Samson - Part III

September 8th 2024

Series: Holy Spirit in the Old Testament

Sermon Title: Samson – Part III

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 15:18-20 & Judges 16

Topic: Holy Spirit, Deliverance, Samson

Sermon Blurb: In today’s message, we will see Samson continue to make bad choices, which leads to immense pain.

***Green in sermons means illustration, something we are looking for a response from, and/or a picture that goes on the screens.

***Yellow means what is yellow will be on the screens and in the handout.

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, in this part we are examining a few men who the Holy Spirit filled and in how some of them went on to live good lives…

And how we saw last week….some went on to live lives not so good.

PAUSE

If you're just joining us, let me give you a little bit of the back story of this Biblical character named Samson.

If you don't know his story, Samson was called by God and set apart from birth to help deliver the Israelites from the oppressive hands of the Philistines.

Samson was given supernatural strength to do what God called.

Samson had so much potential, but like so many of us, Samson made bad decisions over and over.

PAUSE

I want to encourage you to go back and watch the message on our website or app if you missed it in previous weeks.

In week 1, we looked at three attitudes that weaken even the strongest people.

Last week, we saw Samson struggle with controlling his emotions and anger.

We saw him struggle to follow the Holy Spirit.

We ended last week in Judges 15, where Samson slayed 1,000 men!!!!

Then he realized he was in big trouble for letting his emotions and anger get the best of him….

So….he cried out to God…the typical pattern we see in the book of Judges….and God being SOOO GOOD…meets him where he is.

PAUSE

Today, we need to rewind just a bit to set the stage for today….

So, grab your Bibles and open them up to

Judges 15

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Judges 15…we will pick up reading at verse 18…

18 Because he was very thirsty, he cried out to the Lord, “You have given your servant this great victory.

Must I now die of thirst and fall into the hands of the uncircumcised?”

19 Then God opened up the hollow place in Lehi, and water came out of it.

And what does it say, church?

When Samson drank, his strength returned and he revived.

So the spring was called En Hakkore, and it is still there in Lehi.

As he turned back to God, he again got strength and was revived.

Then the Bible says… check this out!

20 Samson led Israel for twenty years in the days of the Philistines.

Stop and think about that church….

Don’t miss what the Bible says…

Verse 20 is really an amazing verse.

If you really think about it, that is the first positive news about Samson in this whole story!

One verse captures twenty years of apparent faithfulness.

Samson had just had an experience with the Living God…

As he was revived and refreshed…

And now look in your Bible…where does that lead?

It launches him into the purpose of his life!

He's on the right track doing what he was created to do, and one verse summarizes it…

For the next twenty years, he led faithfully as a judge over Israel.

PAUSE

Wow….

Amazing…

This should give all of us in the room HOPE!

As we discussed last week, we are never too far gone.

God can always use broken people like us.

PAUSE

But…

We are going to see Samson relapse today in the same way so many of us relapse into our sin patterns as well.

Here is the reality we can see in the life of Samson…

Not following the Holy Spirit's leading always leads us in the wrong direction.

Repeat

Samson had bad seasons and good seasons in his life.

Seasons of follow the Holy Spirit’s leading….

And seasons of NOT following the Holy Spirit’s leading…

If we are honest…

It is the story of so many of us as well!

Samson was a man with so much strength!!!

So much God-ordained potential!!!

Just like all of you have so much potential for God!!!!

PAUSE

Most of us don't mess up our entire life all at once.

We do it one poor choice at a time.

Which is just like Samson….

Let's watch it unfold in Judges 16.

And remember, this is on the heels of 20 GOOD YEARS!!!

And then the Bible says:

Judges 16 One day Samson went to Gaza,

Remember what we just said…

We must follow the Holy Spirit’s leading, or we will go the wrong way….

For 20 years, Samson leads well.

Then ONE DAY…

ONE DAY he went to Gaza…..

where he saw a prostitute. He went in to spend the night with her.

20 good years, and then the Bible says, "One day."

It's interesting to me that if you've ever read the story about King David when he went and had an affair with Bathsheba, the story starts out the same way.

Let me show you…

2 Samuel 11:1 In the spring, at the time when kings go off to war, David sent Joab out with the king’s men and the whole Israelite army.

David made a choice NOT to go do what kings NORMALLY do.

Samson chose to go to Gaza.

Both those choices they made lead them toward worse life choices….

It was just one day, one day.

One day, we make what seems like a SMALL insignificant choice…

Think about Samson….

Going to Gaza might not seem like a major issue…but that is where the Philistines live!

Where God’s enemies live!

Where the people Samson was born to overthrow live!

Not following the Holy Spirit’s leading…

One small decision in both these cases lead them into a step-by-step downward spiral, and we're going to watch as this happens with Samson.

One day, Samson went to Gaza, where he saw a prostitute. He went to spend the night with her...

Verse two…

2 The people of Gaza were told, “Samson is here!” So they surrounded the place and lay in wait for him all night at the city gate.

They made no move during the night, saying, “At dawn we’ll kill him.”

Let me give you some more background here…

Gaza was not just any Philistine town…

It was the headquarters of the Philistines!

He travels 25 miles to go and risks 20 years of faithfulness.

PAUSE

Now, that raises the question:

Who would be so stupid to risk so much for so little?

And the answer is, we all do it at times!!!

This is the story of so many marriages…one small step…led to another…led to another…led to divorce…

This is the story of so many careers…one small step away from integrity…led to another…led to another…led to you not knowing how you got to where you are…

This happens with so many friendships…one small comment…leads to another…leads to offense…leads to a broken friendship…

NOT following the Holy Spirits leading…always leads us the WRONG way….

PAUSE

But because preachers only work one day a week….

I ask myself, how many steps would a person have to take to walk 25 miles?

So, I did some research and found that it would take about 56,250 steps to walk 25 miles to where he went to Gaza.

Samson had 56,250 steps to choose another path…

56,250 chances to think about whether his path would lead him closer to God or away from God.

NONE of us ruin our lives all at once…

Some of us take 56,250 toward it slowly…

Samson also had 56,250 opportunities to say, "This is stupid! What am I doing?"

And yet, he didn't do it!

PAUSE

Here's the problem: we don't plan to mess up our lives.

I don't know anyone who said, “You know what? My ten-year goal is to commit adultery.”

But one small click can lead you there…

I don't know anyone who says, "You know what? I want to become broke one day!!!”

But what happens? "I need a boat, car, golf clubs, next PS20, gambling, and so on…”

I don't know a single guy who has ever said, "I hope one day my kids resent me because I am never home.”

But what happens? Well, feel that if we don’t provide, we are worthless, so we neglect our kids…

Step by step by step by step…we slowly walk the wrong way and one day wake up, and we are in BIG trouble.

PAUSE

Let’s keep reading…

3 But Samson lay there only until the middle of the night.

Then he got up and took hold of the doors of the city gate, together with the two posts, and tore them loose, bar and all.

He lifted them to his shoulders and carried them to the top of the hill that faces Hebron.

Let me give context to this….

Samson is CRAZY strong!!!!

These were not hollow-core doors.

Some scholars point out that city gates back then were several inches thick and would weigh around 700 pounds EACH!!!

And he RIPS the out of the stone and steel fastenings!!!!

Another poor choice….

He taunts the enemy.

Church, can I beg you….

Learn from your past sins.

Repeat

Remember the first week?

Samson lusted over a Philistine woman and wanted her to be his wife.

His parents said, “NO, You don't go after women who worship false gods.”

He didn’t listen, and it ended BADLY.

And here he goes again….

And in verse 4….

4 Some time later, he fell in love with a woman in the Valley of Sorek whose name was Delilah.

Now, this is the third time he's messing around with a Philistine woman.

He didn’t learn the first time.

He didn’t learn from the second time.

Here we go on round 3… Doing the OPPOSITE of what God created him to do…

But let’s be honest….

We are often masters at rationalizing the same old sin.

We tend to think, "This is just my one thing. I mean, I'm a pretty good guy; this is my one thing, my one thing!"

Or we think, "It's nobody's business anyway. This isn't hurting anybody. If nobody knows, what's the big deal?”

We can ALL be master’s at rationalizing the same old sin, and that's what Samson does.

Watch what happened in verse five. The Bible says:

5 The rulers of the Philistines went to her and said,

“See if you can lure him into showing you the secret of his great strength and how we can overpower him so we may tie him up and subdue him.

Each one of us will give you eleven hundred shekels of silver.”

Stop there…

Just like with his first love…

She was from another people’s group.

She had different allegiances…

And so, they bribe her with a LOT of silver to help them take their enemy’s leader down!

Let’s keep reading…

6 So Delilah said to Samson, “Tell me the secret of your great strength and how you can be tied up and subdued.”

7 Samson answered her, “If anyone ties me with seven fresh bowstrings that have not been dried, I’ll become as weak as any other man.”

He tells a lie.

8 Then the rulers of the Philistines brought her seven fresh bowstrings that had not been dried, and she tied him with them.

9 With men hidden in the room, she called to him, “Samson, the Philistines are upon you!”

But he snapped the bowstrings as easily as a piece of string snaps when it comes close to a flame.

So the secret of his strength was not discovered.

Now pause here…

Now we will realize that Samson is not the sharpest tool in the shed…

CLEARLY, his love is not on his side…

But…let’s keep reading…

10 Then Delilah said to Samson, “You have made a fool of me; you lied to me. Come now, tell me how you can be tied.”

11 He said, “If anyone ties me securely with new ropes that have never been used, I’ll become as weak as any other man.”

12 So Delilah took new ropes and tied him with them. Then, with men hidden in the room, she called to him,

“Samson, the Philistines are upon you!” But he snapped the ropes off his arms as if they were threads.

13 Delilah then said to Samson, “All this time you have been making a fool of me and lying to me. Tell me how you can be tied.”

And Samson…

Is either so in love…

Or so stupid…

That he does not pick up what she is doing!

Just let me say this here for the young folks…

Love can blind you!

Love can make you do stupid things.

Love can make you think you know it is wrong.

Teens, college students, adults…

Be careful what your love feelings are telling you…

And make sure what LOVE says is OK aligns with the leading of the Holy Spirit!!!

Samson’s love for these women…would NEVER align with God’s leading or anything in the Bible…

Here is the point…

The Holy Spirit will NEVER lead you into conflict with the Bible.

Repeat

If Samson remembered his parent's training.

If he had listened to his parent's advice.

If he had listened to the Holy Spirit.

He would NOT be in all these situations…

Let’s keep reading…

He replied, “If you weave the seven braids of my head into the fabric on the loom and tighten it with the pin, I’ll become as weak as any other man.”

So while he was sleeping, Delilah took the seven braids of his head, wove them into the fabric 14 and tightened it with the pin.

Again she called to him, “Samson, the Philistines are upon you!” He awoke from his sleep and pulled up the pin and the loom, with the fabric.

And he comes down and she's like, 'You lied to me again! Tell me the real thing!'

Again…. He does not seem to see what is going on…verse 15…

15 Then she said to him, “How can you say, ‘I love you,’ when you won’t confide in me?

This is the third time you have made a fool of me and haven’t told me the secret of your great strength.”

16 With such nagging she prodded him day after day until he was sick to death of it.

With such nagging, she prodded him day after day until he was...

What men?

Somebody help me out!

Stop and think about this…

Samson was strong enough to kill a thousand men.

He was strong enough to slay a lion barehanded.

He was strong enough to lift a 700-pound door above his head.

BUT….

But he wasn't strong enough to lead a woman.

I want you to let that sink in for a minute.

He had so much strength but wasn't strong enough to lead a woman.

Gentlemen, don't you dare just be strong in business. If you cannot lead those around in God’s ways, it is worthless…

A lot of men are strong in a lot of ways, and you let other people lead in the places that matter the most.

Men you are called by God to lead spiritually!!!

Do what God called you to do!

Watch what happens in verse 17:

17 So he told her everything. “No razor has ever been used on my head,” he said,

“because I have been a Nazirite dedicated to God from my mother’s womb.

STOP THERE…

Do you see what he said?

I have been set apart BEFORE birth by God.

He KNOWS the purpose of his life!

If my head were shaved, my strength would leave me, and I would become as weak as any other man.”

18 When Delilah saw that he had told her everything, she sent word to the rulers of the Philistines,

“Come back once more; he has told me everything.” So the rulers of the Philistines returned with the silver in their hands.

19 After putting him to sleep on her lap, she called for someone to shave off the seven braids of his hair, and so began to subdue him.

And what church?

And his strength left him.

20 Then she called, “Samson, the Philistines are upon you!”

He awoke from his sleep and thought, “I’ll go out as before and shake myself free.” But he did not know that the Lord had left him.

He did not realize WHO left him church?

He didn't mess his life up all at once….

He did it one step at a time...

He taunted the enemy, he rationalized his sin, and:

Write this down…

Samson assumed his disobedience would never cost him.

Repeat

Just like so many of us today assume, "I can get away with this again, I've gotten away with it before, why not again?”

He assumed his disobedience would never cost him.

Verse 21….

21 Then the Philistines seized him, gouged out his eyes and took him down to Gaza.

Binding him with bronze shackles, they set him to grinding grain in the prison.

He didn't know that things had changed.

But they had…and what had changed was that God had left him, and God’s blessing on him had left with it.

This shows us that the strength was NOT Samson's but God’s…

How did a man with so much God-given potential end up in such bad shape?

He didn't do it all at once…

How did he do it?

He did it one step at a time.

So, let me pose a question….

Where are you stepping away from God?

Repeat

Where are you stepping away from God?

It could be step number one for some of you.

For some of you, it might be step number 56,249.

Where are you stepping away from God?

PAUSE

And let me close with this….

No matter how many times we step away from God, He will always welcome us back.

Let me show you that truth in part today…and more next week…

He is publicly humiliated, but verse 22 says this:

22 But the hair on his head began to grow again after it had been shaved.

Why is that verse there?

Because that's just how good God's grace is.

Even though he had outwardly disobeyed, God said, “What gives you strength will grow again!”

And let me invite you back next week…

Next week, you will see just because a man is down does NOT mean he is out.

Even a Godly man can fall and rise again.

Satan loves to make strong people weak….

But God, our God, loves to make us strong again!

If you've stepped away from God, you turn back, and God will be there to make your hair grow again!

And all the blading men said…

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: Where are you not following the Holy Spirit’s leadership? Where are you stepping away from the Holy Spirit’s leadership? As a result of today’s message, I will _________________________.

Prayer:

Make sure to do salvation call!

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