The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1889-08-28
THE BROOKLYN PREACHER.
or. TALmAee's SERMON IN SEATTLE.
eTinisrers should Find New Texts Instead
of Thrashing Over Old Straw-Christ
Spreads Forth His Hands to
save the Drowning.

The Rev. T. Dewitt Talmage preached
at Seattle, Washington territory, last Sun
day. His text was Isaiah, XIV, IL: 'He
shall 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 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 3xt
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 on the bank Of
a river in the broiling sun, and fling out
your line and catch nothing, while the ex-
pert 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. do not know why we min
listers OF the gospel need all be fishing in
the same stream and preaching from the
same text that other people preach from.
I cannot understand the policy OF the
ministers who, in Blackfriars, London,
England, every week Tor thirty years
preached from the epistle to the Hebrews.
It IS an exhilaration TO me when 1 come
across a theme which l feel no one else
has treated and nv text is one of that
kind. There are paths in Gods word
that are well beaten by Christian feet.
When men want to cs.ote scripture they
quote the old passages that every one has
heard. When they want chapter read
they read a chapter that ali the other
people have been reading, so that the
church to-day is ignorant OF three-fourths
of the bible. You 90 into the Louvre at
Paris. You confine yourself TO one corri-
dor OF that opulent gallery OF paintings.
As you come out your friend says to you:
Did YOU see that Rembrandt NO"
Did YOU see that Rubens?" mo"
Did you see that Titan % No" "Did
YOU SCI LndL hdUlIEt NJ. " ell,
saws our friend, "then you didn't see the
Louvre" Now, my friends, think we
are too much apt to confine ourselves to
one of the great corridors of this scripture
ruth, and so much so that there is not
0ne 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
N,-@N 70 I--rr
iniquity and save the souls of men. HE
shall spread forth His hands IL the midst
ii them. as he that swimmeth spreadeth
forth his hands 70 swim" The figure is
hold and manv-sided. Most Of YOU know
how 10 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 is q grand thing to know how
TO swim, not only for Yourself but
because you will after awhile perhaps
have 70 help others. | do not know
anything more stirring or sublime than
to see some man like Norman McKen-
zie leaping from the ship Madras
into the sea to save Charles Turner, who
had dropped from the royal ward while
trying to loosen the sail, bringing him
back to the deck amid the huzzas of the
passengers and crew. II man has not
enthusiasm enough to cheer in such cir
cumstances he deserves himself to drop
into the sea and have no one to help him.
The ROYAL humane society of England
was established in l774, its object to ap-
plaud and reward those who should pluck
up 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 oil
the man or woman who saved some one
ftom drowning. But, my friends. if it is
skch a worthy thing to save a body from
t1e deep, l ask you if it is not a worthieI
thing 70 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 10 swim"
In order 10 understand the full force oil
this figure you need 10 realize, first OF all
that our race is in a sinking condition
You sometimes hear people talking o.
what thew consider the most beautiful
words in our language. One man saws i
IS "home." another man says it is tint
word mother" another says it is the
word "Jusus," but l will tell you the bit
terest word in all our language, the wore
most angry and baleful, the word satu
rated with the most trouble, the word tina
accounts for all the Iosthsomeness and tht
pane and the outrage and the narrowing
and that word IS ''sin." You spell it with
three letters, and yet those three letter
describe the circumference and pierce the
diameter OF everything bad in the uni
verse. sin (. IL IS a sibilant word. Yol
cannot pronounce it without giving it TIT
siss OF the flame or the hiss Of the serpent
Sin. And then if you add three letters T.
that word il describes every one of us b.
nature-sinner. We have outraged tn
law of God, not occasionally, or now an'
then, but perpetually. The bible de
cIares it. Hark Ii thunders tw,
claps: THE heart is deceitful above al
things and desperately wicked. "The sou
that sinneth, it shall die" What the bibl
saws our own conscience affirns. Ate
Judge Morgan had sentenced Lady Jan
Grey to death, his conscience trouble
him so much for the deed that he becam