As we look at the 14th chapter
of the book of Judges tonight, I'd like us to stop at five verses
of Scripture that help me clarify some of the things that are going
on. Now some of these we've mentioned in the past. And I just constantly,
I need to have them before me because sometimes I look at Samson
or some of the other judges with jaundiced eyes. And that means
self-righteous eyes. I said, my goodness, how could
they have done that? And then, Lord. Well, anyway,
if you will turn with me to the book of Hebrews first, Hebrews
11, verse 32. In Hebrews 11, verse 32, we have
this wonderful passage of scripture that mentions Samson's name. It also mentions
three others of the judges. Now, they were judges appointed
by God to do the business that God appointed them to do. They
were men. I have to remember that. There
has only been one person that ever walked the face of the earth
that we do not have to question his integrity. And that's the
Lord Jesus Christ. The rest of them are even, as
Peter said, when the Lord told him to cast those nets on the
other side of the boat, and he cast them and filled up the nets,
two boats, till they're almost sank. And his comment was not,
thank you, Lord, for this. He says, Lord, depart from me,
for I am a sinful man. All right, here in the book of
Hebrews chapter 11, and what shall we say more? For the time
would fail me to tell of Gideon, and Barak and Samson and Jephthah
of David also and Samuel and of all the prophets. Now we have
looked in the past at Gideon and we have looked at Barak and
we have looked at Jephthah. Well, right now we're looking
at Samson, but he is by faith, the same faith that we read about
Abel or Noah or Moses or Abraham. is mentioned with regard to this
man, this Samson. Now, when we look at his account,
at his life, we go walk away and say, well, that's a little
shaky right there. Well, God looked at him and that's
what we do when we go to the 11th chapter of the book of Hebrews.
This is God's view. And we're thankful that God's
view of his saints are all the same. By faith, they did this. All right, would you join me
over in the book of Judges chapter 14, verse four. Now we've looked
at this in the past, but I want to read it again, because it
had so much to say about what is happening right now. Here
in the book of Judges. In Judges chapter 14. And there
in verse four, we have these words recorded after Samson said,
I want to marry a Philistine woman. And for a long, long time,
I've just said, how could you do that? And then all you have
to do is read the last part of this verse of scripture. It says,
but his father and his mother knew not that it was the Lord.
Now in verse 3 it says, And then his father and his mother said
unto him, Is there never a woman among the daughters of thy brethren,
or among all thy people, that thou goest to take a wife of
the uncircumcised Philistines? And Samson said unto his father,
Get her for me, for she pleaseth me. But his father and his mother
knew not that it was of the Lord, that he capital H, he sought
an occasion against the Philistines, for at that time the Philistines
had dominion over Israel. And then back up one book to
the book of Joshua chapter 11. In Joshua chapter 11, a very
interesting passage of scripture here with regards to how the
Israel, Joshua being their captain, their military captain, how Israel
won all the battles. that they had when they went
into the promised land. Now it's summed up in just a
few short verses here in the book of Joshua chapter 11. Joshua
chapter 11 and verse 16, we read this. So Joshua took all that
land. All that land. the hills, and
all the south country, and all the land of Goshen, and the valley,
and the plain, and the mountain of Israel, and the valley of
the same, even from Mount Halak, that goeth down to Seir, even
unto Baal-gad in the valley, of Lebanon under Mount Hermon,
and all their kings he took and smote them and slew them." And
you know, we're just getting along, what a powerful captain
this was and what a great army they must have had. Joshua made
war a long time with all those kings. Wow. Took him a long time. He started in 1776 and ended
up in 1787. And here, there was not a city
that made peace with the children of Israel, save the Hivites,
the inhabitants of Gibeon. Now we know that they were maids,
hewers of wood and drawers of water. All other they took in
battle. Now notice verse 20 with me.
For it was the Lord to harden their hearts. that they should
come against Israel in battle. God hardened their hearts. All of these nations that were
in that area, in that land, God hardened their heart and brought
them up against Joshua and the armies of Israel, and they were
all defeated. God baited them, hooked them,
and brought them in to the slaughter, if you please, that he might
destroy them utterly, and that they might have no favor, but
that he might destroy them as the Lord commanded Moses. So
this is the fulfillment of what God told Moses to do. Moses passes
on to Joshua. Joshua goes into the land. No
doubt he is a great commander. No doubt he is a great leader,
but when it comes right down to it, he too would have to admit
as we have to, that it was the Lord that brought the success
of these battles. And he's the one that stirred
up all of these other people to come up against Israel at
the right time when there was an army there. Now we have had
that incident with Gideon here in the book of Judges about where
he had lots of men and then he had fewer men and finally ended
up with 300 men. And the Lord said unto him, if you deal with
a lot of men, you'll brag about it. But since you're going to
have a few men, then you have to give glory to God. And isn't
that the way it is? Well, finally, if you'll look
with me, this is the next to last verse I'd like to read in
preparation. This is found in the book of
Deuteronomy. And we've read this in the past. But again, it is
a great comfort for us to know that there are some things God
never intended for us to know. Here in the book of Deuteronomy
chapter 29, in Deuteronomy chapter 29, we have these words about
God and about God's very secretive things. There are some things
God never intended to reveal to anybody. Now there are some
that are secret things that are, as we find the apostle Paul was
called on to write, I show you a mystery. It has been hidden,
but now it's revealed. I show you a mystery of Christ
in the church. So these things are revealed,
but there are some things, as we read here, the secret things
belong unto the Lord, our God. But those things which are revealed
belong unto us and to our children forever, that we may do all the
words of this law or all the words of this word. We may be
given grace and be able to do this. So the secret things belong
to the Lord our God. Now, one of the great preachers
of the New Testament is mentioned very briefly in this verse of
scripture and is found in the book of John chapter one. Would
you turn there with me? John chapter 1, a clear and present
reminder of any preacher. John chapter 1 and verse 6. John chapter 1 and verse 6. There
was a man, underline was, and underline man. He's dead. There was a man sent from God. Now I look at Samson, and I can
say there was a man sent from God. And whose name was Samson,
or in this case, whose name was John. A man sent from God. Now to a lot of people, they
would say he was cut down in the prime of his life. He was
beheaded by Herod over what he had to say. Well, he didn't pass
any sooner or any later than God intended for him to pass. So we have these verses here
that share with us. a lot about God, about secret
things belong to God. What's happening here? Is it
God's purpose being carried out? Samson is being used of God,
and he is a wonderful type, a shadow and a picture of our Savior,
the Lord Jesus, as we find that the Lord. would take us Philistines
into the church, just like Samson would marry a Philistine woman. Now, going down here in the book
of Judges again, chapter 14, Judges chapter 14, let's look
at a few of these verses and see if we can find some things
in here that would be a blessing to us. The book of Judges chapter
14, And we've traveled down, I'd like to read beginning with
verse 17. And we remember that Samson had
given all of those men that were invited to his wedding a parable. Now we don't find that word there,
but we find that same word in the New Testament, where Jesus
was asked by his disciples, why do you always speak in parables? Samson spoke in a riddle. It
was not something for them to understand or to know, but we
find out that they were given the insight to it. But his wife
wept before him the seven days while their feast lasted. And
it came to pass on the seventh day that he told her because
she lay sore upon him and she told the riddle to the children
of her people. Now just remember for a second
that they had threatened her and her family with death. So
she is really interested in it. And I don't know what I would
do in the same circumstances. I'd probably be crying too. Please
tell me, please tell me, please tell me. But anyway, Samson did
tell her the secret. Now there in verse 18, the men
of the city said unto him on the seventh day, before the sun
went down, What is sweeter than honey and what is stronger than
a lion? And that's the answer to the riddle. And he said unto
them. Now Samson in an instant knew
Samson detected that the treachery had been done. They would have
not understood or got the gist of this riddle if it had not
been. And there's only one person.
that he had told the answer to this riddle, and that was his
wife. And he uses a figure of speech here in this verse of
scripture, because he says, he said unto them, if ye had
not plowed with my heifer, You should not found out my riddle. Now I appreciated what was in
the, some notes in the Geneva Bible. It says, if you had not
used the help of my wife, and that's essentially what that
means. If you had not used the help of my wife, my wife gave
you this secret code. And without it, you would have
not known. But now they know, and we find out he must pay his
debt. Well, it's interesting, as we
follow this out, that the spirit of the Lord came upon him and
he went down to Ashkelon and slew 30 men of them. Now, who
did he slay? He slew Philistines. He owes
Philistines. So he used Philistines to pay
the Philistines. He uses those that he slew, 30
men, He slew and brought their clothes back and gave them unto
those he owed. This is his wedding party that
he owes this debt to, these clothes. So it says there, and his anger was
kindled and he went up to his father's
house. And Samson's wife was given to
his best man, his companion, whom he had used as his friend,
as his best man. Now, tonight, I would like to
look at that response that Samson had, that his anger was kindled. Now, an interesting thing about
this, it is his anger was kindled against the Philistines. You
know, when we read over in Judges chapter 13 and verse one about
the state of Israel at the time Samson is brought onto the scene,
before he's even born, it mentions how terrible Israel is and the
gods that they have gone after. Once again, they go after these
false gods. But it's interesting here that
Samson's anger is not towards Israel. Samson's anger is towards
the Philistines. We don't have an account of him
saying one bad word about Israel, even as bad as they are. We find
that that really speaks for us. that over there in the book of
Romans chapter 5, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for
us. So we're in the same boat as
Israel was. We were like Abraham, on the
other side of the flood or before grace came to him, worshipers
of other gods, what form they were or what form they are is
irrelevant. They're false gods. And we are
in that capacity when God finds us and we come to the conclusion,
as Paul wrote to the Romans, Even while we were yet sinners,
Christ died for the ungodly, for us. So as we look at this,
his anger is brought out. That's an interesting thing,
but we're going to find out that that's just an attribute of God. One more time, Samson is given
to us and, you know, I think in my mind as I go over there
to the book of Luke and hear the Lord say that in all things
concerning himself in the Old Testament, what time he spent
with those two disciples on the road to Emmaus and those disciples
after when he met with them all, and he went over to the Old Testament,
what he had to say about Samson at this time. Now, it doesn't
record it, but I know this, it's in the Old Testament. And he
said, everything in the Old Testament points to me. So what he had
to say here about having wrath, what Samson had to say is that
he was angry. And when we get to the New Testament,
the word anger, and wrath are the same words in the original
language. So when we run into wrath, the
wrath of God, we're running into the anger of God and God is angry. Now he's never been angry with
the church. He said he has loved the church
with an everlasting love. Never was a time when he had
to change his mind about the church. before time in old eternity. He had an affection. He had a
love towards the people whose names were written in the Lamb's
book of life. So he never had wrath towards them. Now there's
an interesting verse over in the book of Psalm, Psalm 30. Would you join
me there? Psalm 30. In Psalm 30, we read
these words. Psalm 30 in verse five. In verse four of Psalm 30, it
says, sing unto the Lord, O ye saints, and give thanks at the
remembrance of his holiness. Now, there's a reason that God
is angry and there's a reason that God demonstrates his wrath.
And it is against sin, against his righteousness, against his
holiness. He is angry for those who have
went against those things. And here in verse five, we read
these words, for his anger endureth for a moment. Now, when did that
happen? When did His anger endure for
a moment? It was at the cross. Now, we
may say that's longer than a moment. Well, compared to eternity, that's
a moment. His anger endureth but for a
moment. In His favor, His life weeping
may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning. So we
read about the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross. His anger, His
wrath was endured for a moment. on the cross. And as once he
had endured the wrath of God, the anger of God, then there
was no longer any need for it. So it only endured for a short
time. The God of heaven has an anger. His anger is not driven by selfishness
or his sin. His anger is driven by his righteousness
and his holiness. His anger is quite apparent in
the scriptures. Now I'd like to read a few verses
that deal with this and they're in the New Testament. So if you'll
travel with me over to the book of Mark, the book of Mark chapter
three. I have to say again, he said,
with regard to the church, we're not appointed to wrath, we're
not appointed to anger. His wrath for his church was
poured out on his son on the cross and he endured it for a
moment as we read there in the Psalms. He has an anger at even
at this present time against all workers of iniquity. He is
going to share with us in the scriptures that this is what
he has for everyone who's not written in the Lamb's Book of
Life. All right, here in the book of Mark, Mark chapter three,
beginning with verse one, we read this. And he entered again into the
synagogue, and there was a man there which had a withered hand,
and they watched him, whether he would heal him on the Sabbath
day. Now, in the book of Luke, the Lord asked him, is it good
for someone to be healed on the Sabbath day? Now, when we get
to looking at the Sabbath day in the Old Testament, if your
ox fell in the ditch, you could get it out. For your own needs,
you could do things on the Sabbath. But here, the Lord Jesus Christ
is dealing with a man. I could just imagine that man
coming to the high priest and saying, would you pray for me? Is there anything that you can
do for me? And as they watch him, they watched him, whether
they would heal him on the Sabbath day that they might accuse him.
Now it's not because they're looking for some good deed to
be done. They're looking for some accusation
to be made. And he saith unto the man which
had the withered hands, stand forth. And he said unto them,
is it lawful to do good on the Sabbath days or to do evil, to
save life or to kill? And he lays it right in their
lap, but they held their peace. And when he had looked round
about on them with anger, being grieved at the hardness
of their hearts, He saith unto the man, stretch forth thy hand,
and he stretched it out, and his hand was restored whole as
the others. And the Pharisees went forth
and straightway took counsel with the Herodians against him,
how they might destroy him. So in that verse of scripture,
it says that he was grieved at the hardness of their hearts,
and he looked round about them with anger. He looked round about
them with That righteous anger that he has towards everyone
whose names are not written in the Lamb's book of life. There
is only one reason in all the world that Jacob was loved and
Esau was hated. It was not because Esau had done
more wrong than Jacob. or Jacob had done more good than
Esau. It is in the balance of grace. And he demonstrated grace to
Jacob and he had none for Esau. Therefore, he's going to bear
his own sin. And as a result of that, he says,
I hated him. Now he's not the only one that
God hates. God is going to hate every worker
of iniquity. He's going to hate everyone in
that day that stands before him and is a goat. He will hate him. He hates him now, he hates him
then, he will hate him for eternity as he beats out his punishment.
Now, in John 3 and verse 36, as we think about the subject
that Samson won away, his anger, his anger was towards them. His
anger was towards the Philistines, the beguilement that went through
there. His best man, his entourage,
the Philistines. And he went to his father's house.
Well, here in the book of John chapter three, there in verse
36, we read this. No 36. Oh, I'm not in John, I'm
in Mark. John chapter three, verse 36,
it says, He that believeth on the Son
hath everlasting life. And he that believeth not the
Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God, the anger of God
abideth on him. Now it's not because he didn't
make a good decision. Salvation is not based on a decision. Salvation is based upon grace
and grace and sovereign grace. It is based upon God. It's based
upon God's goodness. It's based upon God's salvation. It's based upon Jesus Christ
going to the cross and paying for the sin debt. It is based
upon he will endure the wrath of God for a moment, but it would
be turned away when he made the payment. So the wrath of God,
the anger of God abideth on him. It's been there for eternity,
it will continue to be there for eternity, and it is upon
them during their lifetime. The wrath of God. Now, it would
not behoove us to be the one to charge them. We declare that
this is what happens to God's non-elect, but we have no charge
over who they are. So, I'm gonna keep my mouth shut. I just know, though, that those
without Christ, they will meet the wrath of God. All right,
as we continue looking, turn with me to the book of Romans.
Romans chapter one, as we think of Samson going home to his father,
leaving the Philistines and going back to Israel where he had been,
he was angry, he left in anger. And here we have him as a type
and a shadow of one of the great and often not talked about attributes
of God. God is a loving God towards the
church. No question about it. I'm thankful
for that. We love him because he first
loved us. I'm thankful for that. But here
we have God's wrath, his righteous indignation. And in the book
of Romans chapter one, verse 18, Romans chapter one and verse
18, It tells us here, for the wrath of God is revealed from
heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who
hold the truth in unrighteousness. Because that which may be known
of God is manifest in them for God has showed it unto them.
Whatever he revealed unto them, It turned out to be they hold
the truth in unrighteousness. And what does it say? For the
wrath of God is revealed on them from heaven against them and
all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men. So God has a wrath. He has an anger towards these
folks and he will meet it out according to justice. In the
same book of Romans chapter two, Romans chapter two and verse
eight, we read this, Romans chapter two and verse eight. But unto
them that are contentious and do not obey the truth, but obey
unrighteousness, indignation and wrath, judgment, anger will
be meted out to them. God has the right to be angry
with everyone that sinned against him. And the church is thankful
that that wrath was put in another direction, that it was put on
Christ because the judgment of sin upon people is death. Jesus Christ became the substitute
for that and he took away that death for his people. So we have
here, they do not obey the truth, obey, but obey unrighteousness
and here is an indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish
upon every soul of man that doeth evil, the Jew first and also
to the Gentile. So it's not, it pays no attention
to, Kindred, people, tongue or race. We're thankful that grace
is found in those places too. But his wrath, his anger is upon
all those. And you know, the more we know
about the wrath of God or the anger of God, the more we're
thankful for grace. We see it poured out at the cross. And what was poured out at the
cross will be eternal against all those that are on the left
hand side. The same amount over eternity
was given to Christ on the cross. In the book of Romans chapter
nine, Romans chapter nine. In Romans chapter nine, we read
these words, Romans 9.22. As Samson is a type, he's a shadow,
he's a picture. He walked away in anger over
the things that happened there. He is a picture of our God, the
Lord Jesus Christ, and his anger, his wrath towards all those that
were never paid for on the cross. In the book of Romans chapter
nine, verse 22, what if God willing to show his anger What if God willing to show his
wrath? and to make his power known,
endured with much long-suffering the vessels of wrath or anger
fitted to destruction, that he might make known the riches of
his glory on the vessels of mercy which he hath aforeprepared unto
glory." So he aforeprepared them to glory in old eternity by writing
their names in the Lamb's Book of Life and appointing a substitute,
a surety, a shepherd for all those folks. The substitute would
go to the cross. So here we have, what if God
willing to show his anger and to make his power known endured
with much long suffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction. Now, when you think about long
suffering, God gave Israel 40 years in the wilderness. Do you think that changed anybody's
minds? The more time they're given, did that change their
minds? Not to those who knew not God,
it didn't change their minds at all. In fact, most of them
got harder and harder. We find that these all died in
unbelief. They did not enter into rest.
So here we have, what if God willing to show his wrath, his
anger, and to make his power known. In the book, the book
of, excuse me, in the book of Colossians, Colossians chapter
three. Well, the verse I wanted says,
For which thing's sake the wrath of God cometh on the children
of disobedience? But I don't see it in... Pardon? 3.6. 3.6. Okay, thank you. For which things, Colossians
3, 6. For which things sake the wrath of God cometh on the children
of disobedience, in the which ye also walked some time when
ye lived in them. So the wrath of God cometh on
the children of disobedience. That's God's wrath. His anger
is going to be poured out, is poured out, and will be poured
out upon the children of disobedience. They're the ones that will raise
their hands and say, we will not have this man rule over you.
In the book of Hebrews chapter three, would you turn there with
me? Hebrews chapter three. As has been brought up in the
past by several that have brought lessons from the book of Hebrews,
Hebrews gives us the understanding of a lot of what we find in the
Old Testament and the law. And here we find out as God spoke
to Israel in the Old Testament, they will wander in the wilderness
for 38 more years because they could not and would not go into
the promised land. Two had a good report. They had a good report about
God, and they did not face God's wrath. The rest of them, as we
look here in the book of Hebrews chapter three, verse seven, wherefore,
as the Holy Ghost saith, today, if you will hear his voice, harden
not your hearts as in the provocation in the days of temptation in
the wilderness, when your fathers tempted me, proved me and saw
my works 40 years. Wherefore, I was grieved with
that generation, and said, they do always err in their heart,
and they have not known my ways." Now, without the revelation of
God, the revelation of Jesus Christ, this is the only comment
that can be made. without the revelation of Jesus
Christ, without his arresting us, without his grace, without
him stopping us, just as he said with regard to Joshua and Caleb,
that he gave them a different heart. Here we have that they
did err. After all the blessings that
they were given, it didn't change their view about God one iota. Now they may have said many times,
we're sorry we said that, we'll do better in the future. As it
goes on here in verse 11, it says, so I swear in my wrath,
they shall not enter into my rest. I swore in my anger. Even though they were physical
children of Abraham, it did not change God about what he was
going to do. And it wasn't because they didn't
do better. It was because they couldn't
do better. They were sinners by nature, practice, and choice.
So I swear in my wrath, they shall not enter into my rest.
Well, I'm so thankful that to the church, he said, I will give
them my rest. And you know what that means?
God's people will quit working for their salvation. It will no longer be an issue.
It's either he did it all or we are not in it. He is the absolute
savior of his people. So moving along just a little
bit here in the book of Revelation, if you would, Revelation chapter
14. In Revelation chapter 14, we
read these words about the wrath of God, judgment of God against
sin and against sinners. And if we want to know what it's
like, go to the cross. If you want to know what it felt
like, go to the cross. Okay, here in the book of Revelation
chapter 14, Revelation chapter 14 verse 10. The same shall drink of the wine
of the wrath of God, the anger of God, which is poured out without
mixture into the cup of his indignation, and he shall be tormented with
fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the
presence of the Lamb. He shall be tormented with fire
and brimstone. This is just an observation of
the wrath of God. And we go to the end of the book
of Revelation, we find that death and hell were cast into the lake
of fire. which burneth forever and ever.
That is God's righteous indignation against sin. Paid for, it went
to Christ. Unpaid for, it goes on the person. And his wrath will be poured
out. Well, turn with me to the book
of Revelation chapter 20 for just a moment. Revelation chapter
20 and verse 11. Revelation chapter 20 and verse
11. And here, To me, this is exactly what we read of in the
book of Matthew 25, when we have the sheep and the goats lined
up. Same thing. There's a great white
throne. Well, that just means authority.
We have an authority there. We have a king there. And him
that sat on it, from whose face the earth and heaven fled away,
and they were found no place for them. And I saw the dead,
small and great, stand before God. And the books were opened,
and another book was opened, which is the book of life. And
the dead were judged out of those things were written in the books
according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead
which were in it, and death and hell delivered up the dead which
were in them, and they were judged every man according to his works.
And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire, and this
is the second death. and whosoever was not found written
in the book of life were cast into the lake of fire. Jesus
told those on the left-hand side, depart. He told those on the
right-hand side, come in, welcome. From the foundation of the world,
you've been welcome. My wrath was poured out on substitute. Those on the left-hand side,
my wrath shall be poured out upon them without reservation,
without stopping for eternity. because of his attitude towards
sin. Sin is against God. Everyone that has sinned has
sinned against God and against our neighbor. David said, against
thee and thee only have I sinned. Well, if we go over there and
check it out, we find out that there's quite a few other people
affected by that sin. But David realized that it was
against God that he had sinned initially. You know, that's the
grace of God for us to know that we have sinned against God and
that God has paid the just due for our grace. So final judgment,
wrath of God, payment due, will be extracted. And as we read
here with regard to Samson, he walked away angry. He was in
anger and his anger was kindled against them and he went up to
his father's house and his wife is given to his best man. How angry. How righteously angry. And how righteously angry. is
God Almighty against His Son and against those that are without
Christ and without hope in this world. Wrath of God, serious
business, and it is going to be carried out. Well, we're going
to stop there tonight, and I'd ask you to read chapter 15. for
our next study as we look at chapter 15, third chapter about
Samson. And you know, from a human standpoint,
things don't get much better, but from a godly standpoint,
all things work together for the good of them that love God
to those who are the called according to his purpose. Brother Warren,
would you dismiss us please?