Weekly expositor. (Brockway Centre, Mich.) 1882-1894, 1893-03-17
AT THE CROSSING.
DIR. rALMAcE's GREAT SERMON
PREACHED AT DETROIT.
Ibo Great March of the Children OF
Israel-'"And the Priests That Bare
the Ark of the Covenant OF the Lord
Stood Firm OF Dry Ground"

pastor, to a large and intensely interested
audience on the Crossing of the Jordan by
the Children of Israel" the text being from
! Joshua 3: Il: "And the priests that bare
the ark of the Covenant of the Lord stood
firm on dry ground in the midst of the
Jordan, and all the Israelites passed overon
dry ground, until all the people were passed
clean over Jordan"
Washington crossed the Delaware
when crossing was pronounced impos-
sible, but he did it by boat. XerXes cross
ed the Hellespont, with two millions of
men, but he did it by bridge. The Israel
ties crossed the Red Sea; but the same
orchestra that celebrated the deliver
ance of the one army, sounded the
strangulation of the other. This Jord-
anic passage differs from them all.
There was no sacrifice of human life
not so much as the loss of linchpin.
The vanguard of the host, made up of
priests, advanced until they put their
foot at the brim of the river, when i'm
| mediately the streets of Jerusalem were
no more dry than the bed of that river.
1t was as if all the water had been
drawn off, and then the dampness
had been soaked up with sponge, and
then by a towel the road had been
wiped dry. Yonder gees a great army
of Israelites, the hosts IN uniform; fol-
lowing them the wives, the children,
the flocks, the herds. The people look
up at the crystalline wall of the Jordan
as they pass, and think what an awful
disaster would come to them if before
they got to the opposite bank of that
Ajalon wall, that wall should fall on
Them and the thought makes the
mothers hug their children close to
their hearts as they swiften their pace.
Quick, now; get them all up on the
banks, the armed warriors, the wives
and children, flocks and herds, and let
the wonderful Jordanic passage be
completed forever.
Sitting on the shelved limestone,
look off upon that Jordan where Joshua
crossed under the triumphal arch of
the rainbow woven out of the spray;
the river which afterward became the
baptistry where Christ was sprinkled
or plunged; the rivers where the axe
I the borrowed aXe-miraculously swan
at the prophets order; the river illus
trious in the history of the world for
heroic faith and omnipotent deliver
ance, and typical of scenes yet to trans
pire in your life and mine-scenes
enough to make us, from the sole of
the foot to the crown of the head, tin
gle with infinite gladness.
II .1,nN T.
frighted, fugitive river Jordan, learn
for myself and for you, first, that OBJ
stacles, when they are touched, vanish,
The text says that when these priests
came down and touched the water-the
edge of the water with their feet-the
water parted. They did not wade in
chin deep, or knee deep, or ankle deep,
but as soon as their feet touched the
water it vanished. And it makes me
think that almost all the obstacles of
life need only be approached in order
10 De conquered. Difficulties but
touched vanish. 1t is the trouble, the
difficulty, the obstacle far in the dis
lance that seems so huge and tremend-
GUS.
The apostles Paul and John seemed
TO dislike cross dogs, FOX the apostle
Paul tells us in Philippians, Beware
of dogs" and John seems 20 shut the
gate of heaven against all the canine
species when he says, Without are
dogs" But have been told that when
those animals are furious, if they coma
at you if you will keep your eye on
them and advance upon them they will
retreat. Whether that be so or not 1
can not tell; but l do know that the
vast ma jority of the misfortunes and
trials and disasters of your life that
hound your steps, if you can only get
your eye on them, and keep your eye on
them, and advance upon them, and cry
"Begone!" they will sink and cover.
There is beautiful tradition among
was travelling in the invisible world,
and one day he came to barrier of
brambles and sharp thorns, which for
babe his going on, and there was a
wild beast glazing at him from the
thicket; but, as he determined to go
on his way, he did pursue it, and those
brambles were found to be only phan-
toms, and that beast was found to be
a powerless ghost, and the impossible
river that forbade him rushing to en-
brace the Yaratilda proved to be only
phantom river. Well, my friends,
the fact is there are great many
things that look terrible across our
pathway, which, when we advance
upon them, are only the phantoms,
only the apparitions, only the delu-
sions of life. Difficulties touched are
conquered. Put your feet into the
brim of the water, and Jordan retreats,
You sometimes see q great duty to per-
form. 1t is very disagreeable duty;
you say, Il can't go through it; /
haven't the courage, / haven't the in
telligence to go through it." Advance
upon it, Jordan will vanish.
i always sigh before begin to
preach, at the greatness of the under
taking, but as soon as start il becomes
10 me an eShilaration. And any duty
undertaken with a confident spirit be-
comes pleasure, and the higher the
duty the higher the pleasure. Difficult
ties touched are conquered. There are
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