Audubon Republican. [volume] (Audubon, Iowa) 1894-1925, 1899-11-02
TALMAGE'S SERMON.
THE STRONG SWIMMER LAST
SUNDAYS SUBJECT.
from Isa.. 25;11, ms Follows; he Shall
Spread Forth His Hands In the Midst
of Them, as He That swimmeth
spreadeth Forth His Hands,"
Copyright 1899 by Louis Klopsoh,

rivers and seas, to dive or float or
swim. In world the most of which
is water, all men and women should
learn to swim. Some OF you have
learned the side stroke. introduced by
George Pewters in 1850, each stroke OF
that kind carrying the swimmer a dis
lance Of six feet, and some of you may
use the overland stroke, invented by
Gardener, the expert. who by it won
the 50O-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
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 sum-
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. ! cannot I'M
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 / 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" No"
did you see that Rubens?" mo"
did you see that Titian?" mo" did
you see that Raphael" NO" Well"
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 a mil
lion who has ever noticed the all-sug-
gestive and powerful picture in the
words of my text.
This text represents God as a 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"
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 the sea.
1t is a good thing to know how to
swim, not only for yourself, but be-
cause you will, after while, perhaps,
have to help others.
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 Humane society Of England was
established in '1774, its object to ap-
plaud and reward those who should
pluck up life from the deep. Any one
who has performed such a deed OF dar-
ing has all the particulars OF that brav-
cry recorded in public record and on
his breast a medal done in blue and
gram and inscription, telling to future
generations the bravery of the man or
woman who saved some one from
drowning But IL it Is such a worthy
thing to save body from the deep,
ask you IL 1t is not worthier thing
to save an immortal soul? And you
shall see, this hour, the Son OF God
step forth for this achievement. "He
shall spread ;orth his hands in the
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
sometimes hear people talking Of what
they consider the most beautiful words
In our language. One man says 1t is
home; another says 1t is the word
mother; another says 1t is the word
Jesus; but I tell you the bitterest
word in all our language, the word
most angry and baleful, the word that
accounts for all the loathsomeness and
the pang and the outrage and the har-
rowing, and that word is sin" You
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