The Penn's Grove record., 1894-05-04
REV. DR.. TALMAGE.
THE BROOKLYN DIvINE'S SUM-
DAY SERMON.
Subject: "The Spiritual Conflicts of
Life"

A4IIts
TEXT: "And Jacob ,sas LEFT alone, ana
mere loreshed a man NTH him until the break
ahg Of the day. And 1gheR he sdto that he pre-
edtIed mot against him he touched The hot
to'n Q his high, and the hoioD Of Jacob''
mt9h tcds out Of joint as he torestled Nth him.
ana ne sad, let me go, for the day bredketh,
ana ne sad, 1 toiH not Lt thee 90 except thou
o@ss me .'-Genesls xxxii., 24.26.
The dust arose from q travelling herd OF
cattle n sheep and goats and camels.
Ihey are the present that Jacob sends to gain
the good will OF his offended brother. That
night Jacob balts by the brook Jabbok. But
there is no rest for the weary man, no shining
ladder to let the angels down into his dream,
Dut 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 a touch
wrenches Jacobs thigh bone from its socket,
perhaps manning him for life. As on the
morning sky the clusters of purple cloud be-
gin to Iipen Jacob sees it is an angel with
wnom ne has been contending, and not one
OF his brothers coadjutors. "Let me co.
cries the angel, lifting himself up into in
ereasing light, "The day breaketh y
You see, In the first place, that God allows
good people sometimes to get into aterrisle
struggle. Jacob was a good man, but here
ne Is left alone In the midnight 10 wrestle
with q tremendous influence by the brook
Jabbok. For Joseph, a pit for Daniel, a
wild beast den for David, d"ethronement and
exile; for John the Baptist, a wilderness
diet and the ~executioner's ak for Peter, a
prison for Paul, shipwreck for John, DESC
late Patmos, for Vashti, most insulting
cruelty for Josephine, Punishment for Mrs.
Sigourney, the agony Of a drunkard's wife
Tor John Wesley, stones hurled by an infuri-
ated mob for Catherine, the Scotch girl. the
drowning surges of the sea- Sr Mr.. Burns,
the buffeting Of the Montreal ~populace for
John Brown, Of Edinburgh, the pistol shot
OF Lord Claverhouse /; for Hugh McKail, the
scaffold for Latimer, the stake; for Christ,
the cross. For whom the rocks, the gibbets,
the guillotines, the thumbscrews2 For the
sons and daughters OF the Lord God Ale
mighty. Some n said to a Christian re-
former, THE world is against you" 'Then,
he replied, 81 am against the world"
1 will go further and say that every Chris
tian has his struggle. This man had his
combat in Wall street this one on Broad
street this one on Fulton street this one on
chestnut street this n on State street /;
this one on Lombard street this one on the
oourse. With financial misfortune you nave
had the midnight wrestle. Redhot disasters
nave dropped into your store from loft to
cellar. What you bought you could not sell.
Whom you trusted fed. The help you ex-
peeted would not come. Some giant panic,
with long arms and grip like death, took
hold Of you in an awful wrestle from which
you have not yet escaped, and it is uncer-
sain whether it will throw you or you will
throw il.
Here is another soul In struggle with some
bad appetite. He knew not how stealthily
Il 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
sf my God, l must stop this!' And, behold,
he found himself alone by the brook Jab-
box, and 1t was midnight. That evil appe-
lite seized upon him, and he seized Upon 1t,
and, oh, the horror Of the conflict When
Dnce a bad habit has aroused itself up to de-
stroy q man and the man has sworn that, by
the help Of the eternal God, he will destroy
It, all heaven draws itself out in a long line
Of light to look from above, and hell
stretches itself in myrmidons OF spite to look
up from beneath. / have seen men rally
themselves for such a struggle, and they
have bitten their lips and clinched their
fists and cried, with a blood red earnest
ness and a rain Of scalding tears, "God
help mel"
From a wrestle with habit I have seen men
fall back defeated. Calling for no help, but
relying on their own resolutions, they have
come into the struggle, and for a time 1t
seemed us if they were getting the upper
hand OF their habit, but that habit rallied
again its Internal power and lifted q soul
from its standing, and with a force borrowed
from the pit hurled 1t into utter darkness.
First I saw the a~uctioneer's mallet fall on
the pictures and musical instruments and the
rich upholstery of his family parlor. After
awhile l saw him fall into the ditch. Then,
in the midnight, when the children were
dreaming their sweetest dreams and Chris
tian households are silent with slumber, an
gel watched, I heard him give the sharp
Shrek that followed the stab of his own
poniard. He fell from an hoDored social po-
sition he fell from a family circle Of which
once he was the grandest attraction he fell
from the house Of God, at whose alters he
had been eonsecrated he fell-foreyerl
But, thank God, I have often seen a better
termination than that.
I have seen men prepare themselves for
such a wrestling. They laid hold of Coils
help when they went into combat. The giant
habit. RECALLED by the cup OF many tempta-
tons, came out strong and defiant. They
clinched. There We're the writings an
distortions of n fearful struggle. But the
old giant began to WAIVER, and, at last, In tho
midnight alone, with none but God to Wit
ness, by the brook Jabbok, tho giant f@li.
and the triumphant wrestler broke the DARK.
ness with the cry, Thanks be unto God,
who glveth us the victory through our Lord
Jesus Christ" There is a widows hear
that first was desolated by bereavement and
since by the anxieties and trials that can't
in the support OF a family.
1t is a sad thing to see a man contendinc
for a livelihood under disadvantages, but TO
sec a delicate woman, with helpless little
ones at her back, fighting the giants OF poy.
aHfr- and oorrOvp Ia mnat affaafinr Ia
humble home, and passersby knew not that
within those four walls were displays Of
courage more admirable than those of Han
nibal crossing the Alps, or the pass OF Their
mopyle or Balaklava, where 'into tho Jaws
of death rode the six hundred"
These heroes had the whole world to cheer
them on, but there were none to applaud tho
struggle in the humble home. She fought fol
bread. for clothing, for fire, for shelter. with
strength, through the long night by the brook
Jabbok. Gould it be that none would give
her help? Had God forgotten to be gracious?
No, cohtending souli The midnight air Is
full of wings coming to the rescue. She
hears II now in the sough of the night wind.
in the ripple OF the brook Jabbok-the prom
Use made so long ago ringing down the sky.
''Thy fatherless children. l will preserve
them alive, and let thy widows trust in Me p
Some one said TO a very poor woman,
sHow Is 1t that in u distress you keep
~cheerful?' She said 81 do 1t by what I cali
cross prayers. When I had my rent to nav
and nothing to pay it with, and bread to buy
and nothing to buyit with, 1 used to sit down
and cry. But now I do not get discouraged,
If I go along the street, when I come TO a
corner Of the street I say. The Lord help
me- Then go on until I come to another
crossing of the street, and again I saw. sTbe
Lord help meP And SO I utter a PRAYER At
every crossing, and since I have got into the
habit Of saying these cross prayers I have
been able to keep up my courage"
Learn again from this subject that people
sometimes are surprised to find out that what
have been struggling with in the dark
ness is reallyHan fangel Of blessing" Jacob
In the morning that this stran,o ~