The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-11-16
MIDNIGHT WRESTLING MATCH.
TALMAGE ON JACOBS STRUGGLE
WITH THE SUPERNATURAL.

Terrible StrugEIeS-EVery Chris
tian Has His StruEgIe-Men OFTEN
Fall Back Defeated in "a Wrestle
with Habit-The Giant of TemPta-
ton Overcome in Many "a MidniGh
struEgIe-PrOsperit Kills and
Trouble Saves-Dcath n WrestIe
and Struggle TO All Mankind.
Washington. Nov. 15.-Out of this
strange scene of Bible times DR. Talmage,
in his sermon to-day. draws remarkable
lessons Of good cheer and triumph. His
subject is: wrestling With the Super
natural" and the text: Genesis 1920 %,
"And when he saw that he prevailed not
against him, he touched the hollow of his
thigh; and the hollow of Jacobs thigh
was out of joint as he wrestled with
him. And he said, Let me so, for the
day breaketh. And he said, l will not
let thee go except thou bless me-"
There is a cloud of dust from trav-
cling herd of cattle, and sheep, and goats,
and camels. They are the present that
Jacob sends to gain the goodwill 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 severe struggle, that lasts until
morning with an unknown visitor. They
each try to throw the other. The I'M
known visitor, to reveal his superior pow
er. by touch wrenches Jacobs thigh
bone from its socket, perhaps manning
him for life. AS on the morning sky the
clusters of purple cloud begin to ripen,
Jacob sees it 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 increas-
Ing light, the day breaketh."
You see, in the first place, that God
allows good people sometimes to get into
a terrible struggle. Jacob was a good
man; but here he is left alone in the mid
night to wrestle with a tremendous in
huence by the brook Jabbok. For Joseph,
pit; for Daniel, wild beast den; for
David, dethronement and exile; for John
the Baptist. a wilderness diet and the
executioner's ak; for Peter, a prison; for
Paul. shipwreck; for John, desolate Pat
mos; for Christ, the cross. For whom
the racks, the gibbets, the prisons, the
thumbscrews? For the sons and daugh-
tiers of the Lord Almighty. Some one said
to a Christian reformer: '"The world is
against you" Then" he replied, Il am
against the world"
l will go further, and say that every
Christian has his struggle. With financial
misfortune some of you have had the mid
night wrestle. Red-hot disasters have
dropped into your store from loft to cell
lar. What you bought you could not sell.
Whom you trusted fed. The help you ex-
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 it was growing upon him One
hour he woke up. He said, For the sake
of my soul. of my family, of my children,
and of my God, l must stop thisr And
behold, he found himself alone, by the
brook of Jabbok; and it was midnight.
That evil appetite seized upon him, and he
seized upon it; and oh, the horror of the
conflict! When once a bad habit hath
reused itself up to destroy a 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 all hell stretches it
self in myrmidons of spite to look up from
beneath. l have seen men rally themselves
for struggle: and they have bitten their
lip, and clenched their fist, and cried with
a blood-red earnestness, and a rain of
scalding tears, God help mel"
From wrestle with habit, ! have seen
men fall back defeated. Calling for no
help. bat relying on their own resolutions,
they have come into the struggle; and for
a time it seemed as If they were getting
habit rallied again its internal power, and
lifted the soul from its standing, and with
force borrowed from the pit, hurled it
into outer darkness.
But, thank God, / have often seen
better termination than this. / have seen
men prepare themselves for such a wrest-
ling. They laid hold of Gods help as
they went into combat. The giant habit,
RECALLED by the cup of many designations,
came out strong and defiant. They
clenched There We're the writings and
distortions of fearful struggle But the
old giant began to waver; and at last, in
the midnight. alone, with none but God to
witness, by the brook Jabbok, the giant
fell; and the triumphant wrestler broke
the darkness with the cry: Thanks be
unto God, who giveth us the victory,
through our Lord Jesus Christi
There is a Widows heart, that first was
the anxieties and trials that came in the
support of a family. 1t is a sad thing to
see a man contending for a livelihood I'M
der disadvantages; but to see a delicate
woman, with helpless little ones at her
back, fighting the giants of poverty and
sorrow, is more affecting. 1t was a humble
home; and passers-by knew not that with
in those four walls were displays of cour-
age more admirable than that of Hannibal
crossing the Alps, or in the Pass of Their
mOpylae, or at 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 that 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 brook Jabbok. Could it be
that none would give her help? Had God
forgotten TO be gracious? No! contending
soul. The midnight air is full of wings
coming to the rescue. She hears it now. In
the sough of the night wind, in the ripple
OF the brook Of Jabbok, the promise made
so long ago, ringing down the sky; Thy
fatherless children, L will preserve them
alive; and let thy widows trust in mel!
Some one said to a very poor woman
Glow Is II that in such distress you xeeI
cheerful" She said. Il do it by what ]
call cross prayers. When had my rent tC