At this time of the year, usually there are a great number of reunions, get-togethers, when friends meet with friends. Relatives meet with relatives. May I ask you this morning, if someone were to ask you, who is your greatest friend? Could you give an answer? I want to read to you some verses from the Bible that have to do with friendship. What is thy beloved more than another beloved, that thou dost so charge us? And here is the answer. My beloved is white and ruddy, the cheapest among ten thousand. His head is as the most fine gold. His locks are bushy and black as a raven. His eyes are as the eyes of doves by the rivers of waters, washed in with milk and fitly set. His cheek are as a bed of spices, as sweet flowers, his lips like lilies, dropping sweet-smelling mir. His hands are as gold rings set with the barrel. His belly is as bright ivory overlaid with sapphires. His legs are as pillars of marble, set upon sockets of fine gold. His countenance is as Lebanon, excellent as the cedars. His mouth is most sweet. Ye, he is altogether lovely. This is my beloved. And this is my friend. You'll find these words in the Song of Solomon, chapter five, and reading from verse nine, down to the end of the chapter. I want you to notice this expression, this. is my friend taken from verse sixteen. Now, when making an inventory of life or seeking to assess our possessions, we should place at the top of the list friendship. A true friend is one of the greatest blessings on earth, and he is a poor man who has no friends. It has been well said that Friendship halves our troubles and doubles our joys. Suppose I could introduce you to my friend and convince you that he is a real friend and a rich friend and a reliable friend, but better still he is willing to be your friend. Would you be willing to accept his friend, then confide in him and ask his help in time of need? and share with him your measure of joy in time of blessing. He is a real friend. How often have you said a friend in need is a friend indeed? It is true that friendship cannot be measured by what we say, but only by what we do. For actions speak louder than words. It is recorded concerning the Lord Jesus that he began both to do and teach. Judas Iscariot pretended to be the friend of the Lord and kissed him openly, but it was the kiss of a traitor, and he betrayed the Lord to his enemies. Even those who hated the Lord Jesus were compelled to speak the truth, even though it was in derision, and they confessed that he was the friend of publicans and sinners. The people who were left friendless in this world, outcasts of society, unwanted social derelicts, wrecks of humanity, they all found the Lord Jesus to be a real friend, one who sticketh closer than a brother, one who can pour in the oil and wine to heal and soothe the wounded heart and cheer the troubled mind. He is a real friend, and one who knows the worst about us, But loves us just the same. He understands our natures and undertakes our cause. Happy is that person who has been introduced to this friend and has trusted him as Savior and accepted him into their company for daily communion. The old hymn says, There is one who understands our hearts. Jesus, the best friend of all. And for every need his grace imparts, Jesus, the best friend of all. He will soothe and comfort in distress, Jesus, the best friend of all. He will sympathize and help and bless, Jesus, the best friend of all. But he's a rich friend. There is an interesting and impressive record in the Bible concerning a poor young widow. Oh, she was a stranger in a strange land, but in her time of trouble she found a friend, of whom it was said he was a mighty man of wealth. This rich man not only proved a friend, but also became her redeemer and her bridegroom. Before anyone can be a redeemer, he must first of all establish his rights to redeem. then of necessity he must have the resources to enable him to pay the price of redemption. But even possessing the rights and the resources, he must have the resolve to carry it through. So it was said of Boaz, the rich friend, the man will not be in rest until he have finished the thing this day. That's quoted from the Book of Ruth, chapter three, verse eighteen. The outcome was, that Ruth the poor widow found a kinsman redeemer who brought her into the royal line that led to David the king, and Solomon with all his wealth, and ultimately to the greater than Solomon, the Christ of God, whose riches cannot be estimated. Now, this is my friend. And Paul the Apostle wrote concerning him and his riches in these words, For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich. The Lord Jesus became our kinsman, and thus established his rights to redeem us. Herein is the manifestation of his grace. that he who was the eternal God should step from his throne of glory and become a man, in order to have the rights to redeem poor, fallen sinners. Oh, listen to our wondrous story, counted once among the lost, yet one came down from heaven's glory, saving us at awful cost. No other could our place have taken, highest of the high, though he, There on the cross, despised, forsaken, was one of the Godhead, three. The cost of redemption was great, and no member of Adam's ruined race had the resources whereby he could pay redemption's price. Nevertheless, our kinsman, Redeemer, our friend, was rich in mercy, and rich in grace, and the riches of the glory of his inheritance, is beyond human computation. He possessed the necessary riches whereby He could effect our redemption. Listen to this beautiful verse. In whom, that is in Christ, we have redemption through His blood. The forgiveness of sins according to the riches of His grace. That's Ephesians chapter one, verse seven. Oh, there is wealth untold in Jesus, far more than earthly gold in Jesus. Redemption's price he paid and satisfaction made, then on the cross he said, it is finished. Surely it is caused for rejoicing in also thanksgiving, and for telling to others that we have a rich friend, who carried his resolve to a satisfactory conclusion, and has saved us with an eternal salvation. He's a reliable friend. Reriability is a quality to be coveted. And certain manufacturers advertise their goods as being reliable. Some employers demand this as a qualification from those they employ. Can be said concerning the Lord Jesus Christ that he is a reliable friend. That means that he is all that he claims to be. If he makes a promise, then that promise he will keep. If he says, I will never leave thee nor forsake thee, we can rest assured he will continue beside us through every experience of life, whether pleasant or otherwise. If he says, I give unto my sheep eternal life, and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand, then that word of his is reliable, and we can trust him to keep his word. For being a reliable friend, he would never be guilty of deceiving us with false hopes. When he said, I will come again and receive you unto myself, that where I am there you may be also, he meant every word that he spoke. We can trust implicitly the word of this reliable friend, that he will come again and take us to be forever with himself. He is a real friend. He loved me, and I knew him. He is a rich friend. He paid redemption's price. He is a reliable friend. I can trust him. For ever I found a friend in Jesus. He's everything to me. He's the fairest of ten thousand to my soul. The lily of the valley. In him alone I see all I need to cleanse and make me fully whole. He will never, never leave me, nor yet forsake me here, while I live by faith and do his blessed will. A wall of fire about me. I've nothing now to fear. With his manner he my hungry soul... Shall fill, my friend, may I ask you this morning, Do you know this friend, the Lord Jesus?