You Can't Touch This

Introduction

Obey Oboe band story

We all had roles:

Daniel was cool guy

Nick was nerdy guy

Sean was musician

Kevin was the bleeding heart

Brett was the creative one

I was the shepherd

My one regret? I shepherded them...

But I didn’t really have Jesus - not following

Instead I helped shepherd into gossip, arguments and even hatred

Ultimately, God blessed me with a wonderful gift of playing music with friends

But I was my own worst enemy - wish I would have handled stuff different

I think Samson could relate to that on a biblical scale

Samson was his own worst enemy

Last week - worst judge - why?

Sabotaged everything God wanted to do in his life

JD Greear - “[If you want] to look at the greatest threat to the kingdom of God and what God wants to do in your life, you look at them in the mirror.”

He was blessed with a purpose from God and a superhuman strength

Everything needed to change the world

But he always got in his own way

Today, we’re going to see how he did that

YouVersion: You Can’t Touch This

We’re in Judges 14:1-9

Samson’s story parallels Israel’s story

Both were brought in my older parents (Abraham and Sarah, Manoah and mom)

Both were miraculous

Both had a set of rules to follow (The Law and the Nazirite oath)

Both were supposed to be set apart

But both failed

Today, Samson will lust after a foreign woman and Israel lusted after foreign gods

Just like Samson represents Israel, pay attention and you’ll probably see he represents your life as well

Judges 14:1–3 ESV

1 Samson went down to Timnah, and at Timnah he saw one of the daughters of the Philistines. 2 Then he came up and told his father and mother, “I saw one of the daughters of the Philistines at Timnah. Now get her for me as my wife.” 3 But his father and mother said to him, “Is there not a woman among the daughters of your relatives, or among all our people, that you must go to take a wife from the uncircumcised Philistines?” But Samson said to his father, “Get her for me, for she is right in my eyes.”

This is love at first sight - I saw her, I want her

But there’s a problem - she’s a Philistine - enemy of Israel!

First, we need to know this isn’t some kind of evil prejudice

This is something we should still follow today

But I can marry a white person, Hispanic, Asian, whatever...

Yes, but this wasn’t an issue of race, it was an issue of faith

Today, I would say I am a white, American Christian

My race, nationality and religion

For them, they were Jewish, Jewish Jews

Technically, Israeli, Israeli Israelites - Judah wasn’t a nation yet but you get it

The reason this wasn’t okay, was the faith of the Philistines - they didn’t worship God

Should Christians today be marrying unbelievers? No!

2 Corinthians 6:14 ESV

14 Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness?

Lessons in falling short

1. Don’t be unequally yoked

I know the argument - but pastor Dan, what if that’s how they come to Christ

First, 9 times out of 10 they won’t - 7 times out of 10 the Christian falls away!

Second, committing sin to get someone saved is not justified

It’s the drunk witnessing at the bar, the sex addict witnessing at the whorehouse

You’re asking for trouble!

Fulton J. Sheen: “It takes three to make love, not two: you, your spouse, and God. Without God people only succeed in bringing out the worst in one another. Lovers who have nothing else to do but love each other soon find there is nothing else. Without a central loyalty life is unfinished.”

That’s not how Samson responds

He says, “She is right in my eyes” - Modern translation: I want that, give it to me now!

Veruca Salt? Don’t care how, I want it now!

I’m always blown away with criticism of married life

You can’t help who you love

I can change him

Maybe if we get married things will get better

Then marriage is hard and it’s like

I was young and dumb

I shouldn’t have married her

I missed a lot of red flags

Here’s the truth: Christian dating is meant to find the right life partner for you

If you’re dating, I strongly encourage you to make a list

Must haves and can’t haves: these are absolutes!

NEVER compromise!

I literally had a list, and literally didn’t date girls that I otherwise would have

HAD to be a Christian

HAD to be a female

COULD NOT be taller than me… yeah it’s shallow but this is my list, not yours!

COULD NOT be a party girl

Did I have to walk away from some very fun, pretty and smart girls? Yes!

But it led me to Tash - I’m so glad I waited for the right one

Watch this:

Judges 14:4 ESV

4 His father and mother did not know that it was from the Lord, for he was seeking an opportunity against the Philistines. At that time the Philistines ruled over Israel.

Samson’s parents see the clear problem with this girl

Samson ignores them

God is going to use this, but that doesn’t make Samson right...

God has an enormous picture to worry about

7.7 billion people, God knows each one intimately

Yet we narrow everything down to our tiny life

If God’s happy with me, I get what I want

If God’s mad, bad things happen to me

God is not that simple minded!

God has an end goal in mind for your life, He doesn’t just do things one for one

But God also has an end goal in mind for everyone else’s life!

Sometimes the timing of things flexes for the big picture

Genesis 50:20 (ESV)

20 As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good...

We need to learn something from Samson’s life here:

2. Living the good life doesn’t mean you’re good with God

In a big picture move, God uses Samson against the Philistines

It’s easy for Samson to think: everything is good!

Getting what I want - God must be pleased

Or maybe he’s allowing Samson to slip for the sake of the big picture

But this works the other way too

Wesley Baines: “...God doesn’t work this way. His love isn’t a college exam or a team project at the office. The amount of effort put in doesn’t affect what you get. You can never do enough good deeds, never convert enough people, never go to church enough, to earn God’s love. It’s wholly out of your power.”

We don’t look at what happens to us to show where we are with God

We look at God to learn how to face what happens to us

So Samson goes to have a little wedding party, something happens:

Judges 14:5–6 ESV

5 Then Samson went down with his father and mother to Timnah, and they came to the vineyards of Timnah. And behold, a young lion came toward him roaring. 6 Then the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon him, and although he had nothing in his hand, he tore the lion in pieces as one tears a young goat. But he did not tell his father or his mother what he had done.

Remember the Nazirite vow from last week?

No grape drinks/alcohol

No touching dead bodies

No cutting your hair

Why is Samson walking in a vineyard?

Too often trouble comes when our feet wander where they shouldn’t go

Why does walking into Culver’s make it hard to stick to your diet?

Exposing yourself to temptation!

3. Stay away from places of temptation

It’s not a sin to walk into that woman’s office to chat right?

It’s okay to just sit in a bar after my AA meeting, right?

I know I have a gambling addiction, but what’s the harm if I sit at a poker table… and lose $10,000

1 Peter 5:8 ESV

8 Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.

Interesting what’s waiting for Samson in the Vineyard is a lion!

I want us to understand what’s happening here

One man can’t kill a lion with his bare hands...

It does say a young lion, but watch this:

SHOW VIDEO

3 bodybuilders couldn’t move a lion cub

You think one guy could rip one apart with his bare hands

I think it’s funny “as one tears a young goat”

Uh, what? I was confused when you said he tore a lion, but now that you mention the goat...

We picture Samson as some giant buff guy, but I don’t think he was

He did this by the Spirit of the Lord, not because he was super buff

He might have been, but there are two things to consider

1 If you had superhuman strength from God, would you bother working out?

If you won a billion dollars, would you still work a full time job?

2 Later, the Philistines send Delilah to find his source of strength

If he was buff, wouldn’t assume his strength came from his muscles?

They knew his strength came from somewhere else

And so Samson kills the lion

But notice how he kills it: he tore it to pieces

Part of being a Nazirite was not touching a dead body

But he’s not going to stand there and let the lion eat him!

Reminds me of the story of Jesus walking through the grainfields

Picking grain, Pharisees accuse them of breaking the law of the Sabbath

Jesus talks about some priests broke the rules to help David

Then He says:

Mark 2:27 ESV

27 And he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.

Yes, there’s a law, but running it to extremes is foolish!

The Sabbath exists to give us rest!

It’s not just something we have to do as a service, it was made for us

Why would we allow ourselves to starve to get some rest - that’s ridiculous

So of course Samson killed the lion, and clearly God is good with that

It was HIS SPIRIT that empowered him to do it

However, he could have stopped after the lion was dead...

Instead, he kept on tearing and tearing and tearing

Here’s a lesson for us

4. When your sin rains, don’t let it pour

Sometimes we make mistakes or feel forced to choose the lesser of two evils

But don’t let that escalate into a full blown sinful encounter or lifestyle

We have to make a conscious effort to repent and get back on track ASAP

Something Samson won’t do - we’ll get back to that

Judges 14:7 ESV

7 Then he went down and talked with the woman, and she was right in Samson’s eyes.

As an Israelite judge, Samson has no business with this woman

But Samson sees her and says, “Seems good to me!”

I KNOW there are people in here that have made that mistake

I’ll be the first to admit I’ve done that...

5. Your opinion is not better than God’s

Many times I wish I would have listened to my parents

Many times I wish I would have followed my mentor’s advice

How many more times do I wish I would have listened to God

Judges 14:8–9 ESV

8 After some days he returned to take her. And he turned aside to see the carcass of the lion, and behold, there was a swarm of bees in the body of the lion, and honey. 9 He scraped it out into his hands and went on, eating as he went. And he came to his father and mother and gave some to them, and they ate. But he did not tell them that he had scraped the honey from the carcass of the lion.

Let me ask you a question

If you tore a lion apart with your bare hands

Came back and found honey in it and shared it with your parents

Is that a part of the story you would leave out? Probably not!

Samson does… I think it’s because he knows he was wrong

He left out this incredible feat because he knew his mom would be disappointed

Strongest man in the world is still scared of his momma!

There’s something we need to know:

6. Don’t be afraid to confess your sins

How many sinful situations grow worse and worse because you don’t talk about it?

James 5:16 ESV

16 Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.

Conclusion

I want us to realize something

Samson was messed up - made a lot of mistake

If you’re like me, you can relate

When sin is in your life, you’ve got to do something about it! It’s not good!

That’s why God gives us these rules in Scripture!

He wants what’s best for us

The rules may seem miserable, but they’re actually meant to save us from misery!

Just like working a field isn’t fun, but it’s much better than not eating!

Even when we mess up, God isn’t done!

Samson totally misses every part of his deal with God

But spoiler alert!

He is still moved by the Spirit, he will still defeat the Philistines, he will still save God’s people

He will still live out his purpose

I asked you to consider your purpose last week - I hope you have

Because God is not done with you

I don’t care what you’ve done, what you haven’t done, what you’re afraid to do

God can and will still use you!

Take that burden off your shoulders - the pressure to perform

And let the Spirit of God empower you to move

Prayer