The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1899-11-08

Oh tnem, rs ne tQGC SWlnmetQ spread.
eth forth his hands to SWIM"
II you have ever watched a swimmer,
| you notice thnt his whole body Is brought
into play. The arms are fexed, the hands
| drive the water back, the knees are active,
the head Is thrown back to escape strangu.
lation, the waole body Is in propulsion.
And when Christ sprang into the deep to
save US He threw His entire nature into 1t
oil His godhead, His omniscience. His good
ness, His love, His omnipotence, head,
heart, eyes, hands, feet. We were far out
on the sea and SO deep down In the waves
and 80 far out from the shore that nothing
short of an entire God could save US.
Chlist leaped out for our rescue, saying,
"Lo, / come to do thy will" and all the
surges OF human and satanic hate boat
against Him, and those who watched Him
from the gates OF heaven feared He would
go down under the waves and instead OF
saving others would Himself perish; but,
putting His breast to the foam and shak-
ing the surf from His locks, He came on
and on until He Is now within the reach
OF every one here, eye omniscient, heart
Infinite, arm omntpotent, raighty to snve,
even unto the uttermost.
On, 1t was not half God that trampled
down believing Gennesaret; 1t was not a
quarter OF God that mastered the de-
mons Of Gadara; 1t WAS lot two-thirds OF a
OOu luhl llllou up LdLdEuS lulO lue aEuS
OF his overj owed sisters; 1t was not frag.
ment OF a God who offered pardon and
peace to all the race. No. This mighty
swimmer threw his grandeur, his glory,
his might, his wisdom, bis omnipotence
and his eternity into this one act. 1t took
both hands Of God to save us-both feet.
How do I prove It? On the cross were
not both hands nailed? On the cross
were not both feet spiked? His entire
f,,ra In roI MI
II you have lived much by the water,
you notice also that II any one Is going out
to the rescue OF the drowning he must be
Independent, self-reliant, able to go alone.
There may be a time when he must spring
out to save one, and he cannot get liie-
boat, and II he goes out and has not
strength enough to bear himself up and
bear another up he will sink, and instead
OF dragging one corpse out OF the bilows
you will have two to drag out. When Christ
sprang out into the sea to deliver US, He
had no life buoy. His Father did not help
Him. Alone In the wine press, alone In the
pang, alone in the darkness, alone on the
mountain alone In the sea! Oh, II He saves
US He shall have all the credit, for "there
was none to help" no oar, no wing, no
ladder! When Nathaniel Lyon fell In the
battle charge In front OF his troops, he had
q whole army to cheer him. When Marshal
Ney sprang into the contest and plunged
in the spurs till the horses fanks spurted
blood, all France applauded him. But Jesus
alone! "Of the people there was none to
help" ''All forsook him and fed" Oh, It
was not fotilla that sailed down and
saved US. 1t WAS not cluster OF gondolas
that came over the wave. It was one per-
son, independent aud alone. "spreadlng
out His hands among US as a swimmer
spreadeth forth his hands to SWIM"
nj drn
ing soul and Christ the swimmer! believe
1t was In 1s4S when there were six English
soldiers Of the Fifth fusileers who were
hanging to capsized boat-a boat that
had been upset BY squall three miles
from shore. It was In the night, but one
man swan nightly for the beach, guided
by the dark mountains TINT lifted their tops
through the night. He came to the beach.
He found shoreman that consented to go
with him and save :he other men, and they
put out. 1t was some time before they
could find the place where the men were,
but after awhile they heard their cry,
"Help, helpl" and they bore down to them,
and they saved them and brought them to
shore:
II you have been much by the water, you
know very we'll that when one Is in peril
help must come very quickly, or 1t will be
OF no use. One minute may decide every
tnlDR. lmWeuldto ueip tno uau Wuuto VI
no help at all. Now, that is just the kind
of relief We want. The case Is urgent,
imminent, instantaneous. SEQ that soul
sinking! Son OF God, lay hold OF him.
Be quick, be quick! on, wish you oil
understood how urgent this gospel IS.
There was man In the navy at sea
who had been severely whipped for
bad behavior, and he was maddened
by 1t and leaped into the sea, and no sooner
had he leaped into the sea than, quick as
lightning, an albatross swooped upon him.
The drowning man, brought to his senses,
seized hold OF the albatross and held on.
The nutterlng OF the bird kept him on the
wave until relief could come. Would now
that the dove OF Gods conylcttng, convert
ing and saving spirits might fash from the
throne upon your soul and that you, TAX
ing hold OF Its potent wing, might live and
live forever. -..
The world has had stroag swimmer re-
sides the one OF the text, perhaps the
greatest among them Matthew Webb, ofthe
British mercantile marine service. he
leaped from the deck OF the Russia, the Cum
ard steamer to save the life OF Il sailor who
had fallen overheard. No wonder the
passengers subscribed for him a large re-
ward and the Royal Humane Society OF
London decorated him with honors.
mighty swimmer was he, by the strength
the waters from Blackwall pier to Graves
end pier, eighteen miles, and from Dover to
Calais. SO miles, where he crossed, yet he
was drowned at last ain our Ntagara'5
whirlpool. BIZ. the strong swimmer OF my
text put out alone to swim wrathler sea
and for vaster distance, even from world
to world, to save US who were swamped IN
guilt and woe, and brought US to the shore
OF safety, although He at last wont down
kt1, 1,ys 81 oN1 Nf hfIfr1 nh
rage. "Hs descended into hell!"
New modes have been invented for res
cuing drowning body, but there has been
no new invention for rescuing a drowning
soul. II 1785 Lionel Lukin, London
coach builder, fitted up q Norway yawl as
Il lifeboat and called it the lnsubmergible.
and that has been improved upon until
from all the coasts OF the round world per-
feet lfeboats are ready to put out for the
relief OF marine disasters. In sixteen years
the French Society For Saving Life From
Shlpwreck saved 2129 lives. The Ger
man Association For the Rescue OF
Life From Shipwreck, the Royal Ma
tIon Lifeboat institution and our
United States life saving service
have done a work beyond the power OF
statistics to commemorate. What rocket
lines and sling life buoys and tally boards
and mortars and hammocks and cork mat
tresses and life saving stations filled with
machinery for saving the bodies o. the
drowningl But let me here and now make
1t plain that there has been no new way In
vented for the moral and eternal rescue OF
u struggling soul. Five hundred attempts
at such contrivanca have been made, but
all OF them dead failures. Hear It'll
"There Is none other name under heaven
given among men whereby we must be
saved" than the name Of Jesus
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