The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1881-02-09
Talmage'S Sermon.
GOODNESS.

ANTE. MORTEM GOODNESS.
Discourse BY Rev. T. Dewitt Talmage,
On Sunday January 16.-Subject:
Struggle and Victory.
Text: Genssus xxxi- rs: - Lot me 30. for tho day
brraketu."
The dust rose from = travelling herd OF cattle, and
sheep, and goats, and camrls
lney are The prcsent jacob sends to gain the euod
Will Vi his offended bro.hcr. That night Jaeub halts
ny the bruok JabbUk. But there 10 no rest for the wea.
~ uiun-nO shining ladder to lot the angels down int
hts dseatn; Tut a nsrce coInbat, that lasts until morn.
lug, with Al unknown visitor. lucy each Try " throw
Tile other. ihe unknown visitor, " reveal his supe-
rior power, by Q touch wrenches Jacobs thigh. bone
irom Its sockst perhaps msiming him for life. As on
the morning sky clusters If purple clouds begin to
brighten, Jacob sees II 10 I'm angel With whom be has
becn cunteuiiDg and not Une Of his brothers coadju.
turs Let me 60" cries the angel, lifting himself
up ipn the increasing light the day breaketh."
You see, In the hrst place, that God ailows His people
sometimes to get into 0 terrible struggle. jacob was
10 wrestle with . tremendous influence by the brook
JaLbok. For Jo.erh = pit, for Daniel q wild beast
den for David dethronement and exile; fur John the
Baptist q wilderness diet and the executioner' AZ for
Peter o prison, for ST. Paul, shi,wreckt for John des
olste Pntmos; for yashtI, most insulting cruelty for
Josephine, Punishment; for Mrs. siguurney, the ago
ny Of o drunkard'swtie; for John Wesley, stones burl.
ed BY an infunAted mob; for Catherine, the Scotch girl,
buneting OF the Montreal Populacs; for John Brown,
81 Edinburgh, tho pistol shut Of Lord Claverhouss;
TOT Hugh N. Kali, the seanold, fur Latiner, the stake;
Tor Christ. the cros& For whom the racks the glib
and daughters Of the Lord Almighty. Some one said
70 q Christian relormer, Tho world 10 against you"
Then, be replied, Il am against the world"
will 60 further and say that overy Christian has
kta ak.,-.1. 81 sr.Ak t 4 ~ n. AT $500
this one On Broad street; this one IN Chestnut street;
this one on state street. With financial misfortune you
have had the midnight wresue. Re'ihot disasters have
dropped Int your store from loft " the cellar. What
you bought yoo could not sell. Whom you trusted
hed. The help you exp :cted would not comS. Some
giant panic, With long arms and grip like death, tuok
hold or you In an awful wreetle from which you have
not yet escaped; and u Ia uncertain wbeih"r 1t will
throw You Or You will throw It. Here IL another soul
In struggle with sou,e bad appetite. lie knew M,
how s~tealthily It was growing upon him. Une hour
be woke up. He suid, "For the sake Of my soul, Of
my family, OF my children and Of my God Unjust stnp
this" And. behold, he found himself alone by the
bruok JabbOk, and It was midnight That evil appetite
seized upon him ant he seized upon IT.; and, oh, the
horror Of the conflict! When once q bad habit hath
reused itself up u destroy = man, and the man hath
sworn that by the help Of the eternal God he will d..
stroy 1t, all heaven draws its>lf out In . long line Of
light " look fum above, and sll hell stelches itself 10
mytnIdUns OF spite to look up FROM beneath. l have
seen men ra,ly themselves for such . struggle, and they
v DtktSN ny ~ hhCh o Wv SItCi
with q tlood.red earnesruess and . rain Of ~scalding
tears, " God help mel
From . wresris with habit ! have seen mer fall back
defeated, calling for NO hclp. but relying on th-ir OWL
resolution. They have come into tho struggle, and
for q time 1t seemed ~ II they were getting the upper.
hand oil their habit But the habit rallied again its
~iniernai power and lifted the soul from It's standing.
q. d with q force borrowed 4 ON the pit hurled 1t int
pnter dwkn.sa, Frsi, ! saw the auctionrer's mallel
hll on tho pictures and musical Instruments, and the
lrich urh9stsr5 OF bis iaintly parlor. After b while ]
nv bin tali into the ditch. Thor, In the midnight,
vnen tho cbiidrcn were dreaming their sweatesr
ldresms and christian households were silent viii
stumbsf ~sngei.watchrd, ] heard him Civ. the shari
SHREK that followed th. slab u his own poniard. Il.
fell FROM On honored sbcial position; he tell from o fam
lily eli Gle Of wich once he wus the giandest attraction
he fell from, the house OF God, ut whose affairs he Ind
been c0nsecrated : b. Ell-orevcrl But, thank God,
have oIteu seen . better termination than that lha,t
seen men prepare themselves for such o wrestle. They
laid no d VI GGi's help as they went intn the Combat
The giant, Habit regllrd by tue cup u many dissiIa
tons, calne .ut strung and defiant. They clrnchrd
There were the writings aud distortions Of q fea tu
struggle. But the old giant be- an to WAIVER, ind u
last, IN the midnight With none but God to wittes.
by the nrook J4bbok. the giant fell, and the %,r.umphan
wrestler broke the darkness with the cry. Thanks b.
L. God who Civ. th us tn" Yicupry through. our Lort
Jesus Christ" There 10 u widows heart that first wal
drsolated BY bereavement ard since by the nnxiriie
and trialo that CAME IN the support Of q family. IL 1
q sad thing 10 see O mum c'ntending fox . livrlihoo'
under disadvantages; but to See q delicate woman, viii
helpless little ones a. her hack, fighting the giants 0
poyerty and s,rruw, 10 more al, citing. It was up hutr
Slr hume, and pas.ers.by knew not that within lhos
four walls were displays uf courage uore admirable
than that Of Hannibal crossing the Alps, or In tue Ilas
Of Theruopy o, or at Balsklaya, whore " into The Jaw
Of death rode the six hundred" Tn o. herves had th
pisAd HE Btflggle In that humble home. She Tough
for oreat, for cloth. ne, !Ur fire, for shelter, with schini
head and weak side and exhausted strength. througl
the long night by the brook Jabbok. Could 1t be thu
..,- ..o.tI, ,tsa - h.lyS Hal Odd Hos0.stoa 10 h
gracious! No, cuntendlng soul. The Midnight air 4
full Of wings cunning u the rescue. she hears 1t now
In the Sigh 0t the night wind, In the ripple Of the hro0l
Jabbok-fhe promise made 50 lol g ago: ringing dowi
them alive; and let thy widows trust In me-" som
one said to very poor woman, /" How is Il that in sucl
distress you keep checrfulf" She sid: " | do 1t b,
what | CAL cross.praycrs; : when / had my rsnu L
nothing 10 buy It With, l used to sit down and cry
But nnw I do NOT get discouraged. II 80 along tn
street. when l come 10 o corner Of the street. | say
= the Lrd help me- l then 90 on until l come ~ an
other cruising OF = street, aud again l say, the Lor,
help me- And 30 l utter u pra, er At every crossing
and since l hav. got into the habit Of saying thes
crnssprayers, I have been able r. keep mp toy courage.
Learn Hguln from this subject that people sonp
been struggling with In the darknessis really on mig,
Of blessing. Jacob found In The morning that thi
strungr parsonage was not m enemy but o GOd-dis
patched messenger to promise Prosperity for him an,
" u0 CuilutCu. ~ ~ - hhait ~ shp WI -
trial has found out that be has been trying 10 thro,
down his blessing. II yOn are q Christian man | xil
go back 10 your history and fnd that the grsndes
things that have ever happened to you have been you
trials. Nothing short OF ~scnurging Imprisonment an
~shipwreck could have made Paul what he was.
When David was feeing from the wilderness, pul
sued Ly his own son., he was being prepared to bec"m
the sweet singer In lsrel. The pit and the dungeo
were the hest schools at which joseph ever graduated
The hurricane that upset the tent and killed Job
chiidr,n prepared the man OF Cz to write the magnif
cent poom that has astounded the ages. There 10 D
way 10 got the wheat ont Of the straw. but T., thras
Look ut the people who have always had It their Nv
" y. They are proud, disseminated, useless and III
happy. II you want L" end cheerful folk 90 anon
thnse who have been purified BY the FIRE. Amer 10,
time, . company Of musicians caine under his window
In Paris, and srrrnaded him. They put upon his hru'
q golden crown Of laurel lcnvrs. But amidst all III
applause and enthusiasm, Rossini turned to E !rirn
and faid: t" would give ali this brilliant scene for
few days Of youth and love- contrast the nrlanch,
ly feeling " Eossini. who bsI everything that th
world cuu!d give him, I" the joyful experience OF lsaa
Watts, whuse misfnrtunes were ipnumerable, when b
says:
THE Hill OF Zion yields
A thousand sacred sweets,
Before we reach the heavenly fields,
Or walk the golden streets.
i "Then let Our songs abound,
And every tear be dry;
Were marching through Emmauuel's ground,
To fairer worlds on high"
1t Is prosperity that kills and trouble that savel
Whilr o l.. a. i,es were on the march, amidst gres
privstiuns and h~ard-hips. they behaved we'll. Ate
awhile they prayed for meat, and the sky darlene
with a large flick VI quails. and these qu.ils fell 1
z eat multitude Ill about them and the lsrae it's al
and ate and stufeI Themselves until they died. OF
nv friends, It Is not hardship, or toll, or starvation tina
Injuries the soul, but abundant supply. It is not tn
yulture Of trouble that eats up the Christians life |
is tn. quailsl Yon will yet nnd ont that your mid
God, Gil down u bless and tn save.
Learn again. that while nur wrestling with trnubl
may be triumphant, we must expect that 1t will leav,
it, mark upon us Jacob prevailed. hut the angel toucb
the good man vent limping on bis way: We mn.
carry throu-h this world the mark Of the combat
What plnwed thuse premature wrinkles IN your face
VIII whitened your hair before Il was time fur frost
What silrpced forever 50 much of the hilarity Of you
household! Oh, II is because the angel q! trouble
hath touched you that yot 90 limping on your way
You need not be surprised that those who have passet
through the fire do not feel ae gay - ohcr they did,
Do moi De- out OF patience with th"se who come ont o
their dependency. They may triumph over their
loss. and yet their gaitshall tell you that they have beer
trouble.tOuched Are we stnics that we can, unm0yed,
see our cradle rifed Of the bright eyes and the sweet
Iip,i Can We stand unrnoved and ses our gardens oil
earthly delight rprootedi Will Jesus, who wept HIM.
sell. be an.ry With US II we pour our tears into th-
graves that open to swallow doxn what We love best
Wus LAZARUS more dear to him than our beloved dead
to usi No: We have o right to weep Our tear.
must come. They full into G"d's brittle. Afflicted
ones shave died because they could not weep. Thank
God for the sweet the mysterious relief tina. comes "a
US in tears! Under thi, gentle rain the flowers Of
comfort put forth their gloom. God pity that dry,
withered, parched, al!. summing grief that wrings Il.
hand. crinds It's teeth and bites its nails into the quick.
but can net weep! We may have found the cninfor,
Of the Cross. and yet aeer show that In the dark nigh,
and BY the brook Jabbok we were troubie-touched
Again, we may take the idea Of the text and m
pounco the approach Of the day-dawn. No one We.
ever more glad to see the morning than was jacob A.
| - l.a.i.1aa and l.hIaflana In r nnf 9Th fhIa annal