My Best Friend

Proverbs 18:24 A man that hath friends must shew himself friendly: and there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother.

Who Is Your Best Friend?

I’ve had very few “friends” in my lifetime. When I was growing up my two best friends were Benny and Ricky. I met Benny first, and as a child spent many nights at his house, eating meals with him and playing in the woods behind his house. I forget how we met, but we were “BEST Friends”. Later I met Ricky, and we were inseparable. We went through a lot of tough times together. Ricky was the friend who led me to the Lord. He invited me to the Church he was attending, and on Saturday February 28, 1976 I was at a Youth Rally when the Lord called me to be His.

That was the greatest day of my life.

I’ll never forget when the Holy Spirit opened my heart to the Gospel, and I literally felt God’s hand on my shoulder. But something happened that day. I lost my best friend Benny. Ricky and I started attending Church regularly – every time the doors were opened – but Benny wasn’t interested. I still miss Benny. I tried to see Benny several years ago when I was in Raleigh, but he refused to meet with me. I miss him. Ricky changed, too. Though we got together and had a great time, Ricky had gotten away from the Lord. I still love him, and hope that he will come back to Jesus. The problem is,

I have nothing in common with Benny or Ricky any more.

When I met up with Ricky, he was married to his second wife, and was a prolific drinker. He drank around 7 or 8 beers while I met with him, and several when we went out to eat. I couldn’t join him in that. He and Benny met frequently at a local bar and drank. I lost my two best friends to the world – but gained a much better Best Friend in Jesus.

Jesus tells us to be careful who we are friends with. Jesus wants to be our Best Friend – and He is. Jesus wants us to be friendly to all – but only friends with those who are friends with Him. The Bible says:

2 Corinthians 6:14-18 (NKJV) Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness? 15 And what accord has Christ with Belial? Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever? 16 And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God. As God has said: “I will dwell in them And walk among them. I will be their God, And they shall be My people.” 17 Therefore “Come out from among them And be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, And I will receive you.” 18 “I will be a Father to you, And you shall be My sons and daughters, Says the Lord Almighty.”

When someone is an UNBELIEVER, we who are friends of Jesus are not to become intimately bound to them. Why? Because they can lead us away from our BEST FRIEND Jesus. As I sat with Ricky, several times he offered me a beer. And Beloved, I thought about it. What would it hurt if I had a beer? My Church wouldn’t know. Who would know? My Friend Jesus would know. And once I start down that path, I might not stop. God says to us,

2 Corinthians 6:17 … Come out from among them And be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, And I will receive you.

We who are children of God are called to be friends of God. Now, we should be friendly to everyone. I try to be nice to people. The Scripture says:

Ephesians 4:32 (NKJV) … be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.

We should be kind and merciful to others, whether they are saved or not. Our Lord Jesus often sat at meat with sinners that He might share the Gospel with them. He was friendly with the lost, but not friends. Those who hated Jesus claimed He was …

Matthew 11:19 … (NKJV) a glutton and a winebibber, a FRIEND of tax collectors and sinners!

Jesus was not a “friend of sinners”, though He was friendly to sinners. The Bible tells us that we are to reach out to those who are lost. The Apostle Paul wrote:

1 Corinthians 9:16-19 (NKJV) if I preach the gospel, I have nothing to boast of, for necessity is laid upon me; yes, woe is me if I do not preach the gospel! 17 For if I do this willingly, I have a reward; but if against my will, I have been entrusted with a stewardship. 18 What is my reward then? That when I preach the gospel, I may present the gospel of Christ without charge, that I may not abuse my authority in the gospel. 19 For though I am free from all men, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win the more; 20 and to the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might win Jews; to those who are under the law, as under the law, that I might win those who are under the law; 21 to those who are without law, as without law (not being without law toward God, but under law toward Christ), that I might win those who are without law; 22 to the weak I became as weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all men, that I might by all means save some. 23 Now this I do for the gospel’s sake, that I may be partaker of it with you.

Paul was friendly and reached out to all to share the Gospel with all. But he was not friends with the lost. God is not friends with the lost. Friends are bound together in a deep, intimate relationship. Friends “keep company” with one another. Though the Apostle was friendly to and reached out with the Gospel to all people, he warns us to not be friends with those who are sexually immoral:

1 Corinthians 5:9-11 (NKJV) I wrote to you in my epistle not to keep company with sexually immoral people. 10 Yet I certainly did not mean with the sexually immoral people of this world, or with the covetous, or extortioners, or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world. 11 But now I have written to you not to keep company with anyone named a brother, who is sexually immoral, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or an extortioner—not even to eat with such a person.

We are to be friendly to the lost, to reach out to them with the Gospel. BUT if someone professes to be a fellow believer, “anyone named a brother”, then we are not to keep company with nor eat with such a person. If their lifestyle is not that which honors Christ, then we are not to be around it.

1 Corinthians 15:33-34 (NKJV) Do not be deceived: “Evil company corrupts good habits.” 34 Awake to righteousness, and do not sin

Even if you are the “light of Christ”, you are called to avoid friendship with the darkness. “Friendship with the WORLD is to be the ENEMY OF GOD” (James 4:4). We who are saved by Grace belong to Jesus. We do not belong to the darkness, but to the Light.

Christ Jesus Is Our Best Friend

Proverbs 18:24 A man that hath friends must shew himself friendly: and there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother.

I have a lot of friends in this Church. I have a few “Best Friends” – I’ll not tell you who! But my BEST FRIEND is Jesus. He is closer to me than any brother or sister, closer to me than anyone I’ve ever met. My friends Benny and Ricky have begun to walk a path I can’t be on. I’ve had other friends that, because of our location, they have moved away and are no longer close to me. I have pastor friends that I was once very close to. One of my best friends in this Church went to be with Jesus a few years ago.

Human friends and human relationships come and go. But the Best Friend you’ll ever have is Jesus. He sticks closer to you than a Brother!

Those who love Jesus will stick close to you as well. Over the past thirteen years I’ve seen people I thought were my friend (and your friend) wander away for other friendships. When you serve Jesus, you will eventually find out who is your true friends, and who are are Iscariots. When the Apostle Paul was imprisoned in Rome, he wrote his student Timothy:

2 Timothy 1:15-18 This you know, that all those in Asia have turned away from me, among whom are Phygellus and Hermogenes. 16 The Lord grant mercy to the household of Onesiphorus, for he often refreshed me, and was not ashamed of my chain; 17 but when he arrived in Rome, he sought me out very zealously and found me. 18 The Lord grant to him that he may find mercy from the Lord in that Day—and you know very well how many ways he ministered to me at Ephesus.

Paul had many friends until He unashamedly preached the Gospel – then they began to abandon him. Two of those friends were “Phygellus and Hermogenes”. When Paul’s preaching was bringing in crowds, these two followed him in his work. But when Paul was arrested and shunned by the powers that be, these guys ran away. Why? Because they were nominal, surface Christians.

God often sends trials our way to not only test our faith, but to show us the faith of those who claim to be our “friends”.

When things were easy and popular, the false crowd comes. But when the bad times come only those like “Onesiphorus” stay with you. Beloved, I would rather this Church decrease in size to 20 people who were Onesiphorus, than to have 2000 of the other kind. Paul said of Onesiphorus:

he often refreshed me, and
was not ashamed of my chain

He encouraged Paul as he went through the Valley of the Shadow of Death. He was not ashamed of what Paul went through. Jesus told us:

Matthew 5:10-12 Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Those who are Light in the midst of Darkness will be hated, imprisoned, shunned, mocked, lied about, and persecuted. But those who love Jesus are the best friends you can have. Onesiphorus “when he arrived in Rome, he sought {Paul} out very zealously and found {him}”. A friend will stand with you.

You will have earthly friends who come and go, but like minded believers will stay with you while they can. In time, earthly believers may move to other areas. They may leave this life.

But Jesus will never leave you nor forsake you.

Our forefather Abraham understood that the Best Friend you can have is Jesus. How did Abraham and Jesus become such good friends. Go back to our Proverb:

Proverbs 18:24 A man that hath friends must shew himself friendly

When God offered the hand of friendship to Abraham in Genesis 12, Abraham grabbed His blessed hand. He believed God. He followed God. Though he often failed, he looked for God. The Bible says:

James 2:23 (NKJV) “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” And he was called the friend of God.

Friends believe in one another. Abraham didn’t doubt the promises that His Friend Jesus gave him. He just believed, and followed. Even when his Friend asked him to sacrifice his only son Isaac, Abraham believed God. He trusted God. HE FOLLOWED JESUS. Jesus tells us:

John 15:12-14 (NKJV) This is My COMMANDMENT, that you love one another as I have loved you. 13 Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends. 14 You are My friends if you do whatever I command you.

You cannot be a Friend of God and not obey His commandments. It doesn’t work that way. Friends trust one another. Friends love to be with one another. Friends do not abandon one another.

What a Friend we have in Jesus! Amen.