The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1897-12-17
SPIRITUAL POWER
SAMSON'S FALL THE SUBJE~ on
DIR. TALMAGE'S SERMONI

Physical and Moral Giants Should Use
Their Power in Doing Good-Mtsxufd.d
Strength May Work Great Evil-Christ
Our Companion
Copyright, 1897, by American Press
Association.
taking the exciting story Of Sam
son fall as a suggestion, DR.. Talmage
IN this discourse shows how giants in
body n mind or soul ought to be con-
Secrated to good and great purposes.
His text is Judges xiv, 1, And SaInp-
son went down to Tfmnath."
There are two sides to the character
of Samson. The M phase Of his life,
if followed into the particulars, would
administer to h grOtesque and mirth-
full. But there is a phase of his char
acter fraught with lessons of solemn
and eternal import. To these graver
lessons we devote our This
giant no doubt in early life gave evil
dence of what he was to be. 1t is al
most always SO. There Were two Ma
~poleons-the boy Napoleon andthe man
Napoleon-but both alike; two How
ards-the boy Howard and the man
HoWard-but both alike; two Sam
sons-the boy Samson and the man
Samson-but both alike. This giant
was no doubt the hero of Gae play
ground, and nothing could stand be-
fore his exhibitions of youthful Prov
ess. At IL a of 6 ne was be-
trothed to the daughter of a Philistine.
Going down toward Timnath a lion
came upon him, and, although this
young giant was ~weaponless, he seized
the monster by the long name and
shook him as a hungry hound shakes
a March hare and made his bones
crack, and left him by the wtayside
bleeding under the shifting of his fist
and the grinding heft of his heel.
There ne stands. looming up above
other men, a mountain Of flesh, his
arms punched with muscles hat can
lift the gate of a city, taking an atti-
tude of defiant of everything. His hair
had never been cut, and it rolled down
in seven great piaits over his shoulders
adding to his bulk, fierceness and ter
ror. The Philistines want to conquer
him, and therefore they must find out
where the secret Of his strength lies.
WIUES OF DELILAH.
Ther is a dissolute woman living in
the valley of Sorek OF the name of Del
ilah. They appoint her the agent in
the case. The PhiliStines are secreted
in the same building, and then Delilah
goes to work and oates Samson ITO
tell what is the secret of his strength.
"Well," he says, "if you should take
seven green withes, such as they fas-
ten wild beasts with, and put them
around me 1 should be perfectly pow
r1n 60 che minds him with the
seven green withes. Then she claps
her hands and says, "They come-the
Philistines!"and he walks out as
though they were no impediment. She
coaxes him again and say Now tel
me the secret of this great strength
and he replies, IF you should take
some ropes that mas been useC
and tie me with them, I should be JUS
like other men," She ties him with thu
ropes, claps her hands and shouts
-"They come the PhiliStines." He walk:
out as easily as he did befOre-not {
single obstruction. She cOaxes him
again, and he says, Now, if yol
should take these seven long plaits o.
hair and by this house loom weav'
them into a web, 1 could not get away.
SO the house loom is rolled up, and TIN
shuttle flies backward and forward
and the long plaits Of hair are wove1
into a web. Then she Chaps her han
and says, "They come-the Philis
tines!" He walks out as easily as H.
did before, dragging a part of the loon
with him.
But after awhile she persuaded hin
to tell the truth. He avs, IF yol
should take a razor or shears n Gu
off this long hair, I should be power
less and in the hands of my enemies.
Samson sleeps and that she may no
wake him up dueing the process he'll
is called in. You know that the bar
bers of the east have such a skillfu
way of manipulating the head to thl
very day that instead of waking up
sleeping man they will put a man wild
awake sound asleep. I hear the blade
of the shears grinding against eac.
other, I see the long locks falling of
The shears or razor accomplishes VIVA
green wfthes and new ropes and hous
doom could not do. Suddenly she clasp
her hands and says" The Philistines b
upon thee, Sampson" He rouses u
with a struggle, but his strength is a
gone. He is in the hands of his enc
mics.
hear the groan of the giant as the
take his eyes out, and Ethen 1 see hir
s~taggering on in his blindness, feelin
his way as he goes Oh toward Gazs
The prison door is opeA, and the gian
is thrust N. He sits town and put
his hand on the min cfank, which. wit
4exhausting horizontal motion, goes da
after day. week after week, month at
ter month-work, work, work. TIL
CONSERVATION of the world in captivlt!
his locks shorn, his eyes punctureC
grinding corr in GAIA.
PHYSICAL AND MORAL POWER
First of all, behold in this giant G
the text that physical power is not a.
nays an index of moral power He wa
a. huge man. The Iron found it GU
and the 5000 men whom he slew foun
it out. Yet he was the subject of petit
revenges and out gianted by low pas
sion. / ann far from throwing any dis
credit upon physical stamina. Their
are those whom seem to nave great ad
miration for delicacy and sickliness c