The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1894-05-16
REV. DIR. TALMAGE
THE BROOKLYN DIvINE,s SUM-
y DAY SERMON.
Subjects tsThe Spiritual Conflicts oz
Life.o

I TEXT: "Ani Jacob ras left alone. and
there ,orestled man 'eita hinl until the 6TedG>
ing of the day. And ,ohen he sa,o that he pre-
tudtled not against him he touched the hot
loso Of his thigh, and the hollo,p Of Jacobs
hsgs 1as ont Of joint as he 'crestled ,esM hsn2-
And he said, Let me 90. for the day bredketh-
And he said, I aoiH not let thee go except ho1
bless me."-Genesis xxxii., 1926.
! The dust arose from travelling herd Of
cattle and sheep and goats and camels-
They are the present that Jacob sends to gain
the good Will of his offended brother. That
might Jacob balts by the brook Jsbbok. 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 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 ripen Jacob sees 1t Is an angel with
whom he has been contending, and not one
OF his brothers coadjutors. "Let me Co."
cries the angel, lifting himself up into In
creasing light, "The day breaketh"
b You see, In the first place, that God allows
good people sometimes to get into aterrible
struggle. Jacob was q good man. but here
he ts left alone In the midnight to wrestle
with q tremendous influence BY the brook
Jabbok. For Joseph, pit; for Daniel, 8
wild beast den ;for David, dethronement and
exile; for John the Baptist, a wilderness
diet and the executioner's ak; for Peter,
prison /; for Paul, shipwreck for John, desc
late Patmos; for Vashti, most insulting
cruelty for Josephine, banishment; for Mrs.
Eigourney, the agony Of drunkard's wife, ,
Tor John Wesley, stones hurled by an infuri-
nted mob for Catherine, the Scotch girl. the
drowning surges OF the sea for Mr.. Burns,
The buffeting Of the Montreal populace {; for
John Brown, OF Edinburgh. the pistol shot
of Lord Claverhouse for Hugh McKau, the
sca1old !; for Latimes, the stake; for Christ,
the cross. For whom the rc cks, the eibbets,
the guillotines, the thumbscrews? For the
sons and daughters Of the Lord God Al-
mighty. Some one said to Christian re.
former, "The world Is against you. ''Then,@
he replied, "I am against the world"
\ win 90 further and say that every Chris
han 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 one on State street /;
this one on Lombard street this one on the
bourse. With financial misfortune you have
had the Midnight wrestle. Redhot disasters
have dropped into your store from loft to
cellar. What you bought you could not sell.
Whom you trusted fed. The help you e1-
pected 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-
tain whether It will throw you or you will
throw It.
Here is another soul In struggle with some
bad appetite. He knew not how stealthily
& was growing upon him. One hour he
woke up. He said, 'For the sake of my
soul, Of my family, and Of nv children, and
of my God, must stop this!' And, behold,
he found himself alone by the brook Jab-
box, and IL was midnight. That evil appe-
tite seized upon him, and he seized upon 1t,
and. oh, the horror Of the conflict! When
once bad habit has aroused itself up to de-
stroy man and the man has sworn that, by
the help OF the eternal God, he will destroy
it, all heaven draws itself out in long line
of light to look from above, and hell
stretches itself In myrmidons OF spite to look
up from beneath. I have seen men rally
themselves for such struggle, and they
have bitten their lips and clinched their
fists and cried, with q blood red earnest.
mess and q rain Of scalding tears, "God
help mel"
From a wrestle with habit have seen men
hall back defeated. Calling for no help, bur
reiying on'their own resolutions, they nave
come into the struggle, and for time 1t
seemed ash they were getting the upper
hand OF their. habit, but that habit rallied
again its internal power and lifted a soul
fotn It's standing, and with a force borrowed
from the pit hurled 1t into utter darkness.
First saw the auctioneer's mallet fall on
the pictures and musical instruments sndths
lxich upholstery OF his family parlor. After
bn 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 honored social po-
sition he fell from family circle OF which
once he was the grandest attraction he fell
from the house OF God, at whose alters ne
had been consecrateu he fell-forever
But, thank God, have often seen better
termination than that.
hare seen men prep !rs themselves fos
such wrestling. They laid hold o. Gods
help when they went into combat. The giant
habit, regaled By the cup OF many tsmpt,>-
lions, came out strong an1 defiant. Taey
eiincaed. There We're the writings and
= distortions OF q fearful struggle. But ths
old giant began to waver, al Il, at last, in the
midnight alone, with nole our Goi TO wit
ness, BY the brook JaoOoi, tho giaur fell,
and the trump liant wrestler brois ths dark
WV
who siveth Us tine victory through our Lord
Jesus Christi There is a widows heart
that first was desoIated by bereavement and
since by the anxieties aud trials that came
In the support Of family.
Il Is sad thing to see q man contendin2
for livelihood under Disadvantages. but to
see delicate woman, with helpless little
ones at her back, fighting the giants of pow
erty and sorrow, Is most affecting. It WAS q
humble home, and passersby knew not that
within those four walls were displays o
courage more admirable than those Of Han-
nibal crossing the Alps, or the pass OF Their
mopylB or Balaklava. where "into the jaws
of death rode the six hundred"
These heroes had the whole world to cheer
them on, but there were none to applaud the
struggle In the humble home. She fought fol
bread. for clothing, for fire, for shelter, with
aching head, and weak side. and exhausted
strength, through the lonS night BY the broob
Jabbos. Could IT be thar none would gfvf
her help? Had God forgotten to be gracious:
No. cohtending soul! The midnight air Is
full OF wings coming to the rescue. She
hears It now in the sough of the night wind,
ise made so long ago ringing dowa the sky,
"Thy fathexless children. I will preservi
them alive, and let thy widows trust in lie ~
Some one said TO very poor woman
t'How is It that in such distress you keep
cheerful?" She said II do 1t by what cal
cross prayers When I had my rent to pay
and nothing to pay 1t With, and bread to buy
and nothing to buy it with. used to sit down
and cry. But now I do not get discouraged.
III 80 along the street. when I come to a
corner Of tho street I say. 'The Lord helr
me. / tnen 10 on uutii come to another
crossing of the street, and again I say, the
Lord help .men Ani so uttera prayer at
every crossing, and since have got into the
habit Of saying these 'cfoss prayers have
been able to keep up my courSge.'
Learn AGAIN from this suhiact that Iaa0nlf,