The Spurgeon Series 1857 & 1858. Charles H. Spurgeon

carried his loved one on his back, until at last he himself fell down overcome with fatigue, and died. His brother, however, had received such warmth from his body that he was enabled to reach the end of his journey in safety, and 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 would ever be brought into the same difficulty. It is saying a great thing, to declare that “there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.” It is putting that friend first of all in the list of loving ones; for surely, next to a mother’s love, there is, and there ought to be, no higher affection in the world than the love of a brother to one begotten by the same father, and dandled on the same knee. Those who have, “Grown in beauty side by side, and filled one house with glee,” ought to love one another. And we think there have been many glorious instances and mighty proofs of the love of brothers. Yet, says Solomon, “there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.”

      4. To repeat our assertion, we believe that this friend is the blessed Redeemer Jesus Christ. It shall be ours first, to prove, this morning the fact that he sticks closer than a brother; then as briefly as we can, to show you why he sticks closer than 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.

      5. I. First, then, beloved, we assert that CHRIST IS “A FRIEND WHO STICKS CLOSER THAN A BROTHER.”

      6. And in order to prove this from facts, we appeal to such of you as have had him for a friend. Will you not, each of you, at once give your verdict, that this is neither more nor less than an unexaggerated truth? He loved you before all worlds, long before the daystar flung its ray across the darkness, before the wings of angels had flapped the unnavigated ether, before anything in creation had struggled from 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!

      You fell in Adam; did he cease to love you? No; he became the second Adam 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 lov’d you notwithstanding all.

      He sent his minister after you — you despised him; he preached the gospel in your ears — you laughed at him; you broke God’s Sabbath, you despised his Word. Did he then forsake you? No!

      Determined to save, he watched o’er your path,

      While Satan’s blind slave, you sported with death.

      And at last he arrested you by his grace, he humbled you, he made you penitent, he brought you to his feet and 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 deserted you? Has he ever turned away his affections, 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; did your friend desert you then? Others have been faithless to you; he who eats bread with you has lifted up his heel against you; but has Christ ever forsaken you? Has there ever been a moment when you could go to him, and say, “Master, you have betrayed me.” Could you once, in the blackest hour 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: “Not one good thing 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 — “You glorified 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 stood before the throne of God; did he then deny you?” And they answer “No; through all 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 who sticks closer than a brother.’ ” Out of all the millions of God’s redeemed, there is not one he has forsaken. Poor they have been, lowly and distressed, but he has never abhorred their prayer, never turned aside from doing them good. He has been always with them.

      For his mercy shall endure,

      Ever faithful, ever sure.

      7. But I shall spend no more time 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 very little necessity that 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.

      8. II. And now I have to tell you THE REASONS WHY IT IS WE MAY DEPEND UPON CHRIST AS BEING A FAITHFUL FRIEND.

      9. There are some things in himself which render it certain that he will stick close to his people.

      10. 1. True friendship can only be made between true men, whose hearts are the soul of honour. There can be no lasting friendship between bad men. Bad men may pretend to love each other, 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. Spenser sings in fine old English verse —

      Ne, {never} certes {of a certainty} can that friendship long endure,

      However gay and goodly be the style,

      That doth ill cause or evil end enure, {commit}

      For Vertue {virtue} is the band that bindeth Harts {hearts} most sure.

      But who can find a stain in the character of Jesus, or who can tarnish his honour? Has there ever been a spot on his escutcheon? {a} 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 declared concerning 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 closer to us than a brother? His goodness is the guarantee of his fidelity; he cannot fail us.

      11. 2. 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 and offal of friendship. They are the parasites upon that noble tree. But true friends put enough trust in you to tell you openly about your faults. Give me for a friend the man who will speak honestly about me to my face; who will not tell first one neighbour, and then another, but who will come straight to my house, and say, “Sir, I feel there is such-and-such a thing in you, which, as my brother, I must tell you about” — that man is a true friend; he has proven himself to be so; for we never get any praise for telling people about their faults, we rather risk 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 around rather sharply, I said, “At any rate sir, you seem to 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 wish to try”; and perhaps may do so before the day is out. I found I could not flatter him directly, so I began by 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 easily flattered; not directly, but indirectly. We are all pervious to flattery; we like the soothing cordial, only it must