“That they all may be one, as thou, Father, are in me, and I in thee; that they also may be one in us,” (John 17:21).

A Brief Introduction

The following excerpt was taken from a corresponding letter published by the Shaftsbury Baptist Association in 1801. The Shaftsbury Baptist Association was a Regular Baptist Association comprised of churches throughout eastern New York and (what became) western Vermont. Among those who often attended their meetings were influential Baptists like Caleb Blood (1754-1814), John Leland (1754-1841), and Lemuel Covell (1764-1806). Covell, the author of the letter, took as his topic the subject of Christian Friendship. Does Christian friendship stand out from other kinds of friendship? Covell believed it did, and the source of this distinction was the Triune God. In what follows, Covell demonstrates how Christian friendship is “that divine principle, which, by assimilating our souls to the Great Eternal Source of all true friendship, knits and cements them in the most indissoluble union.” Covell’s Trinitarian discourse is a refreshing and soul-stirring contemplation on the nature and value of true Christian friendship.

The Nature and Source of Christian Friendship

Christian friendship is not that sordid principle, which inclines the rich in this world to look with affected complaisance on the sons of wealth, nor that mercenary principle which confines its good will to the hand of benediction. It is not that perfidious principle, which pretends great respect for those whom it would gladly employ as instruments; nor that selfish principle, which bestows gifts with the sole design of effecting its own purposes. It is not that party spirit, which circumscribes itself to those of its own cast; nor [that] contracted spirit, which delights only in those of its own family. It is not that versatile spirit, which is easily attracted by new objects, but can retain no lasting attachment to any, consequently is variable, fickle, and unstable; nor is it that blind, bigoted spirit, which never discovers any imperfections in the objects of its delight, and therefore maintains an obstinate attachment, supported neither by reason nor friendship, but by stubborn predilection. But,

That Friendship which is the subject of this letter, is that divine principle, which, by assimilating our souls to the Great Eternal Source of all true friendship, knits and cements them [together] in the most indissoluble union.

This is, undoubtedly, what the Great Apostle means by the “unity of the Spirit” (Eph. 4:3); by the “fellowship of the Spirit” (Phil. 2:1); and by that oneness, by which “Christ is all and in all” (Col. 3:11); but more particularly, that charity delineated in I Corinthians 13.

To trace this glorious principle to its exalted source, is a work at once pleasing, interesting and sublime. In this delightful stretch of contemplation, we have the infallible word for our guide. Let us listen a moment to its language.

“The Lord possessed me in the beginning of his way, before his works of old. I was set up from everlasting, or ever the earth was – Then I was before him, as one brought up with him. And I was daily his delight, rejoicing always before him. Rejoicing in the habitable parts of his earth, and my delights were with the sons of men.” (Proverbs 8:22-23, 30-31). “And now, Father, glorify thou me with thine own self, with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.” (John 17:5). “As thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee.” (John 17:21).Here we have the most emphatical description of true friendship, and are led to see that it has its source in the ever blessed God, and therefore, that its nature is heavenly and divine.

We learn also, from the scriptures of truth, that the adorable medium through which this divine principle has made its appearance in our world, is the blessed Immanuel. The Father “So loved the world, that he has given his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” (Jon 3:16). If any man loves the Son, the Father will love him, and they will come and take up their abode with him (John 14:23). And thus every Christian is united to God, by the same divine principle which unites the Father and the Son.

“That they all may be one, as thou, Father, are in me, and I in thee; that they also may be one in us – And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one; I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them as thou hast loved me.” (John 17:21-23)

What could be more expressive? Will not this language of the blessed Jesus justify the Apostle in saying that we are made partakers of the divine nature (II Peter 1:4)?

The Progress and Effects of Christian Friendship

Having thus, by tracing this heavenly stream to its source, discovering its nature, let us, for a moment, turn our attention to its progress and effects.

Its Progress

The Eternal Father and his dearly beloved Son, being united by that Holy Spirit of love, union, and friendship, which dwells in, and proceeds from both, and by which they mutually dwell in, and are delighted with each other, have early devised a plan, which brings into view the exercise and progress of that ever-living, ever-acting principle, in all its beneficent effects. This glorious plan, called by some the Covenant of Grace, by others the Covenant of Redemption, and is emphatically both, as it is a gracious plan to redeem sinners, embraces the elect of God, with all the means of their salvation; and discloses that eternal friendship which the Father had towards them, in his dear Son, before the world began; and exhibits its progress through all the divine dispensations, till it shall appear complete in their consummation in Glory.

We may see it shine through the shadows of the ceremonial law, through the gracious promises interspersed through the Old Testament, and in repeated predictions of the holy prophets respecting the Messiah and his gracious and peaceful reign. We may see it, likewise, in the miraculous ways by which Jehovah delivered his ancient people out of Egyptian bondage, and from all their enemies; and in the various ways by which he has delivered Godly men out of, or supported them under their afflictions, in all ages. But when we turn our attention to the incarnation, work and passion of our Dear Redeemer, we see that glorious principle repelling every obstruction that appeared to retard its progress, and bidding defiance to all the powers of Earth and Hell when combined to prevent its gracious effects, till by one offering he has completed the work of atonement, made an end of sin, brought in everlasting righteousness, opened a way into the holiest of the holies for the reception of his people and forever perfected them that are sanctified.

Advert our eyes to his resurrection, his friendly address to his disciples, on several occasions subsequent thereto, the affectionate manner in which he took leave of them at his ascension, the glorious commission he gave them to preach the glad tidings of salvation to all nations, the promise of his divine presence with them, and their successors in the gospel ministry, to the end of the world, the accomplishment of that most gracious promise, in the descent of the Holy Ghost, and his irresistible influences accompanying and succeeding their labors down to the present day, and we may see additional displays of the progress of Divine Friendship.

The same may be seen in all that support, comfort and consolation which his people have experienced, under all the trials, persecutions, and afflictions, which they have been called to pass through for his name’s sake, ever since the gospel was first introduced into the world; and in the continuance of gospel privileges in his church to the present day, notwithstanding all the efforts of Men and Devils to prevent it.

Its Effects

The effects of Divine Friendship are: a complete reconciliation to God, produced in the hearts of the most obdurate and rebellious sinners, by the powerful operation of divine love shed abroad in their hearts by his Holy Spirit, by which that enmity of heart is removed, by which they were opposed to God and his law, and full of malice and hatred one against another; their being united in the delightful bonds of love and fellowship, and mutually engaged to seek and promote each other’s good; and that holy communion with God and his people, which every Christian enjoys, in a greater or smaller degree, by the sweet influences of the holy Comforter, the Spirit of Truth.

In short, the effects of that glorious principle change the rebel into a loyal and faithful subject, the alien and stranger into a child, and the foreigner into a fellow-citizen. It causes the sinner to love the things he once hated, and hate the things he once loved. It constrains its subjects to unite all their efforts to build up and maintain the visible cause of God in the midst of a sinning world; and to comfort, encourage and edify one another in those things which pertain to his kingdom.

Conclusion

Hence we see, dear Brethren, that Christian Friendship is the same in nature with that love which dwelt in the bosom of the Father towards his only begotten Son, and his people in him, which arose in the breast of the adorable God-man, first towards his Heavenly Father, and then towards his Bride, who was chosen in him before the world began (Eph. 1:4). We also see, that it is the same spirit of union by which the great eternal Father dwelt in and glorified his dear Son with his own self, by which the blessed Immanuel dwelt in the bosom of the Father, before his works of old, and was daily his delight; that by which the Lord Jesus Christ dwells in his people, and the Father in him, by which they are made perfect in one – God in Christ – Christ in his people – his people in him. This, dear Brethren, is that threefold cord, which neither life nor death, time nor eternity, sin nor holiness, can dissolve. This is that immutable, all-powerful principle, which, in its progress, has run through all the divine dispensations, and effected all its beneficent purposes, in defiance of all opposition; that which, in its effects, slays the enmity of our hearts, reconciles us to God, and unites us together in the unity of the Spirit and bond of peace.

This view of the subject exhibits the Great Jehovah as the inexhaustible fountain of True Friendship – the blessed Jesus as the Friend of Sinners, who has laid down his life for them, and the Holy Spirit as that glorious Teacher, who will inculcate the same principle in their hearts.

Now his friends learn of him, not barely the name
Of Friendship Divine, but they live in the same:
And, dear Brethren, we trow our souls well do know
The union of hearts, made one here below.

All along as we pass through this waste wilderness,
A friend true and faithful will add to our bliss:
Our great friend on high, and a friend here below,
All the joys of pure friendship will give us to know.

Let us then, dear Brethren, unite our efforts to cultivate union and harmony while we are passing through this vale of tears, till we arrive in that upper and better world, where Divine Friendship reigns, in all its unfading Glory, and sheds its benign influences on all those happy millions who surround the throne of God and the lamb forever.¹

Footnotes

1. This excerpt was taken from the published meeting notes of the Shaftsbury Baptist Association held at Galway, NY in 1801. The author of the corresponding letter, duplicated here, was the Baptist pastor Lemuel Covell (1764-1806). Covell was a leading Baptist in New York and Vermont. He was, for a time, a missionary among Native Americans, and one of the first missionaries supported by the Shaftsbury Association.