St. Tammany farmer., 1903-04-25
THE SHORN SAMSONS.
Spiritual Strength Gone When Un-
der Power of Delilah of Sin.

Spiritual Strength Gone When Un-
| der Power of Delilah of Sin.
| They May Not Realize 1t, But the Lord
Has Departed from Them-ser-
mon by "Higbway and By
way" Preacher.
copyright, 1903, by A. N. Kellogg News
paper Col
Chicago, March %, 1903.
Text:-"And he (Samson) wist not that
the Lord was departed from him.'-Judges
| 1920
TT is the privilege and the duty OF
the Christian to ''be strong in
the Lord and in the power of
His might but it is the sad and
mournful fact that too often his
love of the world and his indulgences
in sinful pleasures rob him of his
strength, and, like the shorn Sam
son of our text, he does not realize
that the Lord has departed from
him until he falls into the hands OF
the enemy of his soul, his eyes are
burned out and he is set to grind
ing out the bread of sorrows in the
prison house of affection. Then, IT
he is teachab able, he may be led to
sincere repentance and regain his
lost strength and his lost power.
Yes, his eyes will still be sightless-
the hideous sears left by the enemy's
power over him--but, with his
strength restored, he may be able
to win mightier victories over the
forces of sin during the remainder
of his life than the sum of all his
previous triumphs. Yea, he will be
willing to die that his God may be
vindicated and glorified, and that
Dagon, the false god of the Philis-
tines, may be put to shame. This is
the lesson of Samson, the Nazarlte,
Gods strong man.
T EFT us go down to that frontier
L. land where dweit the tribe of
Dan and search out our hero. AS
we journey through the wildly beau
tiful hills and valleys of that part OF
Palestine we begin to hear tales,
wonderful tales, of the p-owess of
young Israelite. Being told that
he was even then in the camp OF
Dan between Zorah and Eshtaol
performing mighty deeds, we hasten
thither. Those were evil days and
the oppressive hand of the Philis-
tines was heavy upon Gods people
because of their disobedience to His
law and yielding to the sinful pleas
ures and practices of the heathen
nations about them. The common
distress and peril draw the people
together in thought and sympathy.
They hold their public meetings to
talk over the situation and find
possible way of escape from their
slavery. 1t was at such meeting
as this in a safe retreat between
Zorah and Eshtaol that one day a
young man appeared. He heard the
stories of cruel oppression as they
were told, and realized as never be-
fore that the dominion of the Philis-
tines meant destruction of the life
of the home and of the nation of the
children of Israel While the discus
sion went on and plans were offered
for the breaking of the yoke. the
Spirit of God began to move within
the young man before us, and the
arena at Athens or Rome never
witnessed greater feats of strength,
or braver, than first astonished, and
then aroused to new hope the OPP
pressed Israelites. Here was wor-
thy champion and able deliverer.
Who was this young man? every
one began to ask. Samson, the son
of Manoah; and as the interest
grew the wonderful facts surround
ing his birth became known. An
angel had appeared to his godly
mother and told her she was to have
a son and that he was to be
Nazarite from his birth. She was to
drink no wine or strong drink nor
eat of any unclean thing, for her son
was to be set apart as the chosen
of God to deliver His people. All
these incidents surrounding the life
of the young man served to draw the
thoughts of the people away from
their sinful indulgences and turn
them in the direction of God. As
from time to time Samson performed
his wonderful feats before them his
influence grew upon the people and
spread through all that part of the
country where he lived.
1t must have given a mighty inn
petus to the young manhood of that
day. The tendency had been down
ward. Indulgence in ease and sinful
pleasures had begun to make its
baneful effects felt. Love of home
and the nation was being eliminated,
and the Philistine spirit was getting
possession of them. But when Sam
son comes upon the scene, the power
of clean life is felt, and I have no
doubt that all over that land Sam
son athletic clubs sprang up, whose
rules of membership required total
abstinence and clean lives. Then
followed Samson's courtship and
marriage, his slaughter of the Phil
istines in revenge for the burning of
his wife and father-in-law at Tim
nath, his trip to GAIA and the
mighty feat of carrying off the mas
sive iron gates of the city and leav-
ing them on the top OF a high hill,
his wicked alliance with Delilah and
his subsequent undoing, his slavery
in the Philistine prison and his last
and mighty triumph over his enemies
at the heather festival held to exalt
the god Dagon.
IF the supernatural strength of