Dodge City times., 1889-07-18

their lives. A boat came to their relief,
and rope was thrown to one of them,
and he refused to take it, saying: First
hing 1t to Tom; he 10 just ready to Ro
down. I can last some time longer" A
man like that, be he sailor or lands.
man, be he In upper ranks of society OF
lower ranks, win always have plenty of
friends. What ID true manward 10 true
Godward. We must be friends Of God if
We want Him to be our friend. We can.
not treat Christ badly all our lives and
expect Him to treat us lovingly. was
reading OF sea fight, in which Lord
Nelson captured q French officer. and
when the French officer offered Lord
Nelson his hand, Nelson replied: First
give me your sword, and then give me
your hand. Surrender Of our resist
ance to God must first precede Gods
proffer OF pardon to us. Repentance
before forgiveness. You must give up
your rebellious sword before you can
get grasp of the Divine hand.
o, what glorious state of things to
have the friendship of God! WHY, We
could afford to have all the word against
us and all other worlds against us if We
had God for us. He could in q minute
blot out this universe, and in another
minute make another universe. have
no idea that God tried hard when He
made all things. The most brilliant
| creation of that he only used o word of
command. As out of dint q frontiers
man 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 finger.
The Bible frequently speaks of Gods
hand, and Gods arm, and Gods shoul-
der, 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, of such
demonstrated and undemonstrated
strength, you may have for your present
and everlasting friend. But q stately
and re:icent friend, hard to get at, but
as approachable as a country mansion
on a summer day when all the doors and
windows are wide open. Christ said:
Il am the door," And He Is wide
door, high door, palace door, an al
ways open door. My 4-year- old child
ter, when her mother came home. and
then she burst into weeping, and some
of the domestics, not understanding hu-
man nature, said to her: why did you
not cry before?" She answered: There
was no one to cry to-" Now l have to
tell you that while human sympathy
may be absent, divine sympathy is al
ways accessible. Give God your
love and get His love; your
service and secure His help:
your repentance and have His pardon.
God a friend? Why, that means all your
wounds medicated, all your sorrows
soothed, and if some sudden catastrophe
should hurl you out of earth it would
only hurl you into Heaven. If God is
your friend. You cannot go ont of the
world too quickly or suddenly, SO far as
your own happiness 10 concerned. There
were two Christians last Tuesday who
entered Heaven; the one was standing
at a window in perfect health watching
shower, and the lightning instantly
flash down the sky as swiftly as his
spirit flashed upward. The Christian
man who died on the same day ne ext door
had been for year or two failing in
health, and for the last,three months had
suffered from 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 entered the
shining gate through long lane Of
insomnia and congestion? In the one
case it was like your standing YEARLY at |
door, knocking and waiting, and won |
dering if it will ever open, and knocking |
and waiting again, while in the other |
case it was swinging open of the door |
at the first touch of your knuckle. Give |
your friendship to God, and have Gods |
friendship for you, and even the worst |
accident will be victory.
How refreshing is human friendship, |
a Il f,ry1a frr lc hat
ures. When sickness comes, and trouble |
comes, and death comes We send for our |
friends first of all, and their appearance
In our doorway in 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, business
friends, personal friends, family
friends? But We want something
mightier than human friendship in the |
great exigencies. When Jonathan Ed.
wards in his final hour had given the
last good-by to all his earthly friends,
he turned on his pillow and closed his
eyes confidently saying: Now where is
esus of Nazareth, my true and never
failing friend?" Yes, I admire human
as seen in the case of David
and Jonathan, of Paul and Onesiphorus,
Of Herder and Goethe, of Goldsmith
anu hcN uOlub, VI beaumont ana
Fletcher, of Cowley and Harvey, of
Erasmus and Thomas More, of Lessing
and Mendelssohn, of Ladyi Churchill
and Princess Anne, of Orestes and
Pylades each requesting that him.
self might take the point of the
dagger SO the other might be
spared, of Epaminondas and Pelopidas,
who locked their shields in battle de-
termined to die together; but the grand
est. the mightiest, the tenderest friend
ship in all the universe is the friendship
between Jesus Christ and n believing
soul. Yet after all have said feel
have only done what James Marshall,
he miner, did in 1S48 in California, be-
fore its gold mines were known. He
in and put upon the table of his
employer, Capt. Sutton, thimbleful of
gold dust. Where did you get that?"
'aid his employer. The reply was; Il
got it this morning from mill-race
rom which the water had been drawn
,ff.' But that gold dust which could
nave been taken up between the finger
Ind the thumb was the prophecy and
'pecimen that revealed CALIFORNIA;
wealth to all nations. And to- day have
'nly put before you specimen of the
'alue of divine friendship, only thin
)leful of mines mex hausfible and inf |