St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1896-12-19
TALMAGE'S SERMON.
4 Discourse Upon "Wreotling with
the Supernatural"


Christ,s KiagAoa.
Rev. T. Dewitt TalmaRe delivered the
following discourse before his Wash
ington congregation on the subject:
'Wrestling with the Supernatural"
taking for his text:
And when he saw tkst he prevailed not
against Him, he touched the hollow OF his
thigh; and the hollow Of Jacobs thigh Wss out
Of Joint Is he wrestled with him: And he said
Let me 60. for the day breaketh. And he said.
will not let Thee 60 except thou bless me-
Gensis. xxxii, 1-3A
There Il cloud Of dust from trav-
cling herd of cattle. and the sheep. and
the goats, and camela They are tho
present that Jacob sends to gain the
good will Of his offended brother.
That night Jacob halts by the brook
Jabbok. But there Il no rest for the
weary man. No shining ladder to let
the angels down into his dream; but
severe struggle that lasts until morn
ing, with an unknown visitor. They
each try to throw the other. The un-
known visitor, to reveal his superior
power, by . teach wrenches Jacobs
thigh bone from its socket. perhaps
manning him for,life. A. ON the morn
ing sky the clusters Of purple cloud
begin to ripen, Jacob sees It IL IN
angel with whom he has been contend
ing, and not one Of his brothers eoad-
jntora LET me 60" erica the angel,
lifting himself mp into increasing
light. 'the day breaksth.
You see In the first place that God
allows good people tsometimes to get
into = terrible struggle. Jacob was .
good man, but here he 10 left alone in
the midnight to wrestle with ire
mendous influence BY the brook Jab-
box. For Joseph, = pit; by Daniel, .
wild beast den; for David, dethrone-
mert and exile; for John the Baptist.
. wilderness diet and the executioner's
ax; for Peter, > prison; for Paul, ship
wreck: for John. desolate Patmos; for
Christ, the cross. For whom the racks,
the gibbets, the prisons. the thumb
screws? For the sons and daughters
of the Lord Almighty. Some ono said
to . Christian reformer: 1.-The world
il against YOU" ''Then," he replied,
Il am against the world.
Twill 70 further. and say that every
Christian has his struggle. With fnan.
e,al misfortune some Of you have had
the midnight wrestle. Red-hot dis
asters have dropped into your store
from loft to cellar. What you bought
you could not SELL Whom you trusted.
ned. 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 it 10 nm
certain whether 1t will throw you, or
you will throw it. Hero Is another
soul, in struggle with some bad sppe.
tite. 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 this" Aud
behold, he found himself alone, by the
brook of Jabbok; and it was mid.
night That evil appetite seized upon
him, and he seized upon it; and oh. the
horror Of the conflict. When once =
bad habit hath reused itself MP to de-
stroy q man, and the man has sworn
that, by the help Of the eternal God,
he will destroy it. al Heaven draws
itself out in = long line of light, to
look from above, and all hell stretches
itself in myrmidons Of spite to look up
from beneath. have seen men rally
themselves for struggle; and they
have bitten their lip. and clenchsd
their 6sts, and cried with . blood-red
earnestness, and . rain Of scalding
tears: ''God help mel"
From . wrestle with habit, have
seen men fall back defeated. Calling
for NO help, but relying on their own
resolutions, they have come into the
struggle; and for . time it seemed n
il they were getting the upper hand
Of their habit; but that habit rallied
again its internal power, and lifted
the soul from its stands. 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
. wrestling. They laid hold of Gods
help - they went into combat The
giant habit, RECALLED by tho cup OF
many descriptions. came out strong
and defiant They clenched. There
were 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 10
the victory. through our Lord Jesus
Christ"
There u . widows heart, that first
was desolated BY bereavement, and
since. by the anxieties aud trials that
came in the support Of family. 1t II
Q sad thing to see . man cOntending
for ! livelihood under disadvantages;