The commonwealth. (Greenwood, Miss.) 1896-1923, 1907-05-10
SERMoNE

!. GOD hath delivered Samson u
enemy into our hand" was the
boast of the phiiistines. They
saw In the downfall of their
. powerful enemy an evidence of
the favor of their god Daeon,
. and a proof of their own prov.
ess. And that Is as far as they
could see or understand. Evil
always is half blind. Its vision
is limited by the horizon of the
physical and temporal. II eliml-
mates the true God as a factor
and places superstition and
pride upon the throne Of rea.
son. Evil does not recognize
God as a controlling factor in
the affairs Of life; It does not
understand that il ~overreaches
itself and brings about its own
destruction,
But from the Divine view.
point, evil triumphs over the
good because sin is permitted
to usurp the place of God In the
heart and life. The fortress Of
the heart is impregnabIe until
the little side door of sin is
opened to admit the enemy.
Samson was a defeated man
from the moment he let the
earthly love usurp the place of
God, and the final yielding to
the opportunities Of DeIilah was
but the Inevitable outcome of
such unholy alliance.
LET no mar say when he is
tempted, | am tempted of God;
for God cannot be tempted with
evil, neither tempteth He any
man; but every man is tempted
when he is drawn away of his
own lust and enticed. Then
when lust hath conceived, IL
brinseth forth sin; and sin,
when 1t is finished, bringeth
forth DEATH"
Recovered Strength. - But
while evil In Its blindness was
glorying In the fall of the
mighty Samson, the mercy and
forgiveness Of God were being
bestowed upon a repentant sin
ner. What evil can do to a man
is nothing to what God a do
for him. Samson shorn and
blind and In the power of the
enemy may yet rise above the
miserable conditions into
which his sin has plunged him.
He may again become the in ,
strument of Righteousness to :
the condemnation and judgment
upon evil. :
"f we confess our sins He Is .
faithful and Just to forgive us :
our sins and cleanse us from all T..
righteousness" The prison i.
house at GAIA became Samson's .
confessional. The PhiIistlnes .
could shut out the light OF day i,
from his eyes, but they could d.
not shut out God from his .
heart. They could bind his ,
limbs with letters Of brass, but /.
they could not chain down his .
spirit and prevent II from ,
reaching out and finding the !.
forgivine and restoring God.
After all, how circumscrlbed .
are the powers of evil. How
the servant OF God ought to rea- =.
llze the possibilities which lie I
within him as he links his life I.
with that Of God. I
To fall into sin Is erievous, Z.
but to remain in the condition :.
where sin has cast US is mex. !
cusabIe, objectionable. Here Is !.
where Samson's faith, spoken of .
In the eleventh Of Hebrews, !.
shines out the brightest. Though .
the physical eyes we're never to I.
see again, not SO with the eyes 4
Of the soul. Faith touched the !
blindness which had come from I
sin and the soul looks up and J
sees the God that giveth !
strength to the humble and re. .
storeth them which be Of a I
contrite spirit, and so we find 4
the latter end Of this man Sam. I
son was better than the first; .
that he rose above defeat to !
win a browning victory. So I
may it be with every child Of !
God. 4