WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:22.260 Hi, and welcome to the Willow Ridge Church weekly podcast. 00:00:22.760 --> 00:00:25.880 This is where you can find audio for our current and past sermons. 00:00:26.080 --> 00:00:30.420 We hope that you enjoy this week's installment, and be sure to check back next week to hear 00:00:30.420 --> 00:00:31.260 the latest message. 00:00:31.680 --> 00:00:32.460 Thanks for listening. 00:00:44.540 --> 00:00:45.420 Good morning. 00:00:46.240 --> 00:00:50.420 Glad that you guys are with us here on campus and joining us online. 00:00:50.420 --> 00:00:56.140 So you just saw three beautiful, wonderful families that call Willow Ridge Church home 00:00:56.140 --> 00:00:57.240 come over your screen. 00:00:57.760 --> 00:01:02.280 And just to fill you guys in, we had our Baby Steps celebration this weekend and had our 00:01:02.280 --> 00:01:07.140 recognition of those families during our 930 service where we had the opportunity to bring 00:01:07.140 --> 00:01:08.940 them up on stage and pray for them. 00:01:09.020 --> 00:01:10.720 And so what is Baby Steps? 00:01:10.720 --> 00:01:14.700 If you're not used to that or haven't heard that around here, it's the process that we 00:01:14.700 --> 00:01:21.540 go through with parents as they commit to discipling their kids and to understand that they have 00:01:21.540 --> 00:01:23.960 been given the primary responsibility to do that. 00:01:24.120 --> 00:01:29.980 While God blesses us with a congregation and a church home to come alongside them and to 00:01:29.980 --> 00:01:33.920 do that, God puts that ultimate responsibility on them. 00:01:34.000 --> 00:01:35.460 And so we sit down with them. 00:01:35.540 --> 00:01:36.800 We talk to them about what that means. 00:01:36.800 --> 00:01:42.700 And then yesterday evening, we had a time of celebration where they got to come with their 00:01:42.700 --> 00:01:44.800 friends and family and closest loved ones. 00:01:44.940 --> 00:01:49.760 And these parents got to share a letter with them and to their child about their commitment 00:01:49.760 --> 00:01:51.120 to discipling them. 00:01:51.220 --> 00:01:52.740 And then we got to pray over them. 00:01:52.820 --> 00:01:56.560 And so I know you probably recognize those faces. 00:01:56.860 --> 00:01:58.560 You probably recognize some of those families. 00:01:58.740 --> 00:02:03.420 And so I'm going to task you at home and you here this morning with the exact same thing 00:02:03.420 --> 00:02:09.360 that I tasked that 930 crowd with, which is this, as the parents, they committed to the 00:02:09.360 --> 00:02:11.760 discipleship process of these kids. 00:02:11.940 --> 00:02:17.980 And what we commit to as a result of that, as their church family, is to commit to walk 00:02:17.980 --> 00:02:21.360 alongside of them in the discipleship process. 00:02:21.660 --> 00:02:26.040 And so whether you know those families or not, be praying for them, engaging with them, 00:02:26.040 --> 00:02:29.980 and encouraging them as they commit these children to the Lord. 00:02:30.420 --> 00:02:36.240 If you've got your Bibles with you this morning, go ahead and open up Judges chapter 14. 00:02:37.260 --> 00:02:43.460 Now, if you're one of our children's ministry workers, you'll know this from being in the 00:02:43.460 --> 00:02:44.920 last service, but over there serving. 00:02:45.260 --> 00:02:47.560 I got a long way to go, a short time to get there. 00:02:47.680 --> 00:02:52.100 I'm not sure that I achieved that short time to get there last service. 00:02:52.100 --> 00:02:58.760 But we're going to basically cover Judges 14, Judges 15, and Judges 16 this morning as we 00:02:58.760 --> 00:03:00.820 look at the life of Samson. 00:03:01.120 --> 00:03:04.600 So Samson is a guy with some struggles, all right? 00:03:05.120 --> 00:03:07.720 Samson is going to struggle with pride. 00:03:08.500 --> 00:03:10.180 Samson's going to struggle with his mouth. 00:03:11.100 --> 00:03:13.300 Samson's going to struggle with anger. 00:03:14.400 --> 00:03:21.740 But Samson, the root of a lot of this, right, is going to come from Samson's lust of women. 00:03:21.860 --> 00:03:25.560 So there's going to be a couple of side notes that we have that I want to give you guys, 00:03:25.620 --> 00:03:25.820 okay? 00:03:26.160 --> 00:03:29.100 And side note number one is this. 00:03:29.460 --> 00:03:36.540 The story of Samson is proof that God gives us good things and we turn them into being sinful, 00:03:37.000 --> 00:03:37.240 right? 00:03:37.620 --> 00:03:42.540 So Samson is given by God a desire for women, which is good. 00:03:43.240 --> 00:03:48.740 And what Samson does is he steps outside of the boundaries that God has defined for that. 00:03:48.940 --> 00:03:52.820 And so what should be a good thing is turned into lust. 00:03:53.520 --> 00:03:57.580 And so it's like what we're coaching our kids right on right now with Emma and Grayson, right? 00:03:57.580 --> 00:04:04.980 Like there's going to become a certain point in time, if not already, where Emma's going to see a guy 00:04:04.980 --> 00:04:11.020 and be attracted to him, where Grayson's going to see a girl and be attracted to her. 00:04:11.300 --> 00:04:16.740 And when we navigate through the realm of what God has given us, we acknowledge that that's good, 00:04:17.140 --> 00:04:17.420 right? 00:04:17.640 --> 00:04:20.040 As painful it is for me to say that as a dad, right? 00:04:20.040 --> 00:04:21.540 That's a good thing. 00:04:22.060 --> 00:04:25.340 But when we step outside of that, we step into sin, we step into lust. 00:04:25.340 --> 00:04:28.320 And it's what we're going to see with Samson. 00:04:29.020 --> 00:04:36.780 And so Samson's, what's going to take place in his life at the very beginning of chapter 14 00:04:36.780 --> 00:04:42.060 is the Philistines have taken over and they have God's people. 00:04:43.040 --> 00:04:47.340 And Samson is going to see a Philistine woman, 00:04:48.340 --> 00:04:57.720 look at her and in his pride and in his arrogance, say to his parents, go and get her for me. 00:04:58.220 --> 00:05:01.900 All right, ladies, how would you have liked that that's your encounter with your husband? 00:05:01.960 --> 00:05:03.560 I see a head shaking now already, right? 00:05:03.700 --> 00:05:04.620 But that's what happens. 00:05:04.680 --> 00:05:05.420 That's what takes place. 00:05:05.620 --> 00:05:07.040 He looks at his mom and his dad. 00:05:07.260 --> 00:05:08.940 He's like, I like her. 00:05:09.620 --> 00:05:12.580 Go get her for me. 00:05:13.140 --> 00:05:14.880 Look at verse three of chapter 14. 00:05:14.880 --> 00:05:41.800 A couple things that I want to point out from this verse, all right? 00:05:42.200 --> 00:05:44.540 Samson says to his parents, I want her. 00:05:44.920 --> 00:05:47.900 They say, I'm not sure that's a good idea. 00:05:48.420 --> 00:05:52.300 Now, here's where this passage has been taken and twisted. 00:05:53.140 --> 00:05:58.240 What Samson's parents are dealing with is not a difference in cultures. 00:05:58.940 --> 00:06:03.300 What Samson's parents are dealing with is not a difference in race. 00:06:03.500 --> 00:06:06.440 What they're dealing with is a faith matter, okay? 00:06:06.440 --> 00:06:13.240 This passage of Scripture has been taken and manipulated and forced to turn this into a race thing, okay? 00:06:13.400 --> 00:06:17.780 This is not saying, hey, Samson, she's from a different race. 00:06:18.060 --> 00:06:20.420 You and her should not be together. 00:06:20.820 --> 00:06:23.620 What they're dealing with is Samson. 00:06:24.120 --> 00:06:26.100 She's not one of God's people. 00:06:27.080 --> 00:06:28.560 You're of different faith. 00:06:29.620 --> 00:06:34.200 And so because of that, you should not be with her. 00:06:34.460 --> 00:06:40.580 And just continuing to kind of chase a side point since I'm not as bound as I was in the first service. 00:06:40.800 --> 00:06:41.300 I want to say this. 00:06:41.400 --> 00:06:51.320 If you were here, right, or you're watching online, and you're dating, and you're a Christian, and they're not, that's not what God has for you. 00:06:52.420 --> 00:06:55.540 This is not what God's plan is for you. 00:06:55.720 --> 00:07:08.660 We could go in about talking about equally yoked, but we see here in this, but Samson looked at his dad and said, get her for me, for she is right in my eyes. 00:07:09.340 --> 00:07:15.260 You know, the theme that we've seen every single week with Israel is that Israel did what was evil in the sight of the Lord. 00:07:15.680 --> 00:07:19.740 We see it as a whole nation that is poured out on them as a result of that. 00:07:19.740 --> 00:07:29.560 But in this passage of Scripture, we see all the way down to the individual heart, phrased a little bit differently, but communicating the same thing. 00:07:29.960 --> 00:07:33.700 Samson says, uh-uh, Dad, I know what I want. 00:07:34.460 --> 00:07:41.740 I know what's good in my eyes, and it's her, so get her for me. 00:07:42.560 --> 00:07:45.680 Samson wants what Samson wants. 00:07:46.320 --> 00:07:48.540 He set the standard for his life. 00:07:48.540 --> 00:07:50.200 He knows what he feels. 00:07:50.200 --> 00:07:56.080 He knows what he desires, and that's what he's pursuing after. 00:07:56.720 --> 00:08:09.560 And so many times in our lives, what we make our decisions on of the things that we pursue in our own lives are the exact same thing of what Samson did. 00:08:10.500 --> 00:08:24.540 And we think as we're walking down that path, everything is made clear to us. 00:08:24.540 --> 00:08:25.740 Finally, I know. 00:08:26.160 --> 00:08:27.240 Finally, I understand. 00:08:27.560 --> 00:08:28.760 My heart is leading me. 00:08:28.980 --> 00:08:31.540 It's telling me that this is what I want. 00:08:31.680 --> 00:08:35.300 And we think we see clearly, but we don't see clearly at all. 00:08:35.900 --> 00:08:41.900 And instead, what we're looking through is through the fog of sin. 00:08:43.080 --> 00:08:43.200 Right? 00:08:43.340 --> 00:08:47.740 In the fog of sin, we think we know where we're headed. 00:08:47.900 --> 00:08:50.860 We think we know the choices that we're making. 00:08:51.320 --> 00:08:53.500 So what does it mean to see clearly? 00:08:54.280 --> 00:08:58.940 Because when we're seeing clearly, that's how God's driving us toward. 00:08:59.420 --> 00:09:04.380 When we see clearly, what that means is we're no longer looking by our standards. 00:09:04.820 --> 00:09:07.900 We're no longer looking by our feelings or by our desires. 00:09:08.280 --> 00:09:11.200 To see clearly means that we see through faith. 00:09:11.780 --> 00:09:20.520 So even though it might not be what I want, it might not be what I feel, it might even be what I know or what I choose, I see through trust. 00:09:21.120 --> 00:09:22.820 And that's so hard for us. 00:09:23.300 --> 00:09:25.060 It's easy for us, and we will. 00:09:25.260 --> 00:09:26.940 And we're going to pick on Samson today. 00:09:27.240 --> 00:09:27.520 Right? 00:09:27.920 --> 00:09:30.040 Because he messes up time and time again. 00:09:30.040 --> 00:09:36.640 But as we see that, I ask you to look at this and examine it for your own life. 00:09:37.480 --> 00:09:39.960 Samson's like, oh, it's what I want. 00:09:40.920 --> 00:09:42.180 It's what I like. 00:09:42.960 --> 00:09:44.100 It's what I need. 00:09:44.260 --> 00:09:45.660 It appeals to me. 00:09:45.800 --> 00:09:48.440 It makes sense to me. 00:09:48.580 --> 00:09:50.440 But he's not seeing clearly. 00:09:50.820 --> 00:09:51.840 He's looking through sin. 00:09:53.000 --> 00:09:57.900 You see, Samson is looking through a lens of being impulsive. 00:09:58.660 --> 00:09:58.760 Right? 00:09:59.040 --> 00:10:02.600 He sees what he wants, and immediately he makes the decision. 00:10:02.840 --> 00:10:03.340 It's interesting. 00:10:03.440 --> 00:10:04.720 You don't even find out her name. 00:10:05.360 --> 00:10:07.720 You don't know anything about her or why, because Samson doesn't either. 00:10:08.300 --> 00:10:08.460 Right? 00:10:08.460 --> 00:10:14.500 And he sees her, and he knows that he wants her because he's living in the impulsive moment. 00:10:14.560 --> 00:10:15.540 Now, I want to be honest with you. 00:10:15.700 --> 00:10:19.560 I understand this aspect of Samson's life. 00:10:20.060 --> 00:10:20.980 I'll never forget. 00:10:21.100 --> 00:10:25.140 I met my wife on December, I believe. 00:10:25.480 --> 00:10:29.220 I know our first date was December 15th that I actually asked her out on a date. 00:10:29.420 --> 00:10:37.640 But I met her on a blind date at church, I think on December 7th, 2002. 00:10:38.440 --> 00:10:38.660 Right? 00:10:38.880 --> 00:10:45.900 We met at church, the nerdiest Christian first date you could ever possibly imagine. 00:10:46.120 --> 00:10:48.340 We met at a Christmas cantata. 00:10:48.660 --> 00:10:48.840 Right? 00:10:49.160 --> 00:10:51.380 At First Baptist Church of North Augusta. 00:10:52.080 --> 00:10:56.760 And the friend that had set us up told me, she said, Bo, she's going to park at the back 00:10:56.760 --> 00:10:57.720 parking lot. 00:10:57.920 --> 00:11:01.120 And when, at First Baptist North Augusta, you'd come in through the entrance there. 00:11:01.240 --> 00:11:05.260 And then there was a stairwell, it's kind of a circular stairwell that would work its 00:11:05.260 --> 00:11:06.200 way down to the bottom. 00:11:06.340 --> 00:11:11.460 And she said, just wait there, and she'll come and you'll get to meet her and all those 00:11:11.460 --> 00:11:11.800 things. 00:11:12.060 --> 00:11:14.620 And so I'll never forget, I got there and I was waiting. 00:11:14.960 --> 00:11:16.760 And let me, I'd never been on a blind date before. 00:11:17.060 --> 00:11:19.280 Not one blind date in my life. 00:11:19.440 --> 00:11:21.600 And those are awful, right? 00:11:21.640 --> 00:11:25.180 The moments of leading up to them, like, what is this going to be like? 00:11:25.260 --> 00:11:27.480 Joan's pointing at Lenny, like, yeah, I met him too right there, right? 00:11:27.740 --> 00:11:28.920 So you're nervous. 00:11:29.700 --> 00:11:33.260 And so I'm standing there, and I'll be honest with you, I don't know that I've ever confessed 00:11:33.260 --> 00:11:35.920 this publicly, other than here this morning. 00:11:36.540 --> 00:11:40.880 I'm seeing single ladies come in, and I'm going, please don't be her. 00:11:41.600 --> 00:11:41.780 Right? 00:11:41.900 --> 00:11:42.100 Okay. 00:11:42.620 --> 00:11:45.380 Just, no, no. 00:11:46.000 --> 00:11:52.480 And then I saw this blonde-haired beauty come in. 00:11:53.680 --> 00:11:58.740 Black pants, black, white, and gray sweater. 00:11:59.860 --> 00:12:02.060 And she comes walking toward the stairs, right? 00:12:02.100 --> 00:12:03.280 We're supposed to meet at the bottom of them. 00:12:03.720 --> 00:12:05.240 I'm like, ooh, this might be her. 00:12:06.220 --> 00:12:06.560 Right? 00:12:07.420 --> 00:12:09.800 Please be her. 00:12:10.200 --> 00:12:12.820 And she's moving her way down the stairs. 00:12:12.820 --> 00:12:18.020 And as she's getting closer, like, she's just getting hotter as she's moving down, right? 00:12:18.860 --> 00:12:22.400 She gets down to the bottom of the stairs, and she says, Bo? 00:12:23.400 --> 00:12:24.260 And I said, Aaron? 00:12:24.360 --> 00:12:25.200 And she's like, yeah. 00:12:25.240 --> 00:12:27.040 I was like, whoo, okay, good, right? 00:12:28.060 --> 00:12:28.960 I get it. 00:12:29.880 --> 00:12:30.900 He saw. 00:12:32.040 --> 00:12:33.560 And it was good to his eye. 00:12:34.360 --> 00:12:42.960 But in that moment, right, blown away by her beauty, I wasn't willing to go, uh-uh, mom, dad, go get her. 00:12:43.040 --> 00:12:44.460 She's my wife. 00:12:45.600 --> 00:12:52.960 But Samson, being impulsive, just made the decision for what he began to feel. 00:12:53.900 --> 00:12:55.140 But also see this. 00:12:56.080 --> 00:12:57.180 Samson wasn't teachable. 00:12:58.180 --> 00:13:03.320 We don't know a lot about Samson's dad other than what we saw in the last chapter last week. 00:13:03.400 --> 00:13:04.520 But he comes to him. 00:13:04.580 --> 00:13:08.660 He's like, son, I'm not sure this is what you need to do. 00:13:09.760 --> 00:13:10.680 Samson wouldn't listen. 00:13:11.760 --> 00:13:15.560 Here's a question that we ask ourselves each other often. 00:13:15.880 --> 00:13:17.320 We ask ourselves this question. 00:13:17.660 --> 00:13:20.600 Do you have someone who speaks truth into your life? 00:13:21.160 --> 00:13:22.040 So I want to ask you that. 00:13:22.040 --> 00:13:27.860 Do you have someone, a fellow Christian, who speaks hard truth into your life? 00:13:28.080 --> 00:13:29.660 Hopefully that answer is yes. 00:13:29.920 --> 00:13:31.600 Now let me ask you a follow-up question. 00:13:31.880 --> 00:13:32.740 Do you listen to him? 00:13:33.780 --> 00:13:34.700 Do you listen to him? 00:13:35.420 --> 00:13:41.060 Or is it a one-way conversation of them speaking and you not listening? 00:13:41.260 --> 00:13:44.400 Because this is what we see happen in the life of Samson. 00:13:45.180 --> 00:13:46.540 So verse 4 is going to continue. 00:13:46.540 --> 00:13:50.060 Now I want to kind of give a preface for this before we get into verse 4. 00:13:50.320 --> 00:13:52.560 Verse 4 is going to give us something complicated. 00:13:53.500 --> 00:13:56.540 Verse 4 is going to give us something that we've really got to wrestle with. 00:13:56.780 --> 00:14:03.480 But once we can kind of understand this, it'll help us move through this a little bit better. 00:14:04.020 --> 00:14:04.640 Verse 4 says, 00:14:04.640 --> 00:14:13.620 His father and mother did not know it was from the Lord, for he was seeking an opportunity against the Philistines. 00:14:14.080 --> 00:14:19.180 At that time, the Philistines ruled over Israel. 00:14:20.280 --> 00:14:21.940 Here's what we begin to see. 00:14:22.940 --> 00:14:29.340 Samson's life is marked by sinful decision after sinful decision after sinful decision. 00:14:29.940 --> 00:14:36.200 But what we see is God perfectly working in spite of the sin. 00:14:36.840 --> 00:14:39.640 God working in spite of the sin. 00:14:39.740 --> 00:14:44.820 Now, for those of us, this is going to bring some absolutes in our life into conflict. 00:14:45.440 --> 00:14:48.380 So I want to look at this and say, what is true in this situation? 00:14:49.100 --> 00:14:51.040 Is Samson in sin? 00:14:51.840 --> 00:14:54.880 Lusting after what he is not supposed to pursue? 00:14:55.580 --> 00:14:56.100 Yes. 00:14:56.940 --> 00:14:58.120 Yes, he is. 00:14:58.780 --> 00:15:04.120 This is not what is productive in his life and beneficial for him. 00:15:04.120 --> 00:15:14.580 But is God still going to use Samson and this situation in order for God to bring himself glory? 00:15:15.260 --> 00:15:15.820 Yes. 00:15:16.620 --> 00:15:19.400 We see two things that are happening here. 00:15:20.020 --> 00:15:22.660 Samson, we're going to see it time and time again in the life of Samson. 00:15:23.300 --> 00:15:27.320 Samson making a sinful choice after a sinful choice after a sinful choice. 00:15:27.600 --> 00:15:28.900 And God doing two things. 00:15:29.360 --> 00:15:33.560 Using Samson for his glory in spite of the choices that he makes. 00:15:33.920 --> 00:15:39.500 And using the choices that he makes for his glory. 00:15:40.640 --> 00:15:41.400 And we see this. 00:15:41.420 --> 00:15:44.900 This is at the heart of sound doctrine of Scripture. 00:15:45.540 --> 00:15:46.480 I want you to look at the screen. 00:15:46.580 --> 00:15:47.740 We have Acts chapter 2. 00:15:48.640 --> 00:15:54.920 As Peter preaches and as he shares the gospel with those who led Christ to be crucified. 00:15:55.360 --> 00:15:56.580 Who turned him over. 00:15:56.580 --> 00:15:57.500 He says this. 00:15:58.220 --> 00:16:00.680 Men of Israel, hear these words. 00:16:01.280 --> 00:16:14.680 Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst as you yourselves know. 00:16:15.140 --> 00:16:19.800 So Peter goes and he says to the group that's there, you know who Jesus is. 00:16:20.720 --> 00:16:21.740 You heard his words. 00:16:23.000 --> 00:16:24.840 You saw how he interacted with people. 00:16:25.720 --> 00:16:27.300 You saw his miracles. 00:16:28.380 --> 00:16:32.440 You know the signs that spoke concerning him. 00:16:33.300 --> 00:16:33.960 Verse 23. 00:16:35.340 --> 00:16:46.780 This Jesus delivered up, so turned over to be crucified, according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God. 00:16:48.200 --> 00:16:56.060 You, crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. 00:16:57.000 --> 00:17:06.440 God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it is not possible for him to be held by it. 00:17:06.660 --> 00:17:22.460 This is what we see in Samson and that there are moments in time where Jesus perfectly steps out of heaven onto this earth and lives a perfect life according to the plans of God. 00:17:23.320 --> 00:17:33.840 And sinfully, there were men and those who rejected him, who betrayed him and had him turned over to be crucified. 00:17:34.800 --> 00:17:47.300 Who God, as a perfect part of his plan, ordained the crucifixion of Christ so that we may have life and his sacrifice is paid for us. 00:17:47.300 --> 00:17:56.100 So that those who sinfully committed the acts to have his turn over lived in their sin. 00:17:56.880 --> 00:18:08.920 But God, who perfectly raised him up so that even those men could hear about the gospel of Jesus Christ. 00:18:09.480 --> 00:18:15.420 It doesn't make sense in our mind, but it's how God works. 00:18:16.500 --> 00:18:22.800 Just because you and I mess up, it doesn't mean that God's plan has been ruined. 00:18:23.800 --> 00:18:30.820 Just because Samson messes up, it doesn't mean that God's plan fails. 00:18:31.460 --> 00:18:35.540 And it's what we're going to see time and time again in Samson. 00:18:36.120 --> 00:18:37.420 And I want you to hear this. 00:18:37.940 --> 00:18:39.300 This is part of grace. 00:18:39.880 --> 00:18:46.740 This is part of us as we live our life and as we make decisions that are sinful and we make decisions that are wrong. 00:18:46.900 --> 00:18:53.780 It doesn't mean that God's not still working in you and through you and even in the moment. 00:18:54.680 --> 00:18:56.220 Even in that time. 00:18:57.220 --> 00:18:58.640 Even where you find yourself. 00:18:59.600 --> 00:19:01.640 God hasn't left you. 00:19:03.060 --> 00:19:05.740 So Samson and his parents, they leave. 00:19:06.440 --> 00:19:10.460 And they return to Timna, right, to get the girl that he wants. 00:19:11.540 --> 00:19:18.500 What I want us to continue to have to set on the front of our mind is God using flawed people. 00:19:19.520 --> 00:19:20.940 They're going to make the decisions. 00:19:21.940 --> 00:19:23.500 They're going to make the choices. 00:19:24.760 --> 00:19:28.500 And God's going to continue to use them. 00:19:29.840 --> 00:19:30.880 Don't hear this. 00:19:31.040 --> 00:19:32.280 This isn't what I'm saying. 00:19:33.780 --> 00:19:38.260 I'm not saying that it doesn't matter what you do because God will work it out. 00:19:38.740 --> 00:19:39.560 That's disobedience. 00:19:39.720 --> 00:19:39.940 It's sin. 00:19:40.020 --> 00:19:40.440 It's wrong. 00:19:41.240 --> 00:19:42.980 What I am saying is this. 00:19:43.940 --> 00:19:46.900 That God is bigger than you and God is bigger than me. 00:19:47.820 --> 00:19:51.540 And that God is greater than our failures. 00:19:52.360 --> 00:19:56.980 And likewise, God is greater than our success. 00:19:57.780 --> 00:20:06.120 To limit God by what we can do is to have a small mind of who God is. 00:20:06.880 --> 00:20:08.480 So they continue on the path. 00:20:09.360 --> 00:20:15.220 And as they approach Timna, and this is going to be a piece that matters, it says that a lion approaches them. 00:20:15.940 --> 00:20:18.840 And in verse 6 of chapter 14, 00:20:18.840 --> 00:20:28.920 Then the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon him, being Samson, and although he had nothing in his hand, he tore the lion in pieces as one tears a young goat. 00:20:28.920 --> 00:20:35.280 But he did not tell his father or his mother what he has done. 00:20:35.900 --> 00:20:41.740 So he talks to the girl, affirms what he's saying, and this is what he knows that he wants. 00:20:41.940 --> 00:20:47.660 And he is going to take her to be his wife, the story of Samson that we see unfold. 00:20:48.040 --> 00:20:57.120 And what we see in verse 6 is he's taking step after step of walking away from the vow and the plan that God had for him. 00:20:57.900 --> 00:21:04.580 In this, part of the Nazarite vow that he took was not to touch anything dead or he'd be unclean. 00:21:05.280 --> 00:21:10.300 And he tiptoes in this in verse 6 and later on dives fully on. 00:21:10.700 --> 00:21:15.400 When he returns later to take her to be his wife, he sees the carcass of the lion that he'd killed. 00:21:16.040 --> 00:21:22.300 And in the carcass there, some bees had put a hive there, and the hive had honey in it. 00:21:22.480 --> 00:21:32.260 And Samson, knowing what he's called to do, knowing the vow that was made, he goes in because he wants what he sees. 00:21:32.400 --> 00:21:34.040 He wants what he wants. 00:21:34.720 --> 00:21:36.160 He violates. 00:21:37.120 --> 00:21:41.700 He's disobedient to God, and he takes the honey for himself. 00:21:42.820 --> 00:21:46.440 We see the path that he continues to walk down. 00:21:47.460 --> 00:21:55.400 So Samson prepares a feast, a feast to celebrate his love for his new wife and the Philistine guests who were there. 00:21:55.980 --> 00:21:58.540 And we're going to see a layer of arrogance, right? 00:21:58.880 --> 00:22:04.640 Even more so than, that's her, I want her, begin to come out of Samson. 00:22:05.180 --> 00:22:06.900 And so he tells the guest a riddle. 00:22:07.460 --> 00:22:12.320 And he says, look, if you're right, if you can give me the correct answer within seven days, 00:22:12.320 --> 00:22:14.660 then I'll give you 30 sets of clothing. 00:22:15.200 --> 00:22:21.160 But if you don't get it right, then you are going to owe me clothing as a return. 00:22:21.900 --> 00:22:23.260 So Samson tells them this riddle. 00:22:23.360 --> 00:22:26.320 It's a pretty good riddle, and they can't figure it out. 00:22:27.080 --> 00:22:33.300 So they go to Samson's wife, and they tell her, what is the riddle? 00:22:33.800 --> 00:22:35.240 What is the answer? 00:22:35.240 --> 00:22:40.480 If you don't give us the answer, we will burn down your dad's house. 00:22:42.140 --> 00:22:43.180 And so she cries. 00:22:44.100 --> 00:22:45.520 She comes to Samson. 00:22:46.240 --> 00:22:48.400 She cries and begs for days. 00:22:49.480 --> 00:22:52.880 And on the seventh day, he tells her. 00:22:54.020 --> 00:22:55.180 And she tells them. 00:22:56.120 --> 00:22:59.100 And he's angry, so he must repay the debt. 00:22:59.760 --> 00:23:01.360 He must be a man of his word, right? 00:23:01.620 --> 00:23:04.000 He said he was going to do something, so he must do it. 00:23:04.000 --> 00:23:06.280 Look at verse 19. 00:23:06.280 --> 00:23:17.060 And the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon him, and he went down to Ashkelon and struck down 30 men of the town. 00:23:17.220 --> 00:23:23.100 So he kills them, took their spoil, and gave the garments to those who had told the riddle. 00:23:23.380 --> 00:23:24.040 This is key. 00:23:24.040 --> 00:23:29.060 In hot anger, he went back to his father's house. 00:23:29.600 --> 00:23:38.540 So Samson strikes down the Philistines so that he can get vengeance for what he feels is right. 00:23:39.180 --> 00:23:47.960 Samson responds in sin, but it's what God is going to begin to use in order to set his people free. 00:23:47.960 --> 00:23:54.640 As God continues to work in the flawed man, as God continues to work in the mess. 00:23:55.620 --> 00:24:02.340 As we continue to read through and see in Samson's life, his life gets more and more dysfunctional. 00:24:02.660 --> 00:24:07.920 It says that after Samson being gone, that Samson's wife's dad thought that he wouldn't return. 00:24:08.640 --> 00:24:14.580 So in Scripture, it says that she's given a way to his best man. 00:24:15.880 --> 00:24:17.920 And Samson comes back, and he finds this out, right? 00:24:18.020 --> 00:24:19.140 And he's enraged. 00:24:20.060 --> 00:24:21.420 Why would you ever do this? 00:24:22.360 --> 00:24:27.720 And I must take vengeance on those who have done this to me. 00:24:28.760 --> 00:24:30.240 So the Bible tells us that he went. 00:24:30.340 --> 00:24:34.660 Now, I've done some redneck things in my life, but I've never done anything like this. 00:24:34.660 --> 00:24:40.660 And he gets a bunch of foxes, and he ties their tails together, and he puts in between their tail a torch, 00:24:41.500 --> 00:24:44.280 and sets it on fire, and sets the foxes loose. 00:24:44.400 --> 00:24:49.360 And I don't know what that could look like, but I just feel like it's bad, and it's chaos, and it's out of control. 00:24:49.540 --> 00:24:54.540 And they take off, and they burn down all of the grain that they've stored up. 00:24:54.640 --> 00:24:58.120 They burn down all of their orchards that they have. 00:24:58.340 --> 00:25:03.500 And this is the response that Samson pours out on them. 00:25:04.640 --> 00:25:15.660 And so the Philistines, in this ping-pong match of evil back and forth, they respond, and they kill his wife, and they kill her dad. 00:25:16.880 --> 00:25:22.440 And so Samson returns and kills many of them, and then he goes and hides. 00:25:23.400 --> 00:25:25.680 He goes and hides himself away. 00:25:26.460 --> 00:25:31.080 And in Judges 15, verse 11, begins to come to a head. 00:25:32.420 --> 00:25:37.360 3,000 men of Judah went down to the cleft, or the rock of Atom. 00:25:37.440 --> 00:25:39.160 This is where Samson is hiding. 00:25:39.160 --> 00:25:41.220 1,000 men of Judah went down to the tree, and said to Samson, 00:25:41.780 --> 00:25:45.440 Do you not know that the Philistines are rulers over us? 00:25:46.020 --> 00:25:48.360 What then is this that you have done to us? 00:25:48.420 --> 00:25:52.860 And he said to them, As they did to me, so I have done to them. 00:25:53.800 --> 00:25:59.600 And they said to him, We have come down to bind you, that we may give you into the hands of the Philistines. 00:25:59.600 --> 00:26:04.920 And Samson said to them, Swear to me that you will not attack me yourselves. 00:26:05.240 --> 00:26:09.700 And they said to him, No, we will only bind you and give you into their hands. 00:26:09.860 --> 00:26:11.980 We will surely not kill you. 00:26:12.200 --> 00:26:18.340 So they bound him up with two new ropes and brought him up from the rock. 00:26:19.240 --> 00:26:26.820 And so Israel, when Samson kills the Philistines, they go out to camp against him, getting ready to attack. 00:26:27.100 --> 00:26:35.420 And Israel, and specifically the people of Judah, they go to Samson, and they say, No, no, we've got to turn you over. 00:26:35.560 --> 00:26:36.660 Now, let's look at some things. 00:26:36.960 --> 00:26:37.900 Samson's a bad man. 00:26:37.960 --> 00:26:40.840 They send 3,000 men to do this. 00:26:41.200 --> 00:26:41.400 Okay? 00:26:41.840 --> 00:26:46.960 Everybody knows what they're dealing with when it comes to Samson. 00:26:48.240 --> 00:26:55.060 And when we look at this, if you remember all the way back, I want to show you the depth in how Israel has fallen. 00:26:55.800 --> 00:27:05.060 If you go all the way back to Judges chapter 1, when God chooses for himself a people who will be mobilized to fight for Israel, he chooses Judah. 00:27:06.120 --> 00:27:07.800 And now look at where we find them. 00:27:08.180 --> 00:27:10.680 They're not running toward the battle. 00:27:11.020 --> 00:27:14.720 They're running before the battle begins to surrender. 00:27:15.600 --> 00:27:19.900 Israel doesn't see that maybe God's going to use Samson like he's used the others. 00:27:20.220 --> 00:27:27.520 Instead, they're seeing that what they want to do is to surrender what's around them. 00:27:28.360 --> 00:27:33.640 And what we see is what worldly surrender looks like. 00:27:34.440 --> 00:27:36.860 They didn't surrender in culture. 00:27:38.020 --> 00:27:40.060 They didn't surrender in government. 00:27:41.140 --> 00:27:45.900 They didn't surrender in all of the things that we see people surrender to. 00:27:45.900 --> 00:27:48.320 They surrendered in faith. 00:27:49.140 --> 00:27:54.900 Israel would rather be enslaved to the world than free to worship God. 00:27:55.860 --> 00:27:56.900 They choose slavery. 00:27:58.500 --> 00:28:04.600 And the interesting thing that happened following the emancipation of slaves in the United States 00:28:04.600 --> 00:28:08.140 is after word was brought out. 00:28:08.220 --> 00:28:10.160 And it didn't happen overnight, right? 00:28:10.280 --> 00:28:11.800 It didn't happen immediately. 00:28:12.520 --> 00:28:19.980 But more and more as the news that all men and women and children were now free from the bonds of slavery, 00:28:19.980 --> 00:28:24.860 there was an interesting dynamic that took place in the lives of many slaves. 00:28:25.520 --> 00:28:29.260 All they had known their whole life was bondage. 00:28:30.280 --> 00:28:35.340 All they had known their whole life was their master who had rule over them. 00:28:36.120 --> 00:28:42.220 And so in spite of being told you were free, in spite of being told you were not owned by him, 00:28:43.340 --> 00:28:48.360 they continued to live the life that they lived before. 00:28:49.120 --> 00:28:56.960 Many staying on the same plantations and surrendering themselves to the treatment of slavery. 00:28:57.420 --> 00:28:57.720 Why? 00:28:58.800 --> 00:29:00.160 Because it's all they knew. 00:29:01.480 --> 00:29:02.680 And so it's what they chose. 00:29:04.000 --> 00:29:06.480 And we look at this and we think, man, Israel's crazy. 00:29:06.760 --> 00:29:07.600 Why would they do this? 00:29:07.840 --> 00:29:11.060 Why would that not rally around Samson and fight? 00:29:11.420 --> 00:29:16.760 Why would these slaves surrender themselves to the oppression that was brought upon them before 00:29:16.760 --> 00:29:18.140 when they've been set free? 00:29:19.280 --> 00:29:21.580 But it's the same thing that you and I do every single day. 00:29:22.500 --> 00:29:27.780 That we wake up having been bought or freedom purchased for us by the blood of Christ. 00:29:28.180 --> 00:29:32.860 And yet we continue to take on the yoke of slavery. 00:29:33.500 --> 00:29:38.220 We continue to surrender ourselves in the worldly manner. 00:29:39.080 --> 00:29:41.100 And it's what Israel does. 00:29:42.060 --> 00:29:45.420 But God is going to continue to work. 00:29:46.060 --> 00:29:46.160 Right? 00:29:46.580 --> 00:29:49.240 So they take Samson to the Philistines. 00:29:50.260 --> 00:29:52.740 When he gets there, he breaks his bonds. 00:29:53.860 --> 00:29:56.800 He grabs the jawbone of a donkey. 00:29:57.560 --> 00:30:00.360 Continuing to break the vow that he had committed. 00:30:01.440 --> 00:30:06.360 And kills a thousand men with a bone. 00:30:08.020 --> 00:30:09.660 So Samson has learned, right? 00:30:10.320 --> 00:30:15.500 We should be able to get done with this and see what is happening in Samson's life. 00:30:15.780 --> 00:30:16.860 And rally around. 00:30:17.120 --> 00:30:18.640 He's learned all of these things. 00:30:18.840 --> 00:30:21.580 He's seen the failures of wandering outside of God's plan. 00:30:21.820 --> 00:30:23.540 He's learned his lesson in this moment. 00:30:23.860 --> 00:30:25.520 God has revealed his faithfulness. 00:30:25.720 --> 00:30:27.340 But chapter 16 happens. 00:30:28.360 --> 00:30:29.620 And Samson finds himself. 00:30:30.460 --> 00:30:32.100 He takes himself to Gaza. 00:30:32.820 --> 00:30:33.700 And this is important. 00:30:33.820 --> 00:30:36.080 It's the capital city of the Philistines. 00:30:36.740 --> 00:30:44.540 Setting his people free from them, he goes and he camps in the middle of the capital city. 00:30:45.540 --> 00:30:45.940 Look at me. 00:30:46.040 --> 00:30:47.320 Look at who I am. 00:30:47.420 --> 00:30:50.080 Look at what I can do as he embraces this. 00:30:51.260 --> 00:30:52.660 And he's with a prostitute. 00:30:53.800 --> 00:31:00.940 The depth of the sin of his life begins to build and build and build. 00:31:00.940 --> 00:31:13.820 And in verse 4, after this, after this season of his life, he loved a woman in the valley of Sorek whose name was Delilah. 00:31:14.760 --> 00:31:17.500 A name that's famous throughout history. 00:31:18.320 --> 00:31:19.460 Very interesting here. 00:31:19.800 --> 00:31:23.620 Delilah means the night. 00:31:24.580 --> 00:31:25.540 It means darkness. 00:31:25.540 --> 00:31:32.640 So that when Samson is with her, he is literally in bed with darkness. 00:31:33.140 --> 00:31:36.660 The irony of the story of what we find of what God is doing. 00:31:37.400 --> 00:31:39.240 So just like before, Samson sees her. 00:31:39.460 --> 00:31:40.160 He likes her. 00:31:40.400 --> 00:31:41.160 She's a Philistine. 00:31:41.520 --> 00:31:42.600 None of these things matter. 00:31:42.700 --> 00:31:44.900 Of what God has done, it doesn't matter. 00:31:45.240 --> 00:31:47.600 But he wants what he wants. 00:31:48.560 --> 00:31:49.820 And so he pursues Delilah. 00:31:50.960 --> 00:31:53.260 Delilah is approached by the Philistine leaders. 00:31:53.260 --> 00:31:59.620 And they want her to find out what Samson's strength is so that they can bring him down. 00:31:59.780 --> 00:32:01.220 So that they can crush him. 00:32:01.440 --> 00:32:04.160 And they promise her that they'll pay her. 00:32:04.540 --> 00:32:07.720 Last week, we talked about the foreshadowing of the birth of Christ. 00:32:07.800 --> 00:32:15.300 And we look at this again and see, right, for a few pieces of silver of what Judas did for Jesus as he betrayed him. 00:32:15.900 --> 00:32:17.080 It's what they promised her. 00:32:17.160 --> 00:32:18.080 And so she agrees. 00:32:18.560 --> 00:32:25.400 So she comes, right, it's the affection of Samson's eye, of his love for her. 00:32:25.660 --> 00:32:28.500 And she comes to him and says, look, tell me. 00:32:28.680 --> 00:32:30.520 You can trust me. 00:32:30.700 --> 00:32:31.860 You know me. 00:32:32.200 --> 00:32:34.380 Tell me the source of your strength. 00:32:35.500 --> 00:32:42.020 And so Samson says, well, look, with seven bow strings, if my wrists are bound with those, I cannot break them. 00:32:42.600 --> 00:32:48.520 So while he's asleep, she hides the authorities in the side room and she ties him up. 00:32:48.560 --> 00:32:53.720 And then as the authorities hide, she runs in and says, Samson, the Philistines are here. 00:32:54.500 --> 00:33:01.660 And immediately he jumps up and he breaks the bonds which are wrapped around his wrist. 00:33:02.500 --> 00:33:09.060 And she cries and tells him that he's mocking her, begs him again to tell her what is going on. 00:33:09.060 --> 00:33:11.820 And he says, well, look, okay, with bow strings, it doesn't work. 00:33:11.820 --> 00:33:14.040 But with new ropes, it does. 00:33:14.160 --> 00:33:15.360 Ropes that have never been used. 00:33:15.520 --> 00:33:19.880 I cannot break those in spite of all the strength that I have. 00:33:20.340 --> 00:33:22.100 So the cycle continues again. 00:33:22.400 --> 00:33:24.280 She hides them in the side room. 00:33:24.540 --> 00:33:25.700 He falls asleep. 00:33:25.840 --> 00:33:26.920 She ties him up. 00:33:27.120 --> 00:33:29.920 He runs in, breaks those one more time. 00:33:30.740 --> 00:33:36.960 And she cries again and says, Samson, tell me what this is. 00:33:37.040 --> 00:33:38.060 I love you. 00:33:38.280 --> 00:33:39.160 You love me. 00:33:39.380 --> 00:33:40.780 You can trust me. 00:33:41.700 --> 00:33:43.760 And he said, look, I've got these seven locks of hair. 00:33:44.340 --> 00:33:50.400 And if they're woven together with a pin, right, Samson's getting a little closer for those of you that know the story. 00:33:50.980 --> 00:33:54.600 If they're woven together with a pin, then I'll lose all of my strength. 00:33:55.400 --> 00:33:57.100 So once again, the same story. 00:33:57.700 --> 00:34:00.140 She does and she does again. 00:34:00.860 --> 00:34:02.240 And sure enough, he breaks free. 00:34:03.320 --> 00:34:08.860 And the last time she says this to him, if you love me, you'll tell me. 00:34:09.860 --> 00:34:13.300 The manipulation of the heart, right? 00:34:13.480 --> 00:34:14.540 I want to say this. 00:34:14.620 --> 00:34:17.800 We got some of our teenagers in here watching online, right? 00:34:18.460 --> 00:34:21.220 That's never a good phrase, right? 00:34:21.900 --> 00:34:23.560 If you love me, you will. 00:34:24.100 --> 00:34:25.980 If you love me, you wouldn't ask, right? 00:34:26.800 --> 00:34:31.360 If you love me, she says, impresses him day after day. 00:34:32.100 --> 00:34:34.340 So he tells her, it's my hair. 00:34:35.420 --> 00:34:38.300 If my hair is cut, my head is shaven. 00:34:38.300 --> 00:34:44.660 It's never been done because of a vow made between my mom and God before I was even in the womb. 00:34:45.280 --> 00:34:49.520 If that is taken from me, then my strength is gone. 00:34:50.560 --> 00:34:53.680 So while he's asleep, she shaves his head. 00:34:54.880 --> 00:34:55.820 Philistines come in. 00:34:56.720 --> 00:34:57.440 They take him. 00:34:58.220 --> 00:34:59.460 His strength is lost. 00:35:00.120 --> 00:35:02.140 They gouge his eyes out. 00:35:02.700 --> 00:35:03.520 And he's turned over. 00:35:04.800 --> 00:35:06.600 Should be a sad ending to the story. 00:35:07.960 --> 00:35:08.740 Samson's failed. 00:35:10.020 --> 00:35:12.380 Everything that Samson has known. 00:35:13.500 --> 00:35:18.840 Everything about the covenant from the beginning that we read in chapter 13. 00:35:19.660 --> 00:35:27.640 In every moment where Samson could have made the choice to glorify God, he fails time and time again. 00:35:28.160 --> 00:35:31.960 Samson has failed, but God hasn't. 00:35:32.680 --> 00:35:33.860 Look down at verse 22. 00:35:35.680 --> 00:35:38.400 Verse 22 of chapter 16 says, 00:35:38.560 --> 00:35:45.640 But the hair of his head began to grow again after it had been shaved. 00:35:46.160 --> 00:35:47.920 You're like, well, duh, that's what happens, right? 00:35:48.820 --> 00:35:51.340 When you shave, hair grows back. 00:35:52.040 --> 00:35:52.880 It's what happens. 00:35:52.960 --> 00:35:54.800 It's what happens to all of us. 00:35:55.780 --> 00:35:58.740 But it's different here for Samson. 00:35:59.580 --> 00:36:04.060 When God gives us verse 22, it's not pointing out the obvious, 00:36:04.060 --> 00:36:08.160 but it's a reminder that even in the failures of Samson, 00:36:08.520 --> 00:36:12.080 that God has not and God will not fail. 00:36:12.940 --> 00:36:16.460 Samson broke his end of the deal. 00:36:17.400 --> 00:36:19.380 Time and time again. 00:36:19.880 --> 00:36:23.960 We didn't get into it, but Samson broke with the vineyard, right? 00:36:24.020 --> 00:36:26.180 To not drink of the fruit of the vine. 00:36:26.400 --> 00:36:27.280 He had broken that. 00:36:27.820 --> 00:36:32.780 Samson had broken the not touching anything that is ceremonially unclean. 00:36:33.040 --> 00:36:36.680 And Samson had broken the Nazarite vow of his hair. 00:36:36.880 --> 00:36:40.600 And every single moment he had broken it, 00:36:40.840 --> 00:36:44.820 but God had not broken his end of the deal. 00:36:45.160 --> 00:36:50.000 In Judges 13, 7, I want to read to you the vow that is made, 00:36:50.700 --> 00:36:53.100 the promise and the covenant of God. 00:36:54.060 --> 00:36:55.920 God says to Samson's mother, 00:36:56.260 --> 00:37:00.060 Behold, you shall conceive and bear a son. 00:37:00.700 --> 00:37:06.160 So then drink no wine or strong drink and eat nothing unclean. 00:37:07.160 --> 00:37:07.780 Get this. 00:37:07.780 --> 00:37:17.040 For the child shall be a Nazarite to God from the womb to the day of his death. 00:37:17.460 --> 00:37:26.000 At no point in time had God walked away from the covenant that he has made with his people. 00:37:27.380 --> 00:37:32.960 And as we take this and look at this and apply this to our life, 00:37:33.900 --> 00:37:41.480 what we can know is moment by moment as we break our end of the covenant, 00:37:42.080 --> 00:37:47.720 as we do what we want to do, which is right in our own eyes, 00:37:48.040 --> 00:37:52.020 God does not break his word. 00:37:52.860 --> 00:37:58.500 The Nazarite vow is never to be about the faithfulness of the individual. 00:37:59.560 --> 00:38:05.960 The Nazarite vow is all about God's faithfulness. 00:38:06.600 --> 00:38:08.560 That's why when we come in here and we sing, 00:38:09.340 --> 00:38:11.600 we don't sing about how good we are. 00:38:12.660 --> 00:38:14.760 We don't sing about how faithful we are. 00:38:15.640 --> 00:38:19.780 We don't sing about how gracious we are, how sacrificial we are. 00:38:20.480 --> 00:38:26.620 When we come in here to sing, we sing about how good he is and how faithful he is 00:38:26.620 --> 00:38:31.100 and how gracious he is and how perfect he is. 00:38:32.300 --> 00:38:39.400 So when Samson is there in that cell locked in and he begins to be able to rub his head 00:38:39.400 --> 00:38:43.900 and feel that what was once smooth now has that stubble again, 00:38:45.000 --> 00:38:51.060 he's reminded that I know you did this and you did this and you did this and you did this, 00:38:51.140 --> 00:38:53.660 but Samson, I'm still here. 00:38:55.340 --> 00:38:56.760 So Samson's their prize. 00:38:58.160 --> 00:38:59.720 He's a broken prize. 00:39:01.140 --> 00:39:02.680 He's a beat up prize. 00:39:03.960 --> 00:39:08.980 He literally and figuratively, right, has been blinded because of his sin. 00:39:10.100 --> 00:39:16.680 A broken man who had enough strength to kill thousands by himself with a bone. 00:39:17.740 --> 00:39:20.780 And he now finds himself in chains. 00:39:22.280 --> 00:39:23.260 And so they're at their temple. 00:39:23.420 --> 00:39:26.220 They're preparing to do sacrifices to their God. 00:39:26.960 --> 00:39:29.620 And they say, bring out Samson. 00:39:30.620 --> 00:39:32.140 We want to see Samson. 00:39:32.760 --> 00:39:36.840 We want to mock this great Samson who could do all of these things, 00:39:37.340 --> 00:39:41.080 but look what we have done to him. 00:39:42.560 --> 00:39:46.960 And so they bring him out to be ridiculed and to be mocked. 00:39:47.960 --> 00:39:52.020 And in chapter 16, verse 28, Samson does something. 00:39:53.300 --> 00:39:54.260 He prays. 00:39:55.480 --> 00:39:58.540 There's a couple instances in scripture where Samson prays, 00:39:58.660 --> 00:40:01.500 and normally they're kind of those self-seeking prayers. 00:40:02.780 --> 00:40:04.240 But he prays in verse 28. 00:40:04.880 --> 00:40:05.460 It says this. 00:40:07.060 --> 00:40:09.440 Then Samson called to the Lord and said, 00:40:10.760 --> 00:40:33.180 On the surface, we read that prayer, and we're like, it's the same old Samson. 00:40:34.540 --> 00:40:36.120 Samson cries out to God and says, 00:40:36.120 --> 00:40:37.460 God, look what they have done to me. 00:40:37.740 --> 00:40:39.480 Help me bring vengeance onto them. 00:40:40.580 --> 00:40:43.240 Sometimes the English language fails us in our translations. 00:40:43.440 --> 00:40:46.280 And I want to explain to you Samson's prayer. 00:40:47.460 --> 00:40:50.800 What Samson is doing in verse 28 is he's offering a prayer of repentance. 00:40:52.200 --> 00:40:53.060 He's broken. 00:40:54.480 --> 00:40:56.120 He's blinded by his sin. 00:40:57.540 --> 00:41:02.220 He's had that moment where literally his whole life has flashed before his eyes. 00:41:02.920 --> 00:41:05.360 He understands the depth of his depravity 00:41:05.360 --> 00:41:10.140 and how it has gotten him to where he is in that very moment. 00:41:10.400 --> 00:41:13.920 And then he addresses God two different ways. 00:41:14.300 --> 00:41:17.680 One, O Lord God, and then another, O God. 00:41:17.960 --> 00:41:23.920 And in that, he uses two different words for God that help us understand this prayer of repentance. 00:41:24.260 --> 00:41:27.540 And with them, he attaches two phrases to them. 00:41:27.860 --> 00:41:31.620 And in one, he says, O God, remember me. 00:41:31.980 --> 00:41:39.880 And this would have been the phrase that sinners and broken people use when they come before someone above them. 00:41:40.360 --> 00:41:46.040 And please remember me says this, I don't deserve to be in your presence. 00:41:46.040 --> 00:41:54.120 And so Samson finding himself where he is comes before in a temple of pagan worship. 00:41:55.320 --> 00:41:57.820 Sacrifices are happening around him. 00:41:57.940 --> 00:41:59.940 And he comes before God. 00:42:00.060 --> 00:42:04.960 And he says, God, I don't deserve to even be in your presence. 00:42:05.100 --> 00:42:09.060 And what we begin to see is humility in the heart of Samson. 00:42:10.620 --> 00:42:16.460 And then he says this, strengthen me, O God. 00:42:17.980 --> 00:42:19.400 Strengthen me, O God. 00:42:20.080 --> 00:42:26.880 And what Samson is doing is he's asking for something that he doesn't deserve. 00:42:27.880 --> 00:42:32.180 It's the appeal on behalf of a broken man. 00:42:33.000 --> 00:42:40.840 It's what we do when we say, God, I know all the things that I've done. 00:42:41.940 --> 00:42:44.760 And I know that I do not deserve your grace. 00:42:45.840 --> 00:42:48.100 But God, save me. 00:42:49.380 --> 00:42:53.680 God, use me for your name and for your glory. 00:42:55.880 --> 00:42:57.120 This is the moment. 00:42:58.460 --> 00:43:05.800 This is a moment of a man who's been gifted with things that you and I couldn't even begin to fathom. 00:43:07.260 --> 00:43:16.880 And it's culminating in a moment where he realizes that God is still at work because God who is God. 00:43:17.000 --> 00:43:19.080 God who is who he is. 00:43:20.260 --> 00:43:21.160 And Samson's broken. 00:43:22.440 --> 00:43:25.300 And he says, remember me. 00:43:25.880 --> 00:43:36.680 And in that moment, God saw through the vow that he made. 00:43:37.560 --> 00:43:39.360 And he remembered Samson. 00:43:40.360 --> 00:43:42.240 And he forgave Samson. 00:43:42.560 --> 00:43:52.940 And in his forgiveness of Samson, he strengthened him to fulfill the purpose of what she's sending to set his people free. 00:43:54.420 --> 00:44:10.500 And so Samson placed his hands on the pillars and pressed them out so that the entire temple collapsed and everyone, including Samson, was killed. 00:44:11.780 --> 00:44:15.160 And in that, God's people were set free. 00:44:16.800 --> 00:44:21.100 You know, last week we looked at the birth of the promise that was made. 00:44:22.520 --> 00:44:28.080 And here today, as we look forward in just a couple of weeks, my wife got so excited. 00:44:28.180 --> 00:44:32.860 She found a radio station the other night that's already playing Christmas music, right? 00:44:32.900 --> 00:44:34.540 That's what we have in the car going on. 00:44:36.200 --> 00:44:37.120 Christmas is coming. 00:44:38.440 --> 00:44:39.840 And we can look at this. 00:44:40.940 --> 00:44:48.580 We can look at the life of Jesus and not see Samson, but see a better Samson, a perfect Samson. 00:44:49.940 --> 00:44:53.960 Who gave his life so that we may have life. 00:44:54.760 --> 00:45:05.320 Who gave his life so that we can come before God and say, remember me, forgive me, strengthen me. 00:45:06.740 --> 00:45:07.580 Samson died. 00:45:09.020 --> 00:45:11.300 And the story of his life ends there. 00:45:12.300 --> 00:45:14.560 But the story of Jesus continues on. 00:45:15.500 --> 00:45:18.580 Because three days later, the tomb was empty. 00:45:19.580 --> 00:45:26.740 So that for your life and for mine, we may have the hope of eternity found in Christ, in Christ alone. 00:45:27.440 --> 00:45:28.140 Would you pray with me? 00:45:32.940 --> 00:45:37.080 Lord, I thank you for this day and this time that we could be in here. 00:45:38.640 --> 00:45:41.060 Lord, I thank you for the life of Samson, Lord. 00:45:42.440 --> 00:45:50.100 That even in the midst of while he's responding sinfully, pursuing the sinful desires of his heart. 00:45:51.100 --> 00:45:54.160 Lord, you're still working and you're still moving in his life. 00:45:55.200 --> 00:45:58.180 Lord, you're using every situation and every moment. 00:45:59.440 --> 00:46:14.780 Lord, I know that for a lot of us, there's things that we can look at this and compare ourselves and see ourselves in. 00:46:15.380 --> 00:46:18.940 Lord, we feel like we're incapable of being used. 00:46:19.300 --> 00:46:22.600 Lord, that there's no way that you can work in this moment and in this time. 00:46:22.680 --> 00:46:28.960 But what we can be reminded of, God, is that you don't leave us. 00:46:29.840 --> 00:46:31.440 You don't forsake us. 00:46:32.380 --> 00:46:34.140 That you are who you are. 00:46:35.580 --> 00:46:42.200 And from the covenant that you made with Abraham, that you would redeem for yourself a people. 00:46:43.500 --> 00:46:47.860 Lord, you spoke about a nation, but you also spoke about a holy people. 00:46:49.320 --> 00:46:50.660 Chosen and set apart. 00:46:51.800 --> 00:46:53.080 Given salvation. 00:46:56.740 --> 00:47:00.360 And Christ came and he lived and he died. 00:47:01.200 --> 00:47:06.480 And fulfilling and seeing through the covenant allow us to have life in him. 00:47:08.020 --> 00:47:09.020 In him alone. 00:47:11.640 --> 00:47:14.060 Not found in who we are or in our works. 00:47:15.100 --> 00:47:16.580 But found in who he is. 00:47:17.900 --> 00:47:19.020 And in his perfect work. 00:47:22.140 --> 00:47:24.200 With every head bowed and every eye closed. 00:47:28.160 --> 00:47:30.020 Samson's life is a wreck, man. 00:47:33.380 --> 00:47:34.720 But so is mine. 00:47:36.920 --> 00:47:38.000 So is yours. 00:47:41.000 --> 00:47:42.300 Day after day. 00:47:44.860 --> 00:47:46.180 Decision after decision. 00:47:46.340 --> 00:47:47.360 Moment after moment. 00:47:50.980 --> 00:47:52.160 God hadn't left us. 00:47:54.660 --> 00:47:57.040 And so maybe today, maybe for the first time. 00:47:58.380 --> 00:48:01.160 First time like Samson's first time here in scripture. 00:48:02.440 --> 00:48:04.360 You need to say to God, remember me. 00:48:06.520 --> 00:48:08.720 As you're humbly in his presence right now. 00:48:10.460 --> 00:48:11.520 God, remember me. 00:48:13.820 --> 00:48:18.160 And maybe, maybe right now you need to say, strengthen me, oh God. 00:48:19.760 --> 00:48:21.120 Give me what I don't deserve. 00:48:22.320 --> 00:48:23.440 Give me your grace. 00:48:24.120 --> 00:48:25.120 Give me your forgiveness. 00:48:26.540 --> 00:48:28.820 So that I may do what you've called me to do. 00:48:28.900 --> 00:48:31.000 And so that I may be who you've called me to be. 00:48:33.000 --> 00:48:34.520 Maybe you need it for the first time. 00:48:35.940 --> 00:48:37.840 And in that experience salvation. 00:48:40.640 --> 00:48:41.840 But maybe you're like me. 00:48:43.800 --> 00:48:44.660 I'm saved. 00:48:44.760 --> 00:48:45.740 I know I'm saved. 00:48:47.900 --> 00:48:51.880 And I don't boast in myself, but I boast in the work of Christ. 00:48:53.340 --> 00:48:59.740 But every day, every day, I need to say, oh Lord, remember me. 00:49:01.620 --> 00:49:02.680 Strengthen me, oh God. 00:49:04.260 --> 00:49:04.920 Strengthen me. 00:49:06.140 --> 00:49:07.380 Jesus, we love you. 00:49:08.120 --> 00:49:08.940 We praise you. 00:49:09.660 --> 00:49:10.500 And it's your name we pray. 00:49:11.020 --> 00:49:11.420 Amen. 00:49:11.420 --> 00:49:11.520 Amen. 00:49:11.520 --> 00:49:11.560 Amen. 00:49:11.560 --> 00:49:11.560 Amen. 00:49:11.560 --> 00:49:13.620 Amen. 00:49:13.620 --> 00:49:31.320 Thanks again for listening to the Willow Ridge Church weekly podcast. 00:49:31.320 --> 00:49:33.940 We hope that you enjoyed listening to this week's message. 00:49:34.620 --> 00:49:37.940 If you'd like to learn more about who we are or explore additional resources, 00:49:38.540 --> 00:49:43.000 visit us online at www.willowridgechurch.com 00:49:43.000 --> 00:49:46.540 or by searching for Willow Ridge Church on Facebook and Instagram.