Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1893-03-16
CROSSING JORDAN.
DR.. TALMAeE's SUNDAY SERMON DE-
lWERED Al DETROIT.

DR.. TALMAGE'S SUNDAY SERMON De-
LWERED Al DETROIT.
He Compares the Children of Israel Cross
ing the Jordan With Washington Cross
Inc the Delaware and Xerxcs Crossing
the Hellespont-Iessons of the Text.
DETROIT. March ls.-Rev Dr. Tai
mage. who is low visiting this city,
preached today to a large and intensely
Interested audience III the Fort Street
PRESBYTERIAN church, Of which Rev. DR..
Radcliffe is pastor. on the crossing OF
the Jordan by the children of Israel, the
text being from Joshua iii, l1,"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 al the Is
raelites passed over on dry ground. until
all the people were passed clean over jor-
dan"
Washington crossed the Delaware
when crossing was pronounced nnpoS-
sible. but be did it by boat. Aerxes
crossed the Hellesport with 100000
men. but he did it by bridge Tie Isra-
elites crossed the Red sea, bat the SAP y
orchestra that celebrated the deiiy' Ice
of the one army sounded The -.ansula-
ton OF the other IT, o.e;t..nic passage
difes,s been asceItiTere was 10 sacrifice
e mitted s.e-not so much as the loss
OF a uncnpin. The vanguard OF the host.
made up of priests. advanced until they
put their foot at the brim of the river.
when Immediately tire streets of JerGsa-
lem were no more dry than the bed OF
that river. II was as If all the water bad
been drawn off, ;ind Tia. The danlpnesS
had been soaked up with 4 sponge, ali,I
then by towel the ro;.u bad been wiped
diy.
Yonder goes great army of lsraelltcS
the hosts in Uniform. Following them
tie wives. the children, the Aocks. the
herds. The people look up at the crys
talline wall Of the Jordan as they pas
and think what an awful disaster would
come to them if before they got to the
opposite bank of that Ajalon wall tina,
wall should fall on thein. And the
thought makes the mothers hug TIER
children close TO their hearts as they
swifteu their pace. Quic1. now Get
them all ur On the banks-the armed
warriors. the wives and eiil .ren. flocks
and herds. and let this wonderful ,Ior-
3anic passage be completed forever.
Sitting on the shelved limestone, !
look o:E upon that Jordan where Joshua
crossed under the triumphal arch of the
rainbow woven ont of the spray; the river
which afterward became the baptiStrv
where Christ was sprinkled or plunged;
the river where theax-the borrowed ak
-miracu!opslv swan at the prophets
order. the rlver illustrious in the history
of the world for heroic faith and omnip-
otent aeiiverance and typical Of scenes
yet to tranSpire IN Your he and mine
scenes. enough TO make Us, from the sole
of the loot TO The crown of the head. TN
gle with infinite gladness.
Standing on the scene of that alright
ed. fugitive river Jordan, learn for lay
self and for you, first, that Obstacles
when they are touched. vanish. Thetext
saws 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 waist
deep or knee deep or ankle deep. bat as
soon as their feet touched the water it
vanished. And it makes me think that
almost al the obstacles Of life need Only
be approached in order to be conquered
Difficulties but touched vanish. itiS,ii'
trouble. the difficulty, tll9 obstacle far in
the distance. that seems so huge and tre-
mendous.
The apostles Paul and John seemed to
dislike cross dogs for the apostle Paul
tells US in Philippians. Beware of dogs.
and John seems to shut the gate Of heav
en- against all the canine species when be
SAYS. Without are dogs. But nave
been told that when those animals are
furious. if they come al You. if yoa Will
keep Your eye on them and advance mp
on them they viii retreat. Whe her
that be 50 or not cannot tell, but do
know that the vast majority of the mis-
fortunes and trials and disasters OF Your
life that hounds your steps, if you can
only get your eye on them. and keel
your eye on them, and advance upon
them, and cry. "Begone. they Will stink
and cover.
BEAUTIFUL TRADITION.
There is a beautiful tradition among
the American Indians that Manitou was
travelling in the invisible world. and ore
dav he came TO barrier Of bra,nbles and
sharp thorns. which forbade his :-oing
on. and there was wild beast glaring at
him from the thicket, but as be deter
mined to 90 on his way he did pursue it.
and those branbles We're found to oe only
phantoms. and that beast was found to
be powerless ghost, and the impossible
river that forbade him rushing to Ella
brace the Yaratilda proved TO be only a
phantom -iver.
Well. my friends, the fact is there are
a great many things that look terrible
across our pathway, which, when we ad-
vance upon them. are only the pha1
toms. only the apparitions, only the ie
.ilsions of life. Difficulties touched are
conquered. Put your feet into the brim
of the water, and Jordan retreats You
sometimes see great duty to perform
It is very disasreeable duty. You say.
Il can't go through it: | haven't the
courage, haven't the intelligence, to go
through it." Advance upon it. Jordan
viii vanish.
always sigh before begin to preach
at the greatness of the undertaking. but
as soon as / start it becomes to me an
exhilaration. And any duty undertaken
with confident spirit becomes a pleas
ure, and the higher the duty the higher
the pleasure. Difficulties touched are
conquered. There are great many peo-
pie who are afraid of death in the future
Good John Livingston once. on sloop
coming from Elizabethport to New y ork
was dreadfully frightened because ne
4 ought he was going to be drowned as
= udden gust came up. People were
rised al him. If any man in all the
was ready to die. itwas good John
nomiIstion.e e now -,env good