Audubon Republican. [volume] (Audubon, Iowa) 1894-1925, 1899-11-02
sinneth. it shall die" what the Bible

through MS insanity he kept saying:
Take her away from me! Lady Jane
Grey! Take her away! Lady Jane
Grey" 1t was the voice Of conscience.
And no man ever does anything wrong,
however great or small, but his con-
science brings that matter before him,
and at every step of his misbehavior
1t says, Wrong, wrong!" Sin is lep-
rosy; sin Is paralysis; sin is con-
sumption; sin is pollution; sin is death.
Give 1t fair chance, and 1t will swamp
you and me, body, mind and soul, for
ever, In this world 1t only gives
faint intimation OF It's vlrulence. You
see patient in the first stages OF ty-
phoid fever. The cheek is somewhat
flushed, the hands somewhat hot. pre-
coded by slight chill. Why" you
say, typhoid fever does not seem to
be much OF disease" But wait until
the patient has been six weeks under
it, and all his energies have been
wrung out, and he is too weak to lift
his little finger, and his intellect gone,
thea you see the full havoc OF the
disease. Now, sin In this world is an
ailment which Is only in It's first
and 1t Is an all-consuming typhoid. Oh,
II we could see our unpardoned sins
as God sees them, our teeth would chat
ter and our knees would knock to-
gether, and our respiration would be
choked, and our heart would break. III
your sins are unforgiven, they are
bearing you down. and you are sink
ing-sinking away from happiness,
sinking away from God, sinking away
from everything that Is good and
blessed.
Then what do we want? A swim
mer! A strong swimmer! A swift
swimmer! And, blessed be God! In
my text we have him announced. He
shall spread forth his hands in the
midst Of them, as he that swimmeth
stretcheth forth his hands to SWIM"
You have noticed that when a swimmer
goes to rescue any one he puts off his
heavy apparel. He must not have any
such impediment about him II he Is
going to do this great deed. And when
Christ stepped forth to save us he
shook off the sandals of heaven, and
his feet were free. and then he stepped
down into the wave of our transgres-
sions, and 1t came up over his wounded
feet, and 1t came above the spear stab
in his side-aye, 1t dashed to the LAGER
ated temple, the high-water mark OF
his anguish. Then, rising above the
food, "He stretched forth his hands in
the midst of them, as he that swim
meth spreadeth forth his hands to
SWIM"
/ have sometimes thought what a
spectacle the ocean bed will present
when in the last day the water Is all
drawn off. 1t will be a line Of wrecks
from beach to beach. There Is where
the harpooners went down. There Is
where the line of battleships went
down. There is where the merchant
men went down. There Is where the
steamers went down-a long line or
wrecks from beach to beach. What
spectacle in the last day, when the wa
ter Is drawn off! But oh, how much
more solemn IL we had an eye to see
the spiritual wrecks and the places
where. they foundered! You would find
thousands along our roads and streets.
Christ came down in their awful catas-
trophe, putting out for their souls.
spreading forth his hands as a swim
mer spreadeth forth his hands to
swim; but they thrust him in the sore
heart, and they smote his fair cheek
and the storm and darkness swallowed
them up. / ask you to lay hold OF this
Christ and lay hold Of him now. You
will sink without him. From horizon
to horizon not one sail in sight. Only
one strong swimmer. with head flung
back and arms outspread.
I hear many saying, We'll. l would
like to be a Christian. l am going to
work to become a Christian" My
brother, YOU begin wrong. When a
man is drowning, and a strong SWIM
mer comes out to help him, he says to
him: Now be quiet. Put your arm
on my arm or on my shoulder, but
don't struggle, don't try to help your
self, and I'll take you to the shore. The
more you struggle, and the more you
try to help yourself, the more you i'm
pede me. Now, be quiet, and I'll take
Won ashore" When Christ, the strong
swimmer, comes out to save a soul,
the sinner says: That's right. / am
glad to see Christ, and / am going to
help him in the work of my redemp-
thong / am going to pray more, and
that will help him; and | am going to
weep extravagantly over my sins, and
that will help him" No; it will not.
Stop your doing. Christ will do all or
none. You cannot lift an ounce; you
cannot move an inch, in this matter OF
your redemption.
This is the difficulty which keeps
thousands OF souls out OF the kingdom
of heaven. 1t Is because they cannot
consent to let Jesus Christ begin and
complete the work of their redemp-
ton. Why" you say, then is there
nothing for me to do?" Only one thing
have you to do, and that is to lay
hold Of Christ and let him achieve
your salvation, and achieve II all.
do not know whether / make the mat
ter plain or not. / simply want to show
you that a man cannot save himself.
but that the Almighty Son OF God
can do 1t, and will do It IL you ask
him. Oh. fling out your two arms
the arm OF your trust and the arm OF
your love-around this omnipotent
swimmer Of the Cross.
Have you ever stood by and seen
some one under process OF resuscitation
after long submergence7 The strong
swimmer has nut him on the beach