Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1889-09-30
Dr.. Talmage Draws a Strong Picture
of What Ruined Samson,
WITH ITS MODERN APPLICATIONS.
Good WOmens Wonderful Influence, and
Bad Ones, Contrasted.
HOPE is EASILY SHORN OF ITS LOCKS

d., gave out the hymn:
So let our lips and lives express
The holy gospel We profess;
So let our works and virtues shine
To prove the doctrine all divine.
The subject OF DR.. Talmage's sermon was
''The shorn locks of Samson" He tooksfo
his text Judges xvi, 5: "Entice him anC
see wherein his great strength lieth, and b,
what means we may prevail against him
that we NAV bind hIm to affiict him; anC
we viii give thee every one of us !, ,1O(
pieces of silver" The sermon was as tol
lows:
One thousand pounds, or about s., 900 ot
our money, were thus offered for the capture
OF giant 1t would take a skiliful pho
tographist to picture Samson as he really
was. The most facile words are not supple
enough to describe him. He was giant
and child; the conqueror and the defeated;
able to snap a lions jaw, and yet captured
by the sigh of maiden. He was ruler and
slave; a commingling of virtue and vice,
the sublime and the ridiculous; sharp
enough to make a good riddle, and vet
weak enough to be caught in the most su-
perfcial stratagem; honest enough to settle
his debt, and yet outrageously robbing some
body else to get the material to pay it; a
miracle and a scoffing; a crowning glory
and a burning shame. There he stands,
looming up above other men, a mountain of
flesh; his arms punched with muscle that
can lift the gate of a city, taking an atti-
rude defiant OF armed men and wild beasts.
His hair had never been cut, and it rolled
down in seven great Llaits over his shoul-
ders. adding to his tierceness and terror.
The Philistines want to conquer him, and
therefore they must find out where the Sc
cret of his strength lies.
DELILAH's DEADLY AGENCY.
There is a woman living in the valley of
Sorek by the name of Delilah. They ap-
point her the agent in the case. The Phil
istines are secreted in the same building,
and then Delilah goes to work and coaxes
Samson to tell what is the secret of his
strength. "Well, /" he saws, ''if you should
take seven green withes, such as they fasten
wild beasts with, and put them around me,
1 should be perfectly powerless." So she
binds him with the seven green withes.
Then she claps her hands, and says, ''They
come-the Philistinesi' and he walks out
as though there were no impediment.
She coaxes him again, and says, Now
=
and he replies, ''If you should take some
ropes that have never been used, and tie me
with them, should be just like other men,"
she ties him with the ropes, clasps her
ma ds and shouts, "They come-the Philis-
tines" He walks out as easily as he did
before-not single obstruction
She coaxes him again, and he SAYS:
'NoT, if you should take these seven long
plaits of hair, and by this house loom weave
I
So the house loom is rolled up and the shut
tie flies backward and forward, and the long
plaits OF hair are woven into a web. Then
sic clasps her hands and says, ''They comel
the Philistinesr'
He walks out as easily as he did before,
dragging part OF the loom with him. But
after awhile she persuades him to tell the
truth. He says: eff you should take a
razor or shears and cut of this long hair 1
should be powerless and in the hands of my
enemies"
Samson sleeps, and, that she might not
wake him during the process of shearing.
help is called in. You know that the bar
bers of the East have such skillful way of
manipulating the head, to this very day
. they will put a man, wide awake, sound
asleep.
PICTURE OF THE PROCESS.
1 hear the blades of the shears grinding
sgainst each other, and see the long locks
falling off. The shears or razor, accom-
plishes what green withes and new ropes
and house loom could not do. Suddenly
she claps her hands and says: ''The Philis-
tines be upon thee, Samsonp He rouses
up with a struggle, but his strength is all
gonel He is in the hands Of his enemiesl
I hear the groan of the giant as they take
his eyes out, and then l see him staggering
nm in his hlindOpSc fnplinu his xrau ha
goes on toward GAIA, The prison door is
opened and the giant is thrust in. He sits
down and puts his hands on the mill crank,
which, with exhausting horizontal motion,
goes dav after day, week after week, month
after month-work, work, workl The con-
sternalion of the world in captivity, his
locks shorn, his eyes punctured, grinding
corn in GAIA. In g previous sermon on this
character 1 learned some lessons, but an
other class of lessons are before us now.
Learn first how very strong people are
sometimes coaxed into great imbecilities
Samson had no right to reveal the secret of
his strength. Delilah's first attempt to find
out is failure. He saws: Screen withes
will bind me-" but 1t was a failure. Then
he says, "a new rope will hold me, % but
that also was a failure. Then he saws
"Weave my locks into a web and that will
bind me, yet that also was failure. But
Unimportant actions in life that involve no
moral principle may without injury be sub
jected to ardent persuasiOns, but as soon as
YOU have come to the line that separates
right from wrong, no inducement or bland
ishrent ought to make you step over it.
AN ILLUSTRATION OR TWO.
Suppose a man has been brought up in
Christian household and taught sacredly to
observe the Sabbath. Sunday comes; you
want fresh air. Temptation saws, Sunday
is just like other days; now don't be bigoted;
we will ride forth among the works OF God;
the whole earth is his temple; we viii not
90 into any designations; come, now, have
the carriage engaged and we shall be back
soon enough to go to church in the evening;
don't weld to Puritanic notions; you will
be no worse for ride in the country; the
blossoms are out and they say everything is
looking glorious "Well 1 will 90 to
please you," is the response. And out
they 90 over the street, conscience drowned !
in the clatter OF the swift boots and the rush |
of the resounding wheels. That tempted |
man may have had moral character enough |
10 break the green withes of 10000 Philis- |
tine allurements but he has been overcome |
by coaxing.
Two young men passing down this street |
oome opposite drinking saloon with a red |
lantern hung out from the door to light men |
10 perdition. Let us 60 in" says one. |
"No, won't" saws the other; 81 never 90 |
TO such places" Now, you don't say YOU |
are as weak as that Why, / have been !
going there for two years and it hasn't hurt |
me. Come, come now, be man. If you
can't stand anything stronger, take a little
cherry You need IN tho xrorld If ie