The Yale expositor. (Yale, St. Clair County, Mich.) 1894-current, 1899-11-03
TALMAGE'S SERMON.
THE STRONG SWIMMER LAST
SUNDAYS SUBJECT.
From Isa., 25;11, ms Follows; Gle Shall
Spread Forth His Hands In the Midst
of Them, as lie That swimmeth
Spreadeth Forth His Hands"
Copyright 1899 BY Louis Klopsoh)

| lSdIH 10 SWIM. some or you nave
learned the side stroke, introduced by
George Pewters in 1850, each stroke OF
that kind carrying the swimmer dis
lance Of six feet, and some Of you may
use the overland stroke invented By
Gardener, the expert, who by it won
the 500-yard championship in Manches-
ter in 1862, the swimmer by that stroke
carrying his arm in the air for a more
! heightened stroke, and some OF you
may tread the water as though you
had been born to walk the sea; but
most usually take what is called the
breast stroke, placing the hands with
the backs upward, about five inches
apart under the water, the insides OF
the wrists touching the breast, then
pushing the arms forward coincident
with the stroke of the feet struck OUT
to the greatest width possible, and you
thus unconsciously illustrate the mean
ing of my text: 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 unfrequent-
ed hooks. You stand all day on the
bank OF the river in the broiling sun,
and fling out your lines, and catch
nothing, while an expert angler breaks
through the jungle and goes by the
shadow OF the solitary rock, and, in a
place where no fisherman has been for
ten years, throws out his line and
comes home at night, his face shin
ing and his basket full. do not know
why we ministers of the gospel need
always be fishing in the same stream,
and preaching from the same texts that
other people preach from. l cannot un-
derstand the policy of the minister
who, in Blackfriars, London, England,
every week for thirty years preached
from the epistle to the Hebrews. 1t is
an exhilaration to me when l come
across a theme which | feel no one
else has treated and my text is one
of that kind. There are paths in Gods
word that are well beaten by Christian
feet When men want to quote scrip
ture, they quote the old passages that
every one has heard. When they want
chapter read, they read chapter that
all the other people have been reading,
so that the church today is ignorant OF
three-fourths of the Bible
You go into the Louvre at Paris.
You confine yourself to one corridor
of that opulent gallery of paintings. As
you come out, your friend says to you:
did you see that Rembrandt" mo"
did you see that Rubens?" mo"
"Did you see that Titian?" mo" did
you see that Raphael?" NO" We'll"
says your friend, then you did not see
the Louvre" Now, my friends, think
we are too much apt to contine our
selves to one of the great corridors OF
scripture truth, and so much so that
there is not one person out of q mil
lion who has ever noticed the all-sug-
gestive and powerful picture il the
words Of my text.
This text represents God as strong
swimmer, striking out to push down
iniquity and save the souls OF men.
"He shall spread forth his hands in the
midst Of them, as he that swimmeth
speradeth forth his hands to swim. y
The figure is bold and many-sided
Most of you know how to swim. Some
of you learned it 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 tie sea.
1t is a good thing to know how to
: swim, not only for yourself, but be-
cause you sill, after a while, perhaps,
have to help others.
I do not know anything more stir
ring or sublime than to see some man
like Norman Mckenzie leaping from
the ship Madras into the sea to save
Charles Turner, who had dropped from
the royal yard while trying to loosen
the sail, bringing him back to the deck
amid the huzzas of the passengers and
crew. II a man has not enthusiasm
enough to cheer in such circumstances
he deserves himself to drop into the
sea and have no one to help him. The
Royal Hun.lne society of England was
: established ~ 1774 its object to ap-
plaud and reward those who should
pluck up life from the deep. Any one
who has performed such deed OF dar-
r ing has all the particulars of that BRAY
cry recorded in public record and on
. his breast a medal done in blue and
g gold and bronze, anchor and mono
gram and inscription, telling to future
( generations the bravery of the man OF
! woman who saved some one from
; drowning. But if it is such a worthy
e thing to save a body from the deep
/ ask you IL 1t is not worthier thing
= to save an immortal soul? And you
2 shall see, this hour, the Son of God
I step forth for this achievement. He
= shall spread iorth his hands in the
5 midst OF them, as he that swimmeth
spreadeth forth his hands to swim
In order to understand the full force
OF this figure, you need to realize that
our race is in a sinking condition. You
I. sometimes hear people talking of what
they consider the most beautiful words
/. in our language. One man says IL Is
, home; another says 1t is the wore