Democratic Northwest and Henry County news. [volume] (Napoleon, O. [Ohio]) 1894-1905, 1896-11-19
A SEVERE STRUGGLE.
REV. Or. TALMAoE ON WRESTLING
WITH THE SUPERNATURAL.

WASHINGTON, Nov. 15.-Out of this
itrange scene Of Bible times DR.. Talmage,
In his sermon today, draws remarkable
lessons of good cheer asd triumph. His
subject is "Wrestling With the Supernat-
ural" and the text Genesis xxi, 25, 90:
And when he saw that 10 prevailed not
ugainst him he touched the hollow of his
thigh, and the hollow Of Jacobs thigh
was out of joint as he wrestlcd with him.
And he said, Lot me go, for the day break
eth. And he Aaid, will not let thee go
except thou bless me.
There is a cloud Of dust from travelling
herd of cattle and sheep and goats and
oamels. 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 Sc
vere struggle that lasts until morning
with an unknown visitor. They each try
to throw the other. The unknown visitor,
to reveal his superior power, by touch
wrenches Jacobs thigh bone from its sock
ct, 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 him
self up into increasing light; "the day
breaketh.'
You see, In the first place, that God al
lows good people sometimes to get into a
terrible struggle. Jacob was good man,
but here he is left alone in the midnight to
wrestle with q. tremendous influence by
the brook Jabbok. For Joseph, pit; for
Daniel, wild beast den; for David, de-
thronement and exile; for John the Bap-
tist, a wilderness diet and the executioner' S
NIX; for Peter, o prison; for Paul, ship
wreck; for John, desolate Patmos; for
Christ, the cross. For whom the racks,
the gibbets, the prisons, the thumbscrews:
For the sons and daughters of the Lord
Almighty. Some one said to Christian
reformer, "The world is against you.
"Then," he replied, ~ am against the
world"
The Struggle.
will go further and say that every
Christian has his struggle With flnan-
cial misfortune 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 cx
pected would not come. Some giant panic
with long arms and grip like death, tool
hold of you in an awful wrestle from
which you have not yet escaped, and it IL
uncertain whether it will throw you cl
you will throw 1t. Here is another sou
in struggle with some bad appetite. HI
knew not how stealthily it was growing
upon him. One hour he woke up. HI
said, "For the sake of my soul, of my fam
lily, of my children and of my God mus
stop this" And behold he found himself
alone by the brook of Jabbok, and it wa!
midnight That evil appetite seized upor
him, and he seized upon it, and, oh, the
horror of the conflictl When once bat
habit hath reused itself up to destroy /
man, and the man has sworn that by tht
help of the eternal God he will destroy it
all heaven draws itself out in long line O.
light to look from above, and all hel
stretches itself in myrmidons of spite tt
look up from beneath. have seen mer
rally themselves for struggle, and they
have bitten their lip, and clinched theil
fist, and cried with blood red earnestnes
and rain of scalding tears, "God hell
me!''
From wrestle with habit l have seer
men fall back defeated. Calling for nj
help, but relying on their own resolu
tions they have come into the struggle
and for time it seemed as if they wert
getting the upper hand of their habit. Bu
that habit rallied again its Internal powe
and lifted the soul from its standing, ant
with a force borrowed from the pit hurled
1t into darkness.
But, thank God, have often seen bet
ter termination than this. I have seer
men prepare themselves for such wres
tling. They laid hold of Gods help a
they went into combat. The giant habit
regaled by the cup Of many designations
came out strong and defiant The.
clinched There were the writings ant
distortions of fearful struggle. But tn
old giant began to waver, and at last, il
the midnight alone, with none but God tt
witness, by the brook Jabbok, the gian
fell, and the triumphant wrestler brok
the darkness with the cry, Thanks be un
to God, who giveth us the victory, through
our Lord jesus Christ "
Humble Heroes.
There is widows heart that first wa
desolated by bereavement and since by tn
anxieties and trials that came in the sup
port of family. 1t is "a sad thing to Sc
man contending for livelihood unde
disadvantages, but to see delicate WON
an, with helpless little ones at her back
fighting the giants Of poverty and sorrow
is moro affecting. 1t was humble home
and passersby knew not that within thos
four walls were displays of courage NOR
admirable than that of Hannibal crossing
the Alps, or in the pass of Thermopyl@, 0
at Balaklava,. where "into the jaws o
death rcde the six hundred" These he
rces had the whole world to cheer then
on but there was no one to applaud tn
struggle in that humble home. Sh
fought for bread, for clothing, for fire, fo
shelter, with aching head and weak sid
and exhausted strength, through the loni
night by the brook Jabbok. Could it b
that none would give her helpP Had CO.
forgotten to be gracious? No, contendini
SOul u0 luluulSIlO ulI ~ lull VI wing
coming to the rescue. She hears it now
In the sough Of the night wind, In the rip
pie of the brook Jabbok, the promise mad
SO long ago, ringing down the sky, 9Th
fatherless children, l will preserve then
alive, and let thy widows trust in mel
Some one said to very poor woman
"How is it that in such distress you kee
cheerfulg" She said; II do it by what
call crossprayers. When had my rem
to pay and nothing 70 pay it with an
bread to buy and nothing to buy it with
used to sit down and cry. But now d
not get discouraged. If go along th
street, when l come to a corner of tn
street, / say Tho Lord help mep the
90 on until come to another crossing @
tho street, and again say, The Lord he'll
mel And so utter prayer at ever
crossing, and since l have got into th
habit of saying these cross prayers hav
been able to keep up my courage"
Learn again from this subject that pee
ple sometimes are surprised to find ou