The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1896-12-02
REV. DIR. TALMAGE..
SUNDAYS DISCOURSE BY THE
! NOTED DIVINE. =.
Subject: "Wrestlinx With the Su-
pernatural."

TEXT: "And when he saw that he prevailed
thigh. and the hollow OF jacobs thigh was
out OF joint as he wrestled with him. And
he said, Let me 90. for the day breaketh.
And he said. | will not let thee 60 except
thou tless me."-Genesis xxxii., 25, 26.
There is cloud OF dust from a travelling
herd OF cattle and sheep and goats and
eamels. 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 severe
struggle that lasts until morning with an un.
known visitor. They each try to throw the
other. The unknown visitor, to reveal his
superior power, by a touch wrencbes 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 1t is an angel With whom he has
been contending and net one OF his brothers
coadjutors. "Let me- CO." cries the angel,
lifting himself up into Increasing Light; "the
day breaketh."
You see, in the first place, that God allows
| good people sometimes to get Into a terrible
struggle. Jacob was good man. but here
he is left alone in the midnight to wrestie
with tremendous influence by the brook
Jabbok. For Joseph, pit: for Daniel, q
wild beasts den; for David, ,dethronernent and
| exile; for John the Baptist. wilderness diet
and the executioners az; for Peter, prison:
for Paul, shipwreck; for John. desolate Pat
| mos; for Christ, the CROSS. For wnom the
racks, the gibbets. the prisons, the thumb
| screws2 For the sons and daughters of the
Lord Almighty. Some one said to Christian
retormer, 1.-THE world Is against you."
Then" he replied, 81 am against the
| world"
| will 60 further and say that every Chris
tan has his struggle. With financial mis-
fortune some Of 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 expected 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 1t Is uncertain whether
1t 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
thisr' And behold he found himself alone
by the brook of Jabbok, and 1t was mid
nighr. That evil appetite seized upon him,
and hs seized upon It. and. oh, the horror Of
the conflict When once bad habit hath
reused itself up to destroy man, and the
man has sworn that by the help OF the eter-
nal God he will destroy 1t, all heaven draws
itself out In long line OF light to look from
above, and all hell stretches itself in
I have seen men rally themselves for a
struggle, and they have bitten their lip, and
clinched their fist, and cried with blood
red earnestness and a rain scalding tears,
"God help mel" T.. .
From wrestle with habit have seen men
fall back deie8te1. Calling for no help, but
relying on their own resolutions, they have
come into the struggle, and for time It
seemed as II they were getting the upper
hand OF their habit. But that habit rallied
again its internal power and lifted the soul
from its standing, and with q force borrowed
from the pit hurled II into darkness.
But, thank God. ! have often seen better
Termination than this. I have seen men
prepare themselves for such wrestling.
They laid hold of Gods help as they went
tocombat. The giant habit, RECALLED by
the cup Of many designations, came out
strong and defiant. They clinched. There
were the writings and distortions OF fear
full struggle. But the old giant began to
waver, and at last, in the midnight alone,
with none but GOO to witness, by the brook
wrestler broke the darkness 18th the cry,
"rhanks be unto God, who giveth US the
victory, through our Lord Jesus Christ. y
There Is q widows heart tnat first was
desolated by berea vement and since by the
anSieties and trials that came in the support
OF a family. 1t isa sad thing to see man
contending for 4 livelihood under dlsadvan-
tages, but to see delicate woman, with
helpless little ones at her back, fighting the
giants Of poverty and sorrow is more
affecting. It was humble home, and
passersby knew not that within those four
walls were displays OF courage more admir-
able than that OF Hannibal crossing
the Alps, ordn the pass OF Thermopyla, or
at Balaklava, where lint the jaws OF death
rode the six hundred." These heroes had
the whole world to cheer them on, but there
was no one TO applaud the struggle In that
humble home. She fought for bread. for
clothing. for fire. for shelter. with aching
head anil weak side and exhausted strength.
through the long night by the brook Jabbok.
Could it be that none would give her help2
Had God forgotten to be gracious? No. con-
tending soul. The midnight air is full OF
wings coming to the rescue. She hears 1t
now. In the souRh Of the night wind, In the
ripple OF the brook Ja6bok, the promise
made 30 long ago, ringing down the sky.
''Thy fatherless children, I will preserve
them alive, and let thy widows trust In mel"
Some one said to a very poor woman, How
is it that in such distress you keep cheerful2"
She said: II do 1t by what call cross pray
rrs. When had my rent to pay aud moth
ing to pay It with and bread to buy and moth
ing to buy 1t with. used to sit down and
cry. But now do not get discouraged. II
I ,lp bG. NH T n
ner OF the street. suy 'The Lord help mel
then 90 on until come to another cross
ing OF the street, and again Isay, The Lord
help mel! And so utter prayer at every
crossing. and since have got into the habit
Of saying these cross prayers l have been
able to keep up my courage"
Learn again from this subject that people
sometimes are surprised to flnd out that
what they have been struggling with in the
darkness is really an 'angel OF blessing"
Jacob found in the morning that this
strange parsonage vas not an enemy, but n
God dispatched messenger to promise pros
perity for him and for his children. And so
many man at the close OF his trial has
found out that he has been trying 10 throw
down his own blessing. II you are a
Christian man. l will 90 back in your his
tory and find that the grandest things that
have ever happened to YOU have been your
trials Nothing short of scourging, i'm
prisonment and shipwreck could have made
Paul what he was. When David was fleeing
through the wilderness, pursued by his own
sou. he WIS being prepared to become the
SWEET singer Of Israel. The pit and the
dungeon were the best schools at which
Joseph ever graduated. The hurricane that
upset the tent and killed Jobs children pre-
pared tho man OF Cz to be the subject OF the
magnificent poem that Aas astoundei the
ages. There Is no way to get the wheat out
Of the straw but TO thrash il. There is no
way to purify the gold but to burn it. Look
at the people who have always had 1t their
own way. They are proud. scontented,
use .ess aud unhappy. If you want 10 find
cheerful folk. go among those who have been