Alma record. (Alma, Mich.) 1878-1928, 1889-08-23
TALMACE In SEATTLE.
The Brooklyn Divine Discourses
on THE Strong Swimmer"


IL: "He shall spread forth his hands in the
midst of them, as he that swimmeth spread
eth forth his hands to SWIM The preacher
said
At this season Of the year multitudes of
people wade into the ponds and lakes and
rivers and seas. At first putting out
cautiously from the shore, but having learn
ed the right stroke OF arm and foot, they let
the waters roll over them, and in wild glee
dive or float or swim. So the text will be
very suggestive: "He shall spread forth
his hand in the midst of them. as he that
swlmmeth spreadeth forth his hands 10
SWIM
The fisherman seeks out uufrequented
hooks. You stand all day on the bank OF
river in the broiling sun, and fling out your
line, and catch nothing, while the expert
angler breaks through the jungle and goes
by the shadow OF the solitary rock. and IN
place where no fisherman has been Tor
ten years, throws out his line and comes
home at night, his face shining and his bas'
keJ full. | do not know why we ministers
of the Gospel need always be fishing IN the
same stream, and preaching from the same
text that other people preach from can.
NOT understand the policy OF
the minister, who, in B ,.cl. RS.
London, England, every week Tor
thirty years preached from the Epistle 10
the Hebrews. 1t is an collaboration TO me
when | come across a theme which feel no
one else has treated, and my text is one
OF that kind. There paths in
Gods Word that are well beaten
by Christian feet. When men
want to quote Scripture, they quote the old
passages that every one has heard. When
they want a chapter read, they read chap
ter that all the other people have been read
ing, so that the church today is ignorant or
three fourihs of tho Bible You 90 into the
Louvre at Paris. You confne Yourself TO
one corridor of that opulent gallery OF paint
ings. As YOU come out your friend says 10
YOU, Ibid you see that Rembrandt" No
Did YOU see that Rubens"' NO did
YOU see that Titiani' No Did YOU see
that Raphael. No "WCll,N says your
friend, "then YOU didn't see the Louvre.
Now, my friends, / think we are too much
apt 20 COniine ourselves 10 one OF the great
corridors Of this Scripture truth, and so
much so that there is not one person out of
million who has ever noticed the all sug-
Sestivc and powerful picture III the words
of my text.
This text represents God as a strong
swimmer, striking out 10 push down inlqul-
ty and save the souls of men. HE shall
spread forth his lnds in the midst of them,
as he that swimncth spreadeth forth his
hands 10 swim The figure is bold ana
many sided. Most Of you know how 10
swim Some of you learned it in the city
school, where this art is taught: some OF
YOU in boyhOod in the river near your faith
er's house: some OF you since you came 10
manhood or WOmanhCOd. while Summering
on the beach OF the sea. You step down IN
the wave, you throw your head back, YOU
bring your elbows To tn chest. YOU put the
palms of your hands downward and the
soles OF your feet outward, and you push
through the water as though YOU had been
born aquatic. 10 is a grand thing TO know
how to swim not only for yourself but be-
cause you viii after while, per
haps, have to help others. ! do
not know anything more stirring or sublime
than 10 see some man like Norman
Mckenzie leaping from the ship Madras in
TO the sea TO save Charles Turner. who had
dropped from the royal yard while trying
to loosen the sail, bringing him back 10 the
deck amid the hu2zas of the passengers and
crew. III mau has not enthusiasm enough
to cheer in such circumstances he deserves
himself To drop the sea aud have no one
help him into The Royal Humane society Of
England was established IN l7,4, its object
10 applaud and reward those who should
pluck up life from the deep ANY one who
has performed such "a deed Of daring has all
the particulars OF that bravery recorded in
a public record. and on his breast a medal
done in blue, and gold. and bronze; anchor,
and monogram, ana inscription, telling to
future generations the bravery of the man
or woman who saved some one from drown
ing. But, my friends, if il is such worthy
thing 10 save body from the deep, | ask
you If 1t Is not worthier thing to save an
immortal soul! And YOU shall see this hour
the Son of God step forth for this achieve
ment. He shall spread forth his hand in
the midst OF them, as he that swimmcth
spreadeth forth his hands TO SWIM
In order 10 understand the full force Of
this figure, you need 10 realize, first of all,
that our race is III sinking condition. You
sometimes hear people talking of what they
consider the most beautiful words in our
language. One man says it is "home,' an
other man says ~. is the word mother, ~
another says 10 is ne word Jesus but ]
will tell you the UitJcrest word in all our
language, the word most angry and baleful,
the word saturated with the most trouble,
the word that accounts FOR all the lOthSOme-
ness and the pang, and the outrage, and
the narrowing: and that word is sin
You spell it with three letters, and yet
those three three letters describe the cir
cumterCncc and pierce the diameter of
every hing bad in the universe Sin it Is a
sibilant word. You canuot pronounce il with
out giving the siss of the flame or the hiss of
the serpent Sin! And then If yon add
three letters TO that word it describes every
one Of us by nature-sinDer. We have
outraged the law of God, not occasionally,
or now and then, hut perpetually. The Ri
bic declares IL. Hark II thunders two
claps: The heart is deceitful above all
things and desperately wicked" THE soul
that sinneth, it shall die" What the Bible
SAYS our own conscience affirms. After
Judge Morgan had sentenced Lady Jane
Grey to death his conscience troubled him
so much for the deed that he became insane.
and all through his insanity ne kept saying
'Tal<e her away from me- Lady Jane Grey.
Take her away! Lady Jane Grey It was
the voice of his conscience And no man
ever does anything wrong, however great
or small, but his conscience brings that
matter before him, and at every step of his
misbehavior il says, Wrong, wrong" Sin
is a leprosy, sin is paralysis, sin is a con-
SUMPTION sin is pollution, sin is death. Give
IL fair chance and it will swamp you, body,
mind and soul forever. In this world
IL only gives faint intimation of its viru-
lence You see patient in the first stages
of typhoid fever. The cheek is somewhat
flushed, the hands somewhat hot preceded
by slight chill. Why you say, typhoid
fever does not seem TO be much of a dis
ease" But wait until the patient has been
six weeks under il, and all his energies
have been wrung out, and he is too weak To
lift his little finger, and his intellect is
gone, then you see the full havoc of the dis
case. Now sin in this world is an ailment
which is only in its very first stages but
let it get under full way and it is an all con
Stunning typhoid. Oh, if we could see our
unpardoned sins as God sees them, our
teeth would chatter and our knees would
knock together, and our respiration would
be choked, aud our heart would break II
your sins are unforgiven they are bearing
down on you, and you are sinkng-sinking
away from happiness, sinking away from
God, sinking away from everything that is
Qoad and hlpespd