Fisherman & farmer. [volume] (Edenton, N.C.) 1887-19??, 1894-05-11
REV. DIR. TALMAGE
THE BROOKLYN DIVINE'S SUN
DAY SERMON.
Subject: ''Tke Spiritual Conflicts OF
Life.''

| 1'EXT: "And Jacob ras letI alone. and
there ,rrcsticf man lCit him 1IlttH the break
amg Of tie day. And 7rher he san that he pre-
! UGljcd not against hirt he tGuChed the hOL
| to'o Of his thigh, and the hoiio,0 of Jacobs
thigh 'oHS ont Of JOINT as he ,crestJed ,ojtb him.
And ne said, L"t me go, for The day Jredheth
| and he SAID, ,0iA not Let tire 90 except thou
| bless "te"-Genesis xxxr., 24-26
The dust arose from q travelling herd of
| cattle and sheep and goats and cames.
| They are the present that Jacob sends to gain
the good will of his offended brother That
night Jacob halts by the brook Jabbok But
there IS no rest for the weary man, no shining
| ladder to let the angels down into his dream,
but a fierce combat, that lasts until the morn
ing, with an unknown visitor. They each
try to throw the other The unknown visit
or, to reveal his superior power. by Il touch
Wrcnchcs Jacobs thigh bone from its socket.
perhaps manning him for life. AS on the
morning sky the clusters of purple clOul be-
GIN to lipen Jacob sees 1t is an angel with
whom he has been cOntCnding, and not one
Of his brothers cOadjutors "Iet me 60"
cries the angel, lifting himself up into in
creastng light, The day breaketh ~
You see, in the first place. that God allows
! good people sometimes to get into q terrbie
/ struggle. Jacob was good man, but here
he is left alone in the midnight to wrestlo
| with a tremendous influence by the brook
| JabbOk. For Joseph, a pit for Daniel, a
wild beast den for David, dethronement and
exile; for John the Baptist, wilderness
diet and the exccutiOner's ak; for Peter Il
! prison for Paul, shipwreck for John, desc
lato F&tmOS for VaShti, most insulting
cruelty for Josephine, banishment for Mrs
SlgOurney, the agony of n drunkard'5 wife
for John Wesley, stones hurled by an infur;-
hted mob for Catherine, tho Scotch girl. tho
drowning surgcs of the sea for Mr.. Burns
the bulfeting of the Montreal pOpulace Tor
John Brown, of Edinburgh. the pistol shot
OF Lord ClaVerhOusc : for Hugh McKaiI. the
5caifold for Latimer, tho stake for Christ
the cross. For whom the rocks, the gibbets.
the guilIOtInes, the thumbscrcws2 For the
sons and daughters of the Lori God Al
mighty. Somo one said to a Christian re-
former, Tho world is against you" "Then,
he replied, II an against the world"
will 90 further and say that every Chris
tian has his struggle. This man had his
combat in Wall street; this ono on Broad
street this one OF Fulton street this one On
| Chestnut street; this one on State street
this one on Lombard street this one on tho
bOurSc With financial misfortune you have
had the midnight wrestle. RedhOt disasters
have dropped into your store from lott to
cellar. What you bought you could not sell
Whom you trusted fed. The help you ex-
pcctcd would not come Some giant panic,
with long arms and grip like death, took
hold of you i'll awful wrestle from which
SOu Nav - nOL Stl tStipSC, anu II Is uuccI-
tain whether it will throw you or you will
throw it,
Here is another soul in struggle with some
bad appetite. lie knew not how steaIthily
it was growing upon him. One hour he
woke up. He said For the sake Of my
soul, of my family, and of my children. and
of my God, must stop this!' And, behold,
he found himself alone by the brook Jab-
box, and it was midnight. That evil appe-
tite seized upon him, and he seized upon it,
and. oh, tho horror of the conflict When
once a bad habit has aroused itself I'D to de-
str0y man and the man has sworn that, by
the help the eternal God, no will destroy
il, all heaven draws itself out in u long line
of light to look from above, and hell
stretches itself in myrmdOns of spite to look
up from beneath. [ have seen men rally
themselves for such struggle, and they
have bitten their lips and clinched their
fists and cried, with a blood red earnest
ness AMI rain of scalding tears, God
help met"
From wrcstle with habit have seen men
fall back defeated. Calling for no help, but
relying on their own resolutions, they have
come into the struggle, and for time it
seemed as ii they wCrO getting tho upper
hand Of their habit, but that habit rallied
again its Internal power AMI lifteI q soul
from its stan ling, and with force borrowed
from the pit hurled it into utter darkness.
First saw the auctiOncer's mallet fall on
the pictures and musical instruments anl tho
rich upholstery of his family parOr. After
awhile saw him fall into the ditch. Then,
IN the midnight, whom the children wero
dreaming their sweetest dreams and Chris
tian households are silent with s!umber, an
gel watched, | heard him give the sharp
Shrek that followed the stab of his own
poniard. He fell from an honOred social pO-
SltlOn he fell from q family circle of which
once hc was the grandest attraction he fell
from tho house OF God, at whose alters he
had been cOnsGcrated; he fel-fOrevGri
But, thank God, have often seen q better
termination than that.
have seen men prepare themselves for
such Il wrestling. They laid hold of Gods
help when they went into combat. Tho giant
habit, reSaled bytho cup of many tempta-
tIOnS, came out strong and defiant. They
c!inched. There were the writings and
distortions of a fearful struggle. But tho
old giant began to waver, and, at last In tho
midnight alone, with mono but God to wit.
ness, by the brook JabbOk, tho giant fell,
and the triumphant wrestler broke the dark
ness with the cry, Thanks be unto GodI
who @lveth us the victory through our Lord
Jesus Christ" There is Il widows heart
that first was dosolatcd by bereavement and
since by the anXietieS and trials that came
i'll the support OF family.
ltlS Il sad thing to see Il man cOnten1ing
for 4 livelihood under disadvantages, but to
see delicate woman, with helpless little
ones ut her back, fighting the giants of pow
L I
humble home, and passerSby knew not that
within those four walls were displays Of
courage more admirable than those of Han
ntbal crossing the Alps. or the pass of Their
mopylr or BlIaklava. whore ''into the jaws
OF death 70 lie the six hundred"
These heroes had the whole world to cheer
them on. but there were mono to applaud the
struggle in the humble home. She fought for
bread. for clothing, for fire. for shelter, with
aching head, and weak side, and exhausted
strength, through the long night by the brock
JabbOk. Could it be that mono would givO
her help? Had God forgotten to be gracious?
No, cOhten ling soul The midnight air is
full of wings coming to the rescue She
hears if now in the sOIgh of the night wind
in the ripple of the brook JabbOk-tha prom
iSe made 50 long ago ringing down the sky.
Thy fathcrlesS children, | will preserve
them alive and let thy widows trust in lie ~
SomO one said TO very poor woman,
'HOw is if that in such distress you keep
cheerfu?' She said II do it by what | call
cross prayers When | had my rent to pay
AMI nothing to pay it with, and bread to buy
and nothing to buy it with used to sit down
aud cry. But now | do not get discouraged.
Ii l 80 along the street. when l come to Il
corner Of tho street l say, Tho Lord help
me. then go on until como to another
crossing OF the street, and again say, The
L0ri help mo! An1 so | utter q prayer at
every crossing, and since l have got into the
iaot o! saying these cross prayers L have
been able to keep up my courage
Learn again from this subject that people
sometimes are surprised to find out that what
they have been struggling with in the dark
ness is really an CANCEL of blessing Jacob
found in tho morning that this strange per-
sOuagc was not an enemy. but a God dis
patched messenger to promise prosperity for
him and for his children. And SO many a
mar, at the close of his trial, has found out
that he has been trying to throw down his