[0:00] Verse 28, Judges 16-28. And Samson called unto the Lord and said, O Lord God, remember me, I pray thee, and strengthen me, I pray thee, only this once, O God, that I may be at once avenged by the Philistines for my two eyes.
[0:21] And Samson took hold of the two middle pillars upon which the house stood, and on which it was born of, and the one with his right hand and the other with his left.
[0:32] And Samson said that he died over the Philistines. And he bowed himself for all his might, and the house fell upon the Lord and upon all the people that were therein.
[0:45] So the dead which he slew at his death were more than they which he slew in his life. Then his brethren and all the house of his father came down and took him and brought him up and buried him between Zorah and Eshterah, in the very place of Manoah his father.
[1:05] And he had to judge Israel twenty years. What a tragic, tragic story. So much potential.
[1:22] So grateful. I read through a Bible every year, so I read these stories at least once a year. Sometimes I go after reading again.
[1:34] I always weep when I read the story of Samson, David, or some of the others. And the Bible is like that. It tells the whole story. It doesn't leave out anything.
[1:47] The heroes of the Bible are men. They made out clay. They had weaknesses and many other fables. Sort of gives us hope, doesn't it? God didn't have any perfect people then.
[1:59] He doesn't do that. He started in 13 and he read about his parents. And he forwards into that chapter. He goes into 14. Best I can figure, if Samson started his adult ministry as a judge, he was about twenty.
[2:19] And it says that he judged it for twenty years. The man died forty years ago. Such potential.
[2:33] Such potential. Why does God put that story in here? When he's disappointed in the Lord so badly. Don't you believe that it's so that we won't make the same mistake?
[2:47] Why does he put any of the negative stories in here? Except for our learning. Yeah. And our warning. We live in the same kind of flesh they did. We have the weaknesses too.
[3:00] We can fall just as well. The last story you hear in chapter 16 is going about Samson and Goliath. Samson had a weakness for women.
[3:14] And she's the last woman. She was not a good woman in any sense of the word. She was a hypocrite. Now let's see.
[3:25] Some men came to her and offered her a lot of money. If she would discover the secret of Samson's great strength.
[3:38] She forgot all about loving plan. She thought about the money. I don't have any of those city fathers that are worth it. Each one of them will go and give her about a hundred pieces of jewelry.
[3:53] And in those days that's lots of money. So she began to ask him the secret of the strength. And he toyed with it for a while. You take green with W-I-T-H-E.
[4:06] Now if that is the same thing the dictionary has to W-I-T-H-E today. It means slender, flexible, fine, and strength. And so I have one book that says that men bow streams knew.
[4:23] Bow streams never knew. Anyway, he said, you take green withs and bind my hand. I'll be weak. So she bound his hand with those things.
[4:34] And then she woke him up and said, Samson, the Philistines be a bald eagle. And he broke those things like they were three. And of course the Philistines left.
[4:48] They were fighting. And she said, oh, you mock me. You don't love me. You mock me. The next time. The next time, maybe the next day, who knows when.
[4:58] She said, please tell him the secret of the strength. He said, if you take new ropes, you've never been to me. Now these are strong people withs, aren't they? Then I'll be weak like any other man.
[5:10] And she bound him up with the ropes. And he went to sleep. And woke him up and said, the Philistines be a bald eagle. And he broke those ropes back. The third time, he said, to her, urging, if you'll take the seven locks of my hair.
[5:32] Oh, my. He's getting closer. The truth is that. And weave them together in a weaver's beam. With a weaver's beam. I'll weave them.
[5:43] She did that. Off of the Philistines. He got up. Pulled the whole lung apart. And walked out with it still hanging in his hair. The fourth time got him.
[6:00] She kept pressing and pressing and pressing and pressing. And finally he said, I was close the last time. It was about my hair. Never had been a razor put to my head since I was born.
[6:14] My hair is a symbol of my strength. I was going to naturalize my burden. If you cut my hair, I'd be weak. Somehow she knew it was telling the truth. So she called the city fathers and said, come on, bring your money.
[6:29] And she did. And she did. She betrayed him to them for the law and money. Whoever says that he wished not worth wished of God's table means knew not.
[6:46] He knew not that the Lord had departed from him. He was going to be able to defend himself. He thought he would be able to defend himself.
[6:57] But he had lost his strength. The Philistines though, he was capturing him. Put out his eyes. The Hebrew word there is a word for bored.
[7:11] Bored out of your eyes. He didn't even have any eyeballs there. They bore him out of his body. Put him in an area where the animals ground the grain.
[7:26] He had a long arm with a big stone attached to it in the middle. A big, large platform. They tied the ox to that big arm. As he walked around in a circle.
[7:38] He ran the grain in the middle. Samson was in the grinding house. Without eyes. Without his strength. We shouldn't have taken. Bar in that stone.
[7:50] For who knows how long. Several weeks of all he did. But the Bible says, while he's down here in the dark. And all alone and working like an animal.
[8:04] His hair begins to grow. They should have thought of it. They didn't think of that. One day, there had a big gathering of Philistine leaders.
[8:16] In this great, great auditorium. And they said, somebody go get Samson. Let's make fun of him. Let's bring him out of here. They can stumble around and make fun of him. So they brought him out and they explored him with him.
[8:31] Had a little boy leading him around. Mockering him. And he said, son, would you do me a favor? And he said, sure. And he said, take me to the two main pillars.
[8:44] Upon which this hour stands. I want to feel love. The little boy said, okay. And I saw the movie. Those things were bad.
[8:55] You wouldn't think any man could push them down.
[9:06] Standing between them and push them like that. And he said 3,000 people on the roof. No building before. There's 1,000 people there. And so, verse 28.
[9:19] Samson called on the Lord and said, remember me. I pray that you strengthen me. I pray that you only get you once, oh God. That I may be at once again, such as a Philistine for my two eyes.
[9:30] He put his hands upon the pillars and pushed with all his might. And I can just imagine the scene as all those Philistine boards and all those people in that building started watching the big stone cobblers begin to crash.
[9:47] Watching that giant old man pushing with all his might. And those big columns begin to crumble and crash. They knew they were in moments of death.
[10:02] Of course, they began to scream and try to get out. It was too late. And all of a sudden, they both cracked at the same time in the roof that morning. And everybody in that building was killed.
[10:13] The Bible says that he killed more people in his death and hit on his might. He was just a warrior. He's a Philistine. That's what he was. And that's the story that we find in chapter 16.
[10:31] God put this story in here for me, for you. Not because we're strong as an ox. But because we can fall like Samson did.
[10:43] Because there's a devil that knows our number just like a unit number. You know there's a lot of Bible characters that fail from the position that God has.
[10:55] It's not just once in a while somebody falls. I wish I could tell you how many people I've seen in my ministry before. Church members and preachers alike. The devil's after you.
[11:07] Yeah. Well, Dr. Rice used to preach a sermon. Trailed by a lot of bees. He went over there to Peter where it says, The devil like a roary line walking about seeking whom you may devour.
[11:21] Dr. Rice, lacking the devil with that line stalking and afraid. He said there's a lot of bees when you're afraid. Amen. That's right. He is.
[11:31] He's only every one of you. Amen. That's right. If he can't get your soul, he'll get your life. Yeah. If he can't get your life, he'll get your testimony. He'll get you in the sin.
[11:43] Yeah. He's not going to let up. Day and night he works. Yes, sir. To take you out. Yes, sir. And me out. That's why that story's in here.
[11:54] We all fall. Peter, the strong leader of the apostles, he walked on water. The only man besides Jesus that had walked on water. But he failed.
[12:07] The devil got him in the right position one day and he was cursing and swearing and saying, I don't know man. While Jesus would make a curse. He failed.
[12:20] Well, bitterly, Jesus had to go back and bring him back in. David. Can't even read that story in the Bible without crying. When I was a little boy, David thought that's not always my favorite.
[12:34] At first, I didn't have much size. I grew slowly. And I was the smallest one around usually. And when I learned that David was a little shepherd boy that conquered the giant, he became my hero.
[12:49] How many times have I told you I made those slingshots? I found an old shoe in my grandmother's parents' house. They scarred a little boot or something and cut the tongue out of it.
[13:04] Cut little holes on both sides and fold it together and get some core. About that long, about three feet long. Put a rock in it and wind it up. And let go of one side.
[13:16] You didn't get there. Oh, you did. You're not a kid, but you did it, huh? Did it work? Bible said there was an army of 300 men somewhere who could sling a slingshot and would not miss.
[13:34] And they could hit a hare. Hit a hare. Their aim was that good. Mine never was that good. When I broke out the window one day, I had to quit that.
[13:47] Strange thing to life. I was aiming out here. Now I turned and looked at that thing and went back this way. So I never was as good as David. I can't read the gift story.
[13:58] He was God's favorite. Yet he came tumbling down because of the devil and sin. Solomon the same way.
[14:08] How do you read the story of Solomon? Wisest man of all history. And he ended up terribly, terribly following God.
[14:21] Even Moses and Abraham, the two giants among Jewish heroes. Moses lost his temper and his ticket to Canaan land. And Abraham lied two different times about his wife and even sister.
[14:36] To save his own neck. Surrendering up his wife and he had to. Who can respect a man like that? And the story of Ishmael.
[14:48] Getting in to his wife. And vanishing Ishmael and his mother. The Arabs and Jews have been fighting ever since.
[15:00] I've often wondered, Chad, if he had not done that. He just said, no, it's my son. We're going to rear him here. He's going to be my son. And he and Isaac have become friends. Changed history, wouldn't it?
[15:13] But the enmity between those two back there is still here today. Jews and Arabs are still fighting. Elijah, fearless, courageous, stood up to 450 prophets of Baal.
[15:28] And ran from Jezreel one more. I wouldn't put that in here, but I would have thought of it. I'd have looked that part out. Satan goes after the strong more often than he doesn't weak.
[15:42] Because when the strong go down, there's a problem. I've told you before, I have a fifth son-in-law. My first daughter married a missionary.
[15:57] They were missionary in Costa Rica first, and Mexico second. My son-in-law, William, was a tremendous. Prince of the Lord. Strong, strong Christian.
[16:14] Walter Bebe used to put out a bus ministry book. What do you call that? Bus. That book he used to put out, that magazine. Church Girls News.
[16:27] Church Girls News, wasn't that yet? Church Bus News. Church Bus News, okay. Yeah, we used to get that thing every month. One month, William Park was in that book.
[16:41] It's having the largest bus route on Mississippi. When he graduated high school, he went to the ACE convention, national convention.
[16:52] He got the prize. He grabbed one of his soul. He was in that book for many seniors. What potential? What potential? Yet while on the mission field, someone called him for a council and went to that home.
[17:08] And that home was a beautiful teenage girl. He should not have gone home. And when she said her help for him, he should not have ever gone back.
[17:22] But just like so many of us, it never happens to me. I'm stronger. I can dance. You can't handle it. I can dance.
[17:33] I can dance. That girl found to seduced him. And he lied. That was my oldest daughter with two little girls. Long, sad trip when I drove down to New Mexico with the train with the air and stuff.
[17:47] Get those two little kids. Brought them back home. I've seen a lot of good people fall. And as I've shown you, close to me, I've seen them fall too.
[18:03] The devil didn't hesitate to go after the strong, did he? Went after Jesus. Went after Job. He'll go after you one of these days too. Why does strength, such strength become such peace?
[18:19] How does the devil cause such strength to become such peace? How does a man like Samson, my goodness, wouldn't we all like to be like him? Some of the feats that Samson is credited with are just mind-boggling.
[18:36] One day a lion jumped on him. He didn't have any weapons with him. He just took hold of the lion in the bare hands. Tore his jaw.
[18:48] Killed him right there. No problem. Probably didn't have a scratch on him. Just another day's work with Samson. One day he was trapped inside the city.
[19:01] And the Philistines gathered at the gate, waiting for him to come out. Look at him in the daylight. He came out and saw them. Simply picked up the city gates.
[19:14] Ripped them off their hinges. Put them on his shoulder and walked away with those guys who stared at him. Nobody lifting a hand. And the Bible says he carried those city gates to near Hebron from Gaza.
[19:31] That's 35 miles. Half of it up here. And he carried those gates. He didn't want to follow him.
[19:41] He didn't want to follow him. I wouldn't follow him. No, I wouldn't follow him. They did let him go. What a man. What a man. The strength that he had is just, it's inconceivable.
[19:55] It's inconceivable. How could such a man be so weak that he's grinding grain like an ox and having a hard time of it? What brought him down?
[20:10] What is it that brings us back? Number one, brashness. And the synonyms of brashness are recklessness, cockiness, foolhardiness, impulsiveness, and overpowering.
[20:27] Don't ever get overpowering. Don't ever say, well, I don't have to leave. Well, I can handle this. You better be careful.
[20:39] That's the first step down to this norm. He just toyed with the devil. Well, you know, you tie me up with this and that.
[20:49] And he just laughed and went on. Don't do it. Don't do it. Overconfidence is often spawned by victories in the past.
[21:03] So Samson had those. Told you a couple of them. There's another one. One day they trapped him somewhere and attacked him.
[21:14] This army of Philistines. Again, he didn't have a weapon. There was an old donkey skeleton. Pretty fresh. And the biggest bone in it was the jawbone.
[21:27] Still that way. Biggest bone in the donkey. The jawbone. He reached down and got that jawbone. And fresh bone of the donkey.
[21:39] About so long. He started whacking Philistines. Backed him up against a big stone. Big rock. They just came at him and drove.
[21:52] And he just whacked them. They're at home. When they finally gave up and left him. A thousand dead children. Going on about his feet.
[22:03] But the brash is the cockiness. It won't happen to me. It blinds us to the devil's power. We're not now.
[22:14] Or have we ever been a match for Satan? I'm looking at that. As of some of you. That a year from now. We can try to clean this same crowd.
[22:27] The devil would have gotten. Who are you? Which one are you? Who's sitting in Bible Baptist Church. This August morning.
[22:41] Is it going to be impossible. If you'd be here. August next year. Because the devil has. If you're a Christian. He has. You probably did. Who are you?
[22:52] Which one am I talking? Why am I preaching this sermon? Why is that point about sermon? Delilah was nothing but a tool for the devil. No. Selected by him.
[23:04] For that very duty. Samson didn't know. You don't know. There are armies of demons all the time. Stalking us.
[23:15] We don't wrestle against flesh and blood. Oh yes we do Lord. You just think we don't. We like to take our fight to a person. We like to hate somebody with flesh.
[23:27] We like to get offended by people. Yeah. We like to sound like him. Yeah we're fighting flesh and blood Lord. And all the time.
[23:38] Those principalities and power. And those spiritual wickednesses and high places. Are just setting us up. All the time.
[23:49] Samson had such a time with women. The devil was picking out one woman. That could do the job. And gave her baby. And he has.
[24:01] An evil day set for you. Down the road. All we ever stand in the evil day. That's what he means. He said. All the people you know that fell.
[24:16] Reached their day. When the devil had everything ready. And brought it on. To barrel that burden down. Every one of them. The devil never gets you to the grave.
[24:29] He would get all kinds of excuses. But Satan. Is on your trail. And mine. All the time. And he's just arranging things. Just arranging things. To come together at the right time.
[24:40] Right. Down the road. We're no match for you. You're unsaved today. And I don't know who you are. You're more dangerous than any of us.
[24:54] Do you know Jesus said. More people go to hell than that. You know why that is. There's a devil. He blinds the minds of people who are unsaved. This Bible says that.
[25:06] You are in a snare. A snare. The devil has you trapped. If you're unsaved. Your foot isn't going to bear trapped now. And in Timothy. It teaches us preachers.
[25:17] How to get you out of that grave. 3 to 2 Timothy chapter 2. Right toward the end. You're already in a trap. That's what we're doing.
[25:28] That's what this church is all about. That's why I'm really grateful. West goes all the time. It's when we distribute the tracks. And not on the road. It's trying to get feet. Out of the back trap. You're already trapped.
[25:41] That's your. That they may recover themselves. Out of the snare of the devil. Who takes them captive. At his widow. That's what the Bible says. If you're unsaved here today. Your foot's in the back.
[25:52] The devil already has you. All he has to do is keep us. Away from you. And don't let any. You don't listen to anybody. You don't listen to any preaching. You say it's a bunch of nonsense. Or I can do it later.
[26:03] Or later on. And you're all in this. You're already captive. All he has to do is just keep us. Away from you. And keep your mind. Long enough. And time will take care of you.
[26:16] Very dangerous thing to be unsaved in this world today. How careful did the devil plan for your defeat? Don't get cocky. Don't get overcome. Don't think you can get.
[26:28] Now I get saved anytime I want. And no one wants me. No. You're not making your decision. But that will make your decision. And God doesn't come and bail you out.
[26:39] You won't have a chance. And you may not believe that. That's the truth. The second way that Samson lost his strength. It seems to be weak with bad company. Bad company.
[26:53] Satan's most effective tool by far. Is bad company. The Bible says. He that walketh wise. Men shall be wise. But a companion. Of fools. Shall be destroyed.
[27:06] Who's your companion? Sir. Who you running with? I heard somebody say. That she got a job. At the casino. Here while back. And I thought.
[27:18] Oh brother. What a dangerous thing to do. Put yourself right in the devil's deal. What a dangerous thing. Some of you probably have friends.
[27:29] You don't need to have. Lot fell when he left good company. Then when he settled in Sodom. He was finished. Because he was in the middle of bad company. First Corinthians 15.
[27:40] 33 says. Be not deceived. Evil communications. Or commandments. Corrupt. And they do. All it takes. Some of you girls. That's a great looking guy.
[27:52] To wink at you. Damage you go. You better check your pedigree first. You better not even like anybody.
[28:04] You can find out you're a great Christian. And some of those are very hard to find. You boys. You know how easy it is. You better have your eyes turned.
[28:16] Better be careful. Samson was pulled down. Don't you? So have been thousands. You bowed. Why don't you kids. Take the first chapter.
[28:27] The first seven chapters. Proverbs. And read them regularly. Read them regularly. And they'll help you out. You may be a strong Christian now sir.
[28:39] But a friend coming along. At the right time. The wrong friend. Will change all that. Be careful about the company that you keep. And bad company. It might just be good company.
[28:50] That's what I'm saying. Man I'm a bad person. I know preachers. That I don't even know. There's a preacher.
[29:01] That came here once. And preached a week's meetings. And I spent that week with him. And I said. When I got through there. I said. I'm confused this week. That man will never step foot.
[29:13] In my poor feet again. And he is. A very well known preacher. A good preacher. But all the week long. We just. He just dragged me through the mud.
[29:23] And problems. And all the people's lives. And this man. Not what he says he is. And this is bad. And that's bad. And these bad. And he's a hypocrite. For all the week long.
[29:38] I don't have. I don't have to stay busy. But stay busy all the time. The name that you know. That's what he's trying to call. Preach right here. I'll never be busy. Never.
[29:50] He called me two or three times. That was that meeting. I said. Sorry. We're busy. There's some people you can't run with. I told a whole lot of us. At the end of the week.
[30:01] I said. I feel like you take a period of time. Feel. Feel. Walking with us. That's all. Some people you don't need to run with. It might be good people.
[30:11] With bad circumstances. There might be. Good people with a bad hat. You need to be careful about that. When I went to.
[30:24] When I went to. My church in Missouri. We had so many. That first. Thursday night. And I showed up out there. And I said. You guys go ahead. You want to do. Watch it. See.
[30:35] Don't change anything. They started. Separating into pairs. Those old people. You're going to spend about. Yeah. And the guy that was setting. The thing up.
[30:46] Said. Sir. You'll go with Mrs. Whatever. And let's see. We don't like for the women. To go out. Tonight. By themselves. We'll put them in. So. Ma'am. You'll go with him.
[30:56] And he had. He had. This man's wife. Matched with. Another man. A wife's husband. He's done.
[31:07] He's done. I don't know how long that's been going on. I just stood up and said. Hold it. New preachers.
[31:19] Going to make some changes. Right here. No man. Will ever. Visit anybody else. In a while. Never. Come here. You don't even get the same car with me.
[31:33] None. Never. Youngest thing I ever heard in my life. Come on. Yes sir. No. I spent that first week out there. Yes. Can you imagine that?
[31:44] Can you imagine what could have happened? Oh my goodness. I just didn't get it. It blows my mind. Think about how the devil could use something like that. Fix that.
[31:54] Be careful about bad circumstances. Bad circumstances. Number three and finally. Broken covenant. Brashness. Bad covenant. Broken covenant. That's how you got Samson.
[32:04] Samson's hair was not his source of strength. The covenant of God was the source of strength. The hair was just a reminder and a sign of that covenant of God. We have a covenant of God too.
[32:15] You may not know it, but you do. He's got a sign of the covenant. He's savvy. You've got a sign of the covenant. God's part is, and he reads what I've got, to keep you saved, to keep you fed, to protect you from the devil, and a hundred other things that he'll do for you day by day by day.
[32:34] And he's faithful to his covenant. Our side of the covenant will be his servants. We'll love him supreme to you. We'll obey him. We'll stay pure. We'll be faithful in church.
[32:45] We'll be faithful in prayer and Bible study and giving and all the other things that the Christian folks will do. We have a covenant with you. How are you in your covenant? When the devil sees you and me, break our covenant with God.
[33:00] He says, that's a little weakness right there. I'll tell you, just miss church a couple times. Miss church. The devil will zero in on that. That person, he's going to be easy to take out.
[33:14] And he will be. Never seen anybody drop out of church that didn't start convincing him. Okay? Just don't give one weekend.
[33:25] Well, I can't afford it this weekend. The devil marks that down and says, I can take him out of me. All I've got to do is get him in financial trouble. He'll use this money for God. He'll sell it.
[33:37] A thousand ways he can get you, and he's watching you constantly all the time. You have a covenant with God. So did Samson. And Samson broke that covenant. Broke the heart of God.
[33:50] Destroyed it. All of his future and his potential. Our strength is not based in thudseling. It's based in God. Amen. You're not very much about yourself.
[34:01] You know that. Amen. When he withdraws his strength, you're going down to a mile. We're depending on him. Amen. And he will certainly withdraw his strength.
[34:12] Get to bed with your life. Come on. You wonder why the Lord didn't somehow get in there and protect him.
[34:24] Because he was beyond God's protection. He just decided on his own what he was going to do. The Lord said, big boy, I'll let you do it. You decide on your own how you're going to run your life.
[34:36] If it's not the way he wants to run it, you know that you can suffer the consequences. Look at Samson. I will shake myself. It's another time. It didn't work that time, did it? He wished not of the Lord's heart from me.
[34:50] These are the three ways that the devil set him up in God. He's overcome. What's the second one? Bad company.
[35:02] Bad company. And the third one. Broken company. Watch those three things. Old Paul got it right, didn't he? I'm kidding now. Paul said, when I'm weak, then am I strong.
[35:15] And I'm the least of the apostles. Not I, but Christ has lived within me. Paul didn't get rash. He didn't get on the comfort. He knew what he was. And he kept on being humble all the time. He got to do that.
[35:26] And he finished his course with joy and fought the good fight. The finished. He kept his faith all the way because he knew he was weak. And if he's weak, then God's strength he will have.
[35:37] If he thinks he's strong, then God will let him go down and become weak. Let him that thinketh he standeth, take heed that's going to fall. And that is Samson's story in a nutshell.
[35:47] Is it not? I don't know if you're here and I'm saved. I've said a couple of things to you. We haven't had many unsaved recently, so I tried to preach a sermon mostly for Christians this morning.
[35:58] Let me tell you something. Satan is real. Yeah. Sure.