The enterprise. [volume] (Wellington, Ohio) 188?-1899, 1889-07-03
How TO MAKE FRIENDS.
Sermon by Rev. T. Dewitt Tai
mage, D. d.
Tho Divine Art OF Making and Keeping
Friends = He That Would Have
Them Must First Show Himself
Friendly.

Frionuiys
DIR. Talmage in recent sermon took for
his subject ''How to Make Friends" and his
text was Proverbs xviii, "a: "a man that
hath friends must show himself friendly"
He said
About the sacred and divine art Of making
and keeping friends, speak-a subject on
which never heard Of anyone preaching
and yet God thought II Of enough import
ance to put 1t in the middle Of the Bible,
these writings Of Solomon, bounded on one
side by the popular Psalms of David, and
on the other by the writings of Isaiah, the
greatest Of the prophets. 1t seems all q
matter Of haphazard how many frieuds we
have, or whether we have any friends at all,
but there is nothing accidental about it.
There Is law which governs the accretion
and dispersion of friendships. They did not
'1ust happen So" any more than the tides
just happen TO rise and fall, or the sun just
happen TO rise or set. 1t is a science, an
art God-given regulation. Tell me how
friendly you are to others, and l will tell
you how friendly others are to you. do
not say you will not have enemies; indeed,
the best way TO get ardent friends is to
have ardent enemies, If you got their en-
NIFTY in doing the right thing. Good men
and women will always have enemies, be-
cause their goodness is perpetual rebuke
TO evil; but this antagonism Of foes will
make more intense the love Of your adher-
ents. Your friends will gather closer
around you because Of the attacks Of
your assailants. The more your enc
mics abuse you, the better your CO.
adjutors will think Of you. The
best friends we ever had appeared at
some tuncture when we were especially
bombarded. There have been times in my
life when unjust assault multiplied my
friends, as near as could calculate, about
fifty minute You are bound to some peo-
pie by many cords that neither time nor
eternity can br eak, and will warrant that
many Of those cords were twisted by hands
malevolent. Human nature was ship
wrecked about tifty-nine centuries ago, the
captain Of that craft, one Adam, and his first
mate, running the famous cargo aground on
snag in the river Hiddel1el; but shere was
atleast one good trait Of human nature that
waded safely ash ore from that shipwreck,
and that is the disposition to take the part
Of those unfairly dealt with. When IL Is
thoroughly demonstrated that some one Is
being prosecuted, although at the start sian.
derous tongues were busy enough, defend
ers fin ally gathered around as thick ashoney
bees on trellis Of bruised honeysuckles.
II, when set upon by the furies, you can
have grace enough TO keep yourmouth shut
and preserve your equipose, and let others
fight your battles, you will find yourself
after while with whole Gordon Of allies
Had not the world given to Christ on his Or
rival at Palestine very cold shoulder there
would nothave been one half as many angels
chanting glory out Of the hymn books of the
sky bound In black lids Of midnight. Had
II not been for the heavy and jagged and
tortuous cross, Christ would not have been
the admired and loved Of more people than
any being who ever touched foot ON either
the eastern or western hemisphere. Instead,
therefore, Of giving up in despair because
you have enemies, rejoice In the fact that
they rally for you the most helpful and en-
thusiastic admirers. In other words there Is
no virulence, human or diabolic, that can
hinder my text from coming true: "a man
that hath friends must show himself friend
ly.n
II Is my ambition to project especially
upon the younga thought which may be-
nignly shape their destiny for the here and
the hereafter. Before you show yourself
friendly, you must be friendly. / do not
recommend dramatized geniality. There
issuch thing as pretending TO be en- rap
port with others when we are their dire de-
structants, and talk against them and wish
them icalamity. Judas covered up his
treachery by resounding kiss, and caresses
may be demonical. Better the NEUROLOGICAL
Ceberus, the three headed dog Of hell, bark
ing at US, than the wolf In sleeps clothing,
its brindle hide covered up by deceptive
wool, and its deathful howl cadenced into
an innocent bleating. Disraeli writes Of
Lord Manfred, who, after committing many
outrages upon the people, seemed suddenly
TO become friendly, and invited them TO q
banquet After most Of the courses Of food
had been served he blew horn, which was
In those times signal for the servants TO
bring on the dessert, but in this case II was
the signal for assassins 10 enter and slay
the guests. His pretended friendliness was
cruel fraud; and there are now people
whose smile Is falsehood. Before you be-
gin to show yourself friendly you must be
friendly Get your heart right with God
and man, and this grace will become easy.
You may by your own resolution get your
nature into q semblance Of this virtue,
but the grace OF God can sublimely lift you
into IT, Sailing on the River Thames two
vessels ran aground The owners Of one
got one hundred horses and pulled on the
grounded ship and pulled II to pieces. The
owners Of the other grounded vessel waited
till the tides came In and easily hoated the
ship out Of all trouble. SO, we may pull
acd haul at our grounded human nature, and
tiy 10 got II into better condition; but there
Is nothing like the oc eanic tide Of Gods up
lifting grace TO hoist US into this kindness
am eulogizing. II when under the fash oi
the Holy Ghost we see our own foibles and
defects and depravitles, We will be very
lenient and very easy with others. Wewill
look into their characters for things com
mandatory and not damnatory. II you
would rub your own eye little more viso
rously you would find mote In II, the ex
traction Of which would keep you so sisy
that you would not have much tine u
shoulder your broadax and 20 forth 10 <plli
up the beam in your neighbor's eve In d
Chris tian spirit keep on exploring the char
act ers Of those you meet, and am sureyou
win find something In them delightful and
ft for a foundation Of friendliness. You
invite me TO come 10 your country seat and
spend few days. Thank you IaTive
about noon Of beautiful summer day.
What do you dot As soon as arrive ysu
take me out under the shadow Of the green
elms. You take me down the artificial lake,
the spotted trout floating In and out arsong
the white pillars OF the pond lilies. You
take me 10 the stalls and kennels where you
keep your fine stock, and here are the Dur.