearin the pro et contra; but mighty
opponents, who, if the lot did not afford a seasonable means ofreconciliation,
would make goodtheir demands by blows and by the sword(Fl.). Here it is
the lot which, as the judgment of God, brings about peace, insteadof the
ultima ratio of physical force. The proverb refers to the lot what the Epistle to
the Heb; Hebrews 6:16, refers to the oath, vid., at Proverbs 16:33. Regarding
.541 .p ,.div ,smrof deretla sti dna ‫ּודפנפע‬
A Faithful Friend BY SPURGEON
“There is a friend that sticks closerthan a brother.”
Proverbs 18:24
CICERO has well said, “Friendship is the only thing in the world concerning
the usefulness ofwhich all mankind are agreed.” Friendship seems as
necessaryan element of a comfortable existence in this world as fire or water,
or even air itself. A man may drag along a miserable existence in proud
solitary dignity but his life is scarce a life. It is nothing but an existence, the
tree being of strips of the leaves of hope and the fruits of joy. He who would be
happy here must have friends. And he who would be happy hereafter, must,
above all things, find a Friend in the world to come, in the Personof God, the
Father of His people.

22. Friendship, however, though very pleasing and exceedinglyblessed, has been
the cause ofthe greatestmiseryto men when it has been unworthy and
unfaithful. For just in proportion as a goodfriend is sweet, a false friend is full
of bitterness. “A faithless friend is sharper than an adder’s tooth.” It is sweet
to repose in someone but oh, how bitter to have that support snapped and to
receive a grievous fall as the effectof your confidence!Fidelity is an absolute
necessityin a true friend. We cannot rejoice in men unless they will stand
faithful to us.
Solomondeclares that “there is a friend that sticks closerthan a brother.”
That friend, I suppose, he never found in the pomp and vanities of the world.
He had tried them all but he found them empty. He passedthrough all their
joys, but he found them “vanity of vanities.” PoorSavage spokefrom sad
experience when he said–
“You’ll find the friendship of the world a show
Mere outward show! ‘Tis like the harlot’s tears,
The statesman’s promise, or false patriot’s zeal,
Full of fair seeming but delusion still.”
And so for the most part they are.
The world’s friendship is ever brittle. Trust to it and you have trusted a
robber. Rely upon it and you have leaned upon a thorn. Yes, worse than that,
upon a spearwhich shall pierce you to the soul with agony. Yet Solomon says
he had found, “a friend that sticks closerthan a brother.” Not in the haunts of
his unbridled pleasures, nor in the wanderings of his unlimited researchesbut
in the pavilion of the MostHigh, the secretdwelling place of God, in the
Personof Jesus, the Son of God, the Friend of sinners
It is saying a greatthing, to affirm that “there is a friend that sticks closer
than a brother.” For the love of brotherhood has produced most valiant
deeds. We have read stories ofwhat brotherhood could do, which, we think,
could hardly be excelledin all the annals of friendship. Timoleon, with his
shield, stoodover the body of his slain brother, to defend him from the insults
of the foe. It was reckoneda brave deed of brotherhood that he should dare
the spears ofan army in defense of his brother’s corpse. And many such
instances have there been, in ancient and modern warfare, of the attachment
of brethren.
There is a story told of two brothers in a Highland regiment, who, while
marching through the Highlands, lost their way. They were overtakenby one
of the terrible storms, which will sometimes come upon travelers unawares
and blinded by the snow they losttheir way upon the mountains. Well near

23. frozen to death, it was with difficulty they could continue their march. One
man after another dropped into the snow and disappeared. There were two
brothers, however, of the name of Forsythe, one of them fell prostrate on the
earth and would have lain there to die but his brother, though barely able to
drag his ownlimbs acrossthe white desert, took him on his back and carried
him along–asothers fell one by one.
This brave true-hearted brother carried his loved one on his back until at last
he himself fell down overcome with fajourney in safetyand so lived. Here we
have an instance of one brother sacrificing his life for another. I hope there
are some brothers here who would be prepared to do the same if they should
ever be brought into the same difficulty. It is saying a great thing, to declare
that “there is a friend that sticks closerthan a brother.”
It is putting that friend first of all in the list of loved ones. Forsurely, next to a
mother’s love, there is and there ought to be no higher affectionin the world
than the love of a brother to one begotten of the same father and held on the
same knee. Those who have, “Grownin beauty side by side and filled one
house with glee,” oughtto love one another. And we think there have been
many glorious instances and mighty proofs of the love of brethren. Yet, says
Solomon, “there is a friend that sticks closerthan a brother.”
To repeat our assertion, we believe that this Friend is the blessedRedeemer
Jesus Christ. It shall be ours first, to prove, this morning the fact that He
sticks closerthan a brother, then as briefly as we can, to show you why He
sticks closerthan a brother and then to finish up by giving you some lessons
which may be drawn from the doctrine, that Jesus Christ is a faithful Friend.
1. First, then, Beloved, we assertthat CHRIST IS “A FRIEND THAT
STICKS CLOSER THAN A BROTHER.” And in order to prove this
from facts we appealto such of you as have had Him for a Friend. Will
you not, eachof you, at once give your verdict that this is neither more
nor less than an unexaggeratedTruth? He loved you before all worlds,
long before the day starflung his ray across the darkness, before the
wings of angels had flapped the unnavigated ether, before anything of
creationhad struggledfrom the womb of nothingness, God, even our
God, had set His heart upon all His children.
Since that time, has He once swerved, has He once turned aside, once
changed? No. You who have tasted of His love and know His grace will bear
me witness that He has been a certain Friend in uncertain circumstances–
“He, near your side has always stood,
His loving kindness, oh! how good!”

24. You fell in Adam. Did He ceaseto love you? No. He became the secondAdam
to redeem you. You sinned in practice and brought upon your head the
condemnation of God. You deserved His wrath and His utter anger. Did He
then forsake you? No!–
“He saw you ruined in the Fall
Yet loved you notwithstanding all.”
He sent His minister after you–you despisedhim. He preached the Gospelin
your ears–youlaughedat him. You broke God’s Sabbath, you despisedHis
Word. Did He then forsake you? No.–
“Determinedto save, he watchedover your path
While Satan’s blind slave, you sported with death.”
And at last He arrestedyou by His grace. He humbled you, He made you
penitent, He brought you to His feetand He forgave all your sins. Since then,
has He left you? You have often left Him, has He ever left you? You have had
many trials and troubles, has He ever desertedyou? Has He ever turned away
His heart and shut up His heart of compassion? No, Children of God, it is
your solemn duty to say, “No,” and bear witness to His faithfulness. You have
been in severe afflictions and in dangerous circumstances. Didyour Friend
desertyou then? Others have been faithless to you. He that eats bread with
you has lifted up his heelagainstyou. But has Christ ever forsakenyou? Has
there ever been a moment when you could go to Him and say, “Master, You
have betrayed me”?
Could you once, in the blackesthour of your grief, dare to impugn His
fidelity? Could you dare to say of Him, “Lord, you have promised what You
did not perform”? Will you not bear witness now–“Notone goodthing has
failed of all that the Lord God has promised. All has come to pass”? And do
you fear He will yet forsake you? Ask, then, the bright ones before the
Throne–“Youglorified spirits! Did Christ forsake you? You have passed
through Jordan’s stream, did He leave you there? You have been baptized in
the black flood of death, did He there forsake you? You have stoodbefore the
Throne of God–did He then deny you?”
And they answer“No. Throughall the troubles of our life, in all the bitterness
of death, in all the agonies of our expiring moments and in all the terrors of
God’s judgment, He has been with us, ‘a Friend that sticks closerthan a
brother.’ ” Out of all the millions of God’s redeemed, there is not one He has
forsaken. Poorthey have been, mean and distressedbut He has never
abhorred their prayer, never turned aside from doing them good. He has been
ever with

25. “ForHis mercy shall endure,
Ever faithful, eversure.”
But I shall stop on this point since I cannot prove this to the ungodly. And to
the godly it is already proven–for they know it by experience. Therefore it is
not necessarythat I should do more than just certify the fact that Christ is a
faithful Friend–a Friend in every hour of need and every time of distress.
II. And now I have to tell you THE REASONS WHY IT IS WE MAY
DEPEND UPON CHRIST AS BEING A FAITHFUL FRIEND There are
some things in Himself which render it certainthat He will stick close to His
people.
True friendship canonly be made betweentrue men, whose hearts are the
soul of honor. There canbe no lasting friendship betweenbad men. Badmen
may pretend to love eachother but their friendship is a rope of sand which
shall be broken at any convenient season. But if a man has a sincere heart
within him and is true and noble, then we may confide in him. Spensersings
in fine old Englishverse–
“Ne, certes canthat friendship long endure,
Howevergay and goodlybe the style,
That does ill cause or evil end endure,
For virtue is the band that binds hearts most sure.”
But who canfind a stain in the characterof Jesus, orwho cantarnish His
honor? Has there ever been a spoton His escutcheon? Has His flag ever been
trampled in the dust? Does He not stand the true Witness in Heaven, the
Faithful and Just? Is it not declaredof Him that He is God who cannot lie?
Have we not found Him so up to this moment? And may we not, knowing that
He is “Holy, holy, holy Lord,” confide in Him, that he will stick closerto us
than a brother? His goodnessis the guarantee of His fidelity, He cannot fail
us.
Faithfulness to us in our faults is a certain sign of fidelity in a friend. You may
depend upon that man who will tell you of your faults in a kind and
considerate manner. Fawning hypocrites, insidious flatterers are the
sweepings andoffal of friendship. They are but the parasites upon that noble
tree. But true friends put enough trust in you to tell you openly of your faults.
Give me for a friend the man who will speak honestlyof me before my face–
who will not tell first one neighbor and then another but who will come
straight to my house and say, “Sir, I feelthere is such-and-sucha thing in you,
which, as my Brother, I must tell you of”–thatman is a true friend. He has

26. proven himself to be so. For we never get any praise for telling people of their
faults, we rather hazard their dislike.
A man will sometimes thank you for it but he does not often like you any the
better. Praise is a thing we all love. I met with a man the other day who said
he was impervious to flattery. I was walking with him at the time and turning
round rather sharply, I said, “At any rate Sir, you seemto have a high gift in
flattering yourself, for you are really doing so, in saying you are impervious to
flattery.” “You cannot flatter me,” he said. I replied, “I can, if I like to try,”
and perhaps may do so before the day is out. I found I could not flatter him
directly, so I beganby saying what a fine child that was of his. And he drank it
in as a precious draught.
And when I praised this thing and that belonging to him, I could see that he
was very easilyflattered. Notdirectly but indirectly. We are all pervious to
flattery. We like the soothing cordial, only it must not be labeled flattery. For
we have a religious abhorrence of flattery if it is so called. Call it by any other
name and we drink it in, even as the ox drinks in water. Now, Child of God,
has Christ ever flattered you? Has He not told you of your faults right truly?
Has He not pricked your conscienceevenupon what you thought to gloss
over–your little secretsins? Has He not provokedconscienceto thunder in
your ears notes of terror because ofyour misdeeds? Well, then, you may trust
Him, for He shows that faithfulness which renders a man right trustworthy.
Thus I have pointed out to you that there are reasons in Himself for which we
may trust Him.
In the next place, there are some things in His friendship which render us sure
of not being deceived, when we put our confidence in Him. True friendship
must not be of hasty growth. As quaint old MasterFuller says, “Letfriendship
creepgently to a height. If it rushes to it, it may soonrun itself out of breath.”
It is even so. I think it was Joanna Baillie said–
“Friendship is no plant of hasty growth.
Though planted in esteem’s deepfixed soil,
The gradual culture of kind intercourse
Must bring it to perfection.”
In vain do you trust the gourd over your head, O Jonah. It will not be of much
use to you. It came up in a night, it may wither in a night. It is the strong stiff
oak, of ages growthwhich shall abide the tempest–whichshall alike put out its
wings to shield you from the sun and shall afterwards find you a hovel in its
heart, if necessary, in its gray old age, when its branches tremble in the blast.

27. Friendship is true when it begins. But we must have a man’s friendship long
before we can sayof him that he will stick closerthan a brother.
And how long has Christ loved you? That you cannot tell. When the ages were
not born He loved you. When this world was an infant, wrapped in the
swaddling clothes of mist, He loved you. When the old pyramids had not
begun to be built His heart was setupon you. And eversince you have been
born He has had a strong affectionfor you. He lookedon you in your cradle
and He loved you then. He was affiancedto you when you were an infant of a
span long and He has loved you ever since. Some of you I see with gray hairs,
some with heads all bald with age. He has loved you up till now and will He
now forsake you?
Oh, no, His friendship is so old that it must last. It has been matured by so
many tempests, it has been rootedby so many winds of trouble that it cannot
but endure, it must stand. The granite peak of the mountain shall not be
melted, because, unlike the young snow, it has braved the blast and borne the
heat of the burning sun. It has stoodout always, catching in its face every
blow from the fist of nature and yet been unmoved and uninjured. It shall
last, for it has lasted. But when the elements shall melt and in a stream of
dissolving fire shall run away, then shall Christ’s friendship still exist, for it is
of older growth than they. He must be “a Friend that sticks closerthan a
brother.” His friendship is an ancientfriendship–ancient as His own head of
which it is said, “His head and His hair are white like snow, as white as wool.”
But note, further, the friendship which will last does not make its rise in the
chambers of mirth, nor is it fed and fattened there. Young lady, you speak ofa
dear friend whom you acquired lastnight in a ballroom. Do not, I beseech
you, misuse the word. He is not a friend if he was acquiredmerely there.
Friends are better things than those which grow in the hot-house of pleasure.
Friendship is a more lasting plant than those. You have a friend, have you?
Yes, and he keeps a pair of horses and has a goodestablishment. Ah, but your
best way to prove your friend is to know that he will be your friend when you
have not so much as a mean cottage.And when houseless andwithout
clothing, you are driven to beg your bread.
Thus you would make true proof of a friend. Give me a friend who was born
in the winter time, whose cradle was rockedin the storm. He will last. Our
fair-weatherfriends shall flee awayfrom us. I had rather have a robin for a
friend than a swallow. Fora swallow abides with us only in the summer time
but a robin comes to us in the winter. Those are tight friends that will come
the nearestto us when we are in the most distress–butthose are not friends
who speedthemselves awaywhen ill times come.

28. Believer, have you reasonto fear that Christ will leave you now? Has He not
been with you in the house of mourning? You found your Friend where men
find pearls, “In caverns deep, where darkness dwells.” Youfound Jesus in
your hour of trouble. It was on the bed of sicknessthatyou first learned the
value of His name. It was in the hour of mental anguish that you first did lay
hold of the hem of His garment. And since then, your nearestand sweetest
friendship has been held with Him in hours of darkness. Wellthen, such a
Friend, proved in the house of sorrow–a Friendwho gave His heart’s blood
for you and let His soul run out in one greatriver of gore–sucha Friend never
can and never will forsake you. He sticks closerthan a brother.
Again, a friend who is acquired by folly is never a lasting friend. Do a foolish
thing and make a man your friend–‘tis but a confederacyin vice and you will
soondiscoverthat his friendship is worthless. The friendships you acquire by
doing wrong, you had better be without. Oh, how many silly friendships there
are springing up, the mere fruit of a sentimentalism, having no root whatever
but like the plant of which our Savior tells us, “It sprang up because it had no
depth of earth”? Jesus Christ’s friendship is not like that. There is no
ingredient of folly in it. He loves us discreetly, not winking or conniving at our
follies but instilling into us His wisdom. His love is wise. He has chosenus
according to the counselof His wisdom. Notblindly and rashly but with all
judgment and prudence.
Under this head I may likewise observe that the friendship of ignorance is not
a very desirable one. I desire no man to call himself my friend if he does not
know me. Let him love me in proportion to his knowledge ofme. If he loves
me for the little he knows, whenhe knows more he may castme aside. “That
man,” says one, “seems to be a very amiable man.” “I am sure I can love
him,” says another, as he scans his features. Yes, but do not write “friend” yet.
Wait a wee bit, until you know more of him. Just see him, examine him, try
him, test him and not till then enter him on the sacredlist of friends.
Be friendly to all but make none your friends until they know you and you
know them. Many a friendship born in the darkness ofignorance has died
suddenly in the light of a better acquaintance with eachother. You supposed
men to be different from what they were and when you discoveredtheir real
characteryou disregardedthem. I remember one saying to me, “I have great
affectionfor you, Sir,” and he mentioned a certain reason. I replied, “My dear
fellow, your reasonis absolutelyfalse. The very thing you love me for, I am
not and hope I never shall be.” And so I said, “I really cannot acceptyour
friendship, if it is founded upon a misunderstanding of what I may have said.”

29. But our Lord Jesus nevercan forsake those whomonce He loves because He
can discovernothing in us worse than He knew, for He knew all about us
beforehand. He saw our leprosyand yet He loved us. He knew our
deceitfulness and unbelief and yet He did press us to His bosom. He knew
what poor fools we were and yet He said He would never leave us nor forsake
us. He knew that we should rebel againstHim and despise His counseloften.
He knew that even when we loved Him our love would be coldand languid.
But He loved for His ownsake. Surely, then, He will stick closerthan a
brother.
Yet again, friendship and love, to be real, must not lie in words but in deeds.
The friendship of bare compliment is the fashion of this age because this age is
the age ofdeceit. The world is the greathouse of sham. Go where you may in
London–sham is staring you in the face. There are very few real things to be
discovered. I allude not merely to tricks in business, adulterations in food and
such like. Deceptionis not confined to the tradesman’s shop. It prevails
throughout society. The sanctuary is not exempt. The preacheradopts a sham
voice. You hardly ever hear a man speak in the pulpit in the same wayhe
would speak in the parlor. Why, I hear my Brethren, sometimes, whenthey
are at tea or dinner, speak in a very comfortable decentsort of English voice.
But when they getinto their pulpits they adopt a sanctimonious tone and fill
their mouths with inflated utterance, or else whine most pitifully.
They degrade the pulpit by pretending to honor it–speaking in a voice which
God never intended any mortal to have. This is the greathouse of sham. And
such little things show which way the wind blows. You leave your cardat a
friend’s house. That is an actof friendship–the card? I wonder whether, if he
were hard up for cash, you would leave your banker’s book! You write, “My
dear Sir,” “Yours very truly,” it is a sham. You do not mean it. “Dear,” that is
a sacredword. It ought to be used to none but those you regard with affection.
But we tolerate falsehoods now, as if they were truths. And we call them
courtesies.Courtesiesthey may be but untruths they are in many cases.
Now, Christ’s love lies not in words but in deeds. He says not, “My dear
people.” But He let His heart out and we could see what that was. He does not
come to us and say, “DearlyBeloved” simply. But He hangs upon the Cross
and there we read, “DearlyBeloved” in red letters. He does not come to us
with the kissesofHis lips first–He gives us blessings with both His hands, He
gives Himself for us and then He gives Himself to us. Trust no complimentary
friend. Rely upon the man who gives you real tokens worth your having, who
does for you deeds to show the truthfulness of his heart. Such a friend–and
such is Jesus–“stickscloserthan a brother.”

30. Once more and I shall not wearyyou, I trust. A purchased friend will never
last long. Give to a man nineteen times and deny him the twentieth and he
shall hate you. For his love sprang only from your gifts. The love which I
could buy for goldI would sellfor dross. The friendship that I could buy for
pearls I would dispense with for pebbles. It is of no value and therefore the
soonerlostthe better. But oh, Believer, Christ’s love was unpurchased love!
You brought Him no present. Jacobsaid, when his sons went to Egypt, “Take
the man a present, a little oil, a little balm, a few nuts and almonds.” But you
took Christ no presents. When you came to Him you said–
“Nothing in my hands I bring,
Simply to Your Cross I cling.”
You did not even promise that you would love Him. Foryou had such a
faithless heart, you dared not sayso. You askedHim to make you love Him–
that was the most you could do. He loved you for nothing at all–simply
because He would love you. That love which so lived on nothing but its own
resources willnot starve through the scantiness ofyour returns. The love
which grew in such a rockyheart as this will not die for want of soil. That love
which sprang up in the barren desertin your soul will never, never die for
want of moisture. It must live, it cannot expire. Jesus must be “a Friend that
sticks closerthan a brother.”
Shall I continue to urge more reasons?I may but mention one other, namely,
this–that there cannot, by any possibility, arise any cause which could make
Christ love us less. You say, how is this? One man loves his friend, but he on a
sudden grows rich and now he says, I am a greaterman than I used to be, I
shall forgetmy old acquaintances.But Christ can grow no richer. He is as rich
as He canbe, infinitely so. He loves you now, then it cannotbe possible that
He will by reasonofan increase in His own personalglory forsake you, for
everlasting glories now crown His head. He cannever be more glorious and
greatand therefore He will love you still.
Sometimes, on the other hand, one friend grows poorerand then the other
forsakeshim. But you never can grow poorer than you are, for you are “a
poor sinner and nothing at all.” Now, you have nothing of your own–allyou
have is borrowed–allgiven you by Him. He cannot love you, then, less,
because you grow poorer. For poverty that has nothing is at leastas poor as it
can be and cannever sink lowerin the scale. Christ, therefore, must love you
for all your nakedness andall your poverty.
“But I may prove sinful,” you say. Yes but you cannot be more so than He
foreknew you would be and yet He loved you with the foreknowledgeofall

31. your sins. Surely then, when it happens it will occasionno surprise to Him. He
knew it all beforehand and He cannot swerve from His love. No circumstance
can possibly arise that everwill divide the Savior from His love to His people
and the saint from his love to his Savior. He is “a Friend that sticks closer
than a brother.”
III. Now then, AN INFERENCETO BE DERIVED FROM THIS. Lavater
says, “The qualities of your friends will be those of your enemies, cold friends,
cold enemies;half-friends, half-enemies;fervid enemies, warm friends.”
Knowing this is true, I have often congratulatedmyself, when my enemies
have spokenfreely againstme. “Well,” I have thought, “My friends love me
hard and fast. The enemies can be as hot as they please. It only indicates that
the friends are proportionately firm in affection.” Then we draw this
inference–thatif Christ sticks close andHe is our Friend–then our enemies
will stick close and never leave us till we die.
Oh, Christian, because Christ sticks close, the devil will stick close, too–he will
be at you and with you. The dog of Hell will never cease his howling, till you
reachthe other side of Jordan. No place in this world is out of bow-shot of
that greatenemy. Until you have crossedthe stream his arrows canreachyou
and they will. If Christ gave Himself for you, the devil will do all he can to
destroy you. If Christ has been longsuffering to you, Satanwill be persevering,
in hopes that Christ may forgetyou. He will strive after you and strive until
he shall see you safelylanded in Heaven. But be not disappointed, the louder
Satanroars, the more proof you shall have of Christ’s love.
“Give me,” said old Rutherford, “give me a roaring devil rather than a
sleeping one. For sleeping devils make me slumber but roaring ones provoke
me to run to my Master.” Oh, be gladthen if the world rant at you, if your
foes attack you fiercely, Christ is just as full of love to you as they are of
hatred! Therefore–
“Be firm and strong;
Be grace your shield and Christ your song.”
And now I have a question to ask–thatquestionI ask of every man and every
woman in this place and of every child, too–Is Jesus Christyour Friend? Have
you a Friend at court–atHeaven’s court? Is the Judge of quick and dead your
Friend? Can you saythat you love Him and has He ever revealedHimself in
the wayof love to you? DearHearer, do not answerthat question for your
neighbor! Answer it for yourself. Peeror peasant, rich or poor, learned or
illiterate–this question is for eachof you, therefore, ask it–“Is Christ my

32. Friend?” Did you ever considerthat question? Have you ever askedit? Oh, to
be able to say “Christ is my Friend,” is one of the sweetestthings in the world!
A man who had lived much in sin one day casuallyentered a place of worship.
Before the sermon, this hymn was sung–
“Jesus, loverof my soul.”
The next day the man was met by an acquaintance who askedhim how he
liked the sermon. Said he, “I do not know but there were two or three words
that took such a hold of me that I did not know what to do with myself. The
minister read that hymn, ‘Jesus, loverof my soul.’ Ah,” said he, though he
was by no means a religious man–“to be able to saythat, I would give up all I
have got! But do you think,” he asked, “thatJesus ever will be the lover of
such a man as I am? ‘Jesus, loverof my soul!’ Oh, could I sayit.”
And then he buried his head in his hands and wept. I have every reasonto
fear that he went back to his sin and was the same afterwards as before. But
you see, he had a conscienceenoughto let him know how valuable it was to
have Christ for his Love and his Friend. Ah, rich man, you have many
friends! There are some here who have learned the faithlessness offriends.
Oh, put no confidence, you great men and you rich, in the adherence of your
friends. David said in his haste, “All men are liars.” You may one day have to
say it at your leisure.
And oh, you kind and affectionate hearts, who are not rich in wealthbut who
are rich in love–andthat is the world’s best wealth–put this goldencoin
among your silver ones and it will sanctify them all. Get Christ’s love shed
abroad in your hearts and your mother’s love, your daughter’s love, your
husband’s love, your wife’s love, will become more sweetthan ever. The love
of Christ casts notout the love of relatives but it sanctifies our loves and
makes them far sweeter.
Remember, dear Hearer, the love of men and women is very sweetbut all
must pass awayand what will you do if you have no wealth but the wealth
that fades and no love but the love which dies, when death shall come? Oh, to
have the love of Christ! You can take that acrossthe river Deathwith you.
You can wearit as your braceletin Heaven and setit up as a sealupon your
hand. For His love is “strong as death and mightier than the grave.” Goodold
Bishop Beveridge, I think it was, when dying, did not know his best friends.
Said one, “BishopBeveridge, do you know me?” Said he, “Who are you?”
And when the name was mentioned, he said, “No.”
“But don’t you know your wife, Bishop?” “Whatis her name?” saidhe. Said
she, “I am your wife.” “I did not know I had gotone,” said he. Poorold man!

33. His faculties all failed him. At last one stoopeddown and whispered, “Do you
know the Lord Jesus Christ?” “Yes,” saidhe, making an effort to speak, “I
have known Him these forty years and I never can forgetHim.” It is
marvelous how memory will hold the place with Jesus, whenit will with no
one else. And it is equally marvelous that–“Whenall createdstreams are
dry,Christ’s fullness is the same.”
My dear Hearers, do think of this matter. Oh that you might getChrist for
your Friend! He will never be your Friend while you are self-righteous. He
will never be your friend while you live in sin. But do you believe yourselves
guilty? Do you desire to leave off sin? Do you want to be saved? Do you desire
to be renewed? Thenlet me tell you, my Masterloves you! Poor, weak and
helpless worms, my Master’s heartis full of love to you. His eyes at this
moment are looking down with pity on you. “Oh! Jerusalem, Jerusalem,
Jerusalem!” He now bids me tell you that He died for all of you who confess
yourselves to be sinners and feelit. He bids me say to you, “Believe on the
Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved.”
He tells me to proclaim salvation full and free–full, needing nothing of yours
to help it. Free, needing nothing of yours to buy it–
“Come, you thirsty, come and welcome;
God’s free bounty glorify–
True belief and true repentance
Every grace that brings us near –
Without money
Come to Jesus Christand buy.”
There is nothing I feel that I fail so much in as addressing sinners. Oh! I wish
I could cry my heart out and preach my heart out, to you and at you!–
“DearSavior, draw reluctant hearts.
To you let sinners fly,
And take the bliss your love imparts
And drink and never die.”
Farewell, with this one thought–we shall never all of us meet together here
again. It is a very solemn thought but according to the course ofnature and
the number of deaths if all of you were willing to come here next Sabbath
morning, it is not at all likely that all of you would be alive. One out of this
congregationwill be sure to have gone the way of all flesh.
Farewell, you that are appointed to death, I know not who you are–yonder
strong man, or yonder tender maiden with the hectic flush of consumption on
her cheek. I know not who is appointed to death. But I do now most solemnly

34. take my farewellof such an one. Farewellpoor soul–andis it farewellforever?
Shall we meet in the land of the hereafter, in the home of the blessed, or do I
bid you farewellnow forever?
I do solemnly bid farewellto you forever if you live and die without Christ.
But I cannotbear that dreary thought. And I therefore say, poor Sinner, stop
and consider!Consideryour ways and now–“turn you, turn you, why will you
die?” “Why will you die?” “Why will you die?” “Why will you die? "Ah, you
cannot answerthat question! May Godhelp you to answerit in a better
fashion, by saying–
“Here, Lord!
Just as I am, without one plea,
But that Your blood was shed for me,
O Son of God, I come to You.
I trust my soulin Your kind hands.”
The Lord bless you all. ForChrist’s sake. Amen. Adapted from The C.H..
SpurgeonCollection, Version 1.0, Ages Software,
END BIBLEHUB
A Friend That Sticks Closer Than a Brother:
Proverbs18:24
At Risen Life Church we have been preaching out of the book Proverbs. In this series we have
systematized the major themes of Proverbs and have preached accordingly. In the following
sermon I am exploring what God has said in Proverbs about Friendship. I preached this sermon
at Gateway Community Church in Draper, Utah. Risen Life is partnering with Gateway to
further the Gospel in Salt Lake City. Below I have provided a quick recap of my sermon. I highly
encourage you to listen to the full sermon HERE.

35. http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-K5Q82AYQRC4/UydnY-
0SwKI/AAAAAAAAAMo/YEHUdY7B3SE/s1600/Hands_of_God_and_Adam.jpghttp://4.bp.bl
ogspot.com/-K5Q82AYQRC4/UydnY-
0SwKI/AAAAAAAAAMo/YEHUdY7B3SE/s1600/Hands_of_God_and_Adam.jpgIf you do a
survey of the verses in Proverbs on friendship there seems to be four major categories that speak
about the characteristics of Godly friends. Proverbs points to the fact that: a friend chooses to
love always, a friend is trustworthy, a friend can influence our character, and a friend can correct
in love. In the following sermon I take a look at each of these characteristics that Proverbs
presents about friends and then show how Christ fulfills the paradigm of a good friend.
A friend chooses to love always. Proverbs 17:17, 17:9, 10:12, 20:26 all speak to the fact that a
Godly friend chooses to love always. Often we become friends through common interest and
mutual agreement on truth. Most of my best friends have come through the Church. As friends,
we agree on the truth of the Gospel and we strive for the Gospel together. To remain friends we
must choose to love one another above all things. This is just as true in marriage as it is in
friendship. Christ loved us while we were yet sinners and for this reason alone we can learn to
love our friends always. We not only want to seek friends that will extend love to us in all
circumstances but we want to be friends that will do the same.
A friend is trustworthy. Proverbs 11:13, 16:28, 26:19, 11:12 all teach about what it means to be
trustworthy as a friend. A friend keeps what we have entrusted to them and they do not use what
they know to their own benefit or for our destruction. Instead, they love us and want the best for
us. There is nothing better than to have a friend that can keep what we have entrusted to them.
A friend can influence our character. Proverbs 22:24 urges us to stray from friends that would
influence our character for evil. Rather, we should seek friends that influence us for good. I have
had friends that have influenced me for good and bad. The Bible urges us to choose our friends
carefully. Because of the nature of friendship, we will take on what our friends value, enjoy, and
believe. We want to find friends that help us to walk in paths of righteousness as well as be
friends that lead in the same.
A friend can correct. Proverbs 27:6, 27:9-10, 27:17 all show the benefits of having a close,
loving friend that can point out sin in our life. Friends that are willing to speak truth into our
lives are part of God’s plan for the sanctification of believers. The question we often ask at Risen
Life is, “Who are you doing life with?” Meaning, who in the body of Christ are you letting speak
into your life?
Jesus is a friend that sticks closer than a brother. What we see in Proverbs 18:24 is that all friends
will fail at some point, but there is a friend that sticks closer than a brother. That friend is Jesus.
In fact as we walk with Jesus we see that he fulfills the true paradigm of a Godly friend. He is the
friend that loves us at all times; He is the friend that is ultimately trustworthy; He is the friend

36. that influences our character by His Spirit; He is the friend that is committed to lovingly
correcting us.
The question for us is, “Will we accept the handshake of friendship that Jesus extends to us?” If
you will confess Jesus as Lord, repent of your sins, and walk with Him, He will call you friend.
http://www.entrustedwiththegospel.com/2014/03/a-friend-that-sticks-closer-
than.html
The Friend Who Sticks Closer Than a Brother
<< PREVIOUS | March 16th | NEXT >>
click above to play 2-min devotion
SCRIPTURE READING:
Proverbs 18:24
One who has unreliable friends soon comes to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a
brother.
SIGNIFICANCE:
The LORD JESUS CHRIST, alive forever more, calls us to abide in Him as the best
companion anyone can everhave.
Dear Father, When I think about the perfect friend for me and all people, the only per-son Who
can truly fill that role is Jesus. A couple of dictionary definitions of “friend” are helpful to me:
(1) “a person you know well and regard with affection and trust;” (2) “an associate who provides
cooperation or assistance.” I rejoice that Jesus, the Friend Who Sticks Closer Than a Brother, far
exceeds those descriptions of “friend.” I praise Him that He is Almighty God, with all Your
power and love to minister as the Friend of all friends. I praise Him that He will never leave nor
forsake those who trust in Him, and that nothing can separate us from His love. Hallelujah! He is
completely faithful to His teaching in John 15:13, “Greater love has no one than this: to lay down
one’s life for one’s friends,” through His dying on the cross for us, protecting us, providing for
us, forgiving us, teaching us, encouraging us, giving us His strength, taking our burdens upon
Himself and much, much more. I love to sing part of the first verse of Joseph Scriven’s hymn,
“What A Friend We Have in Jesus”: “What a Friend we have in Jesus, All our sins and griefs to
bear! What a privilege to carry, Everything to God in pray’r!” I pray that I and all the followers
of the Friend Who Sticks Closer Than a Brother will crave an intimate love relationship with
Him, and will abide in the fullness of His friendship. And, please give us a deep burden to
introduce all of our unsaved earthly friends to our best Friend, Jesus. In His blessed name I pray
these things. Amen.
https://christnow.com/devotion/a-friend-who-sticks-closer-than-a-brother/

37. Question: "How can a friend stick closer than a brother (Proverbs 18:24)?"
Answer: Proverbs 18:24 teaches, “One who has unreliable friends soon comes to ruin, / but there
is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.” Given the fact that we normally think of blood being
thicker than water, this proverb is rather jarring: there are ways that a friend can be more faithful
than a brother.
The ESV translates the first line of the proverb this way: “A man of many companions may
come to ruin.” In any translation the emphasis is on the plurality of friends. A person with many
friends may still run into problems. A large number of friends does not equal help in the time of
need. Many popular celebrities have faced this dilemma—they can have thousands of fans, yet
fame is fickle, and the fans quickly disappear during difficult times. Our era of social media
promotes many superficial connections who are called “friends,” but there are few true friends.
Even the most connected can be lonely.
In contrast, the second line of this antithetical proverb tells us, “There is a friend who sticks
closer than a brother.” The concept of friendship is a strong one in Proverbs, and the word friend
is used nine other times in the book. Wisdom is called a friend (7:4), a friend loves at all times
(17:17), a poor man is deserted by his friend (19:4), everyone is a friend to a man who gives gifts
(19:6), a person with gracious speech has the king as his friend (22:11), faithful are the wounds
of a friend (27:6), the sweetness of a friend comes from his earnest counsel (27:9), and do not
forsake your friend and father’s friend (27:10).
From these verses, we see there are two kinds of “friends.” There is the friend who exists
because you have something to offer (such as a material gift or popularity-by-association), and
there is a friend who exists due to genuine love and friendship. Proverbs 18:4 offers a contrast
between these two types of friends. You can amass as many friends of the first type as you want
but still come to ruin; however, even one friend of the second type is a great advantage.
The genuine or authentic friend is someone who sticks closer than a brother. In other words, he
or she can be counted on. This friend is steadfast; he or she will be there for you even more so
than a family member. Brotherhood is one of the strongest relationships we know. A friend who
sticks closer than a brother is a trustworthy friend, indeed.
A wonderful biblical example of this type of closer-than-a-brother friendship is what existed
between David and Jonathan. They became fast friends following the battle in which David
killed Goliath. Despite the many hardships both men faced, they remained faithful to one another
as friends and protected one another from harm. Jonathan even risked his life interceding for
David before King Saul, who sought to kill David. After Jonathan’s death, David wrote a lament
for his friend: “Jonathan lies slain on your heights. / I grieve for you, Jonathan my brother; / you
were very dear to me” (2 Samuel 1:25–26). Their friendship was stronger than David’s
relationship with any of his own brothers.

38. Jesus was known as a “friend of sinners” (Luke 7:34), and He has promised, “Never will I leave
you; never will I forsake you” (Hebrews 13:5). Jesus is truly the Friend who sticks closer than a
brother, and blessed are those who have Him as their Friend (see John 15:14).
https://www.gotquestions.org/friend-stick-closer-brother.html
Why is Jesus called "the friend who sticks
closer than a brother"?
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M i c h a e l C r u z
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Michael Cruz, Christian Often at Odds with Present Day Christianity
Answered May 2, 2018 · Author has 303 answers and 75.3k answer views
l "
l "
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l "l "
I am honored to receive a request to answer this question. However, I must be honest, and say
that I don’t know that I am qualified to answer it. I know the verse, and I know that it is
indicative of Christ’s love, but I do not have a traditional view on this.
What I do know from experience is, male friendship is hard to find. I grew up with several male
friends, and we went our separate ways into the world of women, family, etc. But, I have always
longed for male friendships like I had in those days of yore. I have tried to find it in Christian
friends, and in worldly friends, but the truth is, it is we don’t just get what we thought we had
when we were young.

39. Now what I found that was more valuable than those aforementioned friendships, is the love of a
brother. And when I say brother, I mean my fleshly brother. He was ten years older than me, and
although we had the usual sibling jealousy, he looked out for me. He gave me things, helped me,
and showed me he cared. Even in ways that you would think our father should have gone, my
brother was there to take me to the next step of life.
My brother died almost nine years ago, and I still miss that influence, but he his actions taught
me to be a big brother to my children, so he lives on. I do not know of a greater love on this earth
than what he showed me.
Well, the first quoted is clear, Jesus is the “friend who sticks closer then a brother”. He is always
our friend, and he does not leave us alone in hard times. We may feel alone, but His love
transcends our weakness. That love of Christ is even stronger than the love of a brother that I
described earlier.
Why is Jesus called "the friend who sticks
closer than a brother"?
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5 Answers
/profile/Michael-Cruz-61
M i c h a e l C r u z
/profile/Michael-Cruz-61
Michael Cruz, Christian Often at Odds with Present Day Christianity
Answered May 2, 2018 · Author has 303 answers and 75.3k answer views
l "
l "
l "
l "l "
I am honored to receive a request to answer this question. However, I must be honest, and say
that I don’t know that I am qualified to answer it. I know the verse, and I know that it is
indicative of Christ’s love, but I do not have a traditional view on this.

40. What I do know from experience is, male friendship is hard to find. I grew up with several male
friends, and we went our separate ways into the world of women, family, etc. But, I have always
longed for male friendships like I had in those days of yore. I have tried to find it in Christian
friends, and in worldly friends, but the truth is, it is we don’t just get what we thought we had
when we were young.
Now what I found that was more valuable than those aforementioned friendships, is the love of a
brother. And when I say brother, I mean my fleshly brother. He was ten years older than me, and
although we had the usual sibling jealousy, he looked out for me. He gave me things, helped me,
and showed me he cared. Even in ways that you would think our father should have gone, my
brother was there to take me to the next step of life.
My brother died almost nine years ago, and I still miss that influence, but he his actions taught
me to be a big brother to my children, so he lives on. I do not know of a greater love on this earth
than what he showed me.
Well, the first quoted is clear, Jesus is the “friend who sticks closer then a brother”. He is always
our friend, and he does not leave us alone in hard times. We may feel alone, but His love
transcends our weakness. That love of Christ is even stronger than the love of a brother that I
described earlier.
• There Is Friend That Sticks Closer Than
A Brother
Contributed by Rodney Johnson Sr., on Jun 12, 2005
/contributors/rodney-johnson-sr-profile-
8747?ref=SermonDetails
based on 106 ratings (rate this sermon)
| 75,625 views
Scripture: Proverbs 18:24, Proverbs 18:24-19:24
Denomination: Baptist
Summary: This sermon emphasizes the faithfulness of Jesus
in the life of the believer amid every circumstance.
• 1
• 2
• Next

41. In this world, there numerous types of friendships. There is a faucet friendship that people turn
on and off. There is fake friendship wherein folk will fake you out when you need them most.
There is a fair weather friend that will remain so long as the weather is fair. There are get-over
and get under friends. These are all worldly friendships. But in our text today, Solomon
introduces us to a unique friend, that will stick closer than a brother. Let us consider the meaning
of a genuine friendship. Friendship is the covenantal binding together of two people. Friendship
is always preceded by self-giving. The first friend in the bible was God Himself. The first gift of
the first friend was another friend. It was God who determined from the beginning that "it was
not good for man to be alone." He then made woman to be a friend of man, from man.
Friendship is based on the agape’ or what is more aptly called the biblical love. It is the love of
God that is shed abroad in the believer’s heart. Love is a desire for and a delight in the well-
being of the one loved; leading to an active and a self-sacrificing effort of on thier behalf. God
Himself is the very essence of friendship. The God-head is a perfect unity, wherein God is in
relationship with Himself. A friend is someone you can be yourself with. A friend is someone
who knows your weakness and respect your strenght. Abraham Lincoln said:"The better part of
one’s life consists of his friendships." Ralph Waldo Emerson said: "The only way to have a
friend is to be one." A friend is one who is a source of sunshine when you are under the weather.
A friend is one who believes in you, when you cease to believe in yourself. A friend is a source
of celebration when you feel that there is nothing to celebrate. A friend is one who answers your
call before you call. Friendship is of two categories. It is first vertical or God-ward and second
horizontal or a reaching outward. Friendship thrives upon sacrifice. You can give without love
but you cannot love without giving. True friendship is when two friends can wak in opposite
directions, and yet remain side by side. A friend is one who walks in when the rest of the world
walks out. A friendship with Jesus is truly the only unsinkable-ship. First the text teaches us
something about highest measure of human friendship. To that end Solomon uses not a mother,
not a father or a sister but a brother.
I. Brotherhood is the Highest Form of Earthly Friendship.
Brothers have a close relationship with each other. They have a biological connection....
They have similiar experiences....
They played together....
They fought together....
They cried together...
There have been many cases where brothers have given much for each other.
Brothers have died for one another...
Brothers have given organs to one another..
Brothers have taken the hit for one another...
Brothers have gone to jail for one another...
Brothers have rescued one another during perilous situations...
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Thus, Solomon teaches us today, that brotherhood is the highest form of earthly friendship. Yes,
an earthly brother is indeed a true friend. Aristotle said; A true friendship is one soul in two

42. bodies. A true friend never gets in your way unless you are going down. A true friend is one you
can call after 3 in the morning without hesitation. A true friend reaches for your hand and
touches your heart. A brother may not be a friend, but a friend will always be a brother. A friend
will not talk about you but will talk to you. A true friend will cry with you when others are
laughing at you. A friend is one with whom you can be honest. The best mirror is an old friend.
A friend is one who sees right through you, yet enjoys the show. Hellen Keller said; "Walking in
the dark with a friend is better than walking alone in the light." A friend is God’s cure for
lonliness. A friendship ia a rainbow between two hearts. A friend will shake your hands in
success and he will wash your feet in sorrow. A friend will always show up in times of trouble.
Friends are those who will nourish the spirit. A true friend will die before he allows his friend to
go to hell. A true friend is one who comes to your house and make you feel at home.
II. The Qualities of a True Friend.
A. Friends must be loyal.
B. Friends must be sharing.
C. Friends must be accepting.
D. Friends must be encouraging.
E. Friend must warn each other.
F. Friends must be sacrificial.
G. Friends must be available.
III. Friendship With Jesus is the Path to Real Joy.
A. Friendship with Jesus brings us the JOY OF SALVATION.
B. Friendship with Jesus brings us the JOY OF GOD’S INDWELLING.
C. Friendship with Jesus brings the JOY OF FRUIT-BEARING.
D. Friendship with Jesus brings us the JOY THAT EXCEEDS A CONQUEROR. (More than a
CONQUEROR)
E. Friendship with Jesus brings us the JOY OF A NEED SUPPLIER.
F. Friendship with Jesus brings us the JOY OF ETERNAL LIFE.
G. Friendship with Jesus brings us the JOY OF DWELLING IN THE HOUSE OF THE LORD
FOREVER.
IV. There is a Friend that Sticketh Closer Than a Brother.
A Brother can cry with you/Jesus can wipe away all your tears.
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A Brother can pray with you/Jesus can answer your prayer.
A Brother can share your storm/Jesus cam calm your storms.
A Brother can die for you/Jesus rose for you.