How can a friend stick closer than a brother (Proverbs 18:24)?

Interestingly, verse 24 is translated in J.N.D.'s version, "A man of many friends will come to ruin, but there is a friend that sticks closer than a brother." To have one faithful friend is far better than having many friends, for there will be no unity among others as regards what they may approve. The one Friend in this verse who remains closer than a brother is of course the Lord Jesus. He will not flatter us, nor will He betray us, but is faithful and true in everything. He is always a Friend of believers, and He assures us, "You are My friends if you do whatever I command you" (John 14:15). Of course, if we are disobedient, we are not acting as His friends at all. May we be truly His friends, just as He is our Friend.

A man who depends on many friends pays for it to his own ruin; but One is become more than a friend, a lover beyond all others, that sticks closer than a brother. Well we know Him; yet how little, alas!

Fine is the description of the friend and precious just as far as it is realized. He loves at all times; sad the blank of not having one uncapricious and constant, whatever the changes of this passing scene, nearer still of a brother born for adversity, where the strain is greatest! None fills up the sketch to perfection but our Lord Jesus, who indeed in His infiniteness went beyond what lips can utter or heart conceive.

We pass through trial and adversity, through a world in truth a wilderness, a place of utter dependence, in which faith feels, amid the darkness, for the strength of the everlasting arms. And here we learn, as no where else could we learn, the grace that is come down to us. We are like those that go down to the sea in ships, and that have their business in the deep waters, — men that see the works of the Lord, and His wonders in the deep. "A brother is born for adversity," and in adversity we learn the touch of a brother's hand; yea, "there is a Friend that sticketh closer than a brother," and how blessed to realize in Him who sticks so close the very Lord of glory Himself! Not a kindly and gracious Protector merely, from His own sphere of unchanging blessedness, but One hand in hand, traveling the same road, ministering of His own cup of consolation, displaying sympathies which have been developed in the self-same path, but of sorrows voluntarily endured that He might so minister to us.

He knoweth our frame, He remembereth that we are dust.' He understands our frailty, feebleness, and shortcomings; and His heart is touched with deep consideration for us. He knows, too; what we are, not only as knowing all things, but as having lived here among men, and having had, as perfect man, thorough personal acquaintance with every element at work in man. And He is certainly not less mindful of His own dear ones now than He was then. If the sorrowing hearts of Mary and Martha drew forth tears of sympathy from their loving Saviour, when He knew that in a little while Lazarus would again be by their side in all the vigour of health and brotherly affection, though He has changed His place from earth to heaven, His heart cannot love less on that account. How sweet then to be able to look up to Him, when conscious of our own infirmities, and fully to count upon Him as a Friend that sticketh closer than a brother — "Whose heart is filled with tenderness, Whose very name is love." We have not then an High Priest that cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities, but who is — "Touched with a sympathy within, And knows our feeble frame;" Now in the presence of God for us, — "And, though ascended, feels afresh What every member bears."

92 Brethren, beloved of the Lord, seeing that our God has done such great things for us, we know that God is for us, by the love of Jesus, in going before us in all tribulations, so that nothing should separate us from His love. If you are tempted, dear friends, remember He was tempted before you; if your friends forsake you, remember that Christ is a "friend that sticketh closer than a brother"; the world may leave you, but it is not your friend, but your enemy, "for the friendship of the world is enmity with God"; and you are no longer debtors to the flesh, to live after the flesh, but you live in the Spirit, and therefore should walk in the Spirit, in the same mind that was in Jesus. Whatever temptation you are under, be persuaded, with Paul, of this one thing, that "neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."

He is our Friend; yes, never a difficulty in which we cannot go to Him; never a burden that we cannot put at His feet; never a trouble that we cannot tell Him. He is a Friend that loves at all times, the Friend that sticketh closer than a brother. Every one of us has proved that, but can He turn round and say, "Ye are My friends"? "If ye do whatsoever I command you" is the test by which we may test ourselves as to whether we are His friends. He has called us into communion with His thoughts and purposes, He lets us know and understand what He is about, the blessed motives that are behind all His gracious work, the purpose and the reason for everything He does; He would bring us intelligently into these things, so that we might serve as friends and not as servants.

But in this same gospel He speaks of His friends, "Ye are My friends" (15:14). And what shall we say of this? Is this true of all who are His sheep and His brethren? Is it true of you and me? It may be true of us, but if it is to be so we must fulfil the conditions of friendship. What is a friend? Is he not one to whom you can confide your secrets, one whom you can trust? One who knowing your innermost thoughts and most cherished hopes will not play you false, but labour in his love for you? Such a friend to us has our Lord Jesus been. We have ever been able to trust in Him; and the darkest moments of our lives when we were the most distressed and forlorn were the very occasions when His true friendship declared itself most fully. He is the friend that "loves at all times," the "friend that sticketh," yes, "that sticketh closer than a brother." But can He say this of us? What He does say is, "Ye are My friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you."

“Ye are My friends.” Wonderful words! How deeply searching! A friend is one who is worthy to be trusted. Is this true of us? The blessed Lord is our Friend—a Friend that sticketh closer than a brother, and “who loveth at all times.” Never a moment when we may not trust him with every secret of our lives, He has proved Himself to be trustworthy, for He laid down His life for us. O wonderful love, passing all bounds of human thought!

"Ye are My friends." Wonderful words! How deeply searching! A friend is one who is worthy to be trusted. Is this true of us? The blessed Lord is our Friend — a Friend that sticketh closer than a brother, and "who loves at all times." Never a moment when we may not trust him with every secret of our lives, He has proved Himself to be trustworthy, for He laid down His life for us. O wonderful love, passing all bounds of human thought!