Connecticut western news., 1889-08-21
TABERNACLE PULPIT.
1.-THE STRONG SWIMMER
Dr. Tslmage's Discourse, Sunday,
 August 18.

spread forth his hands in the midst of them. as he that swimmeth spreadeth 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 cau- tously 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. Ton 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 for ten years, throws out his line and comes home at night, his face shining and his basket full. 1 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. l cannot understand the policy of the minister who, in Blackfriars, London, England, every week for thirty years preached from the Epistle 10 the He brews. It is an exhilaration to me when I come across 8 theme which I feel no one else has treated, and my text is one of that kind. There are paths in Gods Word that are well beaten by Christian feet. When men want to quote Scripture, they quote the old scrip ture that every one has heard. When they want chapter read, they read 8 chapter that all the other people have been reading. so that the church today is ignorant of three fourths of the Bible.
 You go into the Louvre at Paris. You con- fine yourself to one corridor of that opulent gallery of paintings. As you come out your brandt?r .sNo., Did you see that Rubens?'' ..No." ''Did you see that Titianr' '.No." Did you see that Raphaelg'' "No." 'Well," yn.rr frio fhnv, Is 1y,sf fHo Louvre" Now, my friends, think we are much too apt to confne ourselves to one of the corridors of this Scripture truth, and so much so that there is not one person out of i've and powerful picture in the words of my text.
 This text represents God as . strong swim mer, striking out to push down iniquitv and save the souls of men. ''He shall spread forth his hands in the midst of them, as he that swfmmeth spreadeth forth his hands to swim" The figure is bold and many sided. Most of you know how to swim. Some of learned 1t 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. while summer ing 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 of your hands downward and the soles of your feet outward, and you push through luc NatcT 1S tuOuyu NOu uau Deeu DOTn aC. aquatic.
 not only for yourself, but because you will after while, perhaps, have ts help others. do not know anything more stirring or sub lime than to see some man like Norman Me Kenzie leaping from the ship Madras into the sea to save Charles Turner, who had dropped from the royal yard while trying to loosen the sail, bringing him back to the deck amid the huzzas of the passengers and crew. fa man has not enthusiasm enough to cheer in such circumstances he deserves himself to him. The Royal Humane society of England was established in 1714, it's object to applaud and reward those who should pluck up life from the deep: daring has all the particulars of that bravery recorded in 8 public record, and on his breast a medal done in blue, and gold, and bronze; anchor 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 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. midst of them. as he that swimmeth spread eth forth his hands to swim"
 In order to understand the full force of this figure, you need to realize, first of all, that OuI lS III d sluklilK COuultlOn. lou SOue- times hear people talking of what they con- sider the most beautiful words in our langu- age. One man says it it is "home," another man says it is the word "mOther,- another says it is the word "Jesus,' but I will tell you the bitterest word in all our language, saturated with the most trouble, the word that accounts for all the loathsomeness, and the pang, and the outrage, and the narrowing ]; and that word Is 'sin." You spell it with fhpoo 1of< and xyott tH<>,a loxf <1r scribe the circumference and pierce the diam eter of everything bad in the universe. Sin! it is 8 sibilant word. You can- not pronounce it without giving the fhs 5ss of the flame And or ,sh the hiss three letters to that word it describes every one of us by nature-sinner. We have out ragged the law of God, not oc.. ionally, or now and then, but perpetualfy. The S.sSe declares it. Hark! It thunders two n.s} q. "The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked.r s.The soul that sinneth. it shall die., What the Bible says our own conscience af6rms. After Judge Morgan had sentenced Lady Jane Grey to death his con- that he became insane, and all through his in- sanity saying: ''Take 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 con science brings that matter before him, and at every step of his misbehavior it says, ''Wrong, wrong" Sin is leprosy, sin is paralysis, sin is consumption, sin is pol lution, sin is death. Give it fair chance forever. In this world it only gives a faint intimation of its virulenee. You see pa tient in the first stages of typhoid fever. The cheek is somewhat flushed, the slight chill. -why,n you say, s.ty- phoid fever does not seem to be much of a disease" But wait until the patient has been six weeks under it, 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 hay. oc of the disease. Now sin in this world is an ailment which is only in it's very first stages; but let it get under full way, and it is an all consuming 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, and our heart would break. Ii your sins are unforgiyen, they are bearing down on you, and you are sinking-sinking away from happiness, sinking away from God, sinking away from everything that is good and blessed.
 Then what do we want. A swimmer. A strong swimmer. A swift swimmer! And blessed be God, in my text we have him hands in the midst of them, as he that swimmeth spreadeth forth his hands to swim.1 You have noticed that when 8 swimmer goes out to rescue any one he puts of his heavy apparel. He must not have any such impeachment about him if he is going to do this great deed. And when Christ stepped forth to save us he shook of the sandals of heaven, and his feet were free and then he stepped down into the wave Ot our transgressiOns, and it came up over his wounded feet, and it came above the spear stab in his side-aye, it dashed to the lacer ated temple, the high water mark of hi' anguish. Then, rising above the flood, "ht stretched forth his hands in the midst o1 fhox,,. ho hot s,rix,o SnHoadQff