The Progress. (Shreveport, La.) 1892-1900, 1898-10-01
DIR. TALMAGE'S SERMON.
tBRIEF SYNOPSIS OF THF DIVINE'S SUN
DAY DISCOURSE.

Subject, "The Art Of Friendship"-Get
Your Heart Right With God and Man
and This Grace VIII Become Easy-Be
m Ezekiel. Not a j eremiah.
TEXT: "a man that hath friends must
show himself friendly. proverbs xviii, "a.
About the sacred and divine art OF making
and keeping friends l speak--a subject on
which never heard OF anyone preaching
and yet God thought it of enough impor-
lance 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 Il
matter OF haphazard how many friends
we have or whether we have any friends
at ALL but there Is nothing accidental about
1t. There Is a law which covers the accre-
tlon and dispersion OF friendships. They
did not ''just happen So any more than
the tides just happen to rise or fall, or the
sun just happens to rise or set. 1t Is
science, an art, a Godgiven regulation.
Tell me how friendly you arc to others,
and will tell you how friendly others are
TO you. l do not say you will not have
enemies indeed, the best way TO get ardent
friends Is to have ardent enemies, II you
get their ermity In doing the right thing.
Good men and women will always have
enemies, because their goodness is per-
petual rebuke to evil; but this antagonlsm
OF foes will make more intense the love OF
your adherents Your friends will gather
closer around you because Of the attacks OF
your assalants The more your enemies
abuse you the better your coadjutors will
think OF you.
The best friends we have ever had ap-
peared ut some juncture when we were
especially bombarded. There have been
times In my life when uDj Just assault multi
piled my friends as near as | could calcu-
late, about fifty a minute You are bound
to some people by many cords that neither
time nor eternity can break, and will war
rant that many Of those cords were twisted
by hands malevolent. Human nature was
shipwrecked about hfty-nine centuries ago,
the captain Of that craft, one Adam, and
his first mate running the famous cargo
around on a snag IN the river Hiddekel;
but there was at least one good trait OF
human nature that waded safely ashore
from that shipwreck, and that is the dispo-
sitlon to take the part OF those unfairly
dealt with. When it is thoroughly demon
strated that some one Is being prosecuted,
although at the start slanderous tongues
were busy enough, defenders finally gather
around as thick as honey bees on trellis
OF bruised hOneysuckle.
II, when set upon by the furles, you can
have grace enough to keep your mouth
shut, and preserve your equipoise, and let
others fight your battles, you will find
yourself after awhile with a whole Gordon
OF allies. Had not the world given to
Christ upon His arrival ut Palestine very
cold shoulder, there would not have been
hal foa M IN, u ypIc cha tipp ulnry uf
OF the hymn books Of the sky, bound in
black lids Of midnight. Had it not been
for the heavy and jagged and tortuous
Cross, Christ would mot have been the ad-
mired 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 10 the fact that
they rally for you the most helpful and en-.
thusiastic admirer-. In other words, there
is no virulenco that can hinder my text
from coming true: "a man that hath
friends must show himself friendly"
1t is my ambition to project especially
upon the young 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 genialty. There
ID SuCu a tufuS dS plclcunluS W NC Oh Ihps
port with others, when We are their dire
destructants, and talk against them and
wish them calamity. Judas covered up
his treachery by a resounding kiss, and
caresses may be Economical. Better the
NEUROLOGICAL Cerberus, the three-headed
dog Of he'll, barking at US. than the wolf in
sleeps clothing, Its brinded hide covered
up by deceptive wool, and its beautiful
howl cadenced into an innocent bleating.
,Disraell writes Of Lord Manfred, who, after
committing many outrages upon the peo-
pie, seemed suddenly to become friendly
and invited them to banquet. After
most of the courses had been served he
blew horn, which was On those times a
signal for the servants to bring on the de-
sert, but in this case it was the signal for
assassins to enter and Stay the guests. His
pretended friendliness was cruel fraud
and there are now people whose smile is a
falsehood.
Before you begin 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 natures into q
semblance Of this virtue, but the grace oil
God can sublimely lift you into It, Sailing
on the River Thames two vessels ran
aground. The owners Of one got one hun.
dred horses, and pulled on the grounded
ship, and pulled 1t to pieces. The owners
of the other grounded vessel waited
till the tides came in, and easily foated
the ship out OF all trouble. SO we may
pull and haul at our grounded human M
ture, and try to get 1t into better condl
ton; but there is nothing like the oceanic
tides Of Gods uplifting grace. II, when
under the fash OF the Holy Ghost, we SET
our own foibles and defects and deprav
ties, we will BIZ very lenient, and yer,
easy with others. We will look into thei
characters for things commendatory, anC
not damnatory. II you would rub YOU
own eye little more vigorously you woult
find mote in 1t, the extraction OF which
would keep you so busy you would no
have much time to shoulder your broad
axe and go forth to split up the beam T.
your neighbours eye. In a Christian spiri
keep on exploring the characters of thos
you meet, and I am sure you will fine
something in them fit for foundation o
friandlinpsc