Custer chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, Black Hills, D.T. [S.D.]) 1880-1890, 1889-08-31
THE STRONG SWIMMER
The Brooklyn Divine breaches
at Seattle, Wash.
The Text Represents God to BE
. Strong Swimmer, Striking
Ont to Save the Souls
OF Men.

L. DE Witt Talmagc, ID. d., OF BrooK
lyn, preached here today. His text wa
Isaiah XIV, IL: 'He snail spread fort
his hands in the midst of them, as h
that swimmeth %spreadeth forth his hand
to swim" The preacher said:
At this season of the year multitudeI
Of people wade into. the ponds and lake.
and rivers and seas. AT first putting ou'
cautiously 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. Sc
the text will be very suggestive: "He
shall spread forth his hands 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 OH the bank
of a river in the broiliDg 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 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 gos-
pei need always be fishing in the same
stream, and preaching from the same
text that other people preach from. !
canno understand the policy of the min
lister who, in Blackfriars, London, Eng
land, every week for thirty years
preached from the Epistle TO the He
brews. 1t is an ~exhilaration to me when
/ come across a theme which 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 Scrip
ture, they quote the old passages that
every one has heard. When
they want a chapter read they
read a chapter that all the other people
have been reading, SO that the church
today il ignorant of t~hree-fourths of the
Bible. You go into the Louvre at Paris.
You confine yourself to n corridor of
that opulent gallery of paintings. As
you come put your friend says to you,
Ibid you see that Rembrandt" No"
''Did you see that Rubensf" mo"
''Did you see that Titanf" mo"
'.Did you see that Rsphael?" mo"
"Well,h says your friend, "then you
didn't see the Louvre" Now, my
friends, I think we are too much apt to
confine ourselves TO one Of the great cor
ridors of this Scripture truth, and so
much 80 that there is not n person out
of q million who has ever noticed the all
suggestive and powerful picture in the
words Of my text.
This text represents God as a 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
spreadeth forth his hands to swim.
The figure is bold and many sided. Moat
of you know how to swim. Some OF you
learned il 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 or
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 Of your hands downward and
the soles of your feet outward, and you
push through the water as though you
had been born aquatic. 1t lisa grand
thing to know how to swim, not only for
yourself, but because you will after a
while, perhaps, have to help others. l
do not know anything more stirring or
~..Als-A &har 60 am oNVNa man HkQ Nor
man Mckenzie leaping from the ship
Madras into the sea to save Charles
Turner, who had dropped from the
royal yard while trying 10 loosen
the sail, bringing him back TO the deck
amid the huzzas OF the passengers and
crew. II q man has not enthusiasm to
cheer in such circumstances he deserves
himself to drop into the sea and have no
one help him. The Royal Humane soci-
ETY. of England was established in 17I4,
its object being to applaud and reward
those who should pluck mp life from the
deep. Any one who has performed such
. 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, and inscription, telling
to future generations the bravery Of the
man or woman whe saved some one from
drowning. But, my friends, If It is such
. worthy thing to save q body from the
deep, / ask you II II il not q worthiel
thing TO rave an immortal soulf And
you shall see this hour the Son of Goo
step forth for this achievement. "Hs
shall spread forth his hand In the mids'
of them, a. he that swimmeth spreadetl
forth his hands to swim"
In order to understand the full force o.
this figure, you need TO realize, first of all
that our race Ii in Q sinking condition
You sometimes hear people talking O
what they consider the most beautiful
words in our language. One man says /
10 'shome," another man says IL Is tn,
word mother" another says Il Is tn,
word 'Jesus." but ! tell you the bitteres
word In all our language, the word mos
angry and baleful, the word saturate.
with the most trouble, the word that &C
counts for all the loathsomeness, and tn
pang. and the outrage, and the harrow
ing; and that word Ii "sin." You spell
Il with three letters. and yet those thre
letters describe the circumference ant
pierce the diameter Of everything bad II
the universe. 6ini Il 10 3 sibilant word
You cannot pronounce IL without CIV
Ing the siss Of the flame or the hiss o
the serpent. 6ini And then II you I'D,
three. letters 70 that word Il describe
eyofy one 81 ~ BY nature-sinner. w
have outraged tho law Of God, not oCca