Judges 16:28-31

Judges 16:25-31

You know as a child; I was always fascinated by these fictional characters that had great strength. It seemed like they could do anything, they could pick up heavy objects, they could outsmart their opponents, and they always got the girl in the end. Well, today we are going to read about what some would have considered a superhero of their day, in the man named Samson.

Now Samson was a man who was blessed by God from birth with super strength, he could do phenomenal things, things that would marvel the crowds and make those who thought they were strong look like weaklings. It is Samson that many myths are based on, but here was a literal man that had super strength.

Now every hero has to have a villain, and for Samson, it was the Philistines. That old group of people who were a constant thorn in the side of the Israelites. They couldn’t stand Samson, and they sought any opportunity to try to defeat him, but every time they came up against Samson, they were defeated.

Now Samson was a smart and strong guy, but he had a few weaknesses, now what were his weaknesses? Well, first he was weak with his hair. It was a command from the Lord, that his hair not be cut, in fact he was to live by the Nazarite vow. This meant he was to be set apart as an example to the rest of his nation, of what a man should be when they lived for the Lord.

He also had another weakness, and that was women. Samson couldn’t keep his eyes off pretty women. With his super feats of strength, it made him a popular guy. And most likely he was a fun guy to be around. In fact, his name means Sunshine, and he was someone people enjoyed being around, including the women folk. But it was one woman, that really caught the eye of Samson and he just fell in love with, and that was Delilah.

But not only was Samson weak with his hair, and with women, he was weak in his faith. He became so reliant on his strength and wits, that his faith was weak, and this would come to be a problem in Samson’s life. Now let’s read where Samson’s life led him.

[Read Scripture]

Samson paints an illustration to many of us. That here was a man who had strength, who had smarts, but was subdued by one of the simplest things, it being a woman’s beauty.

Now how does Samson’s life serve as an example to us in our walk with the Lord. Well, can I say, I believe that many of us are following the same tracks that Samson walked. That we know what we ought to do, but we are letting other things get in the way. That we are trusting in things that we ought not to put trust in. Well, lets see the life of Samson and think about our life as well.

He was to be a Separated individual

1. Now the Lord had a purpose for Samson, even before Samson was born. The Lord came to Samson’s parents in Judges 13:5 and gave them the news that they were going to have a special child.

2. The Lord declared that this child was to be a Nazarite, which meant that he was to live a life that was different than everyone else. He was not to drink alcohol or eat or drink anything that was of grapes, he was not to touch anything dead or go near any dead thing, and he was not to cut his hair.

3. We may look at these vows, and say that they seem silly, but what the Lord was doing, he was illustrating how a person needs to be separate from what the world may say is fine.

4. God calls us out from among this world, to live lives that are meant to be an example to others, of our commitment.

5. When Jesus came into our lives, we made a promise to him, that we would repent and be different from the world, but honestly, are we really living a life that is separated from everyone else?

6. The world wants to be unique, but they don’t want to be separated. You can’t be who God wants you to be unless you are separated from sin. And let me say, this world is sin.

He was to be a Strong individual

1. Samson was meant to be separate; he was to be distinguishable by the way he lived his life, but the Lord has something special in store for this man. He was going to be strong.

2. In Judges 13:24 “And the woman bare a son, and called his name Samson: and the child grew, and the LORD blessed him.”

3. Here was a young man that grew with tremendous strength, he was able to do things that seemed impossible. He fought a lion, he ripped down a city gate and carried it on his back, he defeated an army singlehandedly, he was a strong man.

4. Now where did his strength lie? It was not in his muscles. We never read that God made Samson to have strength because of large muscles. Samson’s strength came from the Spirit of God being on him.

5. We may not realize this, but the same spirit that rested on Samson, is the same spirit that dwells in believers. Then why can’t we do super strong things then? Well, here is the answer, true strength does not lie with the physical, it lies with the spiritual.

6. It is assumed that Mount Everest weighs 357 trillion pounds. But what is heavier, Mount Everest or a Mountain that we face spiritually? I can drive around or go around Mt Everest. But when I face a spiritual mountain, I can’t get around them like that. That is when I have to depend on spiritual strength.

7. Matthew 17:20 “And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.”

8. I want you to know that the strength that gave Samson his might, is the same strength that can be found in every believer, it is the strength of the Lord.

He was a Sinful individual

1. Samson was a separated and strong man, but even with the spirit of the Lord being in his life, he struggled with sin.

2. This just goes to show you, that no matter how strong you think you are, or how smart you may be, sin is still our failure.

3. Now what kind of sin did Samson struggle with:

a. Pride. Now Samson had accomplished many great feats, his name became famous among the land, people knew about Samson and even his enemies knew his name. Sadly, just like Samson, many of us still struggle with this sin as well. Thinking that our feats, our name, our strength will carry us, but pride cometh before the fall.

b. Lies. Samson was to be a man that was to be separate under the Nazarite vow, yet he broke that vow by eating honey out of a carcass. He then kept it concealed when talking to his parents about it.

c. Lust. He had a strong attraction to women. He was obsessed with the Philistine women, women he was not to be yoked with as they were unbelievers, yet he still gave in to the physical attraction and did not seek the Lord.

4. Just like Samson, it is sins like these that keep us from who we should be. We are keeping back secrets, we are allowing our pride to destroy us, and we are allowing lust to enslave us.

5. The wages of sin is death – Romans 6:23; are you here today and thinking that it is okay to play with sin. I want you to know that some of you are shortening your life because of the sin you are dealing with.

6. Sin ended the life of Samson prematurely, and if we continue to say its okay, our life may be cut short as well.

He was a Suffering individual

1. Samson’s life led him to give in to people that he should have had no part with. And because of his compromise it caused him to suffer.

2. Here was a man named Sunshine, who now was in the dark. He was blinded and his hair was cut. The strength had gone from him and he was no longer the man he once was.

3. It’s sad to see the results of sin on people’s lives. Where now their life is filled with heartache and pain, maybe some disease has come upon them, or maybe their family has left them. Whatever it may be, it is quite sad to see the suffering that comes.

4. Samson was betrayed by a woman who claimed she loved him, but she wasn’t there for the love. His hair was cut, and the Spirit of the Lord had departed from him. Samson awoke from his sleep to find his hair gone, and unable to stan against the enemy.

5. I want you to know, that when you give in to sin, there is going to come a point when the Lord says that’s enough, and he is going to let the sin run its course and its going to destroy.

6. Here was a man, that shouldn’t have needed to suffer. Here was man that should have been a light to Israel, but because of sin, it snuffed out his life.

7. I want to tell you, there are some of you today who are allowing sin to extinguish you light and you are going to suffer for it. It’s not to late, all we must do is repent.

He was a Sad individual

1. In this final portion of the life of Samson, what do we see? We find a man, that thought he lost his strength because of his hair, but his strength was never in his hair, it was in the Lord.

2. A man that once was having victories now had become the victim. I want you to know, that no matter how strong, how smart, how wealthy, or confident you may think you are. When you live for yourself it will destroy you.

3. Samson was a defeated man. He was unable to get around on his own strength, he was now having to depend upon a child.

4. It is in this passage that we see that in our sadness, in our defeat, if we would come as a child, and plead out to the Lord in sorrow and repentance, that in the darkest part of our life, God can still come through.

5. If you are here today, and you are surrounded by the enemy, let me tell you its not the end. If you are here and you are hurting and you have no strength to carry on, its not over. Let me say, if you are here and Satan has you bound and tells you you’re done, let me say that the verdict is not final.

6. All we have to do, is in this moment, like Samson did, call back out to the Lord and bring the victory in our life, to crush our enemy, to free us from our oppressors, and allow the name of the Lord be magnified.

7. Samson could have made so much more with his life if he had just lived it for the Lord like he should. Now ask yourself, are you living like Samson? Are you allowing yourself to come before the Lord? If you are, then why not change the way you are living and be a person that God intends for you to be.

Who is it that you’re trusting today?