The Londonderry sifter. (South Londonderry, Vt.) 1883-19??, 1893-03-17
CROSSING JORDAN.
DR.. ,TALMAeE'S SUNDAY SERMON DE-
llvEReD AT DETROIT.

| INC utiitSpuht-h.e VI thc AoAts
DETROIT, March 1e-Rev. DR.. Tai
mage, who is now visiting this city,
preached today to large and intensely
interested audience in the Fort Street
| Presbyterian church, of which Rev. DR..
Radcliffe is pastor, on the cassing of
the Jordan by the children of Israel, the
text being from Joshua iii, II, "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 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 impos-
sible. but he did it by boat, Xerxes
crossed the Hellespont with 100000
men. but he did it by bridge. The Isra-
elites crossed the Red sea, but the same
orchestra that celebrated the deliverance
of the one army sounded the strangula-
ton of the other This Jordanic passage
differs from 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 Immediately the streets of Jerusa-
lem 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 towel the road had been wiped
| dry,
ln,,. n rnof ay nf Icra oil nc
the hosts in uniform. Followin. them
the wives, the children, the focks, the
herds The people look up at the crys-
talline 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 this wonderful Jor-
danic 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 river where theax-the borrowed AK
-miraculously swan at the prophets
order; the river illustrious in the history
| of the world for heroic faith and omnip-.
otent deliverance and typical of scenes
yet to transpire 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.
Standing on the scene of that alright
ed, fugitive river Jordan. learn for my.
| self and for you, first. that obstacles,
| 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 waist
deep or knee deep or ankle deep, but as
soon as their feet touched the water il
vanished. And it makes me think that
almost all the obstacles of life need only
be approached in order to be conquered,
Difficulties but touched vanish. 1t is tise
trouble, the difficulty; the obstacle far i'll
the distance, that seems SO huge and tire.
| 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 he
says. Without are dogs" But have
been told that when those animals are
furious, if they come at you, if you will
keep your eye on them and advance up
on them they will retreat Whe her
that be so 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 keep
your eye on them, and advance upon
them and cry, ''Begone," they will stink
and cover.
BEAUTIFUL TRADITION.
There is beautiful tradition among
the American Indians that Manitou was
travelling in the invisible world, and one
day he came To barrier of brambles and
sharp thorns, which forbade his going
on, and there was wild beast glaring at
him from the thicket, but as he deter
mined to go on his way he did pursue it,
and those brambles were found to be only
phantoms. and that beast was found to
be powerless ghost, and the impossible
river that forbade him rushing to en-
brace the Yaratilda proved to be only a
phantom river.
Well. my friends, the fact is there are
great many things that look terrible
across our pathway which, when we ad-
vance upon them, are only the phan-
toms, only the apparitions, only the lie
lusions 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.
1t is a very disagreeable 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
will 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 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 a sloop
coming from Elizabethport to New York.
was dreadfully frightened because he
thought he was going to be drowned as
sudden gust came up. People were
surprised at him. If any man in all the
world was ready to die, it was good John
Livingston.
So there are now great many good
people who shudder in passing a grave
yard, and they hardly dare think of
Canaan because of the Jordan that in
tervenes. But once they are down on a
sick bed, then all their fears are gone
the waters of death dashing ON the beach
are Ike the mellow voice of ocean shells
they smell of the blossoms of the tree
Of life. The music of the heavenly choirs
comes stealing over the waters, and to
cross now is only pleasant sail. How
long the boat is comingl Come, Lord
Jesus come nuicl,lv Christ the Pr-ior.