All right, brethren, let's turn
to Judges chapter 13. I'm sorry, Judges 14. Judges 14,
and let's begin reading in verse 12, and we'll read down to verse
14. And Samson said unto them, I
will now put forth a riddle unto you, If you can certainly declare
it me within the seven days of the feast and find it out, then
I will give you 30 sheets, these were a garment that you wore
at night, and 30 change of garments. But if you cannot declare it
me, then shall you give me 30 sheets and 30 change of garments. And they said unto him, put forth
thy riddle, that we may hear it. And he said unto them, out
of the eater came forth meat, and out of the strong came forth
sweetness. And they could not in three days
expound the riddle. Now, we who believe have come
here this morning to remember our Lord Jesus Christ, just as
we do always. And particularly this morning
we've come to remember our Lord around His table as we partake
of the bread and the wine symbolizing His broken body and His shed
blood. And it helps us to get a glimpse
of Christ sometimes by looking at an Old Testament type, an
Old Testament picture. And it's been a while since we've
looked at an Old Testament picture. I want today to look at Samson,
a type of Christ. As we take an overview here of
Samson's life, we're going to see that Samson is a beautiful,
beautiful picture of the Lord Jesus. First of all, we behold
Christ in several details of Samson's birth, in the time of
Samson's birth. Go back to Judges 13 and verse
1. The children of Israel did evil
again in the sight of the Lord, and the Lord delivered them into
the hand of the Philistines forty years. Now this was the time
when Samson was born. The children of Israel had sinned
against God, and God had delivered them into the hand of their enemy.
Whenever the Lord Jesus came forth, Israel had sinned against
God, and the Lord had delivered them into the hand of the Romans,
and they were under the power of the Romans. But even greater
than that, when our Lord came, all His people, just like all
mankind, had done evil against the Lord. We had sinned in Adam,
and no matter where you looked on the face of this earth, we
were under the hand of the enemy. If you look to the Gentiles,
you'd see a people who were steeped in idolatry and all sorts of
pagan religion. If you look to the Jews in Israel,
you would have seen a people whose religion had just degenerated
into nothing but formalism. That's all it was. That's the
time when Christ came forward. And then we see an analogy of
Christ in Samson's mother, and how that the angel of the Lord
spoke to her. Verse 2 says, There was a certain
man of Zorah of the family of the Danites, he was of the tribe
of Dan, 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
and barest not, but thou shalt conceive and bear a son. In a
like manner, Mary was a virgin, never knew a man. And the angel
of the Lord appeared unto Mary and said to her, Behold, thou
shalt conceive in thy womb and shalt bring forth a son. Just
like he said it of Samson here. Why was it a necessity that Christ
be born of a virgin? He had to be born of a virgin
because all men born of Adam of a man are born of corrupt
seed and so they're conceived in sin. So it was an impossibility
that Christ could be born of a woman. Do you realize that
folks who deny total depravity deny that very truth? They have
no ground to speak of that because they deny that total depravity
that a man is conceived in sin. So what would it matter if he
would have been born of a virgin or not? But see, he had to be
born of a virgin. It was a necessity. And then
we see Christ and Samson's separation and his consecration unto the
Lord. Look at verse 4. Now therefore beware, I pray
thee, and drink not wine, nor strong drink, and eat not any
unclean thing. For lo, thou shalt conceive and
bear a son, and no razor shall come on his head. No razor shall
come on his head, for the child shall be a Nazarite unto God
from the womb." Samson was a Nazarite. Put it simply, what it meant
was God separated Samson. He separated him. He chose him. He separated him. He set him
apart. He made him holy. And he did
that so that Samson would be the servant of God all the days
that he walked this earth. He would be God's servant all
his days. Christ Jesus is called that holy
thing. That holy thing. That holy one. Because he was consecrated. He was set apart. by God before
the foundation of the world. The Lord chose him, he chose
his son to come forth and to redeem his people from all iniquity.
The scripture says he was raised up in Nazareth that it might
be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets he should be
called a Nazarene. a Nazarene or a Nazirite. So
Christ, He always did those things which pleased the Father because
He was serving the Father. He was the servant of the Lord
as the surety for His people, as the representative of His
people. As a man, He served the Father. Now, a Nazirite was required
by law not to ever cut their hair, not to shave their head,
cut their hair. Why was that? What was the significance
of that? that's got to have some spiritual
significance to me and you. What's the significance of that?
Well, a long hair for a man, scripture declares, is a despised
thing. It's a disgrace for a man to
have long hair. And yet here you got a Nazarite
walking around that God separated. And God told him, don't cut your
hair. Here is this long hair. What's
the significance of that? Well, it represented consecration
to God. That's what it represented. Consecration
to God. Because you see, Samson walked about in a way
that made everybody around him despise him. It made everybody
around him mock him and make fun of him and despise him. Because
it was just not right for man to have long hair. Well, get
this now, Samson's long hair was only a symbol. That's all
it was, was a symbol. A symbol of his complete surrender
to God and of his separation from this world. And just like
our Savior in His manhood, like Christ in His manhood, as He
walked this earth, It was Sapson's consecration to God that was
his strength, not his hair. It wasn't his hair that was his
strength. It was his consecration to God that was his strength.
God was his strength. Now the lesson in that for you
and me, believer, is God has put us in a way. that makes the
world despise us, that makes the world mock us, that makes
the world ridicule us. And that way is the Lord Jesus
Christ. We're not marked, we're not distinguished
by any outward thing at all. We're distinguished by the fact
that God chose us He put us in Christ, Christ redeemed us, He
regenerated us, He gave us faith and we walk by faith not by sight. We trust that all our salvation,
all our hope is of the Lord God of glory who sent His Son and
worked out a righteousness for us and presented us to the Father
and shall present us to the Father. And this is the gospel that's
despised among this world. And so just like they would despise
Solomon for his hair, they despise us for this way. But the truth
is, our strength, brethren, just like Solomon's, our strength,
just like our Lord Jesus when He walked this earth and served
God as a man, our strength is not some outward form of consecration. Our strength is God to whom we're
consecrated. He's our strength. The Scripture
says, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. He's my strength. But Christ
said, without me, you can do nothing. So, we see a type of
Christ in Solomon's consecration, Samson's consecration. Now, we
see a type of Christ in Samson's mission. Look at verse 4. At
the very end, it says, And he shall begin to deliver Israel
out of the hand of the Philistine. Samson would deliver his people,
Israel, from the hand of the enemy. That's why God was sending
him forth. That's why God separated him
and consecrated him and promised to be his strength. Well, likewise,
Christ was sent forth to deliver his people from all our enemies.
When the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph, he said, She shall
bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus, for he shall
save his people from their sin. Christ was given this people
of God before the foundation of the world. How did He know
who His people were? How did God say, He shall save
His people from their sin? Did He have a people? He must
have. And He did. God gave Him this
people before the foundation of the world. And just as Samson
was sent of God to deliver his people, Christ was sent forth
of God to deliver His people. And He has, and He is, and He
shall save His people from their sin. And no doubt about it, He
shall save His people from their sin. And then, so we read of
Samson there in verse 24, it says, And the woman bare a son,
and called his name Samson. And the child grew, and the Lord
blessed him. You know what we read of Christ?
Jesus increased in wisdom and stature and in favor with God
and man. Samson is a picture of Christ.
And you know what Samson's name means? It means sunlight. sunlight. So here in this dark time, when
all His brethren were captured by the enemies, here arises Samson,
the sunlight, to deliver His people from their enemies. And
the Scripture says of Christ, He is the Son of Righteousness. And when the day was dark, When
all mankind was plunged into sin, Christ Jesus, the Son of
Righteousness, arose with healing in His wings to heal His people. Alright, now secondly, we behold
Christ in type in the acts of Samson's life. First of all,
in his marriage. to a Philistine woman. Look at
Judges 14 in verse 1. It says, Samson went down to
Timnah. Timnah means a place assigned
unto. That's what it means. Christ
the Lord came down. He came from heaven's glory.
He came down to a place assigned by God the Father for him to
go unto. And then it says, verse 1, And
Samson saw a woman in Timnath of the daughters of the Philistine. The word woman here means adulteress. He saw an adulteress. He saw
a whore. And it says, and further, this
woman was the daughter of Samson's enemies. This woman was a Philistine. That's who Samson came to deliver
his people from was the Philistines. This was a heathen Gentile woman. An uncircumcised Gentile woman. In fact, look over in Judges
16 in verse 1. It says there, Then went Samson
to Gaza, and saw there a harlot, and went in unto her. And then
look at Judges 16, 4. It says, And it came to pass
afterward that he loved a woman in the valley of Sorek, whose
name was Delilah. And Delilah was a well-known
harlot. She was a well-known harlot.
Everybody knew she was a harlot. But as for Samson now, as a man,
this was sin. This was great sin for him. Because
God forbid in His law all of this. He forbid him to marry
a Gentile. He forbid him to marry an adulteress. He forbid him to marry a harlot
in the law of God. So this was no excuse on Samson's
part. It was evil. But God was overruling
everything that was taking place here for His own glory. Look
here, back in Judges 14, verse 4. It says, But his father and
his mother knew not that it was of the Lord. It was of the Lord
that he sought an occasion against the Philistines. For at that
time the Philistines had dominion over Israel. This was of the
Lord for him to go down there and take this bride who was an
adulteress. What a great, great picture of
the Lord Jesus Christ. Isn't that a good picture of
Christ? That's exactly what Christ did. It is of God the Father,
it is of the Lord, Lord Jehovah, that Christ's Bride is a sinner. Sinners make up
Christ's Bride. Harlots and adulteresses and
publicans and sinners. Enemies in our minds by wicked
works, just like this woman was from the enemy. She was of the
enemy. Uncircumcised in heart, just like this woman was uncircumcised.
Like we saw this morning, without hope, without Christ, without
hope, without God in this world. But Christ's parents pleaded
with Him. Look what they said in verse
3. Is there 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 well. What are these folks amongst
his people? Who do they represent? What do
all these people amongst Samson's people represent? They did evil
against the Lord. They turned their backs on the
Lord. That's why they were in bondage to the Philistines in
the first place. When Christ came, He didn't come to save
the self-righteous Pharisees. He didn't come to save the self-righteous
Jews who said, we have Abraham to our father. We were never
in bondage to any man. Trusting in their blood, trusting
in their will, trusting in their works. That's not who He came
to save. Look at Mark chapter 2. This is who Christ came to
save. Those stood by, they looked at
the Lord Jesus when He came, and this is what they said. Those
self-righteous folks, this is what they said. Mark 2.16, And
when the scribes and Pharisees saw him eat with publicans and
sinners... A publican was the most despised
man in the land. This was a thieving, rotten,
underhanded tax collector. And sinners, it means harlots.
It says, They said unto the disciples, How is it that he eateth and
drinketh with publicans and sinners? And when Jesus heard it, He said
unto them, They that are whole have no need of a physician,
but they that are sick. I came not to call the righteous,
but sinners to repentance. Sinner, do you know that you're
sick? You are sick. You need a physician. I wish
there was a sinner here today that God would show you you're
sick. Not with a physical ailment. I'm talking about something far
worse than that. Sin sick. You're not whole. You need the
great physician. You need Christ. But here's the
good news. That's just the kind Christ came
to save. He came to save sin sick sinners that cannot save
themselves. Alright, then we see Christ in
Samson's defeat of this strong line. Look down at Judges 14,
5. Judges 14, 5. 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. You
know where Samson was going? He was going to get that woman.
He was going to get that woman. He was going down there to that
place assigned to him to get that woman. That's why he was
going there. And this lion that comes out and comes out roaring
against him. You know this lion picture. 1 Peter 5, 8 says, Be sober,
be vigilant, because your adversary, the devil, as a roaring lion
walketh about, seeking whom he may be devoured. When Christ
came down from heaven's glory and He came to this place to
save His harlot bride, His adulterous bride, when He came down to save
His people from our sins, as soon as the Spirit was poured
out upon Him and He entered into His public ministry, Satan met
Him in the wilderness as a roaring lion. And all through His days,
Satan was continually, continually, continually trying to trip Him
up. And then in the Garden of Gethsemane, Satan met Him as
a roaring lion. And on the cross, Satan met Him
as a roaring lion. But the Spirit of the Lord was
upon our Lord Jesus, and He defeated Satan as if Satan was just a
little powerless weakling. Look at verse 6. It says, And
the Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon Samson, and he rent the
lion as he would have rent a kid, like a little baby lion. And
he had nothing in his hand, but he told not his father or his
mother what he had done. Christ rent Satan as if Satan
had no power at all. And he did it without any weapon
in his hand. He did it this way. Remember
what happened in the wilderness? Remember what he kept saying?
Thus saith the Lord God. Thus saith the Lord God. He defeated
Satan with the Word of God and He is the Word of God. That's
how He defeated him. In the midst of all Satan's temptation,
Christ as a man, as the righteous servant of Jehovah, as the righteousness
of His people, trusted the Lord God. He trusted God His Father. He cast His care into the hand
of God His Father who sent Him. We've been studying that in Psalm
18. Sinner, the only way you and I can defeat Satan, the roaring
lion, there's one way. Look over there at 1 Peter 5.
Here's the only way. 1 Peter 5 and verse 6. He says, Humble yourselves therefore
under the mighty hand of God. that He may exalt you in due
time. Cast in all your care upon him,
for he careth for you. Be sober, be vigilant, because
your adversary the devil as a roaring lion walketh about, seeking whom
he may devour. Whom resist? One way. Steadfast
in the faith. Look into another to defeat him. Look into the Lord Jesus Christ
to defeat him. That's the only way you and I
can conquer that roaring lion. Look into him, look into Christ
to defeat him. So we've seen Christ in Samson's
birth and we've seen Christ in Samson's marriage and various
acts of his life. Now here's the third way we see
him. We see Christ in Samson's death. We see Christ and how
Samson was rejected, how he was bound by his brethren and how
that he won the victory over his enemies all by himself. Look
at verse 10. I'm sorry, Judges 15.10. When
the enemy came, it says here, Judges 15.10, it says, when the
enemy came, it says, the men of Judah, this is his own countrymen,
the men of Judah said, why are you come up against us? They
said this to the enemy. And they answered, to bond Sapson
are we come up to do him as he hath done to us. Then 3,000 men
of Judah, 3,000 men of Judah, Samson's own countrymen, 3,000
men of Judah went to the top of the rock, Edom, and they said
to Samson, Knowest thou not that the Philistines are rulers over
us? Do you not know that the Philistines
are ruling over us? Remember what the Pharisees said
of Christ? They were talking about how that
Caesar's got the rule over us. We don't have a king but Caesar.
Don't you know Caesar's got the rule over us? You're coming into
our country and talking about you're the king? Look at this now. It says, What is this that thou
hast done unto us? And he said unto them, As they
did unto me, so I've done unto them. And the men of Judah said
unto Samson, We're 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. Christ's own nation came against him. They betrayed
him, they bound him, they beat him, and they turned him over
to the enemy. And they were bound and determined that his blood
would be on the Romans' hand, that his blood would be on the
Gentiles' hand. But when they didn't get their
way and Pontius Pilate was determined to set them free, they said,
well, crucify him and let his blood be on our hands then. They
were both, both Sapson and the Lord were both sold for money
in the name of love. Judas kissed him, kissed Christ. Delilah came and laid her head
in Samson's lap, and she was trying to find out where his
strength was. And she kept on coming back,
coming back, until finally he told her, It's in my consecration
to God. It's in my hair. And she went,
and the Scripture says, and they brought her money and paid her
money. She did it for money, betrayed
Him. Christ was betrayed by Judas, His all-familiar friend, and
betrayed with a kiss for money, for 30 pieces of silver. Both
were apprehended by their enemies. Both were led away, bound, blinded,
and fastened to a post and scorned. Both of them were. And they were
both all alone. Both of them were all alone.
Christ said, I've trodden the winepress alone. And of the people
there was none with me. For I'll tread them in mine anger
and trample them in my fury and their blood shall be sprinkled
upon my garments and I'll stain all my raiment. Christ tread
the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God all by Himself.
There was nobody to help Him. Nobody to help Him. And then
Samson and Christ's death were both voluntary. While Samson's
enemies celebrated, they were praising their vain God because
they had taken Samson now and they thought they had the victory.
And they were praising their vain God and Samson destroyed
them by pulling down the pillars of the house on top of them and
on top of himself. Look here in verse Judges 16,
25. It came to pass, when their hearts
were merry, that they said, Call for Samson, that he may make
us sport." They're going to bring him out there and spit on him
and whip him and do things to him so they can laugh, get him
to pick up heavy stuff because he was so strong. And they called
for Samson out of the prison house and he made them sport.
And they set him between the pillars. And Samson said unto
the lad that held him by the hand, he's blind. They plucked
His eyes out. And He said, Suffer me that I
may feel the pillars whereupon the house standeth, that I may
lean upon them. They didn't pluck Christ's eyes
out, but they blindfolded Him. They blindfolded Him. So he gets
this lad to bring him over to the pillars of the house so he
can lean upon them. Now the house was full of men
and women. And all the lords of the Philistines
were there. And they were upon the roof about
3,000 men and women that beheld while Samson made sport. They're having them a big old
house party. This is everybody. Philistines are all there. And
Samson called unto the Lord and he said, Oh Lord God, remember
me. I pray thee, and strengthen me."
You see his consecration to God was his strength. He said, "...and
strengthen me, I pray thee, only this once, O God, that I may
be at once avenged of the Philistines for my two eyes." And Samson
took hold of the two middle pillars upon which the house stood, and
on which it was borne up, and of one with his right hand and
of the other with his left. And Samson said, Let me die with
the Philistine. And he bowed himself with all
his might, and the house fell upon the Lord, and upon all the
people that were therein. And Samson won the victory. He
won the victory. Christ said, no man takes my
life from me. I lay it down on myself. Just
like Samson laid down his life. And while his enemies were praising
their vain God, just like Samson's enemies were doing, while they
were thinking surely they had Christ defeated and they were
making a sport of our Lord Jesus Christ, Christ pulled their whole
house down on top of them when he laid down his life himself. And both Samson and Christ were
victorious in their deaths. Look at verse 30. Judges 16,
30 says, it says, So the dead which he slew at his death were
more than they which he slew in his life. And so it was with
Christ. By his death he gave the most
deadly blow to Satan's kingdom than he did the whole time he
walked the earth. He spoiled principalities and powers. He
made a show of them openly triumphing over them in it. Our Redeemer
was victorious in that He defeated Satan. He was victorious in that
by Himself He purged the sins of His people. He was victorious
in that He obtained eternal redemption for us being made a curse for
us. He redeemed us from the curse
of the law forever. He fulfilled the law for us making
us the righteousness of God in Him. And he declared God just
and the justifier. And the last enemy that is to
be destroyed is death. And the scripture says, Thanks
be unto God who giveth us the victory by Jesus Christ our Lord. Samson's victory was a picture
of Christ's victory. Now lastly, we're going to see
in Samson what Christ is doing right now since Satan is defeated
and his cross work is accomplished. What's Christ doing now? Go back
to Judges 14 and verse 7. After Samson defeated the lion,
you know what he did? He went after his bride. Look
at verse 7. And he went down and talked with
the woman and she pleased Samson well. This was after he had slain
that lion. Christ has bound the strong man. Remember when he was casting
out devils and they said, you're doing this by Beelzebub. And
he said, no, no. He said, if I do this by the
power of God, he said, then the Messiah has come to you. Christ
has come to you. And he said this, he said, except,
he said, when a strong man has his house, and he's got it guarded
and protected, and he's got it under lock and key so that nobody,
he's got gates around it so that no gates, nobody can prevail
against his gates. He said, all his goods are safe,
they're safe. He got them safe behind his gates
and behind all his guard. He said, but if somebody binds
that strong man, Then you can enter into his palace and spoil
all his goods. Well, we were the lawful captives
of Satan. I hope you read your bulletin
this morning. The lawful captives of Satan. But Christ came and
by putting away the sin of his people, he took away all the
ammunition that Satan had against us. That's all he could do was
accuse us to God. That's all he could do. And when
Christ came forth and he put away the sin of his people, he
conquered that line. He conquered Satan and took away
all his... And now he's spoiling his goods.
And his goods are those elect children that Satan had captive.
And he's spoiling those goods. And he's doing it through the
preaching of the gospel. That Christ might deliver them who
through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.
Now he sends forth his gospel wooing his bride. Just like Samson
went down there and stood by that woman and talked sweet things
to her. That's what Christ is doing.
He's wooing his bride through the gospel. And Christ's bride
pleases Christ well. You know why? She's robed in
his garment. She's robed in his righteousness.
That's why. And notice this strange thing
that happened after Samson destroyed the line. Judges 14, 8 says,
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. And he took thereof
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. Out of the devil's destruction.
Out of the devil's destruction. That's who this lion pictured.
This lion that was destroyed, that was just a carcass now.
Out of the devil's destruction, with justice being satisfied
for his elect, comes the sweet tidings of the gospel, just as
sweet as honey. And Christ comes forth giving
it to his bride. He went forth and presented himself
to his father just like Samson gave this honey to his father.
And now he goes forth and he presents it to the mother, the
church. He's giving it to her. And she's
eating it. And all her children are eating
this gospel. And it's sweet as honey. And
you know what the result is? It brings forth a swarm of his
elect people called out of every nation, tribe, and kindred tongue
unto heaven and they swam about his gospel just like these bees
were swarming all about this honey. But Samson spoke this
in a riddle to his enemies. Look at this. Judges 14, 12 says,
And Samson said unto them, I will now put forth a riddle unto you,
if you can certainly declare it to me within seven days of
the feast. We're in the feast right now. We've been in the
feast. We've been in the feast now since
Christ came. And Christ is sending forth this
riddle. It's a riddle to some. It's like
Samson sending this riddle forth. And he says this. He says, I'll
give you 30 sheets and 30 changes of garments if you can answer
this riddle. These 30 sheets and 30 garments
represent justice. If you can solve this riddle,
God will give you justice. He'll give you justice. And if
you solve this riddle, that's what you'll want, is justice.
Because justice demands those that cast their crown on Christ
must be redeemed. Because Christ has satisfied
justice for them. And look here, he says, but if
you can't declare it to me, if you can't solve this riddle,
then shall you give me 30 sheets and 30 changes of garment. If
you can't solve this riddle, God says, you owe Him justice. You owe Him justice. And they
said unto him, Put forth thy riddle, that we may hear it.
And he said unto them, Out of the eater came forth meat. You
know who the eater is, that's the lion. Out of the lion came
forth meat. When he destroyed the lion, Christ
brought forth meat for his people. Honey, the gospel, the good news. And out of the strong, out of
that lion, came forth sweetness. When He destroyed all His enemies,
He brought forth the sweetness of this gospel. And they could
not in three days expound this riddle. You know how Christ spoke
to the Pharisees the whole time He walked this earth? In riddles. He spoke to them in parables.
They could not understand a thing He was talking to them about.
And He was just telling them the gospel. There's some sitting
here right now, sadly, as it is in every congregation, What
I'm declaring is a riddle. It's like a parable to them.
They just can't understand it. They just don't. They don't understand
it. But look, Judges 14, 17 says this. Samson revealed this riddle
to his bride. Judges 14, 17 says, She wept before him 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. He told
her. She was crying. She was using
deceit to try to backstab Samson. But you see, this is a picture
of a sinner in need of mercy. While this feast is prepared,
we come to Christ begging mercy, begging Christ to tell us, reveal
this to me, show me this, show me your glory. And he reveals
it to his bride. While he speaks riddles to some,
he reveals it to his bride. He told his disciples, they said,
how come you speak to them in parables? And he said, to you
it's given to know the things of God, but to them it's not
given. To them it's not given. And then look at this. Look at
this. After defeating the lion, when
the Philistines stood in the way of him having his bride,
he was going to get his bride, and they stood in the way, Samson
burned up their fields. Look at verse 4. Judges 15, 4.
Samson went and caught 300 foxes. 300 foxes. These foxes might represent false
preachers. I don't know. But they might
represent true preachers. I don't know. God's using both
of them. Using both of them. Not using
the false to save his people. Using the false to burn up their
fields. But this gospel is burning up their fields too. Look. And
he took firebrands and he turned these foxes tail to tail and
he put a firebrand in the midst between the two tails. He took
some kind of something and tied two tails, tied these foxes.
Took two of them and he tied their tails together. And then
he tied this firebrand to it that was burning. And so you
can picture the foxes take off running, and they're hung on
to one another, and this firebrand's between them. And wherever they
go, it's dragging that fire through the field. And it says, And when
he had set the brands on fire, he let them go into the standing
corn of the Philistines and burn up both the shocks and also the
standing corn with the vineyards and the olives. That's what Christ
is doing through this gospel. He's using his foxes to just
burn up all the fruit and all the livelihood of his enemies.
He had to do that to me and you before we'd ever fall on our
face and confess Christ that we needed Christ to save us.
He had to burn up all our fruitful fields that we thought was fruit.
Burn it all up. And he did it through the gospel.
He did it with the fire of the gospel. He burned it up. And
he's doing that for those who think they have a righteousness. He said he has sent them strong
delusions that they should believe a lie. And they're just being
burned up, them and their fields. in that false gospel. And then
look, Samson slew these enemies with a strange and foolish means
in verse 14. It says, the Spirit of the Lord
came up mightily upon him. And verse 15 says, And he found
a new jawbone of an ass, and put forth his hand, and 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. Here stands your ass right in
front of you. And Christ is using the jawbone of an ass to slay
His enemy and destroy the enmity thereby. The foolishness of preaching. A foolish means the foolishness
of preaching. That's how He overcomes His enemies.
And as Samson did, I don't have it marked here, but if you read
it here in the text, Samson not only prevailed against the gates
of his enemy, it says he took the gates, bars, and all, and
took them away. Satan's got his enemies bound,
and he's got them trying to prevent the gospel to get into them and
the gospel to call them out. But what did Christ say? The
gates of hell shall not prevail against his church. And so it
was with Samson, and so it is with Christ. Christ our Samson. Christ our Samson. is victorious
and the gates of hell won't prevail against it. Amen.