I want you to take your Bibles
and turn with me to the book of Hebrews chapter 11. Hebrews
chapter 11. You know, we've been going through
this 32nd verse for a while. And this evening, I would like
for us to look at the next judge that was listed. The scripture
says, Hebrews 11.32, And what shall I more say? For the time
would fail me to tell of Gideon, and of Barak, and of Samson,
and of Jephthah, of David also, and Samuel, and of the prophets. And this evening I'd like for
us to look at the faith of Samson. Now, I want you to take your
Bibles now and turn with me to the book of Judges. This is the
book of Judges, chapter 13. Now, the history of this judge, Samson,
is actually found in Judges chapter 13 through Judges chapter 16. So actually, we're looking at
four chapters concerning this man, this judge, Samson, and
because of the length of the chapters. I'm not going to try
to deal and look at every verse, but I'd like for us to consider
the tenor, the spirit of Samson's life and seek the direction of
our Lord as we look to see the blessed Lord Jesus Christ in
the type that's set forth in the Judge, Samson. Now, beginning in verse 1, I
would like to look at this first verse and look again at what
the Scripture has to say. Now, we have to understand something. Almighty God, as I told you when
we started on this book of Judges, looking at these Judges, the
book of Judges sets forth The frailty of the flesh of God's
people, the frailty of God's elect as they're in this world,
but more, blessed, the faithfulness of our God, that He never, never,
never leaves them. The Scripture says in Judges
13, verse 1, And the children of Israel did evil. And look
at this word. I think we've looked at that
one before, haven't we? And the children of Israel did
evil again in the sight of the Lord. And the Lord delivered
them into the hand of the Philistines for forty years. Again, again,
they did evil in God's sight. And the Scripture says, in mercy,
in compassion, in long-suffering, God delivered them into the hands
of their enemies. You say, in mercy? Yeah, in compassion. Chastisement is grievous for
the moment, Paul says. But let us never forget it's
a mark of God's love. Listen to this, Amos, let me
just read this to you, Amos 3.2. The Lord says, You only have
I known of all the families of the earth. Therefore, I will
punish you for all your iniquities. The reason I punish you is because
you're mine. Because you're my elect. You're my people. Chosen. Elect from before the foundation
of the world. The scripture setting forth this
man as a type of the Lord Jesus Christ was a Nazarite from birth. I want you to look at verses
2 through 5. And there was a certain man,
chapter 13, a certain man named Zor. of the family of the Danites,
whose name was Manoah. And his wife was barren and bare
not. And the angel of the Lord appeared unto the woman and said
unto her, Behold now, thou art barren, barest not, can't have
children, but thou shalt conceive, and barest son. Now therefore,
beware, I pray thee, and drink not wine or strong drink, And
eat not any unclean thing, for lo, thy shalt conceive and bear
a son, and no razor shall come on his head. For the child shall
be a Nazarite unto God from the womb, and he shall begin to deliver
Israel out of the hand of the Philistines." Now, I want you
to look at the distinguishing grace of God. There was a woman
that was barren. She could have no children. And
Almighty God came to her and He told her, He said, you're
going to have a child. You're going to have a son. And
he's going to be a Nazarite. Going to be a chosen vessel unto
Almighty God. He's mine. Before you ever conceive
this child, this boy is mine. I made him. I've always loved
him. He's ever been before my face
in mercy. in the person of the Lord Jesus
Christ. Almighty God knows His people. He chooses His people. I will have mercy on whom I'll
have mercy. Compassion on whom I'll have
compassion. He said, I don't want this boy to drink anything. No wine. Strong drink. Don't eat any unclean thing.
And don't ever cut his hair. I want you to turn with me to
the book of Numbers 6. We're going to look at a few
verses here. Numbers 6, verses 2-5. Now this was the law concerning
a Nazarite. One separated unto God. That's what it was. One set apart
for God. Numbers 6, verses 2 to 5, and
it says, Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them,
When either man or woman shall separate themselves to bow a
vow of the Nazarite, to separate themselves unto the Lord, he
shall separate himself from wine and strong drink, shall drink
no vinegar of wine or vinegar of strong drink, Neither shall
he drink any liquor of grapes, nor eat moist grapes, or dried. All the days of his separation
shall he eat nothing that is made of the vine tree, from the
kernels even to the husk. All the days of the bow of his
separation there shall no razor come upon his head, till the
days be fulfilled in which he separateth himself unto the Lord. He shall be holy, and shall let
the locks of the hair of his head grow." Now, this Nazarite,
this one set apart by the Lord, separated unto God, he said,
don't let him drink anything that would cause his mind to
be clouded by intoxication. And that was setting forth the
sensitivity, the keenness of our Lord, knowing always the
will of His Father's work. And don't ever let his hair be
cut. Don't ever cut his hair. A strange thing when we first
think about it. But our Lord Jesus Christ came
into this world to redeem all that had been given Him by the
Father in electing grace. They were joined to Him by love
and power and mercy and nothing could separate them from God's
hand. Now the hair of the Nazarite
represented, and I found this and it is set forth beautifully
in Song of Solomon, it represents God's people joined to the Lord
Himself. Song of Solomon Do you want to
return to that song, Solomon 4, when it talks about the hair
of the Lord's head? Song of Solomon 4.1, Behold thou
art fair, my love. Behold thou art fair. Thou hast
dove's eyes within thy lungs. Thy hair is as the flock of goats
that appear from Mount Gilead." Chapter 6, the Song of Solomon.
In verse 5, the Scripture says, Turn away thine eyes from me,
for they have overcome me. Thy hair is as a flock of goats
that appear from Gilead. Now, the hair of the Nazarite
set forth the glorious union that the people of God have with
the Lord Jesus Christ. Their beauty is His beauty. The beauty that they possess
is because they're His. They're joined to Him. The locks
of his hair. The beauty as a flock of goats
from Gilead. So that Nazarite could never
have his hair cut. Always sensitive, holy, perfect
unto Almighty God. Separated unto God's will, God's
work, God's purpose. And don't ever cut your hair. God's people are never separated
from the Lord. They're His. Joined to Him eternally
in electing grace, in redemptive grace, and in willingness to
come to Him made willing in the day of His power. Samson was
one that was born of promise. Conceived in the womb of one
who, humanly speaking, couldn't have kids. She was barren. And of our Lord, the Scripture
sets forth, Isaiah 7.14, Therefore the Lord Himself shall give you
a sign. Behold, a virgin shall conceive
and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. God with us. God Himself set forth to this
barren woman, you are going to have a child, a child of promise. He's going to be mine. He's a
Nazarite. Don't let him drink anything intoxicating. Don't
let him cut his hair. He's a Nazarite unto me. One
that sets forth in pictures. Pictures. Samson was a man. He was a type. But he was a type
of Christ. He's a type of the one that knows
the will of God. Separated unto God. Joined to
God. His people eternally. Now, the
Lord Himself met with the parents of Samson. The Scripture says
in chapter 13, verses 24 and 25, after the Lord had met with
them and He told the woman, and then the woman told her husband,
and then the Lord met with the woman again, and she went and
got her husband, and He came back, and they brought a sacrifice. Under the Lord. And the Scripture
says in verses 24 and 25, it says in the woman, Bear son,
called his name Samson. The child grew and the Lord blessed
him. And the Spirit of the Lord began
to move him at times in the camp of Dan between Zorah and Esteol. Now, you know, the Lord began
to move him at times. God's people. walk by faith. They walk according to the leadership
of God's Spirit. But we have to understand that
God's Spirit is the one that moves and motivates God's people. God's people do as the Lord leads
and guides and directs, but they're doing what they want to do. The
Scripture sets forth, the Spirit of the Lord began to move him
at times. A believer is not a stone. A
lot of times people think that believers are doing something
that they have no earthly idea what they're doing. And I know
that as we walk by faith, I don't know what the Lord is doing.
I know He is doing as He will in the army of heaven and among
the inhabitants of the earth. But I don't know what His purpose
is, but I can tell you this. What a believer does, he does
willingly as God Almighty moves upon him and directs him and
guides him. His mind has been enlightened
by the Holy Spirit of God. He has now a new heart, a new
will, a new mind toward the Lord. And his heart longs after God. He walks by faith as God directs
him. So Samson was a Nazarite. A promised
child, a separated child, a picture, a type of the Lord Jesus Christ,
the true Nazarite. Secondly, Samson is a type of
Christ. By faith, united himself to one
who was an outcast. I want you to look at Judges
14. Let's read verses 1-4. And Samson went down to Timnath
and saw a woman in Timnath of the daughters of the Philistines.
And he came up and told his father and his mother and said, I have
seen a woman in Timnath of the daughters of the Philistines.
Now therefore, get her for me to wife. And his father and his
mother said unto him, Never a woman among the daughters of thy brethren,
or among all my 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 sought an occasion against
the Philistines. For at that time the Philistines
had dominion over Israel. Samson, the scripture sets forth,
being moved by the Spirit of God, was directed for Samson
to take a wife of the Philistines. Now this woman was one, as all
gods select, as being born in Adam and before they know the
Lord. They don't know. They don't know
God. But let me ask you this. Did
not our Lord come in the likeness of sinful flesh? Was He not made
like unto His brethren, yet without sin? Did He not come having eternally
been joined to them in electing grace? Did He not come in time? in our nature and join Himself
to us being born of a virgin, made under the law. Did He not
come into this world for those of us who are just like this
Philistine woman? You go get her for me. She pleases
me. Did the Lord not in electing
grace desire a people who in themselves were children of wrath,
even as others. Why would you want to pick her?
She's not one of us. She's an outcast. She's a rebel. That's what we are. That's what
we are, being born in Adam, but thanks be unto God. Almighty
God had mercy on a people who were in themselves Worthy of
nothing but death, wrath, judgment. Worthy of it. But Almighty God
was pleased to show mercy to a people. He looked for a woman
that was a Philistine. Thirdly, Samson as a type of
Christ was mighty in the face of strong opposition. Judges
14 verses 5 to 9. Now here's Samson. He finds this woman of the daughters
of the Philistines. She's a rebel. She's a woman
that's not of our kind. Yeah, but Samson loved her. And the Lord Jesus Christ, in
mercy and grace, loved us, loved His people, loved His chosen,
loved God's elect. What's he going to do? He's going
to go down and get her. Verses 5-9 says, Then went Samson down,
and his father and his mother, to Timnath. And he came to the
vineyards of Timnath, and behold, a young lion roared against him. And the Spirit of the Lord came
mightily upon him, and he rent him as he would have rent a kid. And he had nothing in his hand. But he told not his father and
his mother what he had done. And he went down and talked with
the woman, and she pleased Samson well. And after a time, he returned
to take her, and he turned aside to see the carcass of the lion,
and behold, there was a swarm of bees and honey in the carcass
of the lion. He took their love in his hands
and went on eating, and came to his father and mother, and
he gave them, and they did eat. But he told not them that he
had taken the honey out of the carcass of the lion. Now, we've
got a situation here where Samson is going down to find, to get,
the woman that he loves. Now, just picture this. Here's
a glorious picture of the Lord Jesus Christ who has everlastingly
loved His own. And he's going to have to come
down to get her. But when Samson was going to
get her, walking down the road, and here comes a lion. He jumps
out in front of him and just roars at Samson. The Scripture
says that he just took that lion and just ran him just like he
was a kid. Just tore him up. When the Lord
Jesus Christ came into this world, Satan, as a roaring lion, who
opposes all of God's people, did to the Lord Jesus Christ
just exactly what he does to us, tempts us, tries us. In the wilderness, the Lord Jesus
Christ, confronted by Satan, Satan came to him after the Lord
had fasted 40 days, 40 nights. He said, why don't you take these
rocks right here and turn them into bread? I know you must be hungry. The Lord, by the Word of God,
says, man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that
proceeds out of the mouth of God. He took him up on his pinnacle. Look at all this stuff right
here. I'll give it to you if you'll worship me. Once you jump
down off this mountain right there, you know that God's not
going to let you stump your toe. Thou shalt not tempt the Lord
thy God. Samson, with nothing in his hand,
took in the strength of Almighty God and rent that line, the Scripture
says, just like he was a kid. What did the Lord Jesus Christ
have in His hand? Nothing. His weapon was His Word. That Word that is sharper than
any two-edged sword. able to cut us under, split us
between the joints and the marrows. Almighty God spoke, and it was. Satan, as a roaring lion, seeks
whom he might devour, but you consider him who is the mighty
God, the mighty victor from the cradle to his ascended glory. After Samson destroyed that lion,
A glorious picture of the power of Almighty God to destroy all
opposition to Him. Satan, sin, self, this world,
death, hell, the grave, nothing opposes Him. Rent that lion like
he was nothing. Samson went and talked to the
woman that pleased him. And he came and he saw the carcass
of the lion. a swarm of bees in it. And it
just filled with honey. And the Scripture says he ate. And he gave some of it to his
father and his mother. Believer, do we not behold the
sweetness that is produced by the glorious victory of our Lord
By His mighty power. By His work. By His will. By His grace. Oh, the glorious
sweetness of the redemption. Remember, that Philistine woman
was a picture of His elect. And He had to go down and get
her. The Lord Jesus Christ had to come into this world to get
us into this sheepfold. And when he came into this sheepfold,
opposed by Satan, this world, self, everything that was in
opposition to him, he was victorious. And in that mighty victory, we
eat of the sweetness of his power and his might. And he took it
and he ate it himself and savored. the glorious victory of the redemption
of His people. Oh, the sweetness of those being
redeemed that His Father had everlastingly loved and gave
Him. But then He went and gave some to His family. Gave some
to His mom and dad. He didn't tell them where He'd
gotten it. There's some great secrets that we'll never understand
this side of glory. I'm going to tell you right now.
But they savored of it too. They ate of it too and we do
too tonight. We eat of the sweetness of His
glorious victory. I didn't have and you didn't
have anything to do with the destruction of that line. But
I can tell you this, we enjoy the victory of it. We enjoy the
sweetness of it. The sweetness of the glorious
gospel of God's free grace. We can say that we are more than
conquerors through Him that loved us. He is our mighty God. Did not our Lord bring good out
of the destruction of evil? Did He not? Though He was treated
when He was on this earth with cruelty as His crucifixion. He was despised. Men spit on
Him. They pulled His beard out. in
all that he went through, had the glorious victory that he
wrought for his people, doing the will of Almighty God. Oh,
the sweetness! I think of that honey, and I
think of that burnt offering. Whenever that burnt offering
was offered in the book of Leviticus, back in the Old Testament, the
Scripture said it was a sweet savor offering. That offering
was just for the Lord. The priests had nothing to do
with it. They got none of it. That burnt
offering was just for God. And it was a sweet savor. When
that offering would go up, it set forth the sweetness of the
glorious satisfaction that was wrought by the Lord Jesus Christ
in His glorious victory at Calvary. It smelled good to the Father. And it smells good to God's people. It's free. It's fresh. And it's sweet. All things work
together for good to them that love God, to them who are the
called. And was not He called? Was He
not God's servant? who are the called according
to his purpose. Fourthly, Samson as a type of
Christ was betrayed by his kinsmen. Judges chapter 15. Because of the evil that was
done to Samson and to his wife, by the Philistines. Samson was
going to have vengeance. Let's look at verses 1-6. He came to pass within a while
after in the first time wheat harvest that Samson visited his
wife with a kid and he said, I will go into my wife into the
chamber, but her father, her father, would not suffer him
to go in. And her father said, I barely
thought that thou hadst utterly hated her. Therefore I gave her
to thy companion, is not her younger sister fairer than she? Take her, I pray thee, instead
of her. Samson said concerning them,
Now shall I be more blameless than the pharisees of Philistines,
though I do them a displeasure. And Samson went and caught 300
foxes and took some firebrands and turned tail to tail, put
a firebrand in the midst between the two tails. And when he had
set the brand on fire, he let them go into the standing corn
of the Philistines and burn up both the shocks, also the standing
corn with the vineyards and the olives. The Philistines had done
evil toward Samson. was going to pay them back. Vengeance
is mine, I will repay, saith the Lord. Well, the Philistines
came to the men of Judah. Now, this is Samson's people. They came to the men of Judah
and forced them. to deliver Samson into their
hands. Look at verses 9, Judges 15,
verses 9 to 13. Then the Philistines went up
and pitched in Judah and spread themselves in Lehi. And the men
of Judah said, Why are you come up against us? And they answered,
To bind Samson are we come up. To do to him as he has done to
us. And three thousand men of Judah went to the top of the
rock of Edom and said to Samson, Knowest thou not that the Philistines
are rulers over us? What is this that thou hast done
unto us? And he said unto them, As they did unto me, so have
I done unto them. And they said unto him, We have
come down to bind thee, that we may deliver thee into the
hand of the Philistines. And Samson said unto them, Swear
unto me that you will not fall upon me yourselves. And they spake unto him, saying,
No. but we will bind thee fast, and deliver thee into their hand,
but surely we will not kill thee.' And they bound him with two new
cords, and brought him up from the rock." Now, the Philistines
came to the men of Judah and they told them, they said, we
want you to deliver Samson into our hands so that we can do to
him what we want to. Well, the Philistines were ruling
over the people of Judah. So they did. They went down.
And here's Samson. Here's the point of it. Samson
willingly placed his hands into those men. I tell you, there
was never a more beautiful picture of the submission of our Lord
to put Himself into the hands of evil men. Now let me ask you
this. Was he not the meekness of Almighty
God? Submissive. Samson allowed himself
to be put into the hands of his people, brought into the hands
of his enemy, gave himself over to them. But I want you to look
at verses 14 to 17. When he got there, he went willingly.
They just tied him up with just a couple of little cords. That's
all it was. A token. Just a token. That's all it was. 14-17, when he came into Lehi,
the Philistines shouted against him. The Spirit of the Lord came
mightily upon him, and the cords that were upon his arms became
as flax that were burnt with fire, and his bands loosed from
off his hands. And he found a new jawbone of
an ass, and put forth his hand, took it, and slew a thousand
men therewith. And Samson said, with the jawbone
of an ass, heaps upon heaps with the jaw of an ass have I slain
a thousand men. And it came to pass when he had
made an end of speaking that he cast away the jawbone out
of his hand and called that place Ramoth-Lehi. Now here's what
happened. Samson allowed himself to be
placed into the hands of those his enemies. But whenever they
thought they had him, Whenever they were convinced that he was
bound so tight that he would never get away, they had him
captive, they thought. Just like those that held our
Lord in that debauchery of a so-called trial. He placed himself according
to the everlasting will of Almighty God into the hands of evil men. And when they nailed Him to that
cross, they thought that they had put an end to Him. They thought
that He was captive. But on that cross, the Lord of
glory destroyed the power of death that held His people. And
three days later, after He had been placed into the grave, He
rose from the dead by His own power. Those Philistines thought
that they had Samson held and bound tight. You'll never get
away. And he took those little old
cords and just busted them right off and picked up the jawbone
of an ass and killed a thousand of them. Men think that they
have God under control. They think that they direct and
order God Almighty. Samson took that which the Philistines
surely thought had no power in it. There's a thousand men there,
and this one man picked up one jawbone and killed them. And what does the Lord of glory
say is the power of God unto salvation. And the world itself
considers it to be nothing but foolishness. The preaching of
the gospel. Samson, are you telling us that
you're going to take on a thousand men with a jawbone of an ass? And that's it? That's all you've
got? That's all you've got? That's
all he needed. Paul said, I'm not ashamed of
the gospel. I know it's foolishness unto
the world. I know it is. I know that the preaching of
the gospel of God's free grace is foolishness to the world.
But I'm telling you, therein is the righteousness of God revealed. Fifthly, Samson, as a type of
Christ, was ever mindful ever made to be mindful of God's grace
and the might of His power. I want you to look with me in
closing. Chapter 16. The scripture says in verse 5
that Samson had loved a woman named Delilah. And this woman
was used by the Philistines to get Samson to give over the secret
of his power. And you can read that 16th chapter.
Just for the sake of time, I won't do it. But he would give her
this reason and this reason, and he'd give her this reason
and that reason. And then she thought she had the reason of
his power. What she would do, she'd do that. Then she'd say, the Philistines
are here! The Philistines are here! And
he'd rise up and just bust the cords off. He'd go out and he'd
destroy and scatter them. Finally, after she'd done that
numerous times, she said, you mocked me. Oh, how can you say
that you love me when you just mocked me? Well, finally, He
did. He did tell her. He told her
that, as he said, my power, he said, lies within my hair. He told her, verse 17, Judges
16, told her all his heart. He gave his heart over to her.
He said unto her, there hath not come a razor upon mine head,
For I have been a Nazarite unto God from my mother's womb. If I be shaven, then my strength
will go from me and I will become weak and be like any other man.
I read that knowing what the locks of the hair of a Nazarite
set forth. The glorious union of the Lord
and His people. He is the head. And the glory
that He bestows upon His people is the locks, never shaven. He says, if I be shaven, and here's the picture,
here's the spiritual, if you'd cut my hair off, then that means
I don't have any strength. I couldn't keep her. If my head
be cut off, it's a picture. God couldn't keep His own. And
Samson gave his heart over to that woman. And he told her,
verse 18, When Delilah saw that he had told her all his heart,
she sent and called for the Lord to the Philistines, saying, Come
up this once, for He has showed me all His heart. And the Lord's
Philistines came up unto her and brought the money in their
hand. She made him sleep on his knees. She called for a man. She caused him to shave off the
seven locks of his head. She began to afflict him. His
strength went from him. And she said, The Philistines
be upon thee sometimes. And he awoke out of his sleep
and said, I will go out as at other times before and shake
myself. And he wished not that the Lord
was departed from him. I tell you, when Samson foolishly
allowed his hair to be cut, he dishonored God. And the Lord,
the scripture says, departed from him. You know he wasn't gone. The
Lord promised, He said, I'll never leave you nor forsake you.
But I've said before, it's a frightful thing when Almighty
God allows His people to feel, to detect the absence of His
presence. The one in Song of Solomon, the
bride, where is He that my soul loveth? Have you seen Him? I
look for Him and I don't know where He is. Have you found Him? I long for Him. I hunger for
Him. Whenever a believer is placed
in a situation where Almighty God is going to call them back
to Himself, He withdraws Himself. And when you don't know where
He is, let me tell you something, that is an empty, empty feeling. Samson allowed that which was
a symbol of God's calling, of God's separation, and he treated
it as a light thing. And when he allowed his hair
to be cut, his strength was gone. The Scripture says, verse 21,
the Philistines took him, put out his eyes, brought him down
to Gaza, bound him with fetters of brass, and he did grind in
the prison house. Oh, the pain of God's correction. He lost his eyes, those eyes
that had looked upon so much that had dishonored God. And
Almighty God took him. took those eyes that Samson had
used to look and to see and to lust with. You go back and read
those four chapters and see the depth of some of the things that
this man had done. And God took his eyes, but I'll
tell you this, the eyes of his soul were still there. Samson did not murmur at God's
correction. He didn't do any complaining
concerning the cruelty of the Philistines. Just like our Lord
as a lamb before His shearers was dumb, He did not say anything. He bowed to the will of Almighty
God. Samson is a beautiful picture
of our Lord. And I've said before, there is
no picture that perfectly represents, perfectly sets forth the glory
of our God. But Almighty God set forth that
this man was a man of faith. That he was a Nazarite. He was
God's. And the gifts and the calling
of God is without repentance. He was God's. The picture of
his frailty, I mean, a realization of his frailty. He did things
that you and I would do. And do! At least in heart. And all that was unjust that
was done to him on the part of those Philistines, God justly
used for His glory and the good of His people. There was Samson,
one that was sent. to deliver the nation of Israel.
He was a judge. Judged 20 years, the Scripture
says. He was used of men, despised. They hated him. They hated him. Cruel to him. Got him. Bound
him. Put his eyes out. There he was. Had his head shaved off. All
of his power was gone. There he was, grinding. Grinding
in the prison house, but I want you to look at verse 22, but
how be it? The hair of his head began to
grow again after he was shaven. God doesn't leave his people.
This man's mine. I do know that Samson was unfaithful. I know he was. But let me ask
you this. Is there one in this congregation
tonight that hasn't been also? Thanks be unto God when we find
ourselves unfaithful. He's ever faithful. They shaved
his hair off. He gave his heart to that woman.
Dishonored God. Bore his heart to her. in mercy and grace, set forth,
that his hair started to grow again. And the Scripture sets
forth, verse 23, it says, The lords of the Philistines gathered
them together for to offer a great sacrifice unto Dagon, their God,
and to rejoice. For they said, Our God hath delivered
Samson, our enemy, into our hands. No, He didn't. God put Samson
there. God put Samson there. The steps
of a good man is ordered by the Lord. You said, I thought that
he got there because of his disobedience. He did. I thought you said that
God works all things out, all things after the counsel of His
own will. He does. God put him there. And when the people saw verse
24, they praised their God, for they said, Our God hath delivered
into our hands our enemy and the destroyer of our country,
which slew many of us. And it came to pass, when their
hearts were married, that they said, Call for Samson, that he
may make a sport. And they called for Samson out
of the prison house, and he made them sport, and they set him
between two pillars. Dale, let's have fun with him. Let's have some fun with the
Lord Jesus Christ. Who hit you? Prophesy! You that claims to be the Son
of God. Who smoked you on the head with
that stick? Put a robe on him. Mocked him. Had some fun with him. And the
Scripture sets forth that Samson He got himself up and said to
a little boy, verse 26, said unto the lad that held him by
the hand, Suffer me that I may feel the pillars whereupon the
house standeth, that I may lean upon them. Show me, show me what
holds up this house, Samson said. Put me between the two pillars
that's holding up this house of ill repute, this house of
Dagon. Let me stand between that which
is supporting all that is dishonorable against Almighty God. The Scripture
says in verse 27, And the house was full of men and women, and
all the lords of the Philistines were there. There upon the roof
about three thousand men and children were beheld while Samson
made sport. And Samson called upon the Lord,
and he said, O Lord God, remember me, I pray Thee, and strengthen
me, I pray Thee, only this once. Oh God, that I may be at once
avenged of the Philistines from my two eyes." And Samson took
hold of the two mighty pillars upon which the house stood and
on which it was borne up. The one on his right hand and
the other on his left. And Samson said, let me die with
the Philistines. And he bowed himself with all
his might and the house fell upon the Lord and upon all the
people that were therein. So the dead that he slew at his
death were more than they which he slew in his life. And his
brethren and all the house of his father came down and took
him and brought him up and buried him between Zohar and Esther,
all in the burying place of Manoah, his father. And he judged Israel
twenty years." The Scripture says that they made sport of
him. They laughed at him. They hung
our Lord upon a cross. You know, he saved others! He can't even save himself. How
can He save anybody? Come down if you are the Son
of God! You say you are? Come down! Prove it! Prove it! And just as Samson bowed himself
between those two pillars, and with all of his might, he said,
O Lord God, remember me. Give me strength. Just one time. One time. The scripture sets
forth that by one offering, he hath perfected forever them that
are sanctified. Samson, in his death, the scripture
sets forth, destroyed the enemies of his people. And our Lord did
too. He died voluntarily. He gave
Himself all of His strength, and that's what He took. All
of the strength of Almighty God to put away the sins of His people. And He said at the cross, it's
finished. It's finished. Brother Gary,
you go.