Abilene weekly reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1888-1935, 1889-08-29
THE DELUGE OF SIN.
DR.. Talmage on the Flood That
Threatens the World.
Christ the Mighty Swimmer That Is Res
euing Souls From the Waters of Evil
His Sacrifices For Mankind
Trusting the Lord.

Ter, Rev. T. De Witt Talmage. of Brook
Ign, took his text from Isaiah XIV. IL:
He shall spread forth his hands in the
midst of them, as he that swimmeth
spreadsth forth his hands 10 swim" He
said:
At this season Of the year multitudes of
people wade into the ponds and lakes and
rivers and seas. At first putting out eau
tiously from the shore, but having learned
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
swimmeth spreadeth forth his hands to
swim"
The fisherman seeks out unfrequented
hooks. You stand all day on the banks of
a river in the troiling sun and fling out
your line and catch nothing, while theex-
pert angler breaks through the jungle and
goes by the shadow of the solitary rock,
and in a place where no fisherman has
been for ten years throws out his line, and
comes home at night, his face shining and
his basket full. l do not know why we
ministers OF the Gospel need always be
fishing in the same stream and
that other people preach from. can not
understand the policy Of the minister
who, in Blackfriars. London, Eng, every
week for thirty years preached from the
Epistle to the Hebrews. 1t is an exhil.
aration to ms when 1 come across a theme
which feel 40 one else has treated and
my text is one of that kind. There are
paths in Gods Word that are we'll beaten
- III, 4,
quote Scripture they quote the old pas
sages that every one has heard. When
they want a chapter read. they read
chapter that all the other people have
been reading. so that the Church to-day
is ignorant Of three-fourths of the Bible.
You go into the Louvre at Paris. You
confine yourself to one corridor of that
opulenr gallery of paintings As you
come out your friends saw to you: "Did
you see the Rembrandt" NO" did
you see that Ruhens:" No." did you
see that Titian:" No" did you see
that Raphael?" No" WELL" says
your friend, "then you didn't see the
Louvre"
Now, my friends, l think we are too
much apt to confine ourselves to one of the
great corridors Of this Scripture truth and
so much so that there is not one person
out of a million who has ever noticed the
all-suggestiYe and powerful picture in the
words of my text This text represents
God as strong swimmer, striking out to
push down iniquity and save the souls of
men. He shall spread forth His hands
in the midst of them, as he that swimmeth
spreads forth his hands to swim" The
figure is bold and many sided Most of
you know how to 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 fathers house; some
of you since you came to manhood and
womanhood, while summering on the
beach of the sea- You step down in the
wave, you throw your head back, you
bring your elbows to the chest you put
the palms on your hands downward and
and the soles of your feet outward, and
you push through the water as though
you had been born aquatic. 1t is
grand thing to know how to swim,
not only for yourself. but because you
will after awhile, perhaps, have to help
others. ] do not know any thing more
stirring or sublime than to see some man
like Norman Mckenzie leaping from the
ship Madras into the sea to save Charles
Turner, who had dropped from the royal
yard while tryin to loosen sail, bringing
him back to the deck amid the 5uzzas of
the passengers and crew. If man has
not enthusiasm enough to cheer in such
circumstances he deserves himself to drop
into the sea and have no one help him.
The Royal Humane Society of England
was established in 1774; its object to ap-
plaud 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 public record, and on his breast
medal done in blue, and gold, and bronx;
anchor, and monogram, and inscription,
telling to future generations the bravery
Of the man or woman who saved some one
from drowning. But my friends, if it is
such a worthy thing to save body from
the deep, ask you if it is not worthier
thing to save an immortal soul? And you
shall see this hour the Son of God step
forth for this achievement. HE shall
spread forth his hand in the midst of
them, as he that swimmeth spreadeth
forth his hands to SWIM"
In order to understand the full force of
this figure, you need to realize, first of all,
that our race is in a sinking condition.
You sometimes hear people talking of
what they consider the most beautiful
words in our language. One man says it
is ''home," another man says it is the
word mother" another says it is the
word Jesus" but will tell you the Bit
terest word in all our language, the word
most angry and baleful, the word satur-
ated with the most trouble. the word that
ho nd
the pang and the outrage, and the har-
rowing; and that word is sin" You
spell it with three letters, and yet those
three letters describe the circumference
and pierce the diameter of every thing
bad in the universe. Sini it is a sibilant
word. You can not pronounce it without
giving the sss of the flame or the hiss of
the serpent Sin! And then if you add
three letters to that word it describes
every one of US by nature-sinner. We
have outraged the law of God, not occa-
sionally, or now and then, but perpetual
". The Bible declares it Harkl 1t
thunders two claps: THE heart is de-
ceitful above all things and 6esper-
ately wicked" THE soul that sin
meth, 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 he kept saying:
Take her away from me! Lady Jane
Grey. Take her away! Lady Jane Grey"
1t was the voice of his conscience. And
no man ever does any thing wrong, how
ever great or small, but his conscience
brings that matter before him, and at
every step Of his misbehavior it says:
'Wrong, wrong" Sin is leprosy, sin is
a paralysis, sin is a consumption, sin is
pollution, sin is death. Give it fair
chance and it will swamp you, body. mind