The free press. (Poplarville, Miss.) 1890-19??, 1893-03-30
REV. DIR. TALMAGE.
THE BROOKLYN DIvINE'S sun
DAY SERMON.
Subject, "Crossing the Jordan"
Delivered at Detroit, Mich.)


d,y around in the midst Of he Joro9n
nnd IN the IsrdeIiteS passed Deer on ar!
oro,,nd. until all the people tcsre passed
Clean ouer Jordan. Joshua ILL.,, ID.
Washington crossed the Delaware when
crossing was pronounced i'm possible, out ne
Ala Il Nv hoat Xerxes crossed the Hell
lespont with 2 90 90 men, but ne Oh u oy
bridge. The Israelites crossed the fseo sea
but the same orchestra that ceeorated the
deliverancs Of the one army sou1Iuei ene
sfranculation OF the other. ms Jordahic
massage differs from all. There was no sac
rifice Of human life-not so much as tue loss
of n linchpin. The vanguard of the most,
Ynsdeuo OF priests. advaDce1 1ntli tney pu0
their foot al the brim Of the river, wnen I'M
mediately the streets OF Jerusalem vera
no more dry land than the bed OF tnao river
IL was as if all the water had been drawn OH,
and then the dampness had been soaked up
with sponge, ana then by uo"ei VIC ioau
had been wiped dry.
Wonder goes a great army OF lsraelltes-
the hosts in uniform. Following them the
wives. the children, the tiocds, the nerds.
The people look W at the crystalline wall
of the Jordan as they pass and tnlnh wnao
an awful disaster would come to them II be-
fore they got to the opposite bank OF that
Aialon wall that wall should fall on them.
And the thought makes the mothers hug
their children close to their hearts as they
syiften their pace. Quick, now! Get them
all m on the banks-the armed warriors,
the wives and children. focks and herds,
and let this wonderful Jordanic passage be
completed forever.
Sitting on the sbelved limestone, look OH
upon that Jordan where Joshua crossed I'M
der the triumpha arch of the rainbow
woven out OF the spray; the river which af-
forwards became the baptistry where Christ
was sprinkled or plunged the river where
the ax-the borrowed ax-mlraculously
swan at the prophets order; the river IL
lustrious in the history of the world for he
roic faith and omnipotent dellverance 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. tingle with infinite gladness.
Standing on the scene of that afrighted,
fugitive river Jordan, | learn for myself 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 vast deep or knee deep or ankle
deep. but a, 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 to be conquered.
Difficulties but touched vanish. 1t is the
trouble, the difficulty, the obstacle far in the
distance that seems 40 huge and tremend-
GUS.
The apostles Paul and John seemed to dis.
like cross dogs, for the apostle Paul tells us
in Philippians, beware Of dogs" and John
seems to 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 come at
YOU if you will keep your eye on them and
advance upon them thev will retreat.
Watcher tnat be 50 or not | cannot tell, but
do know that the vast ma jority of the mis-
fortunes and trials and disasters of your life
that hounds your steps, II 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.
There is beautiful tradition among the
American Indians that Manitou, was travel.
ing 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 determined to 60 on
his way he did pursue it, and those bram-
bles were iou1d to be only phantoms, and
that beast was found to be a powerless
ghost, and the impossible river that forbade
him rushing to embrace 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 ap-
par tons, only the decisions OF life. Diff
culties touched. are conquered. Put your
feet into the brim of the water, and Jordan
retreats. You sometimes see a great duty
10 perform. 1t is very disagreeable duty.
You say, II can't 20 through it, | haven't
the courage, | haven't the intelligence, to
go through it," Advance upon 1t, Jordan
will vanish.
| always sigh before begin to preach at
the greatness OF the uniertakIng, but as
soon as | start it becomes to me an exhiiara-
ton. And any duty undertaken with a con.
fident spirit becomes a pleasure, and the
higher the duty the higher the pleasure.
Difficulties touched are conquere:. There
are great many people VINO are afraid OF
death in the future. Good John Livingston
once. on sloop coming from Eliz abethport
TO New Yori, was dreldlully frightened be-
cause be thouy ht he was going to he drowned
as sudden gust came up. People were sur.
rrised AT him. Ii any man in al tne world
w@s ready to die, 1t was good John Living.
ston.
-othere are now great many good PEG
PIE who sdulder in passing graveyard,
ana they hardly dare think OF Canaan be-
cause of the Jordan that intervanes. But
once they are down on a sick bed, then all
their Tears are 5One-tne waters OF death
casring on the beach ara like the mellow
voice OF ocean shells--they smell OF the hlos-
sons OF tina tree OF life. The music of the
heavenly choirs comes stealing over the
water. ami to cross now is only a pleasant
sail. How long the boat is comingl Come,
Lord Jesus. come quickly. Christ the Priest
advances anead, ana the dying Christian
gees over dry saod On coral beds and flowers
OF heaven ana paths OF pearl.
oh, oonld we make our doubts remove
These gloomy doubts that rise
And view the Canaan that we love
With unbeclouded eyes!
you'd we bat climb where Moses stood
And view the landscape Ger
Not ordan's stream nor deaths cold flood
Gould fright US from the shore.
Again, this Jorjanic passage teaches me
10 completeness OF everything tlat God
Loes. When God put an invisible dam across
Jordan, and it was halted, it would have
been natural, you would have supposed, for
the water TO have overlooked the region all
around about, aud that great devastation
would have taken place, but when God put
the dam IN front of the river He put dam
On the other side of the river, SO that, ac-
cordlng TO the text, the water halted and
reared and stool there and not overhowing
the surrounding country. Oh, the complete
ness OF everything that God does
One wculd have thought that, if the
waters OF the jordan had dropped uatil
they We're only two or three feet deep, the
lsraelltes might have. marched through it