The intelligencer. [volume] (Lexington, Mo.) 1887-1891, 1889-10-05
THE TEMPTER'S POWER.
DR.. Talmage Discourses on thu
Temptations Of Life.
n Strong as Liable to Fall as the Weak
The Influence of Woman For Good or
Evil-A Warning Against Inn
pure Lives.

In a recent sermon Mt Brooklyn Rev. De
witt Talmage took for his subject: 1.-THE
Shorn Locks of Samson" His text was
from Judges, xvi, D: 'Entice him and see
wherein his great strength lieth, and by
what means we may prevail against him,
that we may blind him to anl ct him, and
we VIII give thee every one of us eleven
hundred pieces of silver" He said:
One thousand pounds. or about 80. 900 Of
our money. were thus offered for the cap
lure OF n eitnt 1t would take a skillful
pnotographist to picture Samson as he
really was. The most facile words are
not supple enough to describe him. He
was a giant and n child: the conoueror
and the defeated; able to suap n lions
Jaw, and yet captured by the sigh of a
maiden. He was ruler and slaves; a COM
mingling of virtue and vice, the sublime
ana 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 vet out
~rageously robbing som, body else to get
the material 10 pay IT,; a miracle and a
scoffing; n browning glory and a burning
shame. There he stands, looming up
above other men, II mountain of flesh; his
arms punched with muScre that can lift
the gate of a city; taking an attitude de-
liant OF armed men and wild beasts. His
hair had never been cut, and it rolled
down in seven great plaits over his
shoulders, adding to his ierceness and
terror. The Philistines want to conquer
htm, and therefore they mus find out
where the secret of the strength lies.
There Is a woman living in the valley of
Borek by the name Of Delilah. They ap-
point her an agent in The case. The Phil
lstlnes 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, "if you should take
seven green withes, such as they fasten
wild beasts with, and put them aroun me.
should be perfectly powerless." So she
binds him with the seven green withes.
Then she claps her hands and says:
''They come-the Philistines!" and he
walks out as though there were no imped-
Iment. 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 l should be
lust like other men," She ties him with
the ropes, claps her hands and shouts:
'Srhey come--the Philistines!" He walks
out as easy ns he did before-not a single
obstruction. She coaxes him again and
he says: Snow If you should take these
seven long plaits Of hair and by this house
loom weave them into a web ! could not
get away" So the house loom Is rolled up
and the shuttle flies backward and for
ward, aid the long plaits of hair are
woven into a web. Then she claps her
hands aud says: "They come-the Philis-
tinesV He walks out as easily as he did
before, dragging a part of the loom with
him. But after awhile she persuades him
TO tell the truth. He says: "If you should
lake a razor or shear and cut off this long
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
IL 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 a man wide awake sound
as'eep. 1 hear the blades of the shears
grinding against each other. and / see the
long locks falling off. The shears, or ra-
cor. accomplishes what green withes and
new ropes and house loom could not do
Suddenly she clasps her hands and says:
THE Phil shines be upon thee, Samson =
He rouses up with a struggle, but his
strength is all gonei He is in hi hands
. Sfa biz III fPe efsy taKJ J h haa VI TIE or grq aiI, 9 9ty ths
see him staggering in b S blindness, feel.
ing his 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,
bis eyes punctured, grinding corn in GAIA.
In 9 previous sermon ON this character
learned some lessons, but another class OF
lessons are before us now.
Learn first how very strong people are
sometimes coaxed into great imbecilities.
Samson la no right to reveal the secret
Of his strength. Delilah's first attempt to
hnd u Is a failure. He says: Green
withes will bind me-" but it was a failure
Then he says, "a new rope will hold me,n
but that also was a failure. Then he says.
"Weave my locks into n web and that will
bind me, yet that also was a failure. But
at last you sse how she coaxed it out OF
him. Unimportant actions In life tina 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 from wrong, no in
VI OukuI 10 ulukG
you step over it. Suppose a man has been
brought up in a Christian household and
iaught sacredly to observe the Sabbath.
Sunday comes; you want fresh air.
Temptation says, Sunday is Just like
other days; now dom be bigoted; we will
ride forth among the works of God; the
whole earth is His temple; we will not go
into any dissipations; come, now, / have
the carriage engaged and we will be back
soon enough to go 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" "Well, l will
go to please you," is the response. And out
they GO over the street, conscience drowned
In the chatter of the swift hoofs and the
rush Of the resounding wheels. That
tempted man may have had moral char
acter enough to break the green withes OF
ten thousand Philistine allurements, but
he has been overcome by ~coaxing.
Two young men passing down thi.
street come opposite a drinking saloon
with q red lantern hung out from the
door to light men to perdition. "Let us gc
In" says one. mo, l WON'T" says the
other; ~ never go to such places" Now,
you don't say you are SO weak as that,
Why, / have been going there for two
years and It hasn't hurt me. Come, come
now, be a man. IL you can't stand any
thing stronger take a little sherry. You
need to see the world as it is. dom
believe In i~ntemperance m more thar
. you. I can stop drinking just when
want to. You shall go. Now, come righr
along" Persuasion has conquered. Sam
son yields to the coaxing and there IL
carnival in hell that night among tn,
Phiiistines and they sn0lt: Hal ha
We've got him." Those who rave tn
kindest and most sy mpathetic natures ar,
the most In danger.
Again, this narrative teaches us tn
power OF an ill-disposed woman. In tn,
portrait gallery of BILE Queens we nnC
Abigail and Ruth and Miriam and WASN'T
and Deborah, but in the rogues' gallery
OF q police station you find the pictures Of
women as well as men. DeIi!ah's picture
belongs to the rogue's gallery, but sht
had more owe than all Philistia armed
with sword and spear. She could carry
on the iron gates Of SamsOn's resolution
IS easily as he sbCuldered the gates OIL
Cara
How deplorable the influence of such In
contrast with Rebecca aud Phoebe and
dulda and Trypbona and Jeptha's daugh-
Yer and Mary, the mother OF J sus. While
the latter glitter in the armament of God's
world Ike COT 5 citations with steady,
cneeriui' holy light, the former shoot like
pelerui meteors across the terrific heavens.
ominous OF war, disaster and death. II
tnere 10 a divine power in the good mo-
tner, her face bright with purity, and un-
selfish love beaming from her we. "a
gentieness that by pangs and suffering.
holy anxieties has been m~ellowing and
softsning for manya year, uttering itself IN
every syllable a dignity that can not h,