Preface

For more than a century, J. C. Ryle was best known for his clear and 
lively writings on practical and spiritual themes.  His great aim in 
all his ministry was to encourage strong and serious Christian 
living.  But Ryle was not naive in his understanding of how this 
should be done.  He recognized that, as a pastor of the flock of God, 
he had a responsibility to guard Christ's sheep and to warn them 
whenever he saw approaching dangers.  His penetrating comments are as 
wise and relevant today, as they were when he first wrote them.  His 
sermons and other writings have been consistently recognized, and 
their usefulness and impact have continued to the present day, even 
in the outdated English of the author's own day.  
 
Why then should expositions already so successful and of such stature 
and proven usefulness require adaptation, revision, rewrite or even 
editing?  The answer is obvious.  To increase its usefulness to 
today's reader the language in which it was originally written needs 
updating.

Though his sermons have served other generations well, just as they 
came from the pen of the author in the nineteenth century, they still 
could be lost to present and future generations simply because, to 
them, the language is neither readily nor fully understandable.

My goal, however, has not been to reduce the original writing to the 
vernacular of our day.  It is designed primarily for you who desire 
to read and study comfortably and at ease in the language of our 
time.  Only obviously archaic terminology and passages obscured by 
expressions not totally familiar in our day have been revised.  
However, neither Ryle's meaning nor intent have been tampered with.

						Tony Capoccia

 
All Scripture references are taken from the HOLY BIBLE: NEW 
INTERNATIONAL VERSION (C) 1978 by the New York Bible Society, used by 
permission of Zondervan Bible Publishers.  

This updated and revised manuscript is copyrighted(C)1998 by Tony 
Capoccia.  All rights reserved.



                           THE BEST FRIEND
                                 by
                             J. C. Ryle
                             (1816-1900)


               "This my friend" [Song of Solomon 5:16]


A friend is one of the greatest blessings on earth. Don't tell me 
about money: love is better than money; sympathy is better than 
owning property.  He is a poor man who has no friends.  

This world is full of sorrow because it is full of sin.  It is a 
dark place.  It is a lonely place.  It is a disappointing place.  
A friend is like the brightest ray of the sun on a Spring day.  
Friendship eliminates half of our troubles and doubles our joys.

A real friend is scarce and rare.  There are many who will eat, 
and drink, and laugh with us in the sunshine of prosperity.  There 
are few who will stand by us in the days of darkness--few who will 
love us when we are sick, helpless, and poor--few, above all, who 
will care for our souls.

Does any reader of this article want a real friend?  I write this 
to recommend one to you this day.  I know of One who "is a friend 
who sticks closer than a brother."  [Proverbs 18:24]  I know of 
One who is ready to be your friend for time and for eternity, if 
you will receive Him.  

The friend I want you to know is Jesus Christ.  Happy is that 
family in which Christ has the foremost place!  Happy is that 
person whose chief friend is Christ!

I. Do we want a "friend in need?"  Such a friend is the Lord Jesus 
Christ.

Man is the neediest creature on God's earth, because he is a 
sinner.  There is no need so great as that of sinners: poverty, 
hunger, thirst, cold, sickness, are all nothing in comparison.  
Sinners need forgiveness, and they are utterly unable to provide 
it for themselves; they need deliverance from a guilty conscience 
and the fear of death, and they have no power of their own to 
obtain it.  This is the need the Lord Jesus Christ came into 
the world to relieve.  "Christ Jesus came into the world to save 
sinners." [1 Timothy 1:15]

We are all by nature poor dying creatures.  From the king on his 
throne to the pauper in the slums, we are all sick of a mortal 
disease of soul.  Whether we know it or not, whether we feel it or 
not, we are all dying daily.  The plague of sin is in our blood.  
We cannot cure ourselves: we are getting worse every hour.  All 
this the Lord Jesus undertook to remedy.  He came into the world 
to "bring health and healing;'' He came to deliver us from "the 
second death;" He came to "destroy death and bring life and 
immortality to light through the gospel." [Jeremiah 33:6; 
Revelation 2:11; 2 Timothy 1:10]

We are all by nature imprisoned debtors.  We owed our God millions 
of dollars, and did not even have a penny to our name.  We were 
wretched bankrupts, without the hope of freeing ourselves.  We 
could never have freed ourselves from our load of liabilities, and 
were daily getting deeper in debt.  The Lord Jesus saw all of this 
and undertook to help us.  He engaged  to "ransom and redeem us;" 
He came to "proclaim freedom for the captives and release from 
darkness for the prisoners;" "He came to redeem us from the curse 
of the law." [Hosea 13:14; Isaiah 61:1; Galatians 3:13]
We were all by nature sinking and rejected.  We could never have 
reached the harbor of everlasting life.  We were sinking in the 
midst of the waves, lethargic, helpless, and powerless; tied and 
bound by the chain of our own sins, floundering under the burden 
of our own guilt, and likely to become the easy prey of the devil.  
The Lord Jesus saw all of this and undertook to help us.  He came 
down from heaven to be our strong "warrior;" He came to "seek and 
to save what was lost;" and to "spare us from going down to the 
pit." [Psalm 89:19; Luke 19:10; Job 33:24]

Could we have been saved without the Lord Jesus Christ coming down 
from heaven?  It would have been impossible, so far as our eyes 
can see.  The wisest men of Egypt, and Greece, and Rome never 
found out the way to have peace with God.  Without the friendship 
of Christ we should all have been lost forever in the torments and 
agonies of hell.

Was the Lord Jesus Christ obliged to come down to save us?  Oh, 
no! no! never!  It was His own free love, mercy, and pity that 
brought Him down.  He came unsought and unasked because He was 
gracious.

Let us think on these things.  Search all of history from the 
beginning of the world--look around the whole circle of those you 
know and love: you never heard of such friendship among the sons 
of men.  There never was such a real friend who was willing to 
help us in our desperate time of need as was Jesus Christ.

II.  Do you want a friend who is absolutely capable  to meet all 
your needs?  Such a friend is the Lord Jesus Christ.  The true 
extent of a man's friendship must be measured by his deeds.  Don't 
tell me what he says, and feels, and wishes; don't tell about his 
words and letters: rather tell me what he does.  "A real Friend is 
measured by what a real Friend does."

What the Lord Jesus Christ has done for man is the grand proof of 
His friendly feeling towards him.  Never were there such acts of 
kindness and self-denial as those which He has performed on our 
behalf.  He has not loved us in word only but in action and deed.

For our sakes He took our nature upon Him, and was born of a 
woman.  He who was very God Himself, and absolutely equal with the 
Father, laid aside, for a period of time, His glory and took upon 
Him flesh and blood like our own.  The almighty Creator of all 
things became a little babe like any of us, and experienced all 
our bodily weaknesses and ailments, sin only excepted.  "Though He 
was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, so that you through 
His poverty might become rich."  [2 Corinthians 8:9]

For our sakes He lived thirty-three years in this evil world, 
despised and rejected by men and women, a man of sorrows, and 
acquainted with grief.  Though He was King of kings, He had no 
place to lay His head: though He was Lord of lords, He was often 
weary, and hungry, and thirsty, and poor.  "[He] made Himself 
nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human 
likeness.  And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled 
Himself. . . ."  [Philippians 2:7-8]

For our sakes He suffered the most painful of all deaths--the 
death of crucifixion on a cross.  Though innocent, and without 
fault, He allowed Himself to be condemned, and found guilty.  He 
who was the Prince of Life was led as a lamb to the slaughter, and 
poured out His soul unto death.  He "died for us." [1 
Thessalonians 5:10]

Was He obliged to do this?  Oh no!  He could have summoned to His 
aid more than twelve legions of angels, and scattered His enemies 
with a word from His mouth.  He suffered voluntarily and of His 
own free will, to make atonement for our sins.  He knew that 
nothing but the sacrifice of His body and blood could ever make 
peace between sinful man and a holy God.  He laid down His life to 
pay the price of our redemption: He died that we might live; He 
suffered that we might reign; He bore shame that we might receive 
glory.  "Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the 
unrighteous, to bring you to God."  "God made Him who had no sin 
to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness 
of God."  [1 Peter 3:18; 2 Corinthians 5:21]

Such friendship as this passes man's understanding.  Sometimes we 
may have heard of friends who would die for those who love them.  
But who can find a man who would lay down his life for those that 
hate him?  Yet this is what Jesus has done for us.  "God 
demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still 
sinners, Christ died for us."  [Romans 5:8]

Ask all the tribes of mankind, from one end of the world to the 
other, and you will nowhere hear of a deed like this.  No one was 
ever so exalted and stooped down so low as Jesus the Son of God: 
no one ever gave so costly a proof of his friendship; no one ever 
paid so much and endured so much to do good to others.  Never was 
there such a friend as Jesus Christ!

III.  Do we want "a mighty and powerful friend?"  Such a friend is 
Jesus Christ.

Power to help is that which few possess in this world.  Many have 
the desire to do good to others, but no power.  They feel for the 
sorrows of others, and would gladly relieve them if they could: 
they can weep with their friends in distress, but are unable to 
take their grief away.  But though man is weak, Christ is 
strong--though the best of our earthly friends is feeble, Christ 
is almighty: Jesus said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has 
been given to Me." [Matthew 28:18]  No one can do so much for 
those whom He helps as Jesus Christ.  Others can help their bodies 
a little: He can help both body and soul.  Others can do a little 
for them for a time: He can be a friend both for time and 
eternity.

(a)  He is "able to pardon" and save the very chief of sinners.  
He can deliver the most guilty conscience from all its burdens, 
and give it perfect peace with God.  He can wash away the vilest 
stains of wickedness, and make a man's soul whiter than snow in 
the sight of God.  He can clothe a poor weak child of Adam in 
everlasting righteousness, and give him a title to heaven that can 
never be overthrown.  In a word, He can give anyone of us peace, 
hope, forgiveness, and reconciliation with God, if we will only 
trust in Him.  "The blood of Jesus, His Son, purifies us from all 
sin."  [1 John 1:7]

(b)  He is "able to convert" the hardest of hearts, and create in 
man a new spirit.  He can take the most thoughtless and ungodly 
people, and give them another mind by the Holy Spirit which He 
puts in them.  He can cause old things to pass away, and 
everything to become new.  He can make them love the things which 
they once hated, and hate the things they once loved.  "[He can 
give] the right to become children of God."  "If anyone is in 
Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!"  
[John 1:12; 2 Corinthians 5:17]

(c)  He is "able to preserve" to the end all who believe in Him, 
and become His disciples.  He can give them grace to overcome the 
world, the flesh and the devil, and fight a good fight to the end.  
He can lead them on safely in spite of every temptation, carry 
them home through a thousand dangers, and keep them faithful, 
though they stand alone and have no one to help them.  "He is able 
to save completely those who come to God through Him." [Hebrews 
7:25]

(d)  He is "able to give" those that love Him the best of gifts.  
He can give them in life inward comforts, which money can never 
buy--peace in poverty, joy in sorrow, patience in suffering.  He 
can give them bright hopes in death, which enable them to walk 
through the dark valley without fear.  After death He can give 
them a crown of glory, which never fades, and a reward which no 
King or country on earth could ever match.

This is power indeed: this is true greatness; this is real 
strength.  Go and look at the poor Hindu idolater, seeking peace 
in vain by afflicting his body; and, after fifty years of self-
imposed suffering, was still unable to find it.  Go and look at 
the blind Roman Catholic, giving money to his priest to pray for 
his soul, and yet dying without salvation.  Go and look at rich 
men, spending thousands in search of happiness, and yet always 
discontented and unhappy.  Then turn to Jesus, and think what He 
can do, and is daily doing for all who trust Him.  Think how He 
heals all the broken-hearted, comforts all the sick, cheers all 
the poor that trust in Him, and supplies all their daily need.  
The fear of man is strong, the opposition of this evil world is 
mighty, the lusts of the flesh rage, the fear of death is 
distressing, the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking 
for someone to devour; but Jesus is stronger than them all.  Jesus 
can make us conquerors over all these foes.  And now I ask you 
whether it is not a true statement, that there never was so mighty 
a friend as Jesus Christ.

IV.  Do we want "a loving and affectionate friend?"  Such a friend 
is Jesus Christ.

Kindness is the very essence of true friendship.  Money, advice, 
and help lose half their good will, if not given in a loving 
manner.  What kind of love is that of the Lord Jesus toward man?  
It is called, "A love that surpasses knowledge." [Ephesians 3:19]

Love shines forth in His "reception of sinners."  He refuses none 
that come to Him for salvation, however unworthy they may be.  
Though their lives may have been most wicked, though their sins 
may be more in number than the stars of heaven, the Lord Jesus is 
ready to receive them, and give them pardon and peace.  There is 
no end to His compassion: there are no limits to His mercy.  He is 
not ashamed to be a friend and to help those whom the world casts 
off as hopeless.  There are none too bad, too filthy, and too much 
diseased with sin, to be admitted into His home.  He is willing to 
be the friend of any sinner: He has kindness and mercy and healing 
medicine for all.  He has long proclaimed this to be His rule: 
"Whoever comes to me I will never drive away."  [John 6:37]

Love shines forth in His "dealings with sinners," after they have 
believed in Him and become His friends.  He is very patient with 
them, though their conduct is often very trying and provoking.  He 
is never tired of hearing their complaints, however often they may 
come to Him.  He sympathizes deeply in all their sorrows.  He 
knows what pain is:  He is "familiar with suffering." [Isaiah 
53:3]  In all their afflictions He is afflicted.  He never allows 
them to be tempted above what they are able to bear: He supplies 
them with daily grace for their daily conflict.  Their poor 
services are acceptable to Him: He is well pleased with them as a 
parent is with his child's efforts to speak and walk.  He has 
caused it to be written in His book, that "The LORD takes delight 
in His people," and that "the LORD delights in those who fear 
Him."  [Psalm 149:4; 147:11]

There is no love on earth that can be named together with this!  
We love those in whom we see something that deserves our 
affection, or those who are our flesh and bone: the Lord Jesus 
loves sinners in whom there is nothing good.  We love those from 
whom we get something in return for our affection: the Lord Jesus 
loves those who can do little or nothing for Him, compared to what 
He does for them.  We love where we can give some reason for 
loving: the great Friend of sinners draws His reasons out of His 
own everlasting compassion.  His love is purely impartial, purely 
unselfish, purely free.  Never, never was there so truly loving a 
friend as Jesus Christ.

V.  Do we want "a wise and prudent friend?"  Such a friend is the 
Lord Jesus Christ.

Man's friendship is sadly blind.  He often injures those he loves 
by overbearing kindness: he often errs in the counsel he gives; he 
often leads his friends into trouble by bad advice, even when he 
means to help them.  He sometimes keeps them back from the way of 
life, and entangles them in the vanities of the world, when they 
have almost escaped.  The friendship of the Lord Jesus is not that 
way: it always does us good, and never evil.

The Lord Jesus "never spoils" His friends by extravagant 
indulgence.  He gives them everything that is really for their 
benefit; He withholds nothing from them that is really good; but 
He requires them to take up their cross daily and follow Him. He 
commands them to endure hardships as good soldiers: He calls on 
them to fight the good fight against the world, the flesh, and the 
devil.  His people often dislike it at the time, and think it 
difficult; but when they reach heaven they will see it was all 
well done.

The Lord Jesus "makes no mistakes" in managing His friend's 
affairs.  He orders all their concerns with perfect wisdom: all 
things happen to them at the right time, and in the right way.  He 
gives them as much of sickness and as much of health, as much of 
poverty and as much of riches, as much of sorrow and as much of 
joy, as He sees their souls require.  He leads them by the right 
way to bring them to the city that will be their eternal home.  He 
mixes their bitterest cups like a wise physician, and takes care 
that they have not a drop too little or a drop too much.  His 
people often misunderstand His dealings; they are silly enough to 
imagine that their course of life might have been better ordered: 
but in the resurrection-day they will thank God that not their 
will, but Christ's will was done. 

Look around the world and see the harm which people are 
continually getting from their friends.  Note how much more ready 
men are to encourage one another in worldliness and levity, than 
to spur one another on toward love and good deeds.  Think how 
often they meet together, not for the better, but for the 
worse--not to quicken one another's souls in the way to heaven, 
but to confirm one another in the love of this present world.  
Yes, there are thousands who are wounded unexpectedly in the house 
of their friends!

And then turn to the great Friend of sinners, and see how 
different a thing is His friendship from that of man.  Listen to 
Him as He walks by the way with His disciples; mark how He 
comforts, reproves, and exhorts with perfect wisdom.  Observe how 
He times His visits to those He loves, as to Mary and Martha at 
Bethany.  Hear how He converses, as He dines on the shore of the 
sea of Galilee: "Simon son of John, do you truly love me?" [John 
21:16]  His company is always sanctifying.  His gifts are always 
for our soul's good; His kindness is always wise; His fellowship 
always edifies us.  One day with the Son of Man is better than a 
thousand days in the society of earthly friends: one hour spent in 
private communion with Him, is better than a year in kings' 
palaces.  Never, never was there such a wise friend as Jesus 
Christ.

VI.  Do we want "a tried and proved friend?"  Such a friend is 
Jesus Christ.

Six thousand years have passed away since the Lord Jesus began His 
work of being a friend to mankind.  During that long period of 
time He has had many friends in this world.  Billions of people, 
unhappily, have refused His offers and been miserably lost 
forever; but millions on millions have enjoyed the mighty 
privilege of His friendship and been saved.  He has had great 
experience on being a friend of sinners.

(a)  He has had friends of "every rank and station" in life.  Some 
of them were kings and rich men, like David, and Solomon, and 
Hezekiah, and Job; some of them were very poor in this world, like 
the shepherds of Bethlehem, and James, and John, and Andrew: but 
everyone of them were Christ's friends.

(b)  He has had friends "of every age" that man can pass through.  
Some of them never knew Him till they were advanced in years, like 
Manasseh, and Zacchaeus, and probably the Ethiopian Eunuch.  Some 
of them were His friends even from their earliest childhood, like 
Joseph, and Samuel, and Josiah, and Timothy.  But everyone of them 
were Christ's friends.

(c)  He has had friends "of every possible temperament and 
disposition."  Some of them were simple plain men and women, like 
Isaac; some of them were mighty in word and deed, like Moses; some 
of them were fervent and warm-hearted, like Peter; some of them 
were gentle and retiring spirits, like John; some of them were 
active and stirring, like Martha; some of them loved to sit 
quietly at His feet, like Mary; some lived unknown among their own 
people, like the Shunamite; some have gone everywhere and turned 
the world upside down, like Paul.  But everyone of them were 
Christ's friends.

(d)  He has had friends "of every condition in life."  Some of 
them were married, and had sons and daughters, like Enoch; some of 
them lived and died unmarried, like Daniel and John the Baptist; 
some of them were often sick, like Lazarus and Epaphroditus; some 
of them were strong and labored hard, like Persis, and Tryphena, 
and Tryphosa; some of them were masters, like Abraham and 
Cornelius; some of them were servants, like the saints in Nero's 
household; some of them had bad servants, like Elisha; some of 
them had bad masters like Obadiah; some of them had bad wives and 
children, like David.  But everyone of them were Christ's friends.

(e)  He has had friends "of almost every nation, and people, and 
language." He has had friends in hot countries and in cold; 
friends among highly civilized nations, and friends among the 
simplest and rudest tribes.  His Book of Life contains the names 
of Greeks and Romans, of Jews and Egyptians, of bond and of free.  
There are to be found on its lists reserved Englishmen and 
cautious Scotchmen, impulsive Irishmen and fiery Welshmen, 
volatile Frenchmen and dignified Spaniards, refined Italians and 
solid Germans, rude Africans and refined Indians [from India], 
cultivated Chinese and half-savage New Zealanders.  But everyone 
of them were Christ's friends.

All these have tested Christ's friendship, and proved it to be 
good.  They all found nothing lacking when they began: they all 
found nothing lacking as they advanced in the friendship.  No 
lack, no defect, no deficiency was ever found by any one of them 
in Jesus Christ.  Each found his own soul's needs fully supplied; 
each found every day, that in Christ there was enough and plenty 
to spare.  Never, never was there a friend so fully tried and 
proved as Jesus Christ.

VII.  Last, but not least, do we want "an unfailing friend?'  Such 
a friend is the Lord Jesus Christ.

The saddest part of all the good things of earth is their 
instability.  Riches make themselves wings and fly away; youth and 
beauty are but for a few years; strength of body soon decays; mind 
and intellect are soon exhausted.  All is perishing.  All is 
fading.  All is passing away.  But there is one splendid exception 
to this general rule, and that is the friendship of Jesus Christ.

The Lord Jesus is "a friend who never changes."  There is no 
fickleness about Him: those whom He loves, He loves to the end.  
Husbands have been known to forsake their wives; parents have been 
known to cast off their children; human vows and promises of 
faithfulness have often been forgotten.  Thousands have been 
neglected in their poverty and old age, who were honored by all 
when they were rich and young.  But Christ never changed his 
feelings towards one of His friends.  He is "the same yesterday 
and today and forever."  [Hebrews 13:8]

The Lord Jesus "never goes away from His friends."  There is never 
a parting and goodbye between Him and His people.  From the time 
that He makes His home in the sinner's heart, He abides in it 
forever.  The world is full of separations and departures: death 
and the passage of time break up the most united family; sons move 
on to make their way in life; daughters are married, and leave 
their father's house forever.  Scattering, scattering, scattering, 
is the yearly history of the happiest home.  How many we have 
tearfully watched as they drove away from our doors, whose 
pleasant faces we have never seen again!  How many we have 
sorrowfully followed to the grave, and then come back to a cold, 
silent, lonely house!  But, thanks be to God, there is One who 
never leaves His friends!  The Lord Jesus is He who has said, 
"Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you." [Hebrews 13:5]

The Lord Jesus "goes with His friends wherever they go."  There is 
no possible separation between Him and those He loves.  There is 
no place or position on earth, or under the earth, that can divide 
them from the great Friend of their souls.  When the path of duty 
calls them far away from home, He is their companion; when they 
pass through the fire and water of fierce suffering, He is with 
them; when they lie down on the bed of sickness, He stands by them 
and makes all their trouble work for good; when they go down the 
valley of the shadow of death, and friends and relatives stand 
still and can go no further, He goes down by their side.  When 
they wake up in the unknown world of Paradise, they are still with 
Him; when they rise with a new body at the judgment day, they will 
not be alone.  He will acknowledge them as His friends, and say, 
"They are mine: let them go free."  He will make good His own 
words: "I am with you always, to the very end of the age." 
[Matthew 28:20]

Look around the world, and see how failure is written on all men's 
schemes.  Add up the partings, and separations, and 
disappointments, and bereavements which you have experienced, 
heard about or observed.  Think what a privilege it is that there 
is One at least who never fails, and in whom no one was ever 
disappointed!  Never, never was there so unfailing a friend as 
Jesus Christ.

And now, permit me to conclude this paper with a few plain words 
of application.  I don't know who you are or in what state your 
soul may be in; but I am sure that the words I am about to say 
deserve your serious attention.  Oh, that this paper may not find 
you careless of spiritual things!  Oh, that you may be able to 
give a few thoughts to Christ!

(1)  Know then, for one thing, that I call upon you to "solemnly 
consider whether Christ is your friend and you are His."

There are millions, I grieve to say, who are not Christ's friends.  
Baptized in His name, outward members of His Church, attending 
Church services, taking the Lord's Supper, praying, reading the 
Bible--but they are not Christ's "friends."  

Do they hate the sins which Jesus died for?  No.  
Do they love the Savior who came into the world to save them?  No.  
Do they care for the souls which were so precious in His sight?  No.
Do they delight in the word of reconciliation?  No.
Do they try to speak with the Friend of sinners in prayer?  No.
Do they seek close fellowship with Him?  No.

Oh, reader, is this your situation?  How is it with you?  Are you or 
are you not one of Christ's friends?

(2)  Know, in the next place, that "if you are not one of Christ's 
friends, you are a poor miserable being."

I write this down deliberately.  I do not say it without thought.  I 
say that if Christ is not your friend, you are a poor miserable 
being.

You are in the midst of a failing, sorrowful world, and you have no 
real source of comfort, or refuge for a time of need.  You are a 
dying creature, and you are not ready to die.  You have sins, and 
they are not forgiven.  You are going to be judged, and you are not 
prepared to meet God: you might be, but you refuse to use the one and 
only Mediator and Advocate.  You love the world better than Christ.  
You refuse the great Friend of sinners, and you have no friend in 
heaven to plead your cause.  Yes: it is sad but true!  You are a 
poor, miserable being.  It matters nothing what your income is: 
without Christ's friendship you are very poor.

(3)  Know, in the third place, that "if you really want a friend, 
Christ is willing to become your friend."

He has long wanted you to join His people, and He now invites you by 
my hand.  He is ready to receive you, all unworthy as you may feel, 
and to write your name down in the list of His friends.  He is ready 
to pardon all the past, to clothe you with righteousness, to give 
you His Spirit, to make you His own dear child.  All He asks you 
to do is to come to Him.

He commands you to come with all your sins; only acknowledging your 
wickedness, and confessing that your are ashamed.  Just as you 
are--waiting for nothing--unworthy of anything in yourself--Jesus 
commands you to come and be His friend.

Oh come and be wise!  Come and be safe.  Come and be happy.  Come and 
be Christ's friend.

(4)  Know, in the last place, that "if Christ is your friend, you 
have great privileges, and ought to walk worthy of them."

Seek every day to have closer communion with Him who is your friend, 
and to know more of His grace and power.  True Christianity is not 
merely the believing of a certain set of dry abstract propositions: 
it is to live in daily personal communication with an actual living 
person--Jesus the Son of God.  "To me," said Paul, "to live is 
Christ."  [Philippians 1:21]

Seek every day to glorify your Lord and Savior in all your ways.  "A 
man that has friends must show himself friendly"[Proverbs 18:24 - 
KJV], and surely no man is under such mighty obligations as the 
friend of Christ.  Avoid everything which would grieve your Lord.  
Fight hard against the sins that so easily entangles, against 
inconsistency, against being ashamed to confess Him before men.  Say 
to your soul, whenever you are tempted to do that which is wrong, 
"Soul, soul, is this your kindness to your Friend?"

Think, above all, of the mercy which has been shown you, and learn to 
rejoice daily in your Friend!  What if your body is bent over with 
disease?  What if the poverty and trials of your life are 
overwhelming?  What if your earthly friends all forsake you, and you 
are alone in this world?  All this may be true: but if you are in 
Christ, then you have a friend, a mighty Friend, a loving Friend, a 
wise friend, a friend that never fails.  Oh, think, think habitually 
about your Friend!

Yet in a little while and your friend will come to take you home, and 
you will live with Him forever.  Yet a little while and you will see 
Him as you have been seen by Him, and know Him as you have been known 
by Him.  And then you will hear the glorified saints in heaven 
proclaim, that HE IS THE RICH AND HAPPY MAN WHO HAS HAD CHRIST FOR 
HIS FRIEND.

Transcribed and Updated by 
Tony Capoccia
Bible Bulletin Board
Internet: www.biblebb.com
Box 314			
Columbus, NJ 08022	
....online since 1986