Samson - Part 1

August 25th 2024

Series: Holy Spirit in the Old Testament

Sermon Title: Samson – Part 1

Topic: Journey to help us learn who the Holy Spirit was, is, and will always be and how the Holy Spirit is active in our lives today.

Key Passages: Judges 13-14

Topic: Holy Spirit, Deliverance, Samson

Sermon Blurb: In today’s message, we will see how the Holy Spirit works through a man who lived a FAR from perfect life.

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Sermon:

Hello Family Church!

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Those of you newer to Family Church, we are SUPER happy you are with us today!

In this part of the Holy Spirit series, we examine the evidence of the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament.

We are in a series taking a DEEP dive into who the Holy Spirit was, is, and will always be.

PAUSE

We are in the process of reading the Old Testament and examining how the Holy Spirit was active there.

We have already examined the role of the Holy Spirit in the first five books of the Bible, and today, we wrap up our study in the book of Judges.

The book of Judges also contains over 1/3 of ALL the references to the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament historical books.

And as a reminder…. you can see those locations in your notes and on the screens.

Holy Spirit in Judges: Judges 3:10, 6:34, 11:29, 13:25, 14:6, 14:19, 15:14

I'm very excited about the next few weeks because we will see the Holy Spirit show up in the life of an interest man in the Bible.

The person we will spend some time on starting this week is a well-known Biblical character that I think many of us will be able to relate to…

A guy named Samson…

Samson is a great person to study because he is a man’s man.

He is a STUD…

Kind of like your campus pastor!

He is a REAL man’s man!

Samson is VERY relatable because his life starts out great, but then he makes terrible choices…

And his life goes through ups and downs…

And then it ends in a very interesting way…

PAUSE

Grab your Bible and open it up to

Judges 13

And by the way…..

New Person Bible Connection:

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After service, we will give you an AMAZING leather-bound study Bible!

Just go to ADD YOUR CAMPUS PLACE and get one for FREE!!!

PAUSE

Let me just give a little background on the book of Judges one LAST time….

During the period of Judges, there was no King in Israel.

This, in turn, led to the appointment of Judges to guide them through particularly turbulent periods.

There is a cycle in the book of Judges that we will see over and over as we walk through this book.

You can see that cycle in your notes and on the screen.

The Cycle of Judges: · Abandonment of God: Israel turns away from God, leading to moral decay and idol worship. · Oppression: Enemies oppress Israel. · Cry for Deliverance: Israel cries out to God. · God Raises Judges: God appoints judges to deliver them.

Leave that on the screen, and I want you to think about your life.

Does that pattern describe your relationship with God?

I know SO MANY PEOPLE….

That they walk away from God…

Their life goes into a spiral in the wrong direction…so they blame God for that…

Life gets harder and harder…. AKA oppression

Then I have seen so many people cry out to God AFTER walking away from Him…

And crying out can be yelling at God.

Being mad at God…

Or ask God for help…

BUT….

God usually waits until the anger turns to recognizing what we did and asking Him for help with what we CHOSE to walk into…

Then God delivers us…

Just like he did with the Israelite people in the book of Judges…

PAUSE

Today, I will give you an overview of Chapter 13 to develop a foundational understanding of this strong man.

We will also see things that can make strong people…..weak.

Over the next few weeks, you will learn a LOT about Samson.

Samson's accomplishments are literally legendary.

But so are his weaknesses.

PAUSE

I think Samson is like so many of us.

Samson had so much God-given potential, yet he made bad decisions and self-destructed.

God had given him, JUST LIKE ALL OF YOU, so much potential!!!!!

But just like Samson, we often choose a different path…

We tend to think we know better what we want…

We tend to give in to the desires of our feelings….

Samson made SO MANY poor decisions.

In fact, if I would summarize his life with one statement…

If you're taking notes, here is the summary in one statement:

Samson was an incredibly strong man with dangerously weak self-control.

Repeat

Let’s see that truth play out.

Judges chapter 13, let’s begin at verse 1.

Judges 13:1-5 Again the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord, so the Lord delivered them into the hands of the Philistines for forty years.

2 A certain man of Zorah, named Manoah, from the clan of the Danites, had a wife who was childless, unable to give birth.

3 The angel of the Lord appeared to her and said, “You are barren and childless, but you are going to become pregnant and give birth to a son.

4 Now see to it that you drink no wine or other fermented drink and that you do not eat anything unclean.

5 You will become pregnant and have a son whose head is never to be touched by a razor because the boy is to be a Nazirite, dedicated to God from the womb.

He will take the lead in delivering Israel from the hands of the Philistines.”

This passage happened about 3500 years ago.

At that point in time in REAL human history, the people of Israel were living in chaos.

Their ancestors were led out of slavery in Egypt by Moses into what God said would be the Promised Land.

But it didn’t take long for the people of God to lose their way.

It didn’t take long for them to choose the ways of the world over the ways of God.

Even though God did AMAZING things proving He was REAL and active in their lives…..

As generations went by……

More and more people walked away from God….

Just like you can see happening in our country today…

And we see in the Bible that when they chose to walk away from God……there were consequences….

Similar to today….we can see the consequences of our nation slowly walking away from the Godly values we were founded upon….

PAUSE

I also want to point out something in verse 5 because it is VERY important in this story….

Verse 5 says this boy will take a Nazarite Vow…

I am sure most of us do not know what that means, so let me explain.

Jot down the numbers Chapter 6.

You can go read about the Nazirite vows there later today.

A Nazirite vow was essentially how a non-priest, or an ordinary person, could be set apart for the use and glory of God….

Let me say that another way…this was a vow a regular person took to live a certain lifestyle that would set them apart from other people and open them up to God’s use…

This means ANYONE could say, "I'm living by these vows. I am devoting myself to serve God wholly."

There were three vows that Samson had to live by.

The first vow was:

Don't get drunk!

No Coronas, no martinis, and no margaritas with your Mexican food!

NO alcohol can touch your lips, and no getting drunk!

The second vow was:

Don't touch anything dead.

The third vow was:

Don't get your hair cut. Let your hair grow long.

Now, some of you may say, you know, "What style was it?"

Well, my guess is this picture…

Yes, that is the Guinness Book World record holder for the longest mullet in the world!!!!

Or maybe he had another popular one from when I was a kid…

Does anyone remember the rat tail?

PAUSE

But in all reality…you might wonder why the purpose of a vow???

The vow was an outward and visible testimony, a sign of an inward and spiritual truth.

My wedding ring is an outward sign that I am committed to my wife.

For them, long hair was an outward and visible sign that a person was set apart for God's use.

And we will see how God’s Spirit works in Samson in some incredible ways!!!!

PAUSE

And yet, with all of this God-given potential…

His lack of self-control got him into trouble again and again.

We will watch as Samson betrays God for a handful of honey.

We will see his temper get the best of him and lead him to kill 30 innocent men unrighteously!

We will watch as he falls victim to pursuing the wrong kind of woman.

We will see how his lust for women again and again get him in trouble.

We will see him struggle with things SO MANY men struggle with…

PAUSE

I want to show the parents in the room something…

So, an Angel from God gives these parents this great promise about their future child…

That is what we just read…..

Now drop down to verse 13 & 14…

13 The angel of the Lord answered, “Your wife must do all that I have told her.

14 She must not eat anything that comes from the grapevine, nor drink any wine or other fermented drink nor eat anything unclean.

She must do everything I have commanded her.”

Parents, do you see what I am about to tell you?

Parents…Grandparents… Step parents… Foster Parents… Adoptive Parents…

You need to FOLLOW God's direction and leading in your life, NOT only for your sake!

But for the sake of your children AND community!!!!

It is CRITICAL we demonstrate to our kids and community what it looks like to live for God…

BUT parents… also bear in mind our kids will grow up…

And our kids might not all make the best choices EVEN if we did!!!

And you will see that truth come to life today…

PAUSE

Drop down to verse 24…

24 The woman gave birth to a boy and named him Samson. He grew and the Lord blessed him,

25 and the Spirit of the Lord began to stir him while he was in Dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol.

Wow!

So, Samson has the Spirit of God stirring inside him from a VERY young age….

That is unique, for sure…

But will he follow the Spirit or his flesh??

PAUSE

Church, you are about to see that Samson is just like us.

He had so much potential for greatness…

Yet again and again, he squandered that potential with stupid living.

I don't know what it would be for you, but we see it all the time.

I know so many STRONG men who are very aggressive at work, type-A leaders who take charge and conquer and then come home and are very, very passive.

They're hands-off; they don't lead their family or their kids anywhere.

They're committed in one place and uncommitted in another.

I know men are committed to their finances, careers, and hobbies, but they can't commit to a woman!

What's up with that?

I know men who will study everything and research.

You spend hours finding the best rod and reel.

You know what is the best kind of TV to buy.

And yet, they cannot find five minutes to read their Bibles.

I know so many men who truly love God, really do, truly love their wives.

And yet, these men are locked in a prison of lust and are too afraid to ask for help.

So much potential and yet, at the same time, self-destructing with bad decision after bad decision.

Why do you think so many potentially great men fall apart again and again and again?

PAUSE

Well, Samson's life shows us the three very specific attitudes that make strong men weak.

Those attitudes in your notes, they are:

Things that can derail our lives…lust, entitlement, and pride.

Repeat

Now, let’s make sure we are all on the same page…

What is lust?

When a person sees something that they desire, something that is NOT theirs, and then dwells on it, and it begins to consume them…

If you are not sure if it is lust….an easy way to know is that if all LOGIC has gone out the window….it is lusting!

It may be wanting a quick fix…a thrill…a desire to conquer something.

It may be the boat or the new house, or the new car, or a person.

Whatever it is….

We forgo every step of logic, and we pursue what we want with reckless abandon.

Let’s see this come to life for Samson…Chapter 14…verse 1…

14:1-4 Samson went down to Timnah and saw there a young Philistine woman.

2 When he returned, he said to his father and mother, “I have seen a Philistine woman in Timnah; now get her for me as my wife.”

3 His father and mother replied, “Isn’t there an acceptable woman among your relatives or among all our people?

Must you go to the uncircumcised Philistines to get a wife?”

But Samson said to his father, “Get her for me. She’s the right one for me.”

4 (His parents did not know that this was from the Lord, who was seeking an occasion to confront the Philistines; for at that time they were ruling over Israel.)

Let’s pause here for a minute….

Let’s try and put ourselves in Samson’s parent's shoes….

You are married.

You want to have a child….

But for YEARS, you cannot conceive…

For years, you have been barren/childless.

That was Samsons' parents for a season….

PAUSE

Then God sent an angel to them to let them know they would have a child, BUT they would be required to raise their son in a unique way.

Look at verse 4….

The requirements were VERY specific!!!

NO drinking of ANY alcohol….

And he would learn NEVER to eat anything God calls unclean.

If you wonder what that means…. there are all kinds of animals in the Old Testament that God defined as unclean and told people NOT to eat like pigs, for example…

So, NO bacon for Samson!!!

But it does not end there….

Remember, their son could NEVER shave his head….

Samson had to let his hair grow and grow…..

Their boy was to become one of the first Nazirites.

A person dedicated to God from birth….

And God wanted him raised this way because God would use this child for a very specific purpose….

Look in your Bibles….the end of verse 5….

He would take the lead in delivering Israel from the hands of the Philistines.

PAUSE

God had BIG plans for this child….

Then verses 24-25…. the boy was born, and God started working in his life….

Then, in chapter 14….

Like every young man, there comes the day when he looks around and notices these majestic creatures called……

WOMEN!

Any of you who have raised boys can probably remember the day when your young boy goes from NOT noticing the girls around him….

Suddenly, we see their head follow the girls as they walk by….

When they begin to notice women…

Any parent with boys knows what I am talking about…

Well, young Samson was there in verse 1 of chapter 14….

He noticed a young woman… but he was a good church boy!

So…… He doesn’t act on it!

He went home and told Mom and Dad he found the one!

And like most parents…..

We are skeptical that they are good enough for our child…

ADD A FUNNY STORY HERE OF ONE OF YOUR KIDS OR YOU….

Like I remember my sweet Addie….

She went off on a mission trip…

She had NEVER had a boyfriend…

She did NOT go on the trip looking for a boy…..

And on that trip, Jenny noticed….a young boy kept being close to Addie in pictures…….

And Jenny said to me….ummmm…I think Addie might be becoming friends with Ryan….

Then they came home and started “hanging out.”

Then she starts telling me she likes this boy….

And I was like….ummmm….does he really love Jesus….are you sure there Addie…..

But look in your Bibles…

Mom and Dad did not understand that this girl he fell in love with was all a part of God’s plan…

Mom…Dad… We do not always know what God is doing in our kids' lives…

PAUSE

But as we head to closing, remember what our point was…Things that can make STRONG men weak…lust, entitlement, and pride.

Look at what we just read…

You can see all of those things in Samson’s message to his parents.

He WANTS this girl…

He LUSTS for this girl.

Then he says, “GO GET HER!!!” I am entitled to this, Mom and Dad, so GO DO WHAT I WANT!!!

He feels entitled…

He also denied his parent's consul and advice….

He did not want someone from his hometown…

He did not want to marry one of those church girls….he wanted one that would be more fun…

PAUSE

Anyone resonating with this?

I am sure a lot of you have seen this!

But guess what happens next?

Well…..

We are out of time today….

So you will need to come back next week to see how God works through all of this!

And if you are here today and you have wandered off into the lusts of your flesh… PLEASE come back!!!

God has GREAT plans for you!

If you are here today and you feel like life just isn’t fair and you are not getting a fair shake…. PLEASE come back!!!

God has GREAT plans for you!

If you are here today and you think you have life all figured out and you struggle to listen to others… PLEASE come back!!!

God has GREAT plans for you!

Let me share your life application with you today….

For those of you who are new, or newer, to Family Church.

We end our messages with a Life Application.

It is simply something to help you go home and process this message with someone else.

Something to help you continue to ponder how you can apply today's message to your life.

So here is what I want you all to spend some time processing and talking with someone about.

Life Application: God wants us to be people who are self-controlled. Is there an area of your life where you are living outside God’s bounds?

As a result of today’s message, I will _________________________.

Prayer:

Make sure to do salvation call!

Offering:

Thank you all for being here today!

If you would like to continue your worship through giving, there are offering boxes by the doors as you exit or behind me on the screens you can see other ways to give here at Family Church.

You can also place any connection cards you filled out in there.

Week #4 –

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If you want to do that just email [e-mail] and she will help you out!

Have a great week!!!