The Russellville Democrat., 1889-07-11

| Give them practical frisndliness, and ] they will give back practie friendliness. 4 father asked his little daughters Mary, why is 1t thas every body loves l yous" She replied: sI don't know, nn- ' less it is because love every body" A
 man that hath friends must show hsmseh i friendly.v We want something lika thai | spirit of sacrifice for others which was seen in the English channel, where, ia 1 the storm, q boat containing three men
 was upset, and all three were in the wa 1 ter struggling for their lives. A boat came to their relief and rope 1 was thrown to one of them, and
 he refused to take #, say 1 ing: First fling it to Tom; he 1 is just ready to go down. I can last some time louger.n man like that, be he sailor or landsman, be he in upper ranks of society or lower ranks, will always have plenty of friends. What is true
 maEward is true Godward. We must be the friends of God if we want Him to be our friend. We can not treat Christ bad- 1 ly all our lives and expect Him to treat us lovingly. was reading of a sea fight, in which Lord Nelson captured Q French officer, and when the French officer of- fered Lord Nelson his hand Nelson re- piled; First give me yCus sword, and then give me your hand" Surrender of our resistance to God must prreede Gods proffer of pardon to us. Repsatance be-
 fore forgiveness. You must give up your rebeiious sword before you can get grasp of the D ivine hand.
 Oh, what a glorious state Of things to
 have the friendship Of Godl Why, we
 could afford to have all the world against
 and all other worlds against us if We had God for us. He could in a minute blot out this universe. I have no idea that God tried hard when He made all. things
 The most brilliant thing known Co us is light, and for the creation of that He only used a word of command. As out Of a
 flint a frontiersman strikes a spark, so out of one word God struck the monday sun. For the making of the present universe do not read that God lifted so much as a finger. The Bible frequently speaks of Gods hand, and Gods arm, and Gods shoulder. and Gods foot; then suppose He should put hand and arm and shoulder and foot to utmost tension, what could He not make? That God. ot such demonstrated and un. demonstrated strength, you may have foi your everlasting friend. But stately and reticent friend, hard to get at, but as
 
 summer day when all the doors and win dows are wide open. Christ said: q am the door," And He is wide door, high door, palace door, an always open door.
 My four-year- child got hurt and did not cry until hours after, when her mother came home. and then she burst into weeping, and soms of the domestics, not understanding human nature, said to her: "Why did you not cry before" She answered: 'There was no one to cry to.p Now have to tell you while human sym pathy may be absent Divine sympathy is always accessible Give God your love and get His love; your service and secure His help; your repentance and have His pardon. God friend. Why, that means all your wounds medicated, all your sor rows soothed, and if some sudden catas trophe should hurl you out of earth it would only hurl you into Heaven. If God is your friend, you eau not % out Of the world too quickly or suddenly, so far as your own happiness is concerned"
 There were two Christians last Tuesday who entered Heaven; the one was stand ing at a window in perfect health watch ing a shower. and the lightning instantly slew him; but the lightning did not flash down the sky as swiftly as his spirit flashed upward. The Christian man who died on the same day next door had been for year or two failing in health, and for the last three months had suffered from a disease that made the nights sleepless and the days an anguish. Do you not really think that the case of the one who went instantly was more desirable than the one who en- ufF Ae frh lcpf lane of insomnia and congestion? In the one case it was like your standing wearily at door, knocking and waiting, and wondering if it will ever open, and knock ing and waiting again, while in the other case it was swinging open of the door at the first touch of the knuckle. Give your friendship to God, and have Gods friendship for you, and even the worst accident will be a victory.
 How refreshing is human friendship; and true friends, what priceless treas uresi When sickness comes, and trouble comes, and death comes. we send for our friends first of all and their appearance in our doorway ia any crisis is re-en- forcement, and when they have entered We say: ''Now it is all right" Oh, what would we do without friends, personal friends, business friends, family friends, But We want something mightier than human friendship in the great exigencies When Jonathan Edwards, in his final hour, had given the last goodbye to all his earthly friends, he turned on his pillow and closed his eyes confident ly saying: "Now where is Jesus of Nag = areth,s my true and never-failing friends" Yes, I admire human friend ship as seen in the case of David and Jonathan, of Paul and Onesiphorus, of Herder and Goethe, ot Goldsmith and Reynolds, Of Beaumont and Fletcher, of CowleY and Harvey, of Erasmus and Thomas More, of Leasing and Mendels- sohn, of Lady Churchill and Princess Anne, of Orestes and Pylades, each re- uuesting that himself might take the point of the dagger so the other might be spared, of Epaminondas and Pelopidas, who locked their shields in battle deter mined to die together; but the grandest, the mightiest the tenderest friendship in all the universe is the friendship be- tween Jesus Christ and believing soul.
 Yet after all I have said l feel have only done what James Marshall, the miner, did in 1S4S in California, before it's gold mines were known. He reached in and put upon the table of his en- ployer. Captain Sutter. q thimbleful of gold dust. ''Where did you get that?" said his employer. The reply was: T got it this morning from a mill race from which l the water had been drawn off" Bh l that gold dust which could have been ! taken up between the finger aud the ] thumb was the prophecy and specimen 1 that revealed CaIifornia's wealth to all l nations. And to-day I have only pus before you specimen of the value ot Divine friendship, only a thimbleful II 1 mines inexhaus tible and infinite, though 1 all time and all eternity go on with the | exploration.
 The Victims of Nerves.
 Nervous" people, experience shows us, are as a rule, extremely selfish. La femme l