Abilene weekly reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1888-1935, 1889-10-10
THE TEMPTER'S POWER.
Dr.. Talmage Discourses on the
Temptations of Life.
The Strong as Liable to Fail as the Weak
The Influence of Woman For Good or
Eul-A Warning Against I'm
pure Lives.


Shorn Locks of Samson" His text was
from Judges. xvi, 8: "Entice him and see
wherein his great strength lieth, and by
what means we may prevail against him,
that we may blind him to sffict him, and
we will give thee every one OF US eleven
hundred pieces of silver" He said:
One thousand pounds, or about 50. 900 Of
our money. were thus offered for the cap
ture of a giant 1t would take q skillful
photographer to picture Samson as he
really was. The most facile words are
not supple enough to describe him. he
was a giant and child; the conqueror
and the defeated; able to snap a lions
jaw, and yet captured by the sigh of a
maiden. He was ruler and slave; a COM
mingling of virtue and vice. the sublime
and ridiculous; sharp enough to make a
riddle, and yet weak enough to be caught
in the most superficial stratagem; honest
enough to settle his debt, and yet out
rageously robbing somebody else to get
the material to pay it; a miracle and q
scofing; 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 city; taking an attitude de-
faint of armed men and wild beasts. His
hair had never been cut and il rolled
down in seven great plaits over his
shoulders, adding to his fierceness and
terror. The Philistines want to conquer
him, and therefore they mus. fld out
where the secret of the strength lies.
There is a woman living in the valley Of
Sorek by the name of Delilah. They ap-
point her an 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.
SWELL" he says, eff you should take
seven green withes, such as they fasten
wild beasts with, and put them around me.
should be perfectly powerless." So she
binds him with the seven green withes.
Then she claps her hands and says:
'They come-the PhiistInes!" and he
walks out as though there were no imped =
inent. She coaxes him again and says:
Now tell me the secret of this great
strength" and he replies: "If you should
take some ropes that never had been
used and tie me with them should be
Just like other men," She ties him with
the ropes, claps her hands and shouts:
''They come-the Philistinesw He walks
out as easy al he did before-not a single
x
he says: "Now if you should take these
seven long plaits of hair and by this house
loom weave them into web l could not
get away" So the house loom is rolled up
and the shuttle flies backward and for
ward, ahd the long plaits of hair are
woven into a web Then she claps her
hands and says: "They come-the Philis-
tines" 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: "If YOU should
take razor or shears and cut off this Ion
hair l should be powerless and in the
hands of my enemies" Samson
sleeps, and that she may not wake
him during the process of shearing, help
is called in. You know that the BARRIERS
of the East have such a skillful way of
manipulating the head that to this very
day they will put man wide awake sound
as eep. / hear the blades of the shears
grinding against each other, and l see the
long locks falling off. The shears, or ra-
zor, accomplishes what green withes and
new ropes and house loom could not do.
Suddenly she els sps her hands and says:
''The Phil shines be upon thee, Samson ~
He rOuses up with a struggle, but his
strength is all gonel He is in the hands
of his enemies! l hear the groan of the
giant as they take his eyes out, and then l
see him staggering in h blindness, feel
ing bis way as he 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 ex-
hausting horizontal motion, goes day after
day, week after week. month after month
work, work work! The CONSERVATION
of the world in captivity, his locks shorn,
his eyes punctured, grinding corn in GAIA.
In a previous sermon on this character 1
learned some lessons, but another class of
lessons are before us now.
Learn first how very strong people are
sometimes cOsxed into great imbecilities.
Samson had no right to reveal the secret
of his strength. Delilah's first attempt to
find out is a failure. He says: Green
withes will bind me" but it was a failure
Then he says. "A new rope will hold me, 4"
but that also was failure. Then he says,
"Weave my locks into a web and that will
bind me vet that a SO was a failure. But
at last you see how she coaxed it out of
him. Unimportant actions in life that in
volve no moral principle may without in
Jury be subjected to ardent persuasions,
but as soon as you have come to the line
that separates right f ON wrong, no in
ducement or blandshmenJ ought to make
you step over il Suppose a man has been
brought up in a Christian household and
taught sacredly 10 observe the Sabbath.
Sunday comes; you want fresh air.
Temptation says, Sunday is just like
other days; now don't he bigoted; we will
ride forth among the works of God; the
whole earth is His temple; we will not go
into any designations; come, now, l have
the carriag e engaged and We will be back
soon enough to 60 to church in the even
ing; don't yield to Puritanic notions; you
will be no worse for a ride in the country /;
the blossoms are out and they say every
thing is looking glorious" "Weu, 1 will
go to please you, is the response. And out
they go over the street conscience drowned
in the clatter OF the swift hoofs and the
rush of the resembling wheels. That
tempted man may have had moral char
acter enough to break the green withes of
ten thousand Philistine alurements, but
he has been overcome by coaxing.
p Two young men passing down this
street come opposite a drinking saloon
with a red lantern hung out from the
door to light men to perdition. "Let us go
in" says one. mo, 1 won't" says the
other; 81 never go to such places" Now,
you don't say you are so weak as that.
Why, 1 have been going there for two
years and it hasn't hurt me. Come, come
now, be a man. II you can't stand any
thing stronger take little sherry. You
need to see the world as it is. l don't
believe in intemperance any more than
you. 1 can stop drinking just when l
want to. You shall go. Now, come right
along" Persuasion has conquered. Sam
son yields to the coaxing and there is
carnival in hall that nirht among the