The Friend of God

The Friend of God

A SERMON DELIVERED ON LORD'S-DAY MORNING, MAY 8, 1887,

BY C. H. SPURGEON,

AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON.

"You, Israel, are My servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the seed of
Abraham My friend." Isaiah 41:8.

"And he was called the Friend of God." James 2:23.

ABRAHAM was called the Friend of God because he was so. The title only
declares a fact. The Father of the faithful was, beyond all men, "the
Friend of God," and the head of that chosen race of Believers whom
Jesus calls His friends. The name is rightly given. We read that
"whatever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof.
And we may be much more sure that whatever name the Spirit of God has
given to any man, that is his proper and right name.

James says not only that this was Abraham's name, but that he was
called by it. The name does not occur in his life as given in the Book
of Genesis and it has been questioned whether it occurs anywhere else
in Holy Scripture, for many have preferred to translate the word in
Isaiah and in 2 Chronicles 20:7, as, "lover," or, "beloved," rather
than, "friend." However this may be, it is quite certain that among the
Jewish people, Abraham was frequently spoken of as, "the Friend of
God." At this present moment, among the Arabs and other Muslims, the
name of Abraham is not often mentioned, but they speak of him as Khalil
Allah, or, the "Friend of God," or more briefly as El Khalil, "the
Friend." Those tribes which boast of their descent from him through
Ishmael, or through the sons of Keturah, greatly reverence the
Patriarch and are known to speak of him under the name which the Holy
Spirit here ascribes to him. It is a noble title, not to be equaled by
all the names of greatness which have been bestowed by princes, even if
they should all meet in one. Patents of nobility are mere vanity when
laid side by side with this transcendent honor.

I think I hear you say, "Yes, it was indeed a high degree to which
Abraham reached–so high that we cannot attain unto it. It would be
idle for us to dream of being accounted friends of God." My Brothers
and Sisters, I entreat you, think not so! We, also, may be called
friends of God–and the object of this morning's discourse will be to
excite in you the desire to know this matchless friendship! Let me read
to you the words of our blessed Lord in the 15th chapter of John– "You
are My friends if you do whatever I command you. Henceforth I call you
not servants, for the servant knows not what his lord does, but I have
called you friends, for all things that I have heard of My Father, I
have made known unto you." It is, then, within reach! Jesus, Himself,
invites us to live and act and be His friends!

Surely, none of us will neglect any gracious attainment which lies
within the region of the possible. None of us will be content with a
scanty measure of Grace when we may have life more abundantly. I trust
you are not so foolish as to say, "If I may but get to Heaven by the
skin of my teeth, I shall not care about what I am on the road." This
would be wicked talk and, if you speak thus, I am afraid you will never
get to Heaven at all! He that is being prepared for Glory is always
hungry after the largest measure of Grace. He who is born of God
desires his Father's love while he is yet a child and has no idea of
waiting for it till he comes of age and enters upon his estate. Let me
have as much of Heaven, even now, as I can have! Yes, let me now be the
friend of God!

The other day there landed on the shores of France a boat full of
people soaked with rain and saltwater. They had lost all their luggage
and had nothing but what they stood upright in, but they were glad,
indeed, to have been saved from a wreck. It was well that they landed
at all! And when it is again my lot to cross to France, I trust I shall
put my foot on shore in a better plight than that! I would prefer to
cross the Channel in comfort and land with pleasure. There is

all this difference between being "saved so as by fire" and having "an
abundant entrance ministered unto us" into the Kingdom of God. Let us
enjoy Heaven on the road to Heaven!

Why not? Instead of being fished up as castaways, stranded upon the
shores of mercy, let us take our passage on board the well-appointed
Liner of Free Grace! Let us, if possible, go in the first cabin,
enjoying all the comforts of the way and having fellowship with the
great Captain of our Salvation. Why should we think it enough to be a
mere stowaway? I would stir you up at this time, dear Friends, to
aspire after the best gifts! Grow in Grace! Increase in love to God and
in nearness of access to Him, that the Lord may at this good hour stoop
down to us as our great Friend and then lift us up to be known as His
friends!

I have many things to say to you this morning and, therefore, I must
speak upon each one with great brevity. I am half afraid that I may be
driven to a brevity which will render me a little obscure. I ask you,
first, to notice the title to be wondered at–"Friend of God." When we
have meditated and marveled, I shall then speak to you under a second
head– the title vindicated–it was a fit and proper title for Abraham
and we can see it to be so. Thirdly, I shall speak of the title sought
after. May we all win it and wear it! After all this, I shall conclude
with a few words upon the title used for practical purposes. May the
Holy Spirit help me graciously at this hour!

I. First, may we be Divinely instructed while we look at the name,
"Friend of God," and regard it as A TITLE TO BE WONDERED AT.

Admire and adore the condescending God who thus speaks of a man like
ourselves and calls him His friend! The heavens are not pure in His
heart and He charged His angels with folly–and yet He takes a man and
sets him apart to be His friend! What is man, O Lord, that You are
mindful of him? Or the Son of Man, that You visit him? Who among our
sinful race can be worthy of the friendship of Jehovah? Only His Grace
can make it possible for any man to walk with God in high
companionship.

In this case the august Friend displays His pure love, since He has
nothing to gain. Surely God does not need friends. You and I need
friendship. We cannot always lead a self-contained and solitary
life–we are refreshed by the companionship, sympathy and advice of a
like-minded comrade. We are very foolish if we commit ourselves to a
host of acquaintances, but we are wise if we have found a faithful
friend and know how to make use of him. Friendship is one of the
sweetest joys of life! Many spirits might have failed beneath the
bitterness of trial if they had not found a friend. No such necessity
can be supposed of the all-sufficient God.

We know how sweet it is to mingle the current of our life with that of
some choice bosom friend. Can God have a friend? Can He also find it in
His heart to unbosom Himself to another? Can the secret of Jehovah be
with a frail creature? Does the Holy One desire to commune outside of
Himself? It cannot be that He is solitary. He is, within Himself, a
whole, not only of unity, but of tri-personality–Father, Son and Holy
Spirit–and herein is fellowship enough! Yet, behold, in infinite
condescension–the Lord deigns to seek the acquaintance of His own
creature, the love of a man, the friendship of Abraham! I dare not go
so far in speech as my thoughts would lead me–it is certainly a great
marvel that the Creator of the heavens and the earth should look to Ur
of the Chaldees for a man and should separate him to Himself, to tutor
and train him till He made him His friend–an honor which even the
cherubim and seraphim have never reached!

Friendship cannot be all on one side. In this particular instance, it
is intended that we should know that while God was Abraham's friend,
this was not all, but Abraham was God's friend. He received and
returned the friendship of God! From one point of view, Abraham was
always the object of God's pity and mercy, but, by His Grace, the Lord
also lifted him into another condition in which he became the object of
the Lord's complacency and delight. God gave Abraham His heart and
Abraham gave God his heart. They were knit together in love. To use
expressive Scriptural words, the soul of Abraham was bound up in the
bundle of life with the Lord, his God. Not only did the Lord speak to
Abraham as He did to Moses, "face to face, as a man speaks unto his
friend," but He continually treated Abraham as His friend and communed
with him as such–

"Stupendous Grace of the Most High! What has the Lord on worms
bestowed, Called to the council of the sky And numbered with the
friends of God!"

Friendship creates a measure of equality between the persons concerned.
I say not that absolute equality is at all necessary to friendship, for
a great king may have a firm friend in one of the least of his
subjects. But the tendency is towards an equalizing of the two
friends–the one comes down gladly and the other rises up in sympathy.
Friendship begets fellowship and this bridges over the dividing gulf.
There can be no idea of equality between God, the Lord, and man the
servant. Indeed, it is only as we see our true relation as servants
that we can be friends. Did not Jesus say, "You are My friends if you
do whatever I command you"? We must keep our place, or we shall not be
friends. Yet see how the Lord comes down to Abraham and communes with
him at his table while He lifts up Abraham to His own state, so that he
sees the things of God, yes, even sees with gladness, the day of our
Lord Jesus Christ! When we say of two men that they are friends, we put
them down in the same list, but what condescension on the Lord's part
to be on terms of friendship with a man!

Again I say, no nobility is comparable to this. Parmenio was a great
general, but all his fame in that direction is forgotten in the fact
that he was known as the friend of Alexander. He had a great love for
Alexander as a man, whereas others only cared for him as a conqueror
and a monarch. And Alexander, perceiving this, placed great reliance
upon Par-menio. Abraham loved God for God's sake and followed Him
fully–and so the Lord made him His confidant and found pleasure in
manifesting Himself to Abraham and in trusting to him His sacred
Oracles. O Lord, how excellent is Your lovingkindness, that You should
make a man Your friend!

I also want you to note the singular excellence of Abraham. How could
he have been God's friend had not Grace worked wonderfully in him? A
man is known through his friends–you cannot help judging a person by
his companions. Was it not a great venture for God to call any man His
friend? We are led to judge the character of God by the character of
the man whom He selects to be His friend. Yes, and though a man with
like passions with us, and subject to weaknesses which the Holy Spirit
has not hesitated to record, yet Abraham was a singularly admirable
character! The Spirit of God produced in him a deep sincerity, a firm
principle and a noble bearing. Although a plain man, dwelling in tents,
the Father of the Faithful is always a right royal personage. A calm
dignity surrounds him and the sons of Heth and the kings of Egypt feel
its power.

His character is well balanced. He is what is commonly called an
all-around man. He walks before God and is perfect in his generation,
so that God is not ashamed to be called his God. I might almost say of
Abraham's general life that, like the Lord, he was light and in him was
no darkness at all. Of course I only use the expression in the sense
intended by our Savior, when He spoke of the whole body being full of
light, "having no part dark" (Luke 11:36). Father Abraham is a man fit
to be the head of the believing family! His quiet son, Isaac, is like a
valley, above which his father rises like an Alp in the greater
strength of his character. He is equally superior to his notable
grandson, Jacob, great personality as Jacob is. There is a fuss, worry
and worldly craft about Jacob which somewhat beclouds his undoubtedly
great faith, but you do not see this in Abraham–he moves majestically
along his course–shining like the sun in mid-Heaven, before whom even
clouds are made into chariots of glory!

I say not that Abraham was worthy to be called the Friend of God in the
sense of merit, but I do say that the Grace of God had made him meet to
be a partaker of fellowship with the God of Light. While he was
justified by his faith, the Lord's calling him just was also justified
by his works. James asks, "Was not Abraham, our father, justified by
works when he had offered Isaac, his son, upon the altar?" Indeed he
was–by this great deed of obedience, Abraham proved to be in a right
state before God! His justification was justified. God was just, even
in a legal sense, in declaring such a man to be righteous, for
righteous he evidently was. Oh that the sanctifying Spirit may prove in
us the truth of our faith by the holiness of our works!

Follow me while I note some of the points in which this Divine
friendship showed itself. The Lord often visited Abraham. Friends are
sure to visit one another. We read, "The Word of the Lord came unto
Abram in a vision." "The Lord appeared unto Abram." And again, "The
Lord appeared unto him in the plains of Mamre: and He sat in the tent
door, in the heat of the day." Three mysterious persons came to Abraham
and he entertained them in his tent under the tree and provided a
banquet for them. And Abraham waited at the table. Was he not honored
above all men to entertain God, Himself? The Lord sojourned with the
Patriarch as in a strange land and heard the prayers and praises of His
servant day by day. On the other hand, Abraham was prompt to build an
altar unto the Lord and, besides this, he had his chosen spot

for private communion with God, for we read, "Abraham get up early in
the morning to the place where he stood before the Lord." Often did the
great Lord and His trustful servant draw near unto each other.

In consequence of these visits of friendship paid to Abraham, secrets
were disclosed. The Lord informed Abraham as to His design concerning
the Canaanites who were ultimately to be destroyed, but their iniquity
was not yet full. He revealed to him the birth of Isaac and His intent
that the Covenant blessing should run in the line of the child born
according to promise. And when He had determined to destroy Sodom and
Gomorrah, the Lord said to Himself, "Shall I hide from Abraham that
thing which I do?" I suppose it is but a gloss, but Philo quotes this
text as from the Septuagint and puts it thus–"Shall I hide this thing
from Abraham, My Friend?" The present copies of the Septuagint say,
"Abraham, My servant," but the other reading is a very natural one. It
was a special proof of Divine friendship that the Lord would not
execute judgment till He had heard what the Patriarch might say upon
it. Abraham, on his part, had no secrets, but laid bare his heart to
the inspection of his Divine Friend. Visits were received, secrets were
made known and thus friendship grew.

More than that, compacts were entered into. On certain grand occasions
we read, "The Lord made a Covenant with Abram." Once, with solemn
sacrifice, a light passed between the divided portions of the victims.
At another time it is written that God swore by Himself, saying,
"Surely, blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply
you." The two friends grasped hands and pledged their good faith. Here
was a faithful God and faithful Abraham bound in an immovable Covenant!
God trusted Abraham, for He said, "I know him, that he will command his
children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of
the Lord." And Abraham knew his God and trusted Him without
suspi-cion–and thus there was firm friendship between them.

This friendship resulted in the bestowal of innumerable benefits. The
life of Abraham was rich with mercies. We read, "And Abraham was old
and well stricken in age: and the Lord had blessed Abraham in all
things." Friends bless their friends, or at least wish they could do
so. Abraham's Almighty Friend denied him no good thing. Abraham was
rich, but his riches were blessed. We may say of him, "The gold of that
land was good." He was singularly favored in all things to which he set
his hands. Jacob, comparing himself with his grandfather, said, "Few
and evil are the days of your servant." And his life was certainly
acted out upon a far lower level than that of the first of the three
great fathers of the chosen seed. The Lord is a Friend who can never
know a limit in blessing His friends! Having loved His own, He loves
them to the end. To Abraham, through the Grace of his Divine Friend,
difficulties were blessings, trials were blessings and the sharpest
test of all was the most ennobling blessing!

Since Abraham was God's friend, God accepted his pleas and was moved by
his influence. Friends always have an ear for friends. When Abraham
pleaded with God for Sodom, the Lord patiently listened to his renewed
pleading. How instructive is that story of the Patriarch's pleading for
Sodom! How humbly he speaks!–"I have taken upon me to speak unto the
Lord, even I that am but dust and ashes." Yet how boldly he pleads! He
ventures to say, "Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?" The
strain of his pleading is worthy of special note. It was not an
intercession for Sodom so much as an expostulation with God–friend
with Friend. If we were pleading for London, we would naturally appeal
to God's mercy, but Abraham takes the bolder course of pleading Divine
Justice. In fact, his plea is not only for Sodom, but for God,
Himself–"That be far from You to do after this manner, to slay the
righteous with the wicked: and that the righteous should be as the
wicked, that be far from You." As much as if he were more earnest to
prevent the name of God from being dishonored by what might look like
an injustice, than he was, even, for the saving of the guilty people!

This was a bold stroke. He pleaded rather as a friend of God than as a
friend of Sodom–and the Lord recognized to the fullest the force of
his friendly appeal! Lot was rescued and Zoar was spared in answer to
that prayer; just as Ishmael had been endowed with earthly blessings in
response to the pleading, "O that Ishmael might live before You!" And
just as the household of Abimelech had been healed in answer to
Abraham's supplication.

There was also between these friends a mutual love and delight. Abraham
rejoiced in Jehovah! He was his shield and his exceedingly great
reward. And the Lord, Himself, delighted to commune with Abraham. The
serenity of the Patriarch's life was caused by his constant joy in God.
I cannot now enter into this choice subject for lack of time.

Observe, however, that this friendship was maintained with great
constancy. The Lord never forsook Abraham. Even when the Patriarch
erred, the Lord remembered and rescued him. He did not cast him off in
old age. Until he was laid in the Cave of Machpelah, God was his God.
Yes, and He is his God at this day, for did He not proclaim Himself to
Moses as

the God of Abraham, of Isaac and of Jacob? Abraham lives and God is
still his God! Constancy is also seen on the human side of this
renowned friendship–Abraham did not turn aside to worship any false
God, neither did the Lord turn away from the man of His choice.

More than that, the Lord kept His friendship to Abraham by favoring his
posterity. That is what our first text tells us. The Lord styled
Israel, even rebellious Israel, "The seed of Abraham, My friend." You
know how David sought out the seed of Jonathan and did them good for
Jonathan's sake. Even so does the Lord love Believers who are the seed
of believing Abraham–and He still seeks out the children of Abraham,
His friend, to do them good. In the latter days He shall save the
literal Israel–the natural branches of the olive which, for a while,
have been broken off, shall be grafted in again. God has not forgotten
His friendship to their father, Abraham, and, therefore, He will return
in love to Abraham's seed and again be their God.

Thus I have glanced at sufficient facts to cause this title of, "The
Friend of God," to be wondered at. You have all admired the friendship
of Damon and Pythias. Behold here a greater marvel! The friendship of
the Lord God with Abra-ham–a friendship in which Abraham gave more
than his own life in proof of his fidelity–and the Great God still
surpassed Him in faithfulness!

II. And now let us notice THE TITLE VINDICATED. Abraham was the Friend
of God in a truthful sense. There was great propriety and fullness of
meaning in the name as applied to him.

First, Abraham's trust in God was implicit. To show what I mean, I will
bring before you the Patriarch, Job. Now Job was a grand
Believer–under some aspects he has "attained to the first three"–but
Job had a controversy with God and found it hard to think that the Lord
dealt justly with him. He was able, despite all questions, to say,
"Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him," but he was much tossed
about and tumbled up and down in his soul–and those three friends of
his suggested no end of doubts. Their philosophy worried him and Job
was not so fully established in the doctrine of Divine Sovereignty as
he might have been. Abraham had no such controversy–"he staggered
not." David, too, was sometimes plagued with unbelief, so that he
almost came to infidel conclusions. He was perplexed to know how it was
that the wicked prospered while he, himself, was chastened every
morning. He descended into the mists of the valley, but Abraham
habitually walked the hilltops. Bathing his forehead in the sunlight of
Jehovah's love, Abraham dwelt beyond all questions and mistrusts. O
happy man, to know no skepticism but heroically to believe!

There is a blessed ignorance which my soul covets. To know is not
always gain. Fool that I am, I have too often eaten the fruit of the
Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. I wish that I could forget all that
has ever been told me which suggests a doubt of my great Lord and His
faithful Word. I will forget, if I can, all the thoughts of man, for
they are vain–I am determined to know nothing among you save Jesus
Christ and Him crucified! Abraham possessed that higher knowledge which
treads unbelief beneath its feet as unworthy even to be argued down! He
was a perfect child towards God and, therefore, a complete man. Unless
you are converted and become as little children, you shall in no way
enter into friendship with God, for this is God's chief requirement in
His friends–that they shall entertain no doubts of Him, but
un-questioningly believe Him. Abraham "staggered not at the promise
through unbelief," for he knew that what the Lord had promised He was
also able to perform.

Next, there was joined to this implicit trust a practical confidence as
to the accomplishment of everything that God had promised. He went
childless for many a day and the temptation came to him and, for a
moment prevailed with him, that he must use human means to effect the
Divine promise. But even then he did not doubt that the promise world
be effected. His great mistake plainly showed that he believed the
promise would be fulfilled–the fault lay in his interference with the
Divine method of fulfillment! When he was commanded to slay his son, he
never doubted that God would keep His promise–he reckoned that God was
able to raise up Isaac from the dead, from which he also received him
in a figure. Faith is to credit contradictions and to believe
impossibilities when Jehovah's Word is to the front. If you and I can
do this, then we can enter into friendship with God, but in no other
way, for distrust is the death of friendship! If the Lord brings a man
near to Himself, it is absolutely necessary that, at the very least,
there should be perfect confidence on the man's part. "He that comes to
God must believe that He is and that He is the rewarder of them that
diligently seek Him." If you think God can lie, you cannot be His
friend–you are dividing your interest from the Lord's interest and
committing a breach of friendship when you distrust. Between man and
man, confidence may be unduly placed, but to-

wards God, you may carry it to the utmost and know no hesitancy.
Believe without limit and then shall you enjoy fellowship with the
Lord!

Next to this, Abraham's obedience God was unquestioning. Whatever God
bade him do, he did it promptly and thoroughly. When the Lord said to
him, "Get you out of your country, and from your kindred, and from your
father's house, unto a land that I will show you," he went forth, not
knowing where he went. And when the Lord bade him go to the unknown
mountain and offer up his son for a burnt-offering, he rose early in
the morning and through three days of sore travail he journeyed to the
place where his faith must be tested. When both moral and parental
instincts might have held him back, he went onward, feeling that it was
not his to question when once the command was clear. Jehovah's will to
him was law. Not everyone has yet learned that it is God who is the
Author of all law and that it is His will which makes a certain course
to be right–and the contrary of it to be wrong. He was God's servant
and yet His friend and, therefore, he obeyed as seeing Him that is
invisible and trusting Him whom he could not understand.

Abraham's desire for God's glory was uppermost at all times. He did not
what others would have done, because he feared the Lord. I think that
Abraham comes out grandly when he had pursued the kings who had
plundered the cities of the plain. He overcame them and recovered all
their spoils. When Melchizedek met him as the priest of the Most High
God, Abraham at once gave him tithes of all. But when the king of Sodom
proposed that Abraham should keep all salvage that he had taken and
only restore to him the persons who had been captured, it was grand of
Abraham not to touch a particle of the prey, but to say, "I will not
take from a thread even to a shoe lace. I will not take anything that
is yours, lest you should say, I have made Abram rich." He did not want
that a petty prince, or, indeed, anybody, should boast of enriching
Abraham! He trusted solely in his God and though he had a perfect right
to have taken the spoils of war which were his by capture, yet he would
not touch them lest the name of his God should be in the least
dishonored.

Abraham's communion with God was constant. O happy man, that dwelt on
high while men were groveling at his feet! What bliss he knew in those
morning communings with God! What peace he felt all day long in the
tent and in the plain, since he walked before the Lord and was perfect
towards Him! Whether with the Bedouin or with his own servants, you see
the man of God rather than the sheik–and the friend of God rather than
the prince. Oh, that you and I may be cleansed to such a pure, holy and
noble life that we, too, may be rightly called the friends of God!

III. Thirdly, dear Friends, you will have patience with me while I stir
you up to regard this name as THE TITLE TO BE SOUGHT AFTER. Oh, that we
may get to ourselves this good degree, this diploma, as, "Friend of
God!"

Do you wish to be a friend of God? Well, then, first you must be fully
reconciled to Him. Of course you cannot remain His enemy and be His
friend–that is clear enough. If you are pardoned through the sacrifice
of Jesus. If you are justified by His righteousness. If you are
regenerated by His Spirit, you are no longer God's enemy, but that will
not entitle you to be called the Friend of God. It will entitle you to
call God your Friend and your Helper, but you must go further than
that, if you would be His friend. Love must be created in your heart!
Gratitude must beget attachment and attachment must cause delight! You
must rejoice in the Lord and maintain close communion with Him.

To be friends, we must exercise a mutual choice–the God who has chosen
you must be chosen by you. Most deliberately, heartily, resolutely and
undividedly you must choose God to be your God and your Friend.
Beloved, there can be no friendship between you and God without your
own full consent, nor without your ardent desire. What do you say to
this? If sin is pardoned, all ground of enmity is gone–but now Grace
must come in to reign through righteousness unto eternal life–and
bring you into a condition of tender love and fervent desire towards
the Lord our God.

But even then you have not gone far enough. If we are to be the friends
of God, there must be a conformity of heart, will, design and character
to God. Can two walk together except they are agreed? Will God accept
as His friend one who despises holiness, who is careless in obedience,
who has no interest in the purposes of Divine Love, no delight in the
Gospel of Christ? Beloved, the Holy Spirit must make us like God or
else we cannot be friends of God! We must love Jesus the Son, or we
cannot love the Father! We cannot rise to the standard of friends of
God if self is our ruling force. God is not selfish and He is not the
friend of the selfish. Unless we love what God loves and hate what God
hates, we cannot be His friends. Our lives must, in the main, run in
parallel lines with the life of the gracious, holy and loving God, or
else we shall be walking contrary to Him and He will walk contrary to
us.

If we have got as far as that, then the next thing will surely
follow–there must be a continual communion. The friend of God must not
spend a day without God and he must undertake no work apart from his
God. Oh, to live with

God and in God and for God and like God! You cannot be a friend of God
if your communion with Him is occasional, fitful, distant, broken. If
you only think of Him on Sundays or at sacraments, you cannot be His
friend! Friends love each other's society–the friend of God must abide
in God, walk with God–and then he shall dwell at ease. What do you say
to this? Has the Grace of God made your feet like hinds' feet to stand
on such high places? He can do it. Let us seek after the blessing.

Brothers and Sisters, if we are to be the friends of God, we must be
copartners with Him. He gives over to us all that He has–and
friendship with God will necessitate that we give to Him all that we
have. It has been well said that if God is ours, we cannot be poor
because God has all and we have all in having God. On the other hand,
the cause of God should not be poor if we can make it rich–and His
work should never be in straits if we can find supplies. If we are,
indeed, the Lord's friends, we count His cause our cause, His work our
work–and we throw all that we have into a Joint Stock Bank with the
Great All-in-All.

Friendship, if it exists, will breed mutual delight. I cannot explain
to you the joy that God has in His people–we shall know that,
by-and-by, but He calls His Church His Hephzibah and He says, "My
delight is in her." I believe our Lord takes infinite delight in a soul
which He has new-created and which He has fashioned after His own
likeness. He was glad to see man at the first and yet, afterwards, it
saddened Him that He had made man. But the Lord is always glad to see
the new-created man and He never repents that He has made him upon the
face of the earth. The Lord takes pleasure in them that fear Him. I am
sure if we are God's friends, our greatest joy is to draw near to God,
even to God our exceeding joy. I have sometimes wished that I had
nothing else to do but to dwell with God in prayer, praise and
preaching. If it were not for the thousand worries and cares which come
to me in connection with the lesser matters which arise out of the
weaknesses of His Church and people, what a happy life mine would be!
Indeed, I do not complain, but I only mean that holy service in
constant fellowship with God is Heaven below.

Alas, one has to come down from the Mount of the Transfiguration and
meet the lunatic child and the quarrelsome scribes at the bottom of the
hill! Our delight is in God. "Yes, my own God is He." He is my
All-in-All. Whatever comes from Him is perfumed with myrrh and aloes
and cassia. Even His very threats ring like music in the ears of them
that love Him! There is nothing that He does but we will take delight
in it. We come, at length, to love even the rod which He yields–the
blows of such a faithful Friend are infinitely better than the kisses
of our deceitful enemy. The cross which Jesus lays upon us is a light
burden because we delight in Him. The God of Love has our love and He
has become the light of our delight. He rejoices over us with singing
and we rejoice before Him with the voice of melody.

But, Brothers and Sisters, I do not mean to go any further, for we must
not tell the secrets of love in the open streets. I see a curtain–a
veil shrouding the Holy of Holiest–I dare not lift that veil. Into the
Most Holy Place, ordinary worshippers cannot come. Neither can they
look therein till the Lord anoints their eyes and purges their spirits.
O Lord, reveal Yourself to the half-opened eyes of Your people! Within
that curtain there are choice manifestations, secret witnesses and
ravishments of supreme delight of which I must not speak because I feel
towards these things as Paul felt concerning that which he saw and
heard in Paradise! He said it would be unlawful for a man to utter
them! Beloved, may you know these special joys by personal experience,
even as he did who is called, "Friend of God!"

IV. I have done when I have said a word or two upon the last point
which is THE TITLE TO BE UTILIZED for practical purposes. The practical
purposes are just these.

First, here is a great encouragement to the people of God. See what
possibilities lie before you. The other Sabbath morning I tried to say
something about the future possibilities of saints, since he that was
faithful with his pound was made a ruler over ten cities It does not
yet appear what we shall be–we have not even the beginning of an idea
of what we shall be in the next world if we are found faithful to our
Master here, nor what the Glory will be that shall transfigure us in
the day of the coming of Christ–and during the thousand years of His
glorious reign on the earth.

But I want you now to notice the prize of your high calling in this
life. You may become the friends of God and may be so manifestly in
league with Him that men may call you the friends of God. How few
attain to this! Do you know one such person? Let your eyes travel over
all the Christian people you know and tell me how many might be called
the friends of God. I know one such man. I will not mention his name. I
fear he may not be long on earth, for he is well

stricken in age. He is a man who has trusted God, walked with God and
been faithful to God and has, in consequence, been greatly honored of
God to carry on a vast work of usefulness.

I wish I might grow to be like he, but I feel a mere babe in his
presence! He is a rare man. Why are there not more such? Because God's
arm is shortened? No, but because our iniquities hide Him from us. We
might be and we ought to be such men and women that those who know us
at home and in business would discover us to be the friends of Jesus. I
would like, as a preacher, to have it said of me that I maintained the
Glory of my Lord and defended the doctrines of His Cross–and was the
friend of the old Gospel while others were gadding after novelties. In
some form or other we should aspire after this heavenly friendship. See
the possibility that lies within your reach–and make it a reality at
once!

Next, here is solemn thought for those who would be friends of God. A
man's friend must show himself friendly and behave with tender care for
his friend. A little word from a friend will pain you much more than a
fierce slander from an enemy. Remember how the Savior said, "It was not
an enemy; then I could have borne it: but it was you, a man My equal,
My acquaintance." "The Lord your God is a jealous God" and if He brings
any of us so near to Him as to be His friends, then His jealousy burns
like coals of juniper that have a most vehement flame! He will save
you, Brothers and Sisters, despite a thousand imperfections, but He
will not call you His friend unless you are exceedingly careful to
please Him in all things.

Shall we draw back from the honor because of the responsibility? No, we
delight in the responsibility! We thirst to be well-pleasing to God.
Though our God is a consuming fire, we aspire to dwell in Him! To our
new nature this fire is its element! Even now we pray that it may
refine us and consume all our dross and tin. We would gladly be
baptized with the fire baptism. We wish nothing to be spared which
ought to be consumed, or which can be consumed. We accept friendship
with God on His own terms. I tremble while I speak. We are willing to
bear anything which will make us one with God!

The Spirit of God is the Spirit of judgment and the Spirit of
burning–do you know what you ask when you pray to be filled with Him?
I trust you will reply, "Be it what it may, I desire to feel that
heavenly influence which can make me, forever, the friend of God."