The Lexington dispatch. [volume] (Lexington, South Carolina) 1870-1917, 1902-01-22
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WASHINGTON, Jan. 19.-in this dis
course DR.. Talmage makes pracdcal
use Of IN occurrence IN the orient
which has seldom attracted particular
attention; text, II Kings VI, q, Ihe
iron did swim"
A theological seminary il the valley
Of palms, near the river Jordan. had
become so popular in the time OF
Elisha, the prophet, that more accom-
:modations were needed for tie stu
dents, The classrooms and the dor
;rnitorieS must be enlarged or an en-
tirely new building constructed. WHAT
will they 10: Will they scnd W I"
Jerusalem and solicit contributions fcE
this undertaking? viii they send oai
agents to raise the money fCr :: ne"
theological seminary? Having raised
the money, will they send for cedars
of Lebanon and marble from IL" qIar-
ries where Ahab got the stone for the
pillars and walls of his palace? no;
the students propose 70 build it them
selves. They were rugged boys. who
had been brought Up i'll the country
and who had never been weakened by
the luxuries Of city life. All they ask
is that Elisha. their professor ard
prophet, go along with them 10 the
woods and boss tie job. They start
for the work, Elisha and his students.
Plenty Of lumber IN those regions
along the Jordan. The sycamore is Il
stout, strong tree and good for timber.
Mr.. Gladstone asked ne if hac seen
in Palestine any sycamore tree more
beautiful than the one we stood under
at Hawarden. told hiE had not
The sycamores near the Jordan a:c
now attacked by Elisha's students. for
they must have lumber fer the new
theological seminary. suppose some
Of the students made an awkward
stroke. and they We're exte!nporized
axmen. Stand from under. Crash
goes one of the trees and another and
another. But something now happens
SO wonderful that the occurrence will
tax the credulity Of the ages. so won
derful that many still think 1t never
happened st all One OF the students.
not able to own an ax. bad borrowed
one. You must remember that while
the ak Of olden time was much like our
modern AK, it differed in the fact that
instead of the helve or handle being
thrust into socket in the iron head
the head of the Ak was fastened on tie
handle by leathern thong. and so Il
might slip the helve. y student of the
seminary was swinging his AK against
one of those trees. and whether il was
at the moment be made his first stroke
and the chips flew or was after he had
cut the tree from all sides so deep that
il was ready to fall We are not told.
but the ax head and the handle parted
Being near the riverside, the ax head
dropped into the river and sank to the
muddy bottom. Great was the stu
dents dismay. II it had been his own
AZ. it would have been bad enough, but
the ak did not belong 10 bin lie had
no means to buy another for the Kind
man who had loaned it TO him. but
God helps the helpless. and he genet'-
ally helps through some gcod and SYM
pathetic soul, and in this case it vas
Elisha, who was in the woods and on
the river bank at the time He did not
see the ax head fly off. and so he asked
the student where 1t dropped He was
shown the place where it went down
into the river. Then Elisha broke OF
4 braDch OF tree and threw it into the
water, and the az head rose from the
depths Of the river and doate1 TO the
bank. so that the student bad just to
stoop down and take up the restored
property. Now you see the meaning of
ny text. The iron did swim"
The I-ca p:a swsm,
Suppose q hundred years ago soue
one had told people that the time
would come when hundreds of tboU-
sands OF tons OF iron would tioat on
4he Atlantic md Pacific iron ships
from New York to Southampton. from
London to Calcutta, from San Francis
GO to Canton. The Innn making such
n prophecy would have ssecn sent TO
an asylum or carefully watched as i'll
.pon,pttcnt to 20 alone. VIZ. have ali
in our day seen iron swim Now. II
man can make hundreds Of tons OF
metal float. am disposed to think
that the Almighty could make Il" AK
bread fioat.
: "What," says some cue would I've
rbe use CT such n tDirlcte: or vast
IF infinite. of eternal Importance. Those
students we're preparing fos the min,
5stry. They had Joined the thcoiog'ca'
seminary TO get all its advantages
They needed TO have their fa'th
strengthened: they needed 10 be per-
sunded that God can Go ereryth'nS'
they needed to learn that God taxes
notice Of little things; that there IS no
emergency OF life where ne is not Si!'-
jnS TO help. Standing on the banks OF
that Jordan. those students OF that Gay
oP the recalled az head had thelr fa!tE