Shaved and Shorn, But Not Beyond Hope
A SERMON INTENDED FOR READING ON LORD'S-DAY, JANUARY 9, 1887.
DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,
AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON, ON LORD'S-DAY EVENING,
SEPTEMBER 26, 1886.
"However, the hair of his head began to grow again after he was
shaved." Judges 16:22.
LET me introduce the text to you. Samson was set apart from his birth
to be the champion of Israel–to break the power of the Philistines who
lorded over God's people. Everything in his bringing up had reference
to his peculiar calling as the hero of Israel, the hammer of Philistia.
He was to be a Nazarite from his birth. Among other things which
concerned the Nazarite, he never touched wine. No, nor grapes, nor
husks of grapes, nor anything that came of the vine– which goes to
show that the greatest physical strength is attainable without the use
of wine or strong drink. Whatever else overcame Samson, he was never
overcome with drunkenness, and yet he greatly sinned, which goes to
show that total abstinence is not, of itself, enough to form a
character. A Nazarite, in addition to abstinence from wine, also
abstained from wearing the common appearance of men. He was not to have
his hair at any time shaved or cut away–so that when Samson was grown
up to manhood, he was covered with a shaggy mass of hair. He must have
looked like the lion that he was. Those locks of his were the token of
his consecration to God, the outward marks of his being set apart to be
the servant of the God of Israel. Can you not see him with the terrible
glory of his hair upon him?
Poor Samson was as weak morally as he was strong physically and he fell
a prey, first to one evil woman and then to another. Perhaps the
extraordinary strength of his physical frame placed him under stronger
temptation than is common to man–at any rate, he was peculiarly
constituted and seemed more like a wanton boy than a judge in Israel.
Through this peculiar sin of his, the Philistines found opportunity to
assail him. They tempted Delilah, whom he loved, to extract from him
the secret of his great strength. He was so strong that he tore a lion
as though it had been a kid. He was so strong that he carried way the
gates of the city in which they had shut him up! He was so strong that
he smote an army of Philistines, "hip and thigh, with a great
slaughter." The mercenary woman, upon whom he foolishly doted,
extracted from him, by degrees, the secret of his strength. And while
he lay asleep upon her lap, the Philistine lords caused a barber to cut
away the locks of his head. He awoke from his sleep shaved. Then he
went out and thought to fight the Philistines as before–but to his
surprise he found that his strength was gone. The locks of his
dedication had been shorn–he was no longer the acknowledged servant of
the Lord–and he was weak as other men. Then the Philistine lords took
him captive, bored out his eyes–for such is the expression in the
margin of our old Bibles–gouged out his eyes, bound him to the mill
and made him work like a slave or an ass. In that pitiable plight our
text finds him–but it comes with a key of deliverance to set free the
captive!
My text runs thus–it is in the 22nd verse of the 16th Chapter of
Judges–"However, the hair of his head began to grow again after he was
shaved."
Poor Samson! I roughly sketched his story as with a crayon just now. I
cannot stay to attempt a more accurate portrait. Poor Samson, the
champion of Israel, now the scoff of his enemies! Poor Samson, the hero
of so many fights, now at last conquered by his own foolishness! They
have taken him; they have bound him; they have gouged out his eyes and
there he stands–sightless–in the midst of his adversaries, who bind
him to the mill and lash him as he grinds for them. To humiliate him,
they put him to woman's work, made hard so as to be the work of beasts.
See what sin will do! See how the man who had fought God's battles
suffers great loss, great pain, great disfigurement, great dishonor and
comes into a cruel and abhorred bondage through his sin! That shaved
man made a slave is the picture of very many who once were
the avowed servants of God and were valiant for the Truth of God. They
have given up their secret, they have told the world that which none
should know but themselves. They have lost the locks of their
dedication and they are led captive by the devil at his will. They
cannot see as they used to see. Darkness shuts out all joy. They do not
work for God as they used to work, for they are slaving for men, for
poor, passing, earthborn objects! They have come into an awful bondage
and they have, at the same time, brought great dishonor and weakness
upon the Church to which they belong. How the mighty are fallen!
Children of God, whatever God may do for you, take heed that you always
remember that you can never gain anything by sin! It is loss, utter
loss in every sense, to yield ourselves servants to sin! Again I cry,
How the mighty are fallen! How has the champion become a slave at the
mill! In the midst of our Churches how often are those who were
excellent and useful brought to nothing and made to be a derision! How
often do our boldest warriors bring the Cross of Christ into contempt
by their sin! The Lord keep us from thus falling! May we rather die
than dishonor our Lord!
I begin thus upon the mournful key because I want to speak of God's
great goodness to backsliders–and of how He restores them. But I want
to warn them, at the very outset, that sin does not pay–that whatever
may come of it through God's mercy, yet it is an evil and a bitter
thing to wander from the Lord! Though Samson's hair grew again and his
strength came back–and he died gloriously fighting against the
Philistines–yet he never recovered his eyes, or his liberty, or his
living power in Israel! Short and effective was his last stroke against
the adversary, but it cost him his life. He could not again rise to be
the man he had been before. And though God did give him a great victory
over the Philistine people, yet it was but as the flicker of an
expiring candle–he was never again a lamp of hope to Israel. His
usefulness was abated and even brought to an end through his folly.
Whatever the Grace of God may do for us, it cannot make sin a right
thing, or a safe thing, or a permissible thing! It is evil, only evil,
and that continually. O children of God, be not enslaved by fleshly
lusts! O Nazarites unto God, guard your locks lest they be cut away by
sin while you are sleeping in the lap of pleasure! O servants of
Jehovah, serve the Lord with heart and soul, by His Grace, even to the
end–and keep yourselves unshorn by the world!
With that as a preface we come again to the text–"However, the hair of
his head began to grow again after he was shaved."
First, let us see what this growing of the hair pictures; secondly,
what it specifically symbolizes and thirdly, what it prophesies.
I. First, WHAT THIS GROWING OF THE HAIR PICTURES. I think that this
pictures the gradual restoration of certain among us who have
backslidden from God. The hair was there upon Samson's head, though it
had been cut short. Though the hair was shaved off, yet the adversary
could not take the roots away. It was a living thing and it would grow
again. So is it with those who are the people of God. The devil can
shave them very closely and clip off their beauty, their strength and
their consecration–but a living something is still there that will
grow again! If there has been a real regenerating work of God–the Holy
Spirit upon their hearts–it will show itself again. Though the fruit
and holy outcome of this living principle may, for a while, be
removed–sadly removed to their bitter loss and damage–yet I say the
living roots of Divine Grace are still in the soul and, before long, we
shall have to say, "However, the hair of his head began to grow again."
Wells may, for a while, be stopped, but the living water will break out
and come to the surface again. The tree may lose every leaf which once
adorned it, but its substance is in it–and when the spring smiles
again, it will, once more, begin to bud. Eternal life may sleep, may
faint–but it cannot utterly die–otherwise, how were it eternal life?
The hair, though closely shaved, will grow again.
I will show you this hair in the process of growing. A man was once a
member of a Christian Church, godly and gracious. Satan has shaved him
of all that was distinctive and religious. He has gone into the world;
he has been put away by his brethren. His conduct was too inconsistent
to allow of a continuance of his profession. But there had really been
a change of heart–there had been a radical work of Grace in his soul
and, therefore, after a while, he begins to be very miserable and
uneasy. It is impossible for him to be happy among the Philistines who
have captured him. His comrades, who flattered themselves that they had
really got him, this time, cannot make him out. He has fits of
melancholy. Occasionally he falls into a deep despondency and he utters
strange words which they do not like to hear, partly denunciations of
himself–and partly prophecies of evil to those around him. He is
evidently terribly uneasy in the ways of sin. Now he gets alone and
sighs–
"Where is the blessedness I Anew When first I sa w the Lord?"
There is a something in his heart which troubles him both night and
day. His soul is saying, "I will go and return to my first husband, for
then was it better with me than now." However, his hair begins to grow
again. It has been shaved very cleverly, but the roots have not been
extracted and you can see that he will soon be a hairy man again. He
cannot rest in his sin–no true-born child of God ever can. Giant
Slay-Good may pick up a pilgrim on the road when he is faint and weary,
but he can never pick the bones of a true Believer! He will come out of
the den of the giant somehow or other. What a pity that he should ever
go into it!
Well, now notice that the man begins to drop in to hear a sermon. It is
a long time since he was familiar with the house of prayer, but he
finds himself here, tonight, after a long absence! He remembers when he
used to be always here– and he almost waters the door with his tears
as he thinks of the happy days which he used to enjoy in the midst of
God's people–when he welcomed the light of the Sabbath morning and the
way was never too long for him to come up to the place of his love! In
those days the Word of the Lord was sweet to him. He has not been for
some time, but somehow he felt, today, that he must come again. How
welcome he is! How glad I am to see him, though he looks so rough and
grisly, and half-shaved!
I have heard–I am not sure of it, but I think that it is very
likely–that he has been reading his Bible again. That poor Book had
been left to be covered with dust, but he has taken it down and he has
looked at a Psalm that once used to charm his heart. And he has wept
over the passage which once revealed Christ to him. He even groaned to
think that he should have forgotten the voice of the Living God which
used to speak to him through that holy Book. He read a sermon today,
too. He has not often done that. He took a tract from someone in the
street and he looked at it with eagerness! This, also, was a hopeful
sign.
A little while ago, when he first forsook his Lord, he could
blaspheme–he could say hard things against Christ and His Word–but he
does not do so now. It would be impossible for him, now, to ridicule
religion! He is too tender for that. He has a strong desire to hear,
again, the message of Free Grace and dying love. He longs to listen
once more to the ringing of those silver bells that once were music to
his ears! I think it must be true that the Lord is bringing him back.
Surely my test is being fulfilled–"However, the hair of his head began
to grow again." The devil could shave away those flowing locks which
once adorned him, but he could not cut out the roots which are deeper
than he can reach. Do you not think that our shorn Samson may yet be
himself again? Surely his hair has begun to grow anew and tonight I
trust that it will grow very quickly while he is in this house of
prayer hearing the glad tidings of free forgiveness!
I am most of all encouraged with the fact that he begins to feel in his
soul an anguish and a bitterness–and an aching and a craving and a
longing! I have great hopes of him, now that his old feelings are
returning. I think I hear him say, "I cannot live like this." He sighs,
"I have tried the way of transgressors and it is hard. I have tested
the life of sinful pleasure and there is nothing in it. The cups of the
world are all froth! The devil's bread is all bran. It chokes me. It
poisons me. I cannot endure it any longer. Oh, that I could get back to
God! Oh, that I could be truly converted, if I never was converted! If
I am, indeed, a child of God, oh, that He would once more manifest His
pardoning love to me and show me my sins are forgiven, for I cannot
rest as I am!" O my dear Brother, I was so sorry when you went
astray–your backsliding has caused me many a pang of heart–but I
begin to rejoice now as I hear you talk in that way, for I think that
the text is coming true–"However, the hair of his head began to grow
again"!
And now, stop till our uneasy friend gets home tonight. No, perhaps it
will come to pass before he quits this assembly. He begins to pray,
"God be merciful to me a sinner!" He does not say that aloud, for he
would be afraid that somebody would hear him. He is almost amazed that
he is not put out of the place of worship, considering what kind of
sinner he has been. He has sneaked in tonight, but he is in and he
trembles to find it is so–he scarcely dares to lift his eye upward. He
hardly dares to hope! His desire is to get back to God and to be
forgiven–and so, with trembling hope and quivering fear, he has begun
to pray. You notice that Samson began to pray when his hair began to
grow. And when they took him into that temple where they wanted him to
make sport for them, he breathed an earnest prayer to God that he might
be strengthened but that once to do service to his people and his God.
How earnestly do I invite you that have gone away from God and His ways
to pray tonight that the Lord will return to you in mercy, fill you to
the full once more with His Holy Spirit and make the bones which he has
broken rejoice! If you begin to pray, I shall begin to praise!
When you plead with tears, I shall begin to bless the Lord with
exultation! For you it is coming true–"However, the hair of his head
began to grow again after he was shaved."
And if that prayer should go still farther and you should say, "I will
break off every connection that holds me to the paths of sin," this
would be better, still! If you were to cry, "I know what drew me aside.
I will have no more to do with the evil which destroyed me," it would
be a hopeful sign, indeed! Oh, if tonight there shall be a severance of
yourself from the swine and from all the husks that they eat because
you are determined to go to your Father, it shall be well with you!
From our Church fellowship we sometimes find one drawn aside by one
motive and another by another–alas, the ways downward are as plenteous
as the gates of death! How many are tempted with unholy loves! How many
are seduced by the fatal cup! Ah, how many go aside through false
doctrine, heresy and the delusions of the day! How many are foolishly
tempted by their own prosperity! They grow rich and cannot afford to
worship where they once did!
On the other hand, how many are led aside by their poverty! They do not
think that their clothes are good enough to come in–a piece of pride
from which I pray that we may be delivered! Or, because they have come
down in the world and cannot spend as once they did, they forsake their
Brothers and Sisters–and their Lord. For different reasons men go
aside from the Truth of God and holiness. But it is a happy
circumstance when they cry, "If I have been led away from Christ by
anything sinful, I will give it up. I will part with my eye, or my arm,
or my foot so that I may enter into the Kingdom of God, for it were
better for me to enter into life blind, or crippled, or maimed, than
that keeping these dear things I should be cast into Hell fire." When
the Lord of Grace leads men to this resolve, we see the text fulfilled
again– "However, the hair of his head began to grow again."
When the backslider comes to that pass, you will soon see other signs.
The man who went so far astray now seeks the Lord afresh and begins
again to run in His ways. When a Nazarite lost his consecration, all
the years of his consecration before did not count–he had to begin
again. So some of you must begin again. Beginning again is sweet!
Beginning again is safe! Even though I trust that I have not wandered
from God, either in act or in heart, yet I often begin again. I delight
to renew the love of my espousals and rehearse the vows of my youth
before the Lord my God! If the devil says to me, "Your religion is a
pretence; your experience is a mistake," I do not attempt to argue with
him upon those lines, but I reply, "I will not cavil about the past,
but I will begin again!" I am a sinner. I know that and the devil
himself has not the impudence to tell me that I am not! Then, Jesus
Christ died for sinners and, therefore, I return to the sinners' Savior
and trust Him even as if I had never trusted Him before! This I find to
be the direct road to peace. To breathe again one's native air is a
prescription most helpful to those who would regain their health and
strength! Can you not return again to the starting point, you that have
wandered? If so, we shall all thank God for you and look upon you as a
Samson whose hair begins to grow again after he has been shaved.
If the matter goes on rightly, I know what will happen–the forlorn
backslider will begin to entertain a feeble hope. "Oh," he says, "I
trust that I may be restored! I shall be a miracle of Divine Grace if I
am–and I think that I shall be." Further on he even cries, "I hope
that I am restored and once more put among the children." He gets a bit
of bread from the children's table and though he feels that he is not
much better than a dog, yet he makes bold to enjoy it. "The dogs eat of
the crumbs which fall from their master's table"–and this poor man is
aware of that gracious fact and dares to take full advantage of it!
Sometimes, while he is eating a crumb of promise, it tastes so sweet
that he whispers to himself, "I do not think that I am a dog, after
all. I think that I must be a child, for I have the taste that a child
has. This is children's meat and I do so enjoy it that, perhaps, I am,
after all, a child of God!"
Ah, and let me tell you that sometimes, when it is sunshiny weather,
this poor seeker feels greatly encouraged and cheered! Though he will
go limping to Heaven by reason of his past sin, yet, on bright days, he
half forgets his lameness! He has played the prodigal and almost
doubted his sonship, but with his face towards the Father's house, he
now cries, "Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed upon me,
that I should be called a child of God!" In his happiest times he feeds
ready to burst out with rapture because he enjoys a sense of Divine
Love. He even makes bold to declare– "Yes, I am forgiven! Jesus smiles
and still loves me!" When he is quite alone and nobody can hear it, he
even ventures to speak of himself as, after all, one of those that the
Father has loved with an everlasting love; that Christ has redeemed
with precious blood; that the Spirit has renewed and that the Lord will
never cast away. What a pleasure to see his faith thus coming back to
him! "However, the hair of his head began to grow again."
We shall have him back, again, and we shall see him and know him,
again, to be the same Samson that once we knew in his first
days–before he had played the fool and brought himself into bondage!
Soon we shall say, "Come in, and welcome, dear Brother; for the Lord
has recovered you from the disfigurement which your sin brought upon
you! You are again a Nazarite and your head and beard are covered with
the tokens of your dedication. Come and take your place among those who
are consecrated to the Lord." How much I desire that it may be so with
all who formerly turned away from the right path, but are now casting a
longing glance towards it!
I think that is the picture which our text paints for us.
II. Now I am going to turn a little way round, still keeping the shorn
champion well before us. In the second place, we have to see in our
text WHAT IT SPECIFICALLY SYMBOLIZES, that is to say, this text is a
distinct type of some one thing. You see that Samson's strength lay in
his consecration. His hair was the token of his dedication to God. When
he lost his locks, he did, as it were, lose his consecration–and when
he lost his consecration, he lost his strength. On the other hand, the
only way by which he could regain his strength was to reestablish his
consecration–and of this the growing, again, of his hair was the type
and token.
Well, now, I know some Churches which performed a great work a 100
years ago, or 50 years ago, or less. Their former days were heroic.
Their palmy times were beautified with great prosperity. These Churches
knew how to suffer and to serve; they were faithful to the Truth of God
and earnest in holy labor–and the Lord made them to be exceedingly
useful. But now they have grown respectable and useless. They do
nothing outrageous now–the question is–Are they doing anything? Their
minister is an extremely learned man and as polished as a
looking-glass. Of course he never addresses himself to the vulgar,
neither does he oppose the views of his cultured hearers. The church,
itself, is highly respectable–no one ever questions its high
respectability, or speaks of it without due deference to its prominent
position. Yet it has ceased to be a power for good. It has no influence
over the mass of sinners around it.
Of course its usefulness is a secondary consideration, for it must not
be forgotten that it has a superior ministry and a superior reputation!
Its deacons are superior and so are most of the members! Besides, they
have a celebrated choir and a most delightful organ! A great deal of
money has been spent for that organ–and if that will not save souls
and glorify God, what will? What are we to do with our respectability
if we do not proclaim it by buying the most expensive organ in the
market? But do not forget the choir. I think they wear surplices, but
whether they do or not, the singing is fine, the building is of
superior architecture, the pulpit is unique and the whole thing is done
in a model manner! It is true that nobody is saved. There are no
additions to the church–they have not used the baptistery for a long
time–but they are wonderfully respectable! What more would you have?
In the opinion of some persons, Samson looked much improved when his
matted hair was gone. He was more presentable; more fit for good
society. And so in the case of churches, the notion is that they are
all the better for getting rid of their peculiarities. You who are in
the secret know better and you will follow me while I sorrowfully seek
a remedy for the unhappy weakness which has fallen upon many
communities which once were strong in the Lord. How is this church, all
shaved and shorn, this poor, enslaved and miserable concern, to be
brought back to its old state? How is this Samson, that once was
strong, to get its strength back? Why, only by letting its hair grow
again! It must be consecrated to God again! This church must go back to
the old Gospel–it must say once more, "God forbid that I should glory
save in the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ." It must again become
desirous for the conversion of men. Prayer must again become the
delight of the whole church and its trust must be in the Spirit of the
Lord! The Glory of God must take possession of the church instead of
its desire to be fashionable and respectable–and when its locks grow
again, its strength will come back. When it is consecrated to God, it
will resume its former force, bear its testimony as in better days and
once again shake the world with its power!
Now the same truth applies to every preacher. There are some preachers
who are splendid men and yet they are practical failures. You see in
them wide knowledge, eloquent language and yet nothing. They can speak
so properly that a senate might sit with admiration at their feet–but
when they have done, nobody is pricked in the heart, nobody is
convinced of sin–nobody is led to behold the beauties of Christ. Yet
in their youth these men were soul-winners and were looked upon as
champions for Christ! O Samson, how are we to make you strong again?
That preacher must begin again to serve God with all his heart! He must
give up the idea of being a great man, or a learned man, or an eloquent
man. He
must give up the idea of charming the elite and bringing together the
fashionable–he must give himself up to glorify God by the winning of
souls!
When his hair grows again in that respect, we shall see what Samson can
do. He will yet lay hold on the pillars of the Philistine temple and
bring them down about the heads of the lords. Give me a man perfectly
consecrated and I do not care much what he is. He may be rough,
unpolished and even illiterate–but if he is consecrated, the people
will feel his power! He may be educated so that he may understand all
knowledge and he may speak as eloquently as Cicero–but if he is a
consecrated man, his power will be none the less, but perhaps all the
greater, because of his education. But this one thing is
essential–there must be consecration to God and downright earnestness
in consequence, or else he will be a shaved Samson. May God give full
consecration to each one of us who stand before the people to speak in
His name, for in that consecration lies the power of the Holy Spirit to
bless us! He cannot and will not bless unconsecrated men! If we do not
live to God's Glory, God will not use us.
The same is true of every Christian worker. I have seen this
demonstrated over and over again in daily life. I have seen a Christian
woman most useful in a class, bringing to the Savior many of the girls
whom she has taught, but all of a sudden a change has come–there have
been no conversions and for years the class has dwindled away and
nothing has come of it. If enquiry were to be made, it would be found
that the consecration of the teacher had declined. She no longer spoke
with tearful eyes and earnest heart, seeking to love those girls to
Christ. And because her consecration was gone, her strength was gone.
It is just the same whether you preach in the street, or distribute
tracts, or whatever you do–if you are wholly consecrated to God–you
will be strong. I do not say that you will, by sincere devotion, alone,
gain all the talents and all the mental forces you might desire, but,
believe me, force does not lie in these–these are like sword and
spear, but the strength with which they are to be wielded lies
elsewhere. You do not absolutely require great abilities, but you must
have perfect consecration. Be thankful if you have javelin and shield,
but go on without them if you have not been armed with them, for, to a
devoted man even a castaway bone will be sufficient weapon! Samson did
not wait till he found a weapon worthy of his heroic hands–he used
such instruments as he found on the spot. It is in consecration that
your strength will lie. Let but the arrow be winged by a mighty pull of
the bow and it will go straight forward in proportion to the force that
has impelled it. Let but God fit you to His bow–and send you forward
with Divine energy– what more do you need? The impulse that comes from
on high is your strength–and that impulse is found in your
consecration to your Lord!
Perhaps I am addressing some Christian person who is not altogether a
worker, but partly a sufferer. He is only a private Christian, bearing
up as he may under the trials of life. You have grown rather dull of
late, dear Friend. You do not enjoy things as you once did. You have
not the vivacity and the enjoyment which you once had in the things of
God. See to it–has there not been a razor at work upon you somewhere?
Oh, yes, I knew a Brother who, when he had a little money, rejoiced to
have it because he gave abundantly to the cause of God! I believe that
he is worth a hundred times as much as he was, then, and he gives a
hundredth part of what he used to do when he was poorer! In proportion
as his pocket has grown golden, his heart has grown bronzy. He has gone
down in himself in proportion as he has gone up in his property–and
now he does not enjoy things as he used to. He is a poor creature to
what he once was! Even in his own esteem he is not the happy man he
once was! How much I wish that this good man's hair would grow so that
he would again be living for his Lord, whom I trust he still loves!
I know Christian people who used to spend an hour a day in prayer. The
hour has dwindled into five minutes. They used to be constant at
week-night services. They very seldom gladden us with their presence,
now, and they are not as happy as they once were. I can read this
riddle. If a man were to reduce his meals to eating once a week, we
could not guarantee his health. I would not guarantee that if a man
never ate except on Sundays, he would grow strong. So I do not think
that people who neglect the means of Grace and give up their
consecration can expect to be lively, happy, or vigorous. When the
razor gets to work and the hair of conscious and resolute devotion to
God begins to fall on the floor, lock after lock, the strength is
departing–and only as that hair begins to grow, again, and spiritual
consecration returns, can these people expect to be useful, influential
and strong in the Lord!
I must say no more on this point, but it is most important, and I pray
the Holy Spirit will stir up your pure minds concerning it.
III. I will close with this further consideration. We are now to
remember WHAT IT PROPHESIED when Samson's hair began to grow again. I
wonder why these Philistines did not take care to keep his hair from
growing to any length? If cutting his hair once had proved so
effective, I wonder why they did not send in the barber every morning
to make sure that not a hair grew upon his scalp or chin? But wicked
men are not in all matters wise men. Indeed, they so conspicuously fail
in one point or another that Scripture calls them fools! The devil
himself is a fool after all. He thinks that he is wonderfully cunning,
but there is always a place where he breaks down. These servants of
Satan, these boastful Philistines said confidently, "We have done for
him now, once and for all. We have put out his eyes and what can a
blind man do?" They do not go on cutting off his hair because they
fancy that, once lost, the good man's strength is lost forever. Perhaps
they said, "Now we have lashed him to the mill–the stronger he gets,
the more he can grind–therefore let his hair grow and so he will be
the more useful to us."
Great was the foolishness of their wisdom! They were fostering their
own destruction. Satan, also, is very cunning in getting hold of
backsliders, but he generally manages to let them slip by his
over-confidence in their willfulness. Many a man have I seen come back
to the dear Savior on account of the oppression which he has endured
from his old master, the Prince of Darkness! If he had been treated
well, he might never have returned to Christ–but it is not possible
for the citizens of the far country to treat prodigals well–sooner or
later they starve them and oppress them so that they run back home.
When Samson's hair began to grow, what did it prophesy? Well, first, it
prophesied hope for Samson. I will be bound to say that he put his
hands to his head and felt that it was getting bristly. And then he put
his hands to his beard and found it rough. Yes, yes, yes, it was coming
and he thought within himself, "It will be all right soon. I shall not
get my eyes back. They will not grow again. I am an awful loser by my
sin, but I shall get my strength back again, for my hair is growing. I
shall yet be able to strike a blow for my people and for my God." So
round the mill he went, grinding away, grinding away, but every now and
then putting his hands to his head and thinking, "My hair is growing!
Oh, it is growing again! My strength is returning to me." The mill went
round merrily to the tune of hope, for he felt that he would get his
old strength back. When they loaded it and tightened it to make the
work heavier, yet his hair was growing and so he found the burden
lighter than it had been before–and his heart began to dance within
him in prospect of being his former self again!
Now, if any of you have signs of God's restoring Grace in your hearts
and you are coming back to your God and Savior, be glad, be thankful!
Do not hesitate to let your renewed devotion to God be seen by those
around you. Come along, Brother, come along–your Brethren wait to
receive you! Come along, my wandering Sister, come along–all the
people of God will welcome you! If the Grace of God is moving you at
all, be hopeful and quicken your steps and come to Jesus! Come to Him
just now even as you came at first. Yes, and if you never did come
before, come now and throw yourselves at the foot of the Cross and look
up to those five precious wounds! Look and live for there is life in a
look at the Crucified One! There is life at this moment even for the
chief of sinners!
What did this prophesy? Joy for Samson, but, also, hope for Israel. Oh,
if any of the Israelites did get in to see him in prison, how they must
have been cheered by the sight of his returning hair! Some ancient
Israelite would say to his brother, "I have been to see poor Samson.
You remember him. We had to put him out of the Church, you know. Sad
case. I have been to see him." "How did he look?" "Well," he would say,
"there was much to grieve me, but somewhat, also, to comfort me. He
does not look as he did on the day when the Philistines shaved him. He
looks quite hairy again." "Oh!" the other would say, "then he will get
strong again–and when he is strong, he will use his mighty arms
against the oppressors of his people. I know he will fight for his
country again. When he gets strong again, he will lift that brawny arm
of his that smote the Philistines and he will let them know that he is
yet an Israelite. I know he will, for his heart will return to the love
of God and His chosen. Philistia shall not always triumph over us.
There is hope for us."
So, my dear Brothers and Sisters, when we see in you some little signs
of Grace and you are coming back, you do not know how cheerily we talk
to one another! Why, at the Elders' Meeting, one of them said, "Our
poor brother Jones was at the Tabernacle the other night. You remember
him." "Yes, we do remember him, indeed." "Well he was listening to our
pastor; I was so pleased to see him." Another Brother also said, "I am
glad to tell you that Mrs. So-and-So, the sister that went so sadly
astray, was outside the chapel–and when I pressed her to come in, she
wept and said she wished she had never gone away. There is a good work
going on there." We rejoice together and we say, "Thank God, they are
com-
ing back!" Oh, you do not know the joy that you backsliders will give
to the hearts of God's people if you do but return! There is joy not
only with the Great Shepherd, but with His friends and His neighbors
when the lost sheep is restored to the fold. Do you not know that the
Chief Shepherd calls His Brethren together and says, "Rejoice with Me,
for I have found My sheep which was lost"?
Lastly, what did it prophesy? Well, it prophesied mischief for the
Philistines. They did not know it, but if they could have read the
writing in Samson's heart, they would have understood that he meant to
shave their nation quite as closely as they had shaved him! There was a
storm brewing for Philistia. He that tore the lion as though it had
been a kid was getting back his strength! He that seized the jawbone of
an ass and said, "Heaps upon heaps, with the jawbone of an ass have I
slain a thousand men," will soon be scattering death among the
oppressors of his people! Woe to you, lords of Philistia! Woe to you,
princes of Gaza!
When a sinner who has gone astray is restored again, it means mischief
to the kingdom of Satan. Oh, how he will serve his God! How he will try
to bring back his fellow sinners! Having had much forgiven, this man
will love much and will serve Jesus much! He will be one of your
earnest Christian men, depend upon it! He will be much in prayer! He
will be careful in his walk! He will be holy in his speech! He will
contend earnestly for the Doctrines of Grace! He will be a leader among
the host of God, even as he had been a ringleader in sin! He will
invade the dark places and lead the chief of sinners captive to the
Cross! Woe to you, Philistia, when Samson's hair grows again! Woe to
the hosts of evil when the backslider is restored!
There, I have put it all before you. I have tried to put the matter
interestingly, but all the while my heart has been yearning over you
that have gone aside. I am pining for the restoration of those who have
turned like the dog to his vomit and the sow that was washed to her
wallowing in the mire. I long for your restoration, or your true
conversion. I want to see a different nature in you, that you may
neither be dogs nor swine, but may become the real children of our God
and Father! And then you will not return to your former ways. If you
have defiled yourselves, may you at once be washed! If you have
wandered, may you at once be restored to Jesus and His Church, to the
praise and the glory of His Divine Grace wherein He has made us
accepted in the Beloved! Amen.