HANDS FULL OF HONEY – Charles Spurgeon
HANDS FULL OF HONEY
Introduction
“And Samson turned aside to see the carcass of the lion: and, behold, there was a swarm of bees and honey in the carcass of the lion. And he took some in his hands, and went on eating, and came to his father and mother, and he gave some to them, and they did eat: but he did not tell them that he had taken the honey out of the carcass of the lion.” Judges 14:8-9.
It was a singular circumstance that a man unarmed should have slain a lion in the prime of its vigor, and yet, more strange that a swarm of bees should have taken possession of the dried carcass and filled it with their honey. In that country, with beasts, birds, insects, and the dry heat, a dead body is soon cleansed from all corruption and the bones are clean and white. Still, the killing of the lion and the finding of the honey make up a remarkable story. These singular circumstances became afterwards the subject of a riddle, but with that riddle we have no concern at this time. Samson himself is a riddle. He was not only a riddle-maker, but he was himself an enigma very difficult to explain. With his personal character, I have little or nothing to do. We are not today resting at the house of “Gaius, my host,” where the pilgrims amused themselves with a dish of nuts after dinner, but we are on the march and must attend to the more important matter of refreshing and inspiriting those who are in our company. Neither are we going to discuss difficulties, but as Samson took the honey without being stung, so would we gain instruction without debate. We have in these days so much to do that we must make practical use of every incident that comes before us in the Word of God. My one design is to cheer the desponding and stir up all God’s people to greater diligence in His service. I conceive that the text may legitimately be employed for this purpose. By the help of the divine Spirit, even after this lapse of time, we may find honey in the lion.
The Sweetness of the Believer’s Life
The particular part of the incident which is recorded in these two verses appears to have been passed over by those who have written upon Samson’s life. I suppose it appeared to be too inconceivable. They are taken up with his festive riddle, but they omit the far more natural and commendable fact of his bringing forth the honey in his hands and presenting it to his father and mother. This is the little scene to which I direct your glances. It seems to me that the Israelite hero, with a slain lion in the background, standing out in the open road with his hands laden with masses of honeycomb, dripping with honey, which he holds out to his parents, makes a fine picture, worthy of the greatest artist.
And what a type we have here of our Divine Lord and Master, Jesus, the conqueror of death and hell. He has destroyed the lion that roared upon us and upon Him. He has shouted “victory” over all our foes. “It is finished” was His note of triumph, and now He stands in the midst of His church with His hands full of sweetness and consolation, presenting them to those of whom He says, “These are My brother and sister and mother.” To each one of us who believe in Him, He gives the luscious food which He has prepared for us by the overthrow of our foes. He bids us come and eat, that we may have our lives sweetened and our hearts filled with joy.
To me, the comparison seems wonderfully apt and suggestive. I see our triumphant Lord laden with sweetness, holding it forth to all His brethren, and inviting them to share in His joy. But, beloved, it is written, “As He is, so are we also in this world.” All that are true Christians are, in a measure, like the Christ whose name they bear, and it is to His image that we are finally to be conformed. When He shall appear, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. And meanwhile, in proportion as we see Him now, “we are changed into the same image, from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.” The Samson type may well serve as the symbol of every Christian in the world. The believer has been helped by divine grace in his spiritual conflicts, and he has known “the victory which overcomes the world, even our faith.” He has thus been made more than a conqueror through Him that loved us, and now he stands in the midst of his fellow men inviting them to Jesus. With the honey in his hands, which he continues still to feast upon, he displays the heavenly sweetness to all that are round about him, saying, “O taste and see that the Lord is good, blessed is the man that trusts in Him.”
The Call to Be a Conqueror and a Comforter
I have before now met with that popular artist, Gustave Dore, [1832-1883], and suggested subjects to him. Had he survived among us, and had another opportunity occurred, I would have pressed him to execute a statue of Samson handing out the honey, strength distributing sweetness. And it might have served as a perpetual reminder of what a Christian should be—a Conqueror and a Comforter, slaying lions and distributing honey. The faithful servant of God wrestles with the powers of evil, but with far greater delight, he speaks to his friends and companions, saying, “Eat that which is good and let your souls delight themselves in sweetness.”
Set the statue before your mind’s eye, and now let me speak about it. Three touches may suffice. First, the believer’s life has its conflicts. Secondly, the believer’s life has its sweets. And thirdly, the believer’s life leads him to communicate of those sweets to others. Here is room for profitable meditation.
I. THE BELIEVER’S LIFE HAS ITS CONFLICTS
To become a Christian is to enlist as a soldier. To become a believer is to enter upon a pilgrimage, and the road is often rough. The hills are steep, the valleys are dark, giants block the way, and robbers lurk in corners. The man who reckons that he can glide into heaven without a struggle has made a great mistake. No cross, no crown. No sweat, no sweet. No conflict, no conquest.
These conflicts, if we take the case of Samson as our symbol, begin early in the life of the believer. While Samson was a child, the Spirit of the Lord moved him in the camps of Dan—see the last verse of the 13th chapter. And as soon as he was on the verge of manhood, he must match himself with a lion. God, who intended that His servant should smite the Philistines and should check their proud oppression of His people, Israel, began early to train the hero for his life’s conflict. So, when Samson was going to seek a wife, he turned aside into the vineyards of Timnath, and a lion roared upon him. Yes, and the young believer, who as yet has not wrestled with the powers of darkness, will not be long before he hears the roar of the lion, and finds himself in the presence of the great Adversary. Very soon we learn the value of the prayer, “Deliver us from the evil one!” Most of the Lord’s servants have been men of war from their youth up. Without are fightings, even when within there are no fears.
The Early Conflict of a Believer
This early combat with the savage beast was intended by God to let Samson know his strength when under the influence of the Spirit, and to train him for his future combats with Israel’s enemies. He that is to smite the Philistines’ hip and thigh, with a great slaughter, until he has laid them heaps on heaps by his single prowess, must begin by tearing a lion with his naked hands. He was to learn war in the same school as another and a greater hero, who afterwards said, “Your servant slew both the lion and the bear, and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be as one of them.” Soldiers are made by war. You cannot train veterans or create victors except by battles. As in the wars of armies, so is it in spiritual contests. Men must be trained for victory over evil by combat with it. Therefore, “it is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth,” for it will not gall his shoulders in later years. It is assuredly a dangerous thing to be altogether free from trouble, in silken ease the soldier loses his prowess. Look at Solomon, one of the greatest and wisest, and yet, I might say, one of the least and most foolish of men. It was his fatal privilege to sit upon a throne of gold and sun himself in the brilliance of unclouded prosperity. And therefore, his heart soon went astray, and he fell from his high places. Solomon in his early days had no trouble, for no war was raging, and no enemy worth notice was then living. His life ran smoothly on, and he was lulled into a dreamy sleep, the sleep of the voluptuous. He had been happier far had he been like his father, called from his earliest days to trial and conflict, for this might have taught him to stand fast upon the pinnacle of glory whereon the providence of God had placed him.
Training Through Struggle
Learn, then, O young brother, that if, like Samson, you are to be a hero for Israel, you must early be subjected to suffering and daring, in some form or other. When you step aside and seek for meditation in the quiet of the vineyard, a young lion may roar upon you, even as in the earliest days of your Lord and Master’s public service, He was led into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. These conflicts, dear friends, may often be very terrible. By a young lion is not meant a whelp, but a lion in the fullness of its early strength and not yet slackened in its pace, or curbed in its fury by growing years. Fresh and furious, a young lion is the worst kind of beast that a man can meet with. Let us expect as followers of Christ, to meet with strong temptations, fierce persecutions, and severe trials, which will lead to stern conflicts. Do not reckon, you that are yet putting on the harness, that you shall soon put it off, or that when you take it off, it will be quite as bright as it is today. It will be dimmed with blood and dust, and battered by many a blow.
II. THE BELIEVER’S LIFE HAS ITS SWEETS
We are not always killing lions, we are sometimes eating honey. Certain of us do both at a time. We kill lions and yet cease not to eat honey, and truly it has become so sweet a thing to enter into conflict for Christ’s sake, that it is a joy to contend earnestly for the faith once delivered to the saints. The same Lord who has bid us “quit yourselves like men; be strong,” has also said, “Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say, rejoice.” The believer’s life has its sweets and these are of the choicest, for what is sweeter than honey? What is more joyful than the joy of a saint? What is happier than the happiness of a believer? I will not condescend to make a comparison between our joy and the mirth of fools. I will go no further than a contrast. Their mirth is as the crackling of thorns under a pot, they spit fire and make a noise and a flash, but there is no heat, and they are soon gone out, nothing comes of it, the pot is long in boiling. But the Christian’s delight is like a steady coal fire. You have seen the grate full of coals all burning red and the whole mass of coal has seemed to be one great glowing ruby. And everybody who has come into the room out of the cold has delighted to warm his hands, for it gives out a steady heat and warms the body even to its marrow. Such are our joys.
III. THE BELIEVER’S LIFE LEADS HIM TO COMMUNICATE OF THESE SWEETS
As soon as we have tasted the honey of forgiven sin and perceived the bliss that God has laid up for His people in Christ Jesus, we feel it to be both our duty and our privilege to communicate the good news to others. Here let my ideal statue stand in our midst, the strong man, conqueror of the lion, holding forth his hands full of honey to his parents. We are to be modeled according to this fashion. And first, we do this immediately. The moment a man is converted, if he would let himself alone, his instincts would lead him to tell his fellows. I know that the moment I came out of that little chapel in which I found the Savior, I wanted to pour out my tale of joy. I could have cried with Cennick—“Now will I tell to sinners round, What a dear Savior I have found! I’ll point to Your redeeming blood, And say, ‘Behold the way to God!’” I longed to tell how happy my soul was and what a deliverance I had obtained from the crushing burden of sin! I longed to see all others come and trust my Lord and live!
Conclusion
Let others say what they will. We are a happy people, happy in Christ, happy in the Holy Spirit, happy in God our Father. Therefore, believers, go out with your hands full of the honey of divine love and hold it out to others. You cannot possibly do harm. Grace does good and no harm, all its days. Even if you blunder over it, you will do no mischief. The gospel spilled on the ground is not lost. Good, and only good, must come of making known salvation by Jesus Christ. God make you all to be His witnesses in all the circles in which you move. Amen.