Catoctin clarion. [volume] (Mechanicstown, Md.) 1871-1940, 1902-12-04
"A CHANGED NAME"
An ELOQUENT Sermon by Rev. DR.. j.
Wilbur Chapman.
Some Comforting Lessons From the Story OF
the Angel and Jacob-Every Act
Shapes Our Character and
Name.

preached from tne te&t: Anu Tic saiu UNIV
Jacob" Genesis 80: 81.
This is an angels question to man
from whose embrace he was trying in
every possible manner to break away.
Locked together after the manner of an
| cient wresters they bend first this way
and then that, and the angel cries, Let
me go, for the day breaketh." Jacob re.
| spends, II will not let thee go except thou
bless me- and then the words Of the text
were spoken. And he said unto him,
What is thy name? And he said jacob"
/ Jacob might have answered the question
in different ways at different times. He
might well have said at one time. my name
is Jacob. for he had deceived his father
have said at another time, my name is Re
vcaler, for he has given us vision OF the
open heaven. In his dream we have heard
the voice of God. He might have said on
still another occasion, my name Is Teacher,
for under his tuition we have made pill.
grimage into the deep things of God, and
he could truly have said as he came to the
end of his career, my name Is Israel, tor
as a prince he had power with God and
with men had prevailed. You will notice
the divine order. power with God first and
with men afterward Oh that we might
soon learn that the way to influence earth
is by the way of heaven. 1t is singular
question in the text. for in the oldcn days
Il name was given not merely to crafty the
passing whm of the parents, nor for the
sake of cuphony, but because of charac..
ter; mans character was his name and
| his name was his character. A changed
name indicates changed character. Abram
in the Old Testament is changed to Abra-
ham as he steps into closer fellowship with
God. Saul of Tarsus, became Paul. the
apostle, after the heavenly vision. Thou
| e1,1 Iie
save His people from their sins, and lie IS
Emmanuel, which signifies God with us. 1t
is, a most singular question, what is thy
name in the sight of God. He certainly
knows what it is. 1t is said that our
names are written on the palms of His
hands; that they are also written in the
Lambs Book OF Life, but what name?
Hardly the name given to you by your
mother, but rather the name that you
have made for yourself under the direction
! of God, by your patience. by your meek
ness, your brotherly kindness. 1t is n SOL
emn thought that every act as well as
every word in shaping the, character and
the name by which we shall be known
throughout eternity.
This story of the change of Jacobs name
is interesting. | do not forget that he
lived 1900 years before Christ. but still it
is interesting for the reason that human
nature has always been the same. Inter
esting. too. because he was a typical jew.
His life was the life OF Israel in epitome;
that people found in every country and be.
longing to none: that people which have
supplied to us the liveliest religious htera-
ture and are themselves a by-word, which
have given to us the liveest ideals in life
and are themselves an object of ridicue;
that people which have supplied the
worlds greatest characters, for Paul was
jew and Jesus was a jew. If you under
stand Jacob YOU will understand the jew
always. but while he began as a supplanter
his character was purified at the last. Tho
furnace was heated seven times hotter than
| it was wont to be heated, but he comes
purified. He is very much like ourselves,
| too. and for that reason Is interesting.
Abraham was hero, Moses great leader
of men. Elijah was pronhet. David was
| king All of these men discourage us with
their greatness, but Jacob was a plain
man dwelling in tents. We find our like.
ness in Peter in the New Testament. and
in this man Jacob in the Old Testament.
! His feelings appeal to us, for whether we
will acknowledge it or not his sins are in
us in germ whether we have permitted
| them to develop or not: his aspirations aD'
peal to us. Where is there the man who
has not had his Eethel giving him views OF
heaven and permitting him to hear the
voice of God, His sorrows appeal to us;
in his limping away from Jabbok's ford. in
his sorrow at the lonely grave where his
beloved Rachel was buried. and in his
agony over his lost Joseph many of uS have
the deepest sympathy because we ourselves
have suffered, but it is great comfort at
the end to see him coming forth more
than Conqucror, which leads me to say
that there is hope for every one.
"What is thy name, and he said jacob"
aft m nv fat
ceives the old man in his blindness, telling
him that he is Esau when he is Jacob, and
the old father saying to him the voice Is
the voice of Esau. but the hands do not
belong to him. How he must have trem'
bled. | can see his face get white and hear
his heart beat quickly. What II God
should strike him dead as he stands IN the
presence OF the old patriarch? in this
part of his history | learn that one sin
| leads to another. We cannot commit
single sin and stop with that.
NJ. Spurgeon used to tell of the king
who commanded his subject to make
chain of three links, and then told him to
make it longer and still longer, and with
the chain bound him and cast him into
prison. How like unto Satan that is.
Graces and vice go with linked hands. No
tice in Paurs Epistle to the Galatians con
corning the works Of the flesh, Galatians
| 5: 1921, "Now the works of the flesh are
manifest, which are these: Adultery, for
nication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idol
airy, withcratt, hatred, variance, .emula'
tons, wrath, strife, sedtions, heresies, en-
wings, murders, drunkenness, revelings
and such like, of the which l tell you be.
fore, as | have also told you in time past,
that they which do such things shall not
inherit the kingdom Of God And also
notice his description of the fruit of the
spirit. Galatians 5: 1928 But the fruit OF
,,,t -, lana ffar
ing, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness,
| Temperance; against such there is no law"
Yet this man who deceived his father and
defrauded his brother became a prince.
What is thy name? | put the question to
you, and if vou answer correctly some
would say. My name is Impotence, or
mine is unkindness, or mine is selfshness,
or mine is pride, for these are the domin
ant factors in our character. | bid you
take hope this morning because your name
may be changed.
What is thy name? and he might have
said Reveaer. | can see him as he hurries
away from his old home when his mother
told him of the just anger of Esau, and |
behold him fleeing to the north, The night
comes quickly upon him, and he lands
upon certain place and tarries there all
night. and this place is Bethel 1t is bleak
and barren. His only pillow is the stones
about him, and as he falls upon the ground
he sleeps and as he sleeps he dreams, and
in this dream he beholds the ladder which
leads me to say that earth has always
been linked to heaven, not with golden
chain as the poet sings, not with the silken
cords of gravtation as the scientist de.
clares, these certainly, hut before. all OF
these heaven united in Him who became
incarnate 1900 years ago. The interesting
thing to me about this ladder is that it
reaches down just where we are. 1t may
be we are in poverty, possibly in suffering,
perhaps in despair, but the ladder is Just
before us. Bring your burdens to the foot
of it. and let the ascending angels bear