Virginia citizen. (Irvington, Va.) 1891-1921, 1907-12-06

Serm1O
BY Rev.
Frank Dc Witt Talmace. D. d.

sermon invites his readers to self ex.
animation TO find whether their lives
ere I'm accord with their profession.
The text is Matthew V. ~, what do We
more than othcrs!"
In the words OF my text Christ sepa-
rates the Inhabitants of the human
race into two groups. First, here Is
the group of the men of the world, and
yonder is the group Of the servants of
Christ. "NOw." says Jesus, 'these two
groups are entirely different I'm charac-
teriStlcs and In their conception of life.
The members of one group are living
for themselves. They are scheming
and planning how they can use men
for their own advantage. The one
group says: II must first fill my own
larder and look after my own enjoy
ment. No matter whether other people
have good time or not, 1 must make
life easy for No. l." The other group
says: 81 must live for God and for my
fellow men. l must help the overbur
dened carry the load they are stagger-
ing under l must be eyes for the
blind, crutcheS for the lame, food for
the hungry. l must learn to forgive
men as / hope God will forgive me-"
Then Christ says 10 point the moral:
For IL We love them that love you.
what reward have We? Do not even
the publicans the same? And IL We
salute your brethren only, what do ys
more than others? Do not even the
gentiles the samef" Probably there
was not a man within sound OF his
voice who did not pride himself on be-
ing better than Il publican. He was
therefore bringing the matter home to
them when he asked them IN what
way they were better.
1t might be we'll IL we asked our
selves such n question. We call our
selves Christians, and 1t Is q great IT,
tie. There is no name on earth so no
BILE as that of being n follower of
Christ. We have a right to glory in
the name, but there is n character
which should go with the name; other
wise the name is n mockery. What is
that character? In what way does the
Christian differ from the non-Chris-
tian? AS Christ put II, "What do We
more than others?" Are you different
from the men of the world In your de-
sires, In your treatment of your fell
low men2 Are you different in your
modes OF enjoyment? Are you differ
ent in the way you spend your money :?
Do you love only those who love you?
Do you love your enemies? Do you do
good TO them that hate you? These
are the home questions that Jesus is
addressing to you today.
Treatment of Friends.
First, how are you treating your
brethren in social way? BY that
mean I'm your evenings and in the times
when you are away from the store and
can do as you choose. You are at lib
erty TO select your own friends. You
invite to your home those whom you
wish to invite. You visit those whom
you wish to visit. What is the spirit
which guides you I'm the selection OF
your friends? Are your principles in
this matter different from those that
guide the actions OF the man OF the
world? Is your chief idea to make
friends with those whom You can help,
or do you simply make friends of those
whose association is likely to benefit
you? This is n very vital question
for you TO decide, for you have the
character OF Christian to maintain.
The ability 10 make friends and hold
them TO you I'm visellke grip IL q great
art. The more see those who have
mastered this art the more I am I'm
pressed with the fact that the essen
tials OF making friends rest not In a
big house or I'm large bank account,
but In the magic touch of hand and
In the persuasive power OF a voice As
i was thinking upon this subject the
other day there rose up before my
mind the face OF n lady who Is friend
OF every one she knows. Now, this
lady is not handsome IN physical
beauty. Far from that. No artist
would ever select her for model. She
IS not wealthy. She lives In a humble
home OF only few rooms. Where you
spend dollars she has only nickels to
spend. She is not musical genius.
She can neither sing nor speak from Il
platform nor write poetic illusions
Her clothes may once have been In
style, but for the most part they have
gone through the wear and tear OF two
or three winters. Yet wherever that
lady goes she always makes friends
These friends belong to all classes of
people The rich and the poor alike
come to her home. No mansion is so
grand that she is not given n cordial
welcome in Ii. No home Is so humble
that her presence Is not cheerfully
greeted In it. She Is past master in
the art Of making friends. AS the mag
net places the steel filings under Its
magic influence. so this gentle lady
grips the hearts of those around her IN
bonds Of sincere affection. This is a
wonderful art, and we may all exercise
1t and all have Ii I'm some degree. For
whom have You reserved your sweetest
smiles and your most tender words OF
endearment? Is 1t for those only who
are able to help you? Is your smile
and your affectionate word only the
prompting of incarnate selfishness?
earssootsd at Sunday School.
Would that in your social capacity
You could live for the glory of God!
There is beautiful story told about
the famous Judge Carter of New Eng.
land. When he was a young lawyer
he was living In Maine. He and his
wife at that time were energetically
devoted to Sunday school work. But
try as he would he could not bring into
the Sunday school some of the poorer
children. Their parents did not have
money enough to buy shoes for their
children, and they did not want the
feelings of the little ones to be hurt
by being the only shoeless children in
the school So Judge Carter thought
the matter out. He went TO his own
boys and girls and said: children, I
To 10