The Yuba Sutter Grace Church would
like to invite you to listen to a sermon by Pastor Don Fortner
of Danville, Kentucky. For information about how to
obtain a copy of this sermon, please visit our website at ysgracechurch.com. And now, here is Pastor Don Fortner. The title of my message is Samson
and Me. I want to show you from the book
of Judges, chapters 13 through 16, how that Samson is a picture
and type of our Lord Jesus Christ. Samson is named by God the Holy
Spirit in the 11th chapter of Hebrews as one of the great heroes
of faith. Now, here in this Book of Judges,
chapters 13 through 16, it is obvious that Samson was a man
of remarkable faith, a man of remarkable strength, and a man
of remarkable weaknesses. As such, he stands as a vivid
example of believers in this world. Every true believer is
certainly a man of faith, strength, and weakness, or a woman of faith,
strength, and weakness. When preachers preach about Samson,
and Sunday school teachers teach about him, he is usually held
up for us as an example of what we ought not to be and what we
ought not to do. And there's certainly a justifiable
sense in which he is to be taught that way. We've all heard sermons
from Judges 16 about the binding, blinding, grinding power of sin.
Such sermons have their proper place, I'm certain. But I'm convinced
that there is much, much more to be found in this story, and
much more that God the Holy Spirit intends for us to find in this
story. I want to preach to you then about Samson as a type and
picture of our Lord Jesus Christ. That statement in itself is shocking
to some people, I'm sure. I recognize that this man is
not a perfect type of Christ any more than the Paschal Lamb
was a perfect type. After all, types are types. They
are not perfect. They are pictures and representatives
of who Christ is and what Christ did. But Samson does stand before
us in the Word of God as a very vivid type of our Savior. Let's
begin in Judges chapter 14 and verse 1. And Samson went down
to Timnath and saw a woman in Timnath of the daughters of the
Philistines. Now, in his birth, in his life,
and in his death, Samson was a portrait of our Lord Jesus
Christ, typical representative of our Lord Jesus in his work
for us as our savior and our substitute. Stay with me now
in Judges 13, 14, 15, and 16, and I'll show you a five-fold
comparison of Samson with our Lord Jesus Christ. If you're
sitting down at home and you want to jot down a couple of
notes, this is what I'm gonna show you. how that Samson was
a picture of Christ, a type of Christ, in his coming, his commission,
his consecration, his choices, and his conquest. First, Samson
was a picture of Christ in his coming. Many things about Samson's
birth, his coming into the world, show him to be a type of our
Lord Jesus Christ in his birth. In chapter 13 we read how that
the angel of the Lord appeared to Manoah and his wife. This
angel of the Lord who appeared to Manoah in the form of a man
was none other than our Lord Jesus Christ Himself in one of
His special pre-incarnate appearances. It was Christ Himself who graciously
appeared to Manoah and his wife and promised that Samson would
be born to this barren woman. Like our Saviors, Samson's birth
was miraculous. His mother was a barren woman.
He was a special gift of God. God came to her and said, I'm
going to give you a son. And his birth was accomplished
by divine intervention. Only by God intervening, stepping
in and doing something miraculous could this man ever have been
born. So it was with our Lord Jesus Christ. He was born to
a virgin. Now there's nothing special about
the fact that Mary was a virgin, and certainly Mary is not to
be looked upon as being somehow superhuman or above others. She
was a sinner saved by grace just like the rest of us. But Mary
was a virgin, and she was chosen as the special object of God's
favor to be that vessel through whom the Lord Jesus would be
born in this world. He was the special gift of God
to the world, and his birth was accomplished by the special intervention
of God the Holy Spirit. That holy thing formed in the
virgin's womb was conceived in her by the Holy Spirit. Secondly,
Samson's birth was foretold by the angel of the Lord. Just as
the angel came to Mary first and then to her husband Joseph,
so the angel of the Lord came first to Manoah's wife and then
to him. And then thirdly, Everything
about Samson, everything about his birth, his life, and his
death was intimately connected with three things. Now, if you
miss everything else I say in this message, be sure you don't
miss this. Everything about Samson, everything
about Christ was intimately connected with a promise, a sacrifice,
and a name. Did you get that? Everything
about Samson and everything about Christ was intimately connected
with a promise, a sacrifice, and a name. First, Samson was
born, he lived, and he died according to the merciful promise and purpose
of God to save his people. In chapter 13 of the book of
Judges in verse 5, Lo thou 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. So it was with our Lord Jesus
Christ. He came into this world on an errand of mercy. He came
here to save his people from their sins because God Almighty
promised eternal life to his elect before the world began.
Maybe you say, well, pastor, where can you show me in the
word of God that God promised eternal life to his elect before
the world began? You can see it in 2 Timothy 1,
verse 1. Paul speaks of himself as the
apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, according to the
promise of life, which is in Christ Jesus. And then in chapter
1 of Titus and verse 2, he says, in hope of eternal life, which
God that cannot lie promised before the world began. Well,
to whom did he promise it? He promised it to his elect.
Secondly, everything about this man was related to and for the
glory of the name by which the angel of the Lord revealed himself
to Manoah and his wife. In chapter 13 of Judges and verse
18, the angel of the Lord said unto him, Why askest thou thus
after my name, seeing it is secret? Now, if you have a marginal reference
in the center column of your Bible, you will notice that the
word secret here is really the word wonderful. You know whose
name that is. It belongs to our Savior, the
Son of God, for whom and by whom all things are. His name shall
be called Wonderful, Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting
Father, the Prince of Peace. His name and His name alone is
wonderful. Everything is designed to bring
honor and glory to the Lord Jesus, our great Samson, whose name
is wonderful. Most particularly, the work of
redemption and salvation is to the praise, honor, and glory
of his wonderful name. You can read that for yourself
in Revelation chapters 4 and 5. John was called up into heaven,
he saw a throne. He saw the bow about the throne,
the symbol of God's covenant. He saw the elders and the four
and twenty elders bowing before the throne, all of God's elect
casting their crowns before the throne. And he saw them all giving
praise to the Lamb who sat upon the throne. Everything that has
been, is, or shall hereafter be, is to the praise, honor,
and glory of Him whose name is Wonderful, Jesus Christ our Savior. It is His name, which is the
name of salvation. It is His name by grace through
His name that we are accepted in the beloved and our sins are
forgiven by God Almighty. And then thirdly, everything
Samson was and everything he did for Israel was connected
with and arose from and pointed to a sacrifice. Now remember
what I told you, everything was connected with God's promise
and connected with the name of Christ and connected with the
sacrifice. So it is with our Lord Jesus
Christ. In Judges chapter 13 again and verse 19, so Manoah
took a kid with a meat offering. and offered it upon a rock unto
the Lord. And the angel did wondrously,
and Manoah and his wife looked on. For it came to pass, when
the flame went up toward heaven from off the altar, that the
angel of the Lord ascended in the flame of the altar. And Manoah
and his wife looked on, and fell on their faces to the ground.
But the angel of the Lord did no more appear to Manoah and
to his wife. Then Manoah knew that he was
an angel of the Lord, and he said, We've seen God face to
face. There's no difficulty determining
what all of this refers to. It speaks of the great sin-atoning
sacrifice of our Samson, our all-glorious Christ, the son
of the living God, when he died in our place as our substitute,
as the representative of his elect at Mount Calvary. The offering
Manoah made, the slain lamb, is a picture of Christ, who is
the Lamb of God, sacrificed for his people. And once the sacrifice
was made unto the Lord, the angel of the Lord did wondrously, So
it is that once justice was satisfied by the precious blood of Jesus
Christ, the Son of God, our crucified Savior did a wondrous thing.
He was resurrected from the grave to demonstrate that the sins
which he bore to the grave have now been put away. And then we're
told that the angel of the Lord ascended in the flame of the
altar. Even so, our great Savior, the
Lord Jesus Christ, ascended up into heaven, and with His blood
obtained eternal redemption for us. He took His seat at the right
hand of the majesty on high by the merit of His sacrifice in
the flame of the altar. And we're twice told, Manoah
and his wife looked on. What else could they do? That's
all they can do. They just looked on. They had
nothing to do with the sacrifice, nothing to do with the altar,
nothing to do with the one who did wondrously, nothing to do
with the angel of the Lord who ascended up on high. And we have
nothing to do with God's salvation. We just stand back and look on.
We stand still and see the salvation of the Lord. We contribute nothing
to it. Our will doesn't determine it.
Our works will not earn it. But we look on in faith, believing
the Son of God, and thus we are saved by his grace. Secondly,
I want you to see the commission which Samson had and how it is
a representative of our Lord Jesus Christ in his commission.
When the angel of the Lord announced the birth of Samson, He also
declared that this great deliverer would come into the world with
a special commission from the Lord. In this commission, he
was also a representative of the Lord Jesus Christ. Look at
the last sentence of Judges 13, verse 5. He shall begin to deliver. That word deliver, it means to
redeem or to save. He shall begin to deliver, to
redeem, to save Israel out of the hand of the Philistines.
Now, you know the parallel text in the New Testament. At least
you should. I hope you can quote it. The
angel who announced the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, our
all-glorious Redeemer, said almost exactly the same thing as this
in Matthew 1, verse 21. Just as Samson came to deliver
Israel from the Philistines, the Son of God came into this
world on a specific errand of mercy to save His people from
their sins. Listen to Matthew 1, verse 21.
and she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name
Jesus, for he shall." I would to God, I could cause that word
to ring in your hearts. The scripture does not say he
might. It does not say he might if you will. The scripture does
not say he will try it or he will make his best effort. The
scripture does not say he shall if you cooperate. The scripture
says call his name Jesus. For he shall, emphatically, without
a doubt, absolutely, he shall save his people from their sins. Now this is what this text teaches
us. Before ever he came into the world, indeed from all eternity,
the Lord Jesus Christ had a people. He came here to save his people. When Mary and Joseph were told
to name him Jesus, before he was born, he already had a people.
He shall save His people from their sins. Well, who are they?
Well, they're God's elect. They're the people given to Him
as His sheep, given to the good shepherd. They're the people
given to Him as a surety in the covenant of grace before the
world began. His people are God's elect, and
His people are the ones He came to save. Most people think Christ
came to save the world, And therefore he's a failure. He's not really
fit to be worshipped, not really fit to be trusted. And if you
trust him, you really can't completely trust him because he tried to
save folks who go to hell anyway. What nonsense. Jesus Christ came
here on a specific errand of mercy to specifically save his
specific people from their sins. Secondly, the Son of God came
specifically to save those people, the Israel of God. He came here
to save his sheep, his church, his elect, his brethren. He came
to save his people, his seed from their sins. And then thirdly,
Justice Samson, when he was going out of the world, delivered his
people from the hand of the Philistines. So the Lord Jesus, as he was
leaving this world by the sacrifice of himself, having satisfied
the justice of God by his own blood and his own death, saved
his people, every one of them, from the wrath and curse of God's
holy law by the shed blood which he poured out at Calvary. Blessed
be his name, he came to save his people, he saved his people,
and he's sitting down in heaven today because the job is done.
Now, thirdly, Samson was a type of Christ in his coming. He was
a type of Christ in his commission. And thirdly, he is a type of
Christ in his consecration. This man, Samson, was to be a
Nazarite from his mother's womb all the days of his life. Again,
in Judges 13, verse 5, no razor shall come on his head, for the
child shall be a Nazarite unto God. Now, Nazarite was a man
or a woman who under Hebrew law bound himself to abstain from
wine and all products of the great. He was required to wear
long hair, uncut, and to observe various forms of purification
for the service of the Lord. You can read about the Nazarite
vow in Numbers chapter 6. In Samson's case, this vow was
a matter of a lifelong consecration to the Lord. So it was with our
blessed Savior, who from His conception in the womb of the
virgin, to His last breath upon the cursed tree, did always those
things which pleased and honored His Father. Samson had a vow,
but Christ fulfilled it. What a significance there is
to this vow! Now, I recognize that people
many times are confused about Samson's long hair and what connection
that had, as if there was some kind of a magical thing to the
hair. And I have to acknowledge, I've been concerned about it,
confused by it for years. What was the significance of
this man's long hair? A Nazirite was required never
to cut his hair. But why? This seems to be rather
strange to me. because the scriptures give explicit,
clear instructions that a man who wears long hair behaves in
a most shameful manner. His long hair is a symbol of
effeminacy. His long hair is a symbol that
he's less than a man. His long hair is a symbol of
womanliness. And this appearance of effeminacy
in a man is obnoxious to God, and it ought to be to us. Well,
why then was Samson required to wear long hair as a Nazirite?
It was a symbol of his consecration to God. You see, in order to
be consecrated to God, he had to be willing to appear before
men in a manner that would be despised by men. His long hair,
that for which he no doubt suffered much mockery and secret as a
boy, and even as a man, was a symbol of his complete surrender to
the will of God. a mark of complete dedication
to the Lord and complete separation from the world. I fully agree
with B.A. Ramsbottom, who wrote, Samson's
strength, which he received from God, did not literally lie in
his hair. Oh, no. It lay in his separation
and sanctification and complete dedication to his God and Savior,
of which his hair was just a string. Now, be sure you get this. Samson's
strength, like our Savior's strength as a man, was in his consecration
to God, not his hair, but in that which his hair symbolized.
What a lesson there is for us in this. Children of God, here
is your strength in this world and mine. Consecration to God,
our Savior, that's our strength. Let us be true spiritual Nazarites
unto God. Emptied of earth I thane would
be, the world, myself, and all but thee. only reserved for Christ
that died, surrendered to the crucified. Now let me show you
a fourth comparison. Samson was a picture and type
of Christ in his coming, in his commission, in his consecration,
and fourthly, in his choices. Now this fourth point of comparison,
this fourth way in which Samson was a picture, a beautiful, clear,
blessed picture of Christ in his choices, particularly in
the choices of the women he loved, is something that, again, will
be confusing to many. But listen carefully. This otherwise
great man seemed to have an insatiable love for harlots. First, we're
told in Judges 14, verse 1, that he took a philistine, that is,
a Gentile woman, to be his wife, a woman whom he was specifically
forbidden to marry by God's law. And then we're told in chapter
16, verse 1, that he went into a harlot. And then next we're
told in the latter part of chapter 16 that he laid his head in the
lap of Delilah, who was so well known as a harlot that the Philistines
did not hesitate to ask her to entice Samson to her bed. In
fact, the word translated woman in reference to Delilah means
a wild, adulterous woman. The name Delilah means languishing,
and some suggest that this was a name given to her by the men
of the city because of her reputation as a harlot. I'm fairly inclined
to agree with them. I'd rather doubt that any father
would give his daughter a name that meant a woman who lays down
all the time in those days when a woman's name or a man's name
signified something about their character. No, Delilah was a
name given to her by the men of the city who knew her to be
a woman of ill repute. In Samson's case, his choice
of harlots was a terrible evil, just as was his choice of a Gentile
Philistine woman to be his wife. Both things were strictly forbidden
by God's law. And yet, even in this, perhaps
most of all in this, Samson was a type and picture of our blessed
Savior. Now, I don't see how anyone who
knows the grace of God would object to that, but many do.
The scriptures tell us plainly that this too was our Lord Jesus
Christ as a representative. Samson went in and loved a woman
and his father and his mother knew not that it was of the Lord. Listen to this, in Judges 14
verse four, Samson's choice of this Philistine woman was of
the Lord because the Lord sought an occasion against the Philistines. Now, Samson did wickedly in choosing
the women he chose, and he suffered greatly because of his choice.
But our great, glorious, sovereign, merciful, all-wise God graciously
overruled the evil for good, because the Lord sought an occasion
against the Philistines. In much the same way, all that
was done by the Jews and the Romans in crucifying our dear
Savior, while it was horribly evil, and they bear the consequences
of the evil deeds of their hands, It was at the same time of the
Lord. The Scriptures tell us plainly
that these things were of the Lord. In Acts 2, in Acts 4, and
in Acts 13, we're told that these things were of the Lord. The
Jews crucified the Son of God because God saw an occasion against
Israel that He might deliver His people to true Israel scattered
among all the nations of the earth. And Samson's choice of
a harlot was of the Lord, because the Lord God sought an occasion
against the Philistines that he might deliver Israel out of
the hand of the Philistines. And when the Lord Jesus came
into this world to get a bride for himself, he chose publicans,
Gentiles, harlots, and sinners as the objects of his love and
his grace. In his family tree, by his birth
as a man, our blessed Lord identified himself with harlots continually. His grandmothers, listen to their
names. You'll be surprised at this. the women listed in the
genealogy of Christ. Only one of them was a virtuous
woman, Mary. All the others, his grandmothers,
were Tamar, a woman guilty of incest, Rahab, the harlot, Ruth,
the Moabitess, a woman of a cursed race who was the great-granddaughter
of Lot's incestuous relationship with his daughter, and Bathsheba,
the adulteress. Now, this may shock the pants
off some good, self-righteous religious folks, but that's all
right. I'm here today preaching this message to you because my
great Samson, the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, has to
this day, listen now, I've chosen my words deliberately, he has
to this day an insatiable love for harlots like me and harlots
like you. Oh, preacher, you dare not talk
that way to men. Oh, I dare not speak any other
way. You see, this generation's been lied to too much. Preachers
everywhere tell you how good you are. You're not good. There's
not anything good in you. By nature, you're nothing but
sin, corruption, and violence. And we are all harlots by nature.
In Samson's case, his greatest shame was the fact that he loved
harlots. In Christ's case, this is his
greatest honor. You will always find him in the
company of publicans, harlots, and sinners. Harlots and sinners,
we're told, go into the kingdom of God before the Pharisees and
the scribes and the self-righteous of this world. My point is this,
can you place yourself in this crowd? Are you willing to take
your place before the feet of the son of God as one totally
undeserving of his mercy? I mean, totally undeserving of
his goodness as one who is vile, a harlot. You say, well, I've
never, I've never been immoral, I've never been impure. You have
all your life gone a whoring after other gods. You have all
your life gone a whoring after your own will and your own way.
And that's the worst form of harlotry there is. Can you take
your place there? If so, if you can take your place
as a sinner, an ungodly sinner before the son of God, I promise
you this great Samson came to save you and save you he will.
Now here's the last thing. Samson was a picture and type
of Christ in his coming, in his commission, in his choices, and
in his great, great work in this world as that one who came into
the world to save sinners by the sacrifice of himself. He
was also a picture of Christ in his consecration. And lastly,
he was a picture of Christ in his conquest. In chapters 14,
15, and 16, there are numerous, numerous examples of Samson's
great power as he was a picture and representative of Christ.
Let me just show you some of those mighty conquests of his,
which typified the great conquest of our all-glorious Christ. I
won't try to read them to you. You're probably familiar with
them. I hope so, but I'll give you the references just in case.
First, in chapter 14 of Judges, and verses 5 through 9, we read
of Samson slaughtering a young lion. What a picture that is
of the Lord Jesus. The Son of God took him who is
as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. died for us at
Calvary, he crushed the serpent's head and Satan, that roaring
lion, no longer has power to deceive God's elect. He no longer
has any power against the saints of God. The Lord Jesus has conquered
the lion for us. And as Samson went down a second
time to Timnath, he decided he would turn aside. And he saw
in that lion's carcass a swarm of bees. And they had made a
bunch of honey. And Samson reached in there and
he took from the honey and ate. And his eyes were lightened.
And he gave it to his father and his mother. And their eyes
were lightened. What a picture that is of our Lord Jesus. When
he comes the second time, he will take the carcass of Satan
whom he has slain. And by presenting his redeemed,
a spotless virgin to God, he will give delight to himself
and to his father and to the spirit for all eternity. And
then in Judges 15, verses 15 and 16, We read that Samson took
the jawbone of an ass and killed a thousand Philistines. Now,
there's been a great deal said about this, but I think nothing
that I've ever heard has been more clear than what I heard
from a preacher when I was just 18 years old in Bible college.
This man who was teaching homiletics made this statement as he looked
out over that room full of young preachers. He said, the Lord
still uses the jawbones of asses to do his work. I kind of like
that. Now you might think, well, that's not a very complimentary
way to talk about preachers. I didn't mean for it to be, but
it is a most complimentary way to talk about our great Samson,
the Lord Jesus. He takes men who are as empty,
worthless, and useless as an ass's dried jawbone and uses
them as instruments of his great grace for the good of his elect,
for the saving of their souls through the preaching of the
gospel as they are instruments in his omnipotent hands. And
then in chapter 16 and verses 28 through 30, we read about
the slaughter of the Philistines in Samson's voluntary death.
You'll recall that how that he had been imprisoned and blinded
and they made sport and they wanted Samson to put on a show
for them. So he asked the young man who directed his steps to
put his hands on the pillars that held up the house and the
arena where he was gathered. And voluntarily, Samson pulled
down the house upon him and thus laid down his life, just as our
Lord Jesus willingly, voluntarily laid down his life for us. And
as he did, he destroyed the enemies of Israel. He destroyed the Philistines
and delivered them. And our great Samson, the Lord
Jesus, as he voluntarily laid down his life for us, destroyed
sin, Satan, death, hell, and the grave. Now look at chapter
16 one more time, verses 6, or verses 1 through 3 rather. Here
our great Samson who died for us is pictured as carrying away
the gates of the city out of Gaza unto a mountain near Hebron. Our accusers, those who would
have condemned us, secured us as prisoners and locked us behind
the gates of the city of despair. They laid in wait all night for
our beloved, as these men did for Samson, saying, in the morning
we shall kill him. In our case, in the case of Samson,
they did kill him. But he awoke out of the grave
the third day, and he took the gates of the city, boat, bar,
and post, unto a high mountain. The gates, we are told, were
ninety feet across. Samson snatched them out of the
ground like you'd pick up a feather, and carried them on his shoulders
unto a high mountain some twenty miles away. By comparison, that
was nothing. Our great, all-glorious Christ
was laid in the sepulcher, and it was sealed with a huge stone.
The soldiers were appointed to keep watch over the tomb while
all hell trembled. Yet, at the appointed time, He
arose from the dead. broke the iron bars of death,
hell, and the grave, and he ascended up into heaven and laid claim
to glory land as our representative and forerunner, declaring himself
to be the victorious, all-glorious son of God, the son of righteousness
risen with healing in his wings. And that, as my dear friend,
brother Larry Brown put it, you know what? Under all the weight
and burden of my sin, he never staggered. Amen. You have just heard a sermon
by Pastor Don Fortner of Danville, Kentucky. For a copy of this
message, please visit our website at ysgracechurch.com. This is Pastor Rick Warta of
the Yuba-Sutter Grace Church. Each Sunday we meet at 11 a.m. in the Yuba County Library located
on the corner of 2nd and C Street in downtown Marysville. We pray
that God would be pleased to make himself known to you in
the gospel of his son.