Greg Laurie - Samson: The He-man with the She-weakness (01/30/2018)
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Pastor Greg Laurie tells the powerful story of Samson in Judges 16, a man God gifted with incredible strength to deliver Israel, yet who wasted so much through moral compromises and wrong relationships, ultimately losing everything to Delilah—though in the end, God gave him one final chance to strike a mighty blow and finish his life for God's glory.
The Importance of Finishing Well
All right, well let's grab our Bibles. We're in this series that we're calling The Greatest Stories Ever Told. And tonight I want to talk about one of my favorite characters from the Bible, Samson. And the title of the message is, The He-Man with the She-Weakness. So turn in your Bibles to Judges 16. Judges 16. And let's begin with prayer.
Now, Father, as we look at this amazing life of this man that you called and gifted and blessed, and also a life that was largely squandered, let us learn from it. Let us learn from both the victories and the defeats of Samson. And that we would be godly men and women. So we commit this time of Bible study to you now. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.
You know, one thing I have found in life is that it's full of surprises. There's many unexpected pleasures and blessings that come your way. There are also tragedies and things that are very sad that happen as well. That's life. I've been greatly surprised by the way some people's lives have turned out. You know, it didn't go quite the way you expected.
Character Over Charisma
I think of people that I went to school with that had no potential whatsoever. You thought, this person isn't going to go anywhere. They're never going to amount to anything. Maybe we even called them geeks and nerds. By the way, now we call them boss. But that's another story. But then there were those that maybe had so much promise. You know, it was that star athlete. That super talented individual. And then you looked at the trajectory their life took. And it was a whole other story.
Now let's think about people who are spiritually gifted. Now I've been a pastor now for 40 years. So I've seen a lot of people come and go. I've seen some very gifted individuals who were musicians and preachers and had other abilities. And I've seen some of them crash and burn. I've seen some that I thought were going to change the world. And then they just effectively self-destructed.
And I'll tell you, as time goes by, I find myself being less impressed by the things I used to be impressed by. And more impressed with the things I used to be less impressed by. Let me explain. I find nowadays I'm far more impressed by character than charisma. You know, if you have charisma, if you have a gifting, that's nice. But I like to see character going along with it. I find myself more interested in seeing personal integrity than mere talent. You know, will you stand the test of time?
Why? I'm impressed not by a person who has a huge ministry, but I'm impressed with someone who's still married to the same person. That impresses me. Because so many things change as time goes by. And so I think the idea here is that if God has gifted you, we want to take this gift. And we want to use it for His glory. And we don't want to just start this race well. We want to finish it well.
Why Finishing the Race Matters
Why is that important? Because you can hold the first place position in a race all the way to the end. But if at the end you break the rules or you don't finish the race, it doesn't count, you see. And I don't think people always think about that.
Lessons from Disqualification and the Potter's House
If you want to know the perfect example of this is Lance Armstrong. He didn't play by the rules. I mean, he agreed to the rules. And of course, he was guilty of doping. But that was maybe not his worst offense. It was that he covered it up. And then that he lashed out at those that dared to bring up the fact that they thought he was doping. That he was using drugs to enhance his performance and so forth. And he gave his confession to St. Oprah recently. And I don't know if that helped or not. But I'll tell you this. He was disqualified. He lost all of his Tour de France titles. He won a medal in the Olympics that he lost as well. Because you agree to play by rules. And he did not play by the rules.
The same is true of the Christian life. Paul says, I discipline myself, lest when I preach to others, I myself would be disqualified. We have to play by God's rules in the race of life. So we want to finish what we have started.
Jeremiah tells the story of a trip he took to the Potter's house. There God spoke to him. And in Jeremiah 18 he writes these words. The Lord gave a message to Jeremiah. He said, Go down to the shop where clay pots and jars are made. I will speak to you while you are there. So I did as he told me. And found the Potter working at his wheel. But the jar he was making did not turn out as he had hoped. So the Potter squashed the jar into a lump of clay and started again.
Then the Lord gave this message. O Israel, can I not do to you as the Potter has done to the clay? As the clay is in the Potter's hand, so are you in my hand. I mean what a perfect picture. It is so easy to understand. We are like the clay in the Potter's hands. There is a song that used to have the lyrics just to be clay in the Potter's hands. Willing to do what his will commands.
And so there is a Potter working. And there are the things he is doing in our life. Now we do have a choice. We are not an inanimate object, a mere piece of clay. We have a will. And we can respond to his working. Or we can resist his working. We can yield to what he wants us to do. And we can disobey him when he tells us to do something.
I believe the steps of our lives are allowed by God before our conversion. And ordered by the Lord after. And God has a plan for your life. So here is the question. Are you going to work with God's game plan for your life?
As you continue to read the story of Jeremiah talking about his trip to the Potter's house, outside in a field were a lot of crackpots, vases, and wreckage. These were things that didn't work out. So the Potter just took them and threw them in the field. Life is like that. There are those people that flex and move and go the way God wants them to go. And they turn into what he wants them to be. And there are those that resist and say no. And they self-destruct. And their life lies in ruins in a field.
Samson's Tragic Potential and Downfall
That is a perfect picture of the life we are going to look at now. We are going to look at the life of Samson. I mean, this was a guy that had amazing potential that was largely wasted. We all know about his superhuman physical strength that was squandered. He was raised up by God to be a leader over Israel. He could have been one of our greatest leaders ever. But instead his life became a proverb of how not to live. And he made some mistakes that we too can make. He had a good beginning, but he did not have a good ending.
That is why Solomon wrote in Ecclesiastes 7:8, The end of a matter is better than its beginning. The great American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow said, Great is the art of beginning, but greater is the art of ending.
And as we think of Samson, we of course have one other name that usually comes to mind. Samson and? That is right. Sadly, that is how he is remembered. But you know, there were a series of compromises that took place in his life that brought him to that place of vulnerability where he ended up taking a one-way trip to Delilah's barbershop. Little things that turned into one really big thing.
The O-Ring That Caused the Explosion
I don't know how many of you remember the explosion of the space shuttle on January 28, 1986. Seven crew members died in that tragic mishap. And of course, many wondered, how did this happen? How could this amazing craft, all that money was spent on, all of that scientific technology on board, just blow up? And as they did a lot of research, it was revealed that the primary cause of the explosion was the failure of something called an O-ring.
An O-ring is a rubber ring that played a crucial part in ensuring the seal of the shuttle. When the O-ring failed, it allowed the hot gases from the burning rocket to escape, resulting in the explosion. It's amazing that something as magnificent as the space shuttle could blow up because of something as small and relatively insignificant as a little rubber ring.
Samson's story is similar. It was a breakdown in smaller areas of his life. And then the explosion came. This is important to think about because some of you listening to this right now are young. And you have a lot of potential. And you want to go out and make a difference in the world. So pay careful attention to what we are about to read together. And don't make the same mistakes that Samson made.
Samson: The Real Superhero Who Fell
Because his life is one of the greatest paradoxes of the Bible. Coming back to how God had gifted him, he had superhuman qualities. You know, in a way, he was almost like a superhero. People love superheroes, right? We like to watch movies about Batman and Spider-Man and Iron Man and all this. But these are fictitious characters. But Samson was real. He actually was a man that was gifted with superhuman strength. But here we are going to discover how it ended. It's really the death of a superhero in some ways.
Mentally, he was sharp and clever and very alert. Spiritually, in some ways, he was strong. And in other ways, he was a wreck. Fact is, Jesus Christ himself most likely announced the birth of Samson.
The Miraculous Birth of Samson
As we look at the story early on in Judges, the angel appears to a woman married to a man named Manoah. Now, he tells her that she's going to have a son who's going to begin to deliver Israel from the Philistines. And then the angel disappears. So she goes and tells her husband, Manoah, guess what just happened? An angel of the Lord appeared to me and he told me that we're going to have a son together who's going to begin to deliver Israel. And he was very awesome. And I didn't even get his name.
And Manoah said, Lord, please send the angel back. And the Lord heard his prayer and the angel reappeared again and told both of them the same thing. And then Manoah asked the angel's name and his response was, Why do you ask my name, seeing it is wonderful?
Well, Manoah offers the angel a meal. The angel says, That's okay. I don't want to eat. But go ahead and bring an offering to the Lord. So Manoah is setting up this sacrifice to God and as the smoke ascends to heaven, the angel goes right up the smoke and goes to heaven. They both kind of freaked out a little bit, you know? Wouldn't you? And they said, We have seen God.
So why do I say Jesus may have announced the birth of Samson? Well, this could have been an angel, but a couple of things strike me about this angelic appearance. Number one, when asked his name, he said, Why do you ask my name? Because it's wonderful. Now, where have we heard that before? Isaiah 9:6 You will call his name what? Wonderful. Counselor. The Mighty God. The Everlasting Father. The Prince of Peace. Who is that about? Jesus.
And after that, Manoah and his wife say, We have seen God. So this may have been what we call a Christophany. A Christophany is an appearance of Christ in the Old Testament. There are times he did appear prior to his birth in Bethlehem. And so this may have been one of those times. But it just shows you how significant Samson really was.
The Nazarite Vow Explained
But it's also interesting what was said. He'll begin to deliver Israel out of the hands of the Philistines. It didn't say he would complete it. He would just begin. He had about a 20 year reign. It could have been much longer. These are very dark days in Israel's history. Again, as we read earlier in the book of Judges, it says, Everyone did what was right in their own eyes and the word of the Lord was scarce. God's people were afraid of their enemies and they were in hiding. Things were very dark. Time was right for someone to come and turn off the darkness and turn on the light.
Interesting thing about Samson was he was to take the vow of a Nazarite. Very specific things were required to take that vow. Number one, you would separate yourself from all wine and liquor. So a Nazarite would never drink anything alcoholic. Number two, they would never touch a dead body. Number three, they were to be holy to the Lord. And probably the most well-known thing about a Nazarite is a razor never touched them. So they never cut their hair.
And of course, when we think of Samson, we think of his long hair. And sometimes we may even think that his power was in his hair. But the fact is, his power was in his commitment to God, symbolized by his hair. I am not just saying that because I am bald. I am simply pointing out that it was a result of his commitment to God when the Holy Spirit would come upon him. It almost seems like God empowered him for what he needed to do in the moment.
We traditionally think of Samson as being super muscular, you know, really cut. Maybe he was, and most likely he was. But it would be funny if he was like a scrawny little dude, you know? Excuse me, my name is Samson. I mean, I don't know. But the Spirit of the Lord would come upon him.
Samson's First Major Compromises
Well, before we read from Judges, let's think about a few things that we know about Samson that led up to this. Right off the bat, as he comes of age, he goes to his parents and says, I want to marry that woman. Get her for me now. And the problem was the woman was a Philistine. Meaning she was not an Israelite. Not a believer in the true God. A worshiper of false gods.
So right out of the gate, Samson wants to marry a non-believer. Well, what's wrong with that? The Bible says, don't be unequally yoked together with non-believers. For what fellowship does righteousness have with unrighteousness or light with darkness.
You say, well Greg, yeah. But you know, I'm dating this non-Christian guy or non-Christian girl and I'm going to lead him to the Lord. Is that what you're going to do? Is it missionary dating? Is that what you're involved in? I remember when I was a brand new Christian I had this great burden to share the gospel only with really cute girls. I'm not making this up. I thought, why do I want to talk to just anyone? I'll talk to cute girls. They need the Lord, don't they? The Lord got my attention and said, stop that now.
But you may think that's your area of evangelism. Well yeah, we want to share the gospel with everybody. But the problem with being involved with a non-believer is rarely do you pull them up. Far more often they'll pull you down. Now there are exceptions. There are exceptions. But generally I'll tell you what it's miserable. And this is not God's plan.
But Samson disregarded that, didn't really care about what God's plan was and immediately got involved with this non-believing woman. And that's where the story begins. Well one thing led to another and he goes from her to a prostitute. And then things just escalated. So the devil got the mighty Samson, hooker, line, and sinker. Just wanted to see if you're listening.
Samson and the Prostitute in Gaza
Judges 16. One day Samson went down to the Philistine city of Gaza and spent the night with a prostitute. Word soon spread that Samson was there so the men of Gaza gathered together and waited all night at the city gates. They kept quiet during the night saying to themselves when the light of morning comes we'll kill him.
But Samson stayed in bed only until about midnight. Then he got up, took hold of the city gates and its two posts and lifted them, bars and all, right out of the ground, put them on his shoulders and carried them all away to the top of the hill across from Hebron. I love that.
Samson went down to Gaza to a prostitute. He went down. Any step away from God is to step down. Have you ever noticed in the story of Jonah, after God told him to go to Nineveh and preach, we read, Jonah instead bought a fare to go to Tarshish and he went down to the ship. You're always going down when you're going away from God. Never up.
And so here he is disobeying the Lord, going in the wrong direction. No one is forcing Samson to do this. He deliberately made this choice crossing the line. You see, he was so self-confident he thought, who is going to stop me? And so he took this step. He doesn't seem to have any remorse or concern. He just goes to a prostitute. I mean, how can he do that? He's been blessed by God. He's been called by God. And yet he's living this way. And it was really going to come back to haunt him later. What he sows in Gaza with the prostitute, he later reaps with the devious Delilah.
Power Without Purity
Well, his enemies find out he's in the city and they set a trap for him. They post a guard and they say we're going to get him when he wakes up in the morning. I mean, he's not getting out of this place. Those gates are locked. Well, yeah, for a normal guy that's true. Not for Samson.
He wakes up. Twelve o'clock. Me leave city now. He walks out. Gates are locked. No problemo. Rips them out. Ah, good cardiovascular. You know, walks out. Carries them far away to a hill. He says, I'm going to get a workout while I'm doing this, you know.
Dumps them that he had this power. I mean, he would need a special category in the Olympics. What would it be? Gate crashing? Here's his problem. He had power without purity. He had strength without self-control. And for twenty years Samson had experienced the thrill of victory. Not once had he ever been defeated.
He should have been so thankful to God. God cut him a lot of slack. You might say God gave him a lot of rope. And he hung himself. You know, sometimes when the Lord doesn't bust us straight away for our stupidity, we think that we can always get away with it. Sometimes when we don't reap the immediate consequences of a sin, we might even in our warped thinking rationalize what we're doing and say, maybe God is not against this despite what the Bible says. Maybe God is even okay with this.
The Bible says, because sentence is not executed quickly against the sons of men, their hearts are set to do evil fully. Let me loosely paraphrase that. Because you don't get busted right away, you don't think you'll ever get busted. But God says your sin will find you out. So don't confuse his grace with his permission, and even worse, his blessing.
The Deadly Trap with Delilah
Judges 16:4. I'm reading from the New Living Translation. Afterward it happened that he loved a woman in the valley of Sorek whose name was Delilah. And the lords of the Philistines came up to her and said to her, Entice him and find out where his great strength lies, and by what means we may overpower him, so we may bind him to afflict him. And every one of us will give you eleven hundred pieces of silver.
So Delilah said to Samson, Please tell me where your great strength lies and with what you may be bound to afflict you. Samson said, Well, if they bind me with seven fresh bowstrings, not yet tried, I'll become weak like any other man.
So the lords of the Philistines brought up seven fresh bowstrings, and now men were lying in wait, staying with her in the room, and she said, The Philistines are upon you, Samson. He broke the bowstrings as a strand of yarn breaks when it touches fire, but the secret of his strength was not known.
How the Philistines Finally Got Samson
See, these Philistines were desperate. Samson slaughtered them for sport. On one occasion, to settle a bet, he killed thirty of them. On another occasion, he killed a thousand. A thousand. Not with an AR-15. He did it with a bone he picked up off the ground. Me take bone, kill many today, you know.
So they were terrified of him. No one would take him on. No one would oppose him. How are we going to get him? The devil's smart. You know that, don't you? He'll change his tactics if he has to. He sized up Samson and said, man, I'll never get him on the battlefield. Maybe I can defeat him in the bedroom.
So along comes Delilah. Whose name, by the way, means delicate. And I bet you she was a fox, right? You know she was attractive. And you know that temptation comes in attractive packages. But it's misleading. It promises life, but it brings death.
I wonder if there's a Delilah in your life right now. Some relationship that's dragging you down. Some situation you're involved in that's spiritually depleting you. Samson is getting again involved with the wrong person ignoring all the warnings that God gave him.
The devil is always walking about looking for trouble. 1 Peter 5:8 says, Be careful. Watch out for attacks from the devil, your great enemy. He prowls around like a roaring lion looking for some victim to devour. And he sized up Samson perfectly. And he realized this is a he-man with a she-weakness. And that's where I'm going to hit him.
Temptation's Power and Our Desires
And of course, Delilah found a willing victim in Samson. It was like a game. Samson, tell me the secret of your strength that I may afflict you. You know, you are in a messed up relationship when someone says that to you, right? This little thought. Tell me the secret of your strength that I may afflict you. You afflict me? Delicate little you. Defeat me, the great Samson, who kills Philistines for entertainment.
And so he kind of played along with this. And each time he talked to her he got a little bit closer to the truth. Listen, for temptation to properly work its magic, there must be a desire on our part. James 1:14 says, Each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. And when desire is conceived he gives birth to sin, and sin when it is full grown brings forth death.
For Satan to succeed we must listen, yield, and most importantly desire what he offers. And he used different kinds of bait. But listen, it is not the bait that constitutes sin, it is the bite. As I pointed out to you before, it is not a sin to be tempted. So don't feel bad if you have been tempted.
And sometimes we do, don't we? You know, we are just walking along minding our own business and all of a sudden some horrible thought comes to our mind or some temptation and we think how could I think that? Well it doesn't mean you did something wrong in that you were tempted. Resist it. Say that is not from God, that is from the devil. I rebuke that. I resist that. You know, go away. You know, get behind me Satan.
The Shopping Devil Joke
I heard this story about a woman that loved to shop. And she was married to a very cheap man. And he didn't like her to go down to the mall because she always bought something. And so one day she was going to go to South Coast Plaza probably. And he said where are you going? She said South Coast Plaza. He said why? She said I am just going to go window shopping. He said okay but don't buy anything. She says I won't.
So she went down and she goes through Nordstrom's and you know is walking around checking out all the stores. And she saw this one display and it was a really nice dress and she is looking at it in the window and so the salesperson says why don't you come on in and try it on. So she goes in and tries it on and ends up buying it and comes home and has this new dress. It was very expensive.
The husband said I told you not to buy anything. She said well honey you don't know what happened. He said what? She said I went into the dressing room and I was just trying it on and the devil himself appeared to me. What? The husband said. The devil appeared? Yes. What did the devil say? She said he looked at me in that dress and said you look really good in that dress.
And then the husband said well what did you say? She said I said get behind me Satan. He said that is great. What did the devil say then? He said it looks good from the back too. Just a joke. Relax.
Sin Makes You Stupid
Tell me the secret of your great strength that I may afflict you. Couldn't Samson see what was going on? Maybe. But he was under the influence of sin. Guess what? Sin makes you stupid. It makes you stupid. I have seen intelligent people who know the Bible make the worst decisions imaginable under the power of sin.
That is why the Bible warns about the elusive glamour and trickery of sin. Remember the prodigal? He ran away from his father and went to a distant land. And the Bible says, when he came to his senses, he said, I had it better in my father's house. But first he had to come to his senses.
And sometimes when I hear people who have gone prodigal, they have run from God, they are living in sin, my prayer is, Lord, help them come to their senses. I pray they will leave in heaven right now, Lord, wherever they are, whatever they are doing, it will just come to them that this is insanity. Because sin is like a form of temporary insanity. And sometimes it is not so temporary.
The Final Betrayal and Capture
And then you rationalize your way through it. You know, you say those things that have been said so many other times. Well, we will just go so far and then we will stop. I promise. I will return it. I am only borrowing it for now. Just one time, we will never do it again. Right?
The Bible asks the question, can a man take fire in his lap and not be burned? When I was a little kid, I used to light my army men on fire. This is not a good thing to do, as I discovered. I took all my little army men out. I put them on newspaper. And I had a lighter. And I would always get the guys who had their guns out like this, right? Because the gun is pointing out. And I would light the end of the gun and it would melt and the guy would be like this. And then he would be sort of, you know, and he would end up in a little flaming puddle. And I thought that was so cool.
So I was burning one after the other. And all of a sudden the newspaper I put them on ignited. Boom! I was like, ha! So I grabbed the whole heap of burning paper and ran with it and found a trash can made out of wicker and threw it in. That caught fire. Almost burned the whole apartment down. Not good.
That is how it happens. You can't take fire in your lap and not be burned. So you say, well I will handle this. This won't get out of control. I will know when to stop. Come on. I mean dessert is a perfect example, isn't it? I mean you are out in a restaurant and you have all eaten and then the server comes and says, can I tempt you with the dessert? They always say, tempt. Have you noticed that?
No, that is okay. We don't want dessert. Do you want dessert? No, I don't want dessert. We don't want dessert. Thank you very much. And then one person says, well just bring one in for forks. Right? And then the dessert comes and this is my problem. If I don't taste the dessert I am actually okay. The moment I taste it I am like a shark with blood in the water. I go into a feeding frenzy.
The Three Stages of Sin
So how did this happen? How did Samson get into this situation? Because of a number of compromises. Let's identify them. If you are taking notes write these things down. Number one. Moral compromises always make us vulnerable. If Samson had not had that sinful relationship with Delilah he would not be in this mess. This is how it always works out. There were earlier situations. He starts by marrying a nonbelieving woman. Then he goes down to a prostitute. Now he is with Delilah. It was one thing after another.
Number two. Temptation comes in attractive packages. When sin comes it is not ugly. It is destructive. But it is desirable. It is attractive. Remember when the devil tempted Eve at the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. He said go ahead and eat the fruit. And the Bible says when Eve saw that the tree was desirable. It was attractive. It was beautiful. That is what drew her in. Pleasant to look upon.
Number three. Temptation comes when we choose the wrong friends. Samson had a consistent ability to choose the wrong people to hang out with. 1 Corinthians 15:33 says don't be deceived. Evil company corrupts good habits.
So this Delilah, this delicate girl, she would not give up. She badgers Samson day in and day out. And Samson gets closer and closer to the truth of the secret of his strength. And each time Delilah does what he says and Samson throws the pursuing Philistines aside like ragdolls. Now she is going in for the kill.
Judges 16:15. Again the New Living Translation. Then Delilah pouted. Now he is in trouble. How can you say you love me when you don't confide in me, Samsi-poo? That is implied in the Hebrew. I made that up. You have made fun of me three times and you haven't told me what makes you so strong.
So day after day she nagged him until he couldn't take it any longer. Finally Samson told her his secret. My hair has never been cut, he confessed. I was dedicated to God as a Nazarite from birth. And if my head were shaved, my strength would leave me and I would become as weak as anyone else.
Delilah realized he had finally told her the truth. So she sent for the Philistine leaders. Come back one more time, she said. He has told me everything. So the Philistine leaders returned and brought the money with them. Delilah lulled Samson to sleep with his head in her lap. And she called on a man to shave off his hair making his capture certain. And his strength left him.
And she cried out, Samson, the Philistines have come to capture you. When he woke up he thought, I will do as I have before and shake myself free. But he did not realize the Lord had left him.
So the Philistines captured him and gouged out his eyes and took him to Gaza where he was bound with bronze chains and made to grind grain in the prison. Stop there. Such a sad story. Samson had been running a race. He just fell. And he fell hard. And this was a result of choices he made.
Advice for Singles on Relationships
She said, if you really love me, you will do this. Listen. Anyone who asks you to prove your love by crossing a line doesn't love you. Girls, if some guy says, if you really love me you will have sex with me, dump him. Don't go any further. Same thing for guys.
In our day and age we have got to turn it the other way. Right? If a girl says that to you, this is bad. Oh, come on. Don't be so committed. Do you have to go to church so much? Do you have to read the Bible? You don't want a relationship with a person that is dragging you down. You want a relationship with a person that builds you up.
Listen. If you are single. How many of you are single? Raise your hand up. If you are single, you are all so shy. Go ahead and raise them up. I am not going to mock you. You are like, I know. I am sorry. It is hard. Be bold. How many of you are single? Come on. Yeah. Look around. Look around. It is kind of like... Now you are looking for a guy and you are looking for a girl and there is nothing wrong with that.
Well what kind of guy or girl should you look for? Listen to this. Look for someone who is more spiritual than you even. See a lot of times you will ask the question, well this guy you are involved with. Is he a Christian? Yes. Why did you hesitate? Well I mean you know, define Christian. Follower of Jesus Christ. He says God a lot. Okay. Let me raise the bar. Don't just be involved with a Christian. Find a man of God. Find a woman of God.
That is what I did. And she was super cute too. That is nice. But you see the thing is, is look for someone that is spiritual, godly. Samson did the very opposite of that. Here is what is amazing to me. He was comfortable enough with Delilah to fall asleep in her lap. Talking about sleeping with the enemy. I mean what was he thinking?
The Saddest Verse: The Lord Had Left Him
And now here is one of the saddest statements in all of the Bible. Verse 20. He didn't realize the Lord had left him. He didn't realize it. He didn't realize the party was over. He just thought he could get up like he had so many other times. And that is what people think. Oh I will get out of this one. I always get out of it. I always find a way out. And then one day they don't find a way out. Then one day they realize it is over. And now they are going to reap the consequences. And that is what was happening to Samson in real time.
And the devil got what he wanted. Kicked him to the curb. Treated him like yesterday's garbage. Look at verse 21. The Philistines captured him and gouged out his eyes and took him to Gaza where he was bound with bronze chains and made to grind grain in the prison.
Three things we discover about sin here. Sin blinds you. It binds you. Then it grinds you. Here it is if you want to write it down. It blinds you. It binds you. Then it grinds you.
Sin Blinds You
First of all sin blinds you. As I said earlier sin makes you stupid. You do irrational things. I know of men who have left loving wives, children for some stupid fling that led to nothing but the ruin of their marriage. I know of women who have done the same. Leaving husbands, even their children in some deluded effort to find themselves.
I can't stand it when I hear people say that. What are you doing? I am trying to find myself. Shut up. Please don't say that. You will never find yourself. You know what Jesus said? You need to lose yourself. He said if you want to be my disciple lose yourself and take up the cross and follow me.
Well that sounds scary. Lose myself. What does that mean? It means stop thinking so much about yourself. And when you start doing that you will find the fulfillment you have always wanted. Not by seeking it but by seeking Him. Because when you put God first He will bring you that fulfillment.
And so Samson wasn't thinking along those lines. He was blinded. First you start fantasizing about these things. You say well you know I would never do it. But I can think about it. I can pretend. And that is where a lot of these things start. You know I would never be unfaithful to my spouse. But we are having our problems.
Here is just a little word of advice. Never discuss your marital problems with a member of the opposite sex. How stupid is that? You go to some girl. Here you are a married guy. You go to some girl. I am having problems with my wife. And I was wondering if you could counsel me. Are you serious? You think this is a good idea? You would be amazed how many times I have heard of this happening. And so it starts that way. It blinds you. You think your situation is different. But it really isn't.
Sin Binds You
Number two. Sin binds you. You know when someone sins, there is an initial excitement sometimes. Let's see how honest you will be. How many of you first of all just a quick question. How many of you have sinned? Raise your hand up. You have sinned. Okay good. How many of you have had fun sinning? Raise your hand up. You have had fun. What is wrong with you people? I am leaving. That is just something. No. I like the fact you said that. Because it is true.
Now we know it does not last long. But there was some fun. Even the Bible says there is pleasure in sin for a season. There is an initial euphoria when you get away with something and nothing happens to me. They lied to me. The preacher lied. It is fun. Well this preacher is in line. It will be fun to jump off the Empire State Building. That would be better than any ride in any amusement park. until you hit the ground. That is a one way trip. But it was fun for a while. That is sin. It is pleasurable for a time. But the Bible says the wages of sin are death.
So the first time you have that sexual encounter, visit that illicit website. The first time you steal that object. The first time you get away with that lie. The first time you have that drink. Whatever it is. You get away with it. You say, hey this is pretty cool. I can be a Christian and still do all this stuff too. I am going to have my cake and eat it too. Well they say you can't do that. But I don't know. I have had cake and eaten it. What is going on here? This is my cake. I am eating it. Nothing is happening.
Well you understand it is a phrase that means you can't have it both ways. And so the idea is you think you are getting away with it. You have got the best of both worlds. You are living a double life. You come to church. You hear a Bible study. You worship God. Now you are going to go out and party and get drunk and have sex and maybe do drugs and maybe rip off somebody. Isn't it great? No it is not great. And this can all come crashing down on you like a ton of bricks. Because that is sin. But I feel good about it where your feelings can mislead you.
Sin Grinds You Down
You see sin will blind you. Then it will bind you. The Bible says your sin will find you out. Then it will grind you. That is where Samson was at. Grinding. The consequences come. What a miserable scene. I mean here is this guy who is so powerful on the battlefield and his eyes are gone. His hair is shaved off. He is pushing this thing around in a circle. The Philistines are laughing at him. Throwing things at him. Mocking him.
But I want you to know despite his bad decisions there was still hope. Here is a life verse now for all follically challenged people. Also known as bald men. Verse 22. However the hair of his head began to grow again after it had been shaven. I have quoted this verse many times. Lord you have promised in your word. Let it be true even now. It just hasn't worked so far. No but even more than hair growing back. This means that God gives second chances.
God was giving to Samson another chance. We are all going to sin and we are all going to fail at times. And I guess the only thing I can say is let's learn from our mistakes and not do the same thing again. Let's fail forward. What does that mean? It means when you fail learn from it and don't go that direction again. Samson was failing forward. His hair began to grow. His strength began to return.
Samson's Final Victory and Redemption
Well one night the Philistines were having a big party. It was a drunken feast worshipping their god Dagon. You know Dagon was interesting. He was sort of like a merman. You have heard of a mermaid? They worshipped a merman. Top part was a man. Bottom part was a fish. So they were worshipping their fish god Dagon.
Some stupid Philistine had probably the worst idea in human history. Hey let's bring Samson out. Have him entertain us. They brought out Samson. And in a final act of vengeance he was guided by a servant to the foundational pillars of the temple where the Philistines were partying away.
And Samson said Lord give me strength. And he began to push on them. And they are all just you know partying away. Celebrate good times. Come on. There is a Dagon. And all of a sudden the room starts to shake a little bit. What is Samson doing over there? Oh I noticed his hair is growing back again. Yeah.
He was pushing those foundational pillars. And the foundation collapsed. And the roof collapsed. And he ended up killing more Philistines at this moment than in his entire life. He literally brought the house down. So the good news is he defeated them. The bad news is he was defeated with them. It could have turned out a lot differently.
Joseph: The Opposite Example
Before we close this message let me just throw one other name into the mix here. This guy was the polar opposite of Samson. Where Samson zigged. This guy zagged. His name was Joseph. Everything Samson did, Joseph did not do. Everything Joseph did, Samson did not do. Just to show it is possible to resist this kind of temptation.
Here is Joseph. You know his story. We looked at it already in Genesis. Sold into slavery by his brothers. Purchased by a man named Potiphar to be a slave. Put in his beautiful home to oversee all of his affairs. And Joseph was so hard working that pretty soon he was running everything. Potiphar, his employer, trusted him.
Potiphar had a wife. We do not know what her name was. But she looked at Joseph and the Bible says he was very good looking. And she started hitting on him day and night. She was far from subtle. She just said, have sex with me. She was probably the first cougar in human history right here.
And then one day she said, I am going to get this kid. He is not getting away. So she dismissed all the servants. And he was alone in the house with her. And he walked by and she grabbed him by his cloth, his tunic, and pulled him down on the bed. And he did what any clear thinking young man would do in those circumstances. He ran as fast as he could.
You know, sometimes that is the best thing to do. Just run. You know, sometimes we are praying for strength. Lord, I am in this place of temptation. And I am just, give me strength. Get out of there. Get out of the place. Literally, walk out the door and go away now. Don't pray for strength. Get out of that place if you can. And often we can't.
And so Joseph ran. That is what the Bible says we should do. 2 Timothy 2:22. Run from anything that stimulates youthful lust. Follow anything that makes you want to do what is right. Pursue faith and love and peace. And enjoy the companionship of those that call on the Lord with pure hearts.
Joseph did not dabble in it like Samson, thinking he could handle it. Nor was he self-confident like Simon Peter saying, though all deny you, I will never deny you. He ran. There is a Chinese proverb that says, He who would not enter the room of sin must not sit at the door of temptation. It was a no brainer. Better to shun the bait than to struggle on the hook.
Listen, flee temptation and don't leave a forwarding address. Every temptation is an opportunity to flee to God.
Closing Invitation and Prayer
And I wonder, as you have been listening to this message, if some of you are engaged in something you shouldn't be involved in. Maybe it is a sexual relationship. Maybe it is a moral compromise of some kind. Some other thing you are doing that you know is wrong before God. And you haven't been busted yet. And you have sort of deluded yourself into thinking you are always going to get away with it.
But remember, sin finds you. Your sin will find you out. Here is the good news. If you will turn to God and call it what it is and stop making excuses for it. Say, Lord, this is a sin. It is wrong. And I repent. God will forgive you of your sin.
And maybe some of you need a second chance like Samson did. Maybe you have fallen in this area. Maybe you are dabbling in this area. Whatever it is, God will forgive you of whatever sin you have committed if you ask for His forgiveness.
Don't neglect the small things in your life like the O-rings in the space shuttle. Because little things lead to big things. It is not how you start. It is how you finish. Again to quote Ecclesiastes 7:8, the end of a matter is better than its beginning.
A word to older Christians. Finish well. Don't mess it up now. You have walked with the Lord all these years. Finish it. Don't rest on your laurels. Don't live in the past. Cross that finish line serving God.
A word to younger Christians. Start well. Get good habits in your life. Surround yourself with godly people.
A word to non-Christians. Repent and come to Christ now. You say, what does that mean, repent? I don't think I have even pented yet. Why should I repent? Repent means to change your direction. The Bible says repent and be converted and times of refreshment will come from the presence of the Lord.
Listen, you can find this out the easy way or the hard way. But there is nothing that this world offers you right now that is going to fill that void deep inside of you. No relationship. No experience. No possession. No accomplishment. Nothing. Because you were created to know God. And until you come into a relationship with Him, you are going to be searching. Don't waste your life doing that.
Here is God who holds a missing piece and offers it to you now. And will forgive you of all of your sin and most importantly give you the assurance that when you die you will go to heaven. Do you have that hope right now? If not, let me pray for you.
And there might be some of you that need to say to Jesus, come into my life. There might be some of you that are like prodigal sons and daughters that would say to the Lord, I need to come back home again.
You see 2,000 years ago God demonstrated His love for you by sending His Son to die on that cross in your place and to pay the price for all the sins that we have committed. And then He rose again from the dead. Now He stands at the door of your life and He knocks. And He says if you'll hear His voice and open the door, He will come in.
Would you like Christ to come into your life? Would you like to be forgiven of your sin? Would you like a second chance in life? Would you like to come back to the Lord? If so, respond to this invitation as we close now in prayer. Let's all pray.
Father, thank You for Your Word to us and Your love for us. And I thank You for every person here, every person listening and watching. I pray, Lord, that if there are those here that don't know You, that they would come to You now. That they would see their need for Jesus. That their eyes would be opened spiritually. And that Your Holy Spirit would convince them of their sin and help them to believe now.
Now when our heads are bowed, our eyes are closed and we are praying together. How many of you would say tonight, Greg, pray for me. I want Jesus Christ to come into my life. I want Him to forgive me of my sin. I want to know that when I die, I will go to Heaven. I am ready to say yes to Jesus now. Pray for me.
If that is your desire... If you want Christ to come into your life. If you want Him to forgive you of your sin. If you want to go to Heaven when you die, would you lift your hand up right now and let me pray for you? If you want Christ to come into your life, lift your hand up. I'll pray for you. Wherever you are. There in the back. God bless you. Lift it up high where I can see it, please. You want Christ in your life. God bless you. Lift your hand up. God bless you. Anybody else?
God's been speaking to you tonight. Here's your opportunity to get right with him. God bless you guys over here on the side. God bless you. Anybody else? Raise your hand up if you haven't raised it yet. I'll pray for you. God bless you. God bless you. Yes.
While our heads are still bowed, maybe some of you would say, I am a prodigal son. I am a prodigal daughter. And I have come to my senses tonight. I have realized how empty that is. I want to come back to the Lord. Pray for me. If that is your desire, would you lift your hand up and let me pray for you. You need to come back to Him again tonight. Lift your hand up. I will pray for you. God bless you. God bless you. Anybody else? Lift your hand up now. God bless each one of you.
All right. Now I am going to ask all of you that have raised your hand, if you would please. I want you to stand to your feet. And I am going to lead you in a prayer of commitment right where you stand. Just stand up. If you raised your hand, even if you did not, but you want to make this commitment or recommitment to Christ, stand up. And I am going to lead you in prayer. God bless you guys standing. Others are standing, by the way, so you won't be alone. Stand up. God bless all of you standing. Anybody else? Maybe you didn't raise your hand, But you want to make this commitment or recommitment to Jesus, stand up now. Anybody else? God bless you. One final moment. Stand now. God bless you. Anybody else? Stand up. Stand up.
Alright, you that are standing, I want to lead you in this prayer. And I want you to pray this out loud after me. And in this prayer you are asking God to forgive you of your sin. So again, as I pray, pray this out loud after me now. Pray this now if you would.
Lord Jesus, I know I am a sinner. But you died on the cross for my sin. And paid the price for it. I am sorry for my sin. I turn from it now. I ask you to come into my life. I choose to follow you, Jesus, from this moment forward. Be my Savior. Be my Lord. Be my God. Be my friend. Thank you for calling me and accepting me and forgiving me. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.