The Camden chronicle. (Camden, Tenn.) 1890-current, 1903-01-16

AN ELOQUENT DISCOURSE ENTITLED
"A CHANGED NAME"


Some Comforting Lessons From tho
Story OF tile Angel ana Jacob-Every
Act shapes Our Character ana Name.
New YoRE CrY.-The following ser.
mon, entitled "a Changed Name has
been furnished for publication by she dis
Hngushed and eloquent evangelist, the
Kew, DIR. j. Wilbur Chapman. 10 was
preached from the text: And he said unto
Nun, What Is thy name? And he said
Jacob " Genesis 3D. %,
This is an angels question to q man
from whose embrace he was trying IN
every possible manner 10 break away.
Locked together after the manner OF an
Gent wrestiers they bend first this way
and then that, and the angel cries, Let
me CO. 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
and supplanted his brother, but he might
have said at another time, my name is Re
yeaer, 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
stu another occasion, my name is Teacher,
Tor under his tuition we have made a 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 for
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 a singular
question in the text, for in the olden days
a name was given not merely to crafty the
passing Whim of the parents, nor for the
sake Of euphOny, but because of charaC-
ter; a mans character was his name and
his name was his character. A changed
name indicates a 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
shalt call His name Jesus because He shall
save His people from their sins, and He 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. It 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 a SOL
emn thought that every act as we'll 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 il
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 hveliest religious litera-
ture and are themselves a by-word, which
have given to US the livehest ideals in life
| and are themselves an object of Tidicule /;
that people which have supplied the
worlds greatest characters, for Paul was a
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. The
furnace was heated seven times hotter than
it was won't to be heated, but he comes
/ purified. He IS very much like ourselves,
too, and for that reason is interesting.
Abraham was a hero, Moses great leader
OF men, Elijah was prophet, David was a
king. All of these men discourage us.with
their greatness, but Jacob was plain
I 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 ap.
| peal to us. Where is there the man who
| has not had his Bethel, giving him views Of
heaven and permitting him to hear the
voice Of God. His sorrows appeal to US;
/ in his limping away from Jabboll's ford il
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 a great comfort al
the end to see him coming forth more
! than conquerOr, which leads me to say
that there is hope for every one.
I.
''What is thy name, and he said Jacob. ,
Look at him by his fathers side as he de
ceives the old man in his blindness, telling
him that he is Esau when he is Jacob, anC
the old father saying to him the voice il
the voice of Esau, but the hands do no
belong to him. How he must have trem
bled. / can see his face get white and heal
his heart beat quickly. What if Coo
should strike him dead as he stands in thu
presence of the old patriarch? In thi
! part of his history | learn that one sill
leads to another. We cannot commit
single sin and stop with that.
M. Sturgeon used to tell of the kin
who commanded his subject to make
chain Of three links, and then told him t.
make it longer and still longer, and witt
the chain bound him and cast him int
prison. How like unto Satan that is
Graces and vice go with linked hands. Nc
tice in Paul's Epistle to the Galatians con
corning the works Of the flesh, Galatian
5: 1921, "Now the works Of the flesh ar
manifest, which are these Adultery, fol-
nication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, lido
fg ratb strife a sedons emIu