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[0:00] I'm going to describe to you a few things from Scripture, and I want you to try to figure out who it is that I'm speaking about and from which book of the Bible I'm referring to.

[0:13] The first one, so it's pertaining to a person, is that there was divine announcement of a miraculous birth.

[0:25] Second thing was there was a prophecy about his birth that he would save his people. The third thing about this person was that his ministry was inaugurated at a wedding feast.

[0:43] The fourth thing is that this person told a cryptic saying to obscure truth that required further revelation to understand it.

[0:55] And the last thing is this person, this deliverer, was spirit-empowered in a very mighty way. Now, Hebrews 11.32 explains that this person was faithful. He was acclaimed for his faith.

[1:15] The person who I'm referring to is Samson out of the book of Judges. And last week, we went over a few things about Samson, specifically his birth and the beginning of his life.

[1:31] And we learned that Samson had proven to be a very great threat towards his enemies. He was a great threat towards the Philistines. We saw that the Spirit of the Lord came upon him, and he killed 30 Philistines, 30 of the enemy, to pay them 30 linen garments.

[1:51] Now, later on, we saw that Samson burned up the shocks and the standing grain of the Philistines, as well as the vineyards and olive groves.

[2:02] This is significant. This is devastating. Not only did he burn up their food, but also the means in which they had to grow more food. So this was quite a devastating blow to them. And then after that, the Philistines burnt his wife, the Timnite woman, and her father, who were fellow Philistines.

[2:20] So this shows you what kind of people the Philistines were. It was Samson that did this, but they burned the Timnite woman and her father, who were fellow Philistines, to get back at Samson.

[2:34] And then Samson attacked them, hip and thigh, with a great slaughter. He's proving to be a very great threat to the Philistines. So much so that they came to arrest him and got the people of Judah, his own people, to bring him to them.

[2:49] And Judah went with 3,000 men to go get them. Can you imagine knocking on Samson's door after he just attacked the Philistines, hip and thigh, with a great slaughter, to try to tell him that they're going to arrest him and take them to the enemy?

[3:04] I imagine they probably picked somebody amongst them that looked like Lou Ferrigno to try to get him to knock on the door first. But nonetheless, 300 men of Judah came to Samson to take him, and they bound him to hand him over to the enemy.

[3:20] But his bonds did not restrain him. His bonds had no power over him. We read that, And then we have the victory with the jawbone.

[3:34] And Samson had his victory song, which was, With the jawbone of a donkey, heaps upon heaps, with the jawbone of a donkey, I have slain a thousand men.

[3:47] Can you imagine trying to even count single-handedly slaying a thousand men? And then the place was called Rameth Lehi, which means jawbone height.

[4:00] It was a hill of corpses, which Samson slaughtered with the jawbone of a donkey. And then, finally, at the end of verse 15, if you look there in verse 20, it says, And he judged Israel twenty years in the days of the Philistines.

[4:17] So keep this in your mind as we continue to read chapter 16. It's not that Samson did these things. These things, which I have said, are remarkable things in themselves. But he judged Israel for twenty years.

[4:30] He was a seasoned judge in ruling Israel. And then at 15, he judged Israel twenty years in the days of the Philistines.

[4:41] And then this concludes the Samson cycle. No, the account continues. So we will read all of chapter 16 and find out what continues in this account.

[4:54] So Judges chapter 16. Now Samson went to Gaza and saw a harlot there and went in to her. When the Gazites were told, Samson has come here, they surrounded the place and lay in wait for him all night at the gate of the city.

[5:12] They were quiet all night, saying, In the morning, when it is daylight, we will kill him. And Samson lay low till midnight. Then he arose at midnight, took hold of the doors of the gate of the city, and the two gate posts, pulled them up, bar and all, put them on his shoulders, and carried them to the top of the hill that faces Hebron.

[5:36] Afterward, it happened that he loved a woman in the valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah. And the lords of the Philistines came up to her and said to her, Entice him and find out where his great strength lies, and by what means we may overpower him, that we may bind him to afflict him.

[5:59] And every one of us will give you eleven hundred pieces of silver. So Delilah said to Samson, Please tell me where your great strength lies, and with what you may be bound to afflict you.

[6:14] And Samson said to her, If they bind me with seven fresh bowstrings, not yet dried, then I shall become weak and like any other man. So the lords of the Philistines brought up to her seven fresh bowstrings, not yet dried, and she bound him with them.

[6:32] Now men were lying in wait, waiting with her in the room. And she said to him, The Philistines are upon you, Samson. But he broke the bowstrings as a strand of yarn breaks when it touches fire.

[6:46] So the secret of his strength was not known. Then Delilah said to Samson, Look, you have mocked me and told me lies. Now please tell me what you may be bound with.

[6:58] So he said to her, If they bind me securely with new ropes that have never been used, then I shall become weak and be like any other man. Therefore Delilah took new ropes and bound him with them and said to him, The Philistines are upon you, Samson.

[7:17] And men were lying in wait, staying in the room, but he broke them off his arms like a thread. Delilah said to Samson, Until now you have mocked me and told me lies.

[7:29] Tell me what you may be bound with. And he said to her, If you weave the seven locks of my head into the web of the loom. So she wove it tightly with the batten of the loom and said to him, The Philistines are upon you, Samson.

[7:46] But he awoke from his sleep and pulled out the batten of the web from the loom. Then she said to him, How can you say I love you when your heart is not with me?

[7:57] You have mocked me these three times and have not told me where your great strength lies. And it came to pass when she pestered him daily with her words that impressed him so that his soul was vexed to death, that he told her all his heart.

[8:15] And he said to her, No razor has ever come upon my head, for I have been a Nazarite to God from my mother's womb. If I am shaven, then my strength will leave me and I shall become weak and be like any other man.

[8:29] When Delilah saw that he had told her all his heart, she sent and called for the lords of the Philistines, saying, Come up once more, for he has told me all his heart.

[8:41] So the lords of the Philistines came up to her and brought the money in their hand. Then she lulled him to sleep on her knees and called for a man and had him shave off the seven locks of his head.

[8:55] Then she began to torment him and his strength left him. And she said, The Philistines are upon you, Samson. So he awoke from his sleep and said, I will go out as before at other times and shake myself free.

[9:11] But he did not know that the Lord had departed from him. Then the Philistines took him and put out his eyes and brought him down to Gaza.

[9:22] They bound him with bronze fetters and he became a grinder in the prison. However, the hair of his head began to grow again after it had been shaven.

[9:34] Now the lords of the Philistines gathered together to offer a great sacrifice to Dagon, their God, and rejoice. And they said, Our God has delivered into our hands Samson, our enemy.

[9:47] When the people saw him, they praised their God. For they said, Our God has delivered into our hands our enemy, the destroyer of our land and the one who multiplied our dead.

[10:01] So it happened when their hearts were merry that they said, Call for Samson, that he may perform for us. So they called for Samson from the prison and he performed for them and they stationed him between the pillars.

[10:15] Then Samson said to the lad who held him by the hand, Let me feel the pillars which support the temple so that I can lean on them. Now the temple was full of men and women.

[10:27] All the lords of the Philistines were there, about 3,000 men and women on the roof watching while Samson performed. Then Samson called to the Lord saying, O Lord God, remember me, I pray.

[10:40] Strengthen me, I pray. Just this once, O God, that I may with one blow take vengeance on the Philistines for my two eyes.

[10:51] And Samson took hold of the two middle pillars which supported the temple and he braced himself against them, one on his right and the other on his left. Then Samson said, Let me die with the Philistines.

[11:03] And he pushed with all his might and the temple fell on the lords and all the people who were in it. So the dead that he killed at his death were more than he had killed in his life.

[11:15] And his brothers and all his father's household came down and took him and brought him up and buried him between Zorah and Eschol in the tomb of his father Manoah.

[11:26] He had judged Israel 20 years. Lord, we thank you again for your word that we have supernatural revelation. And as we consider the things of your word, we pray that you would enlighten our minds and illuminate your word to us.

[11:42] Lead us into all truth. Help us to see that it is imperative that we understand what your word means and to understand what we must do.

[11:53] Pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. So in chapter 16, the second part of our examination of Samson, what's going on in this chapter, what we see here, is that this unrestrainable deliverer was betrayed, suffered, and mocked, and then crushed the enemy and saved his people by his death.

[12:20] So again, this unrestrainable deliverer was betrayed, suffered, and mocked, then crushed the enemy and saved his people by his death. So we're going to break it up into three parts.

[12:31] The first part being the Gaza Gate, the second part being Delilah, and the third part being the Dagon Temple. So first of all, the Gaza Gate, starting in 16, Gaza was one of the chief city, is one of the chief cities of Philistia, and it geographically was a coastal city in the lowlands.

[12:59] And in there, we see that he lodged at the house of a harlot. Now, the Geneva Bible, they have there, for where it says of a harlot, they have a, noted as a victualer, which essentially is somebody who holds what we would consider a tavern, a place for lodging and alcohol and for food and for earthly refreshments.

[13:28] And this is where Samson lodges. And we don't want to miss something here that is very quickly missed. A lot of perhaps modern and contemporary commentaries.

[13:40] skip over it rather quickly, misunderstanding it, but what we see here at the beginning of 16, of chapter 16, is a parallel to Joshua 2.

[13:53] And when Joshua 2, if you remember, when the people of Israel, with Joshua leading them, were about to come into Canaan, the land of promise, the conquest, they send in their two spies, and their two spies go into Canaan and they lodge at the house of Harlan.

[14:15] Now here, we see a parallel to Joshua 2. And it's a metaphoric return or resuming of the conquest which was compromised.

[14:29] So Joshua, in chapter 2, we see the conquest beginning and the spies going, lodging at the house of the harlot and then the conquest. And as soon as we turn into judges, we see the conquest being compromised.

[14:44] So, as we look at the last judge, it's like he's resuming the conquest where Israel began to compromise in the book of Judges.

[14:56] So, paralleling Joshua 2 where the spies lodged in the home of Rahab, who is a harlot, Rahab the harlot, and Canaan, where judges start the conquest compromise.

[15:09] Something else that's important to note here before we move on is that Judah, in the beginning of Judges, remember Judah started off faithful. And Judah, the people of Judah, they took Hebron and Gaza.

[15:24] Remember those two names. Gaza is what we are looking at here in chapter 16. And they took Hebron, which is near Gaza. So, the conquest, Judah is faithful and they take Hebron, they take Gaza, but then if you remember, where the compromise began is that Judah, they failed to drive out the inhabitants of the lowlands.

[15:52] Gaza is a coastal city in the lowlands. So, having failed to drive out the inhabitants of the lowlands because they had chariots of iron. So, remember, all the people of faithful Judah claimed they couldn't overpower these chariots of iron.

[16:09] Keep that in mind because it's these people, it's the people of Philistia and it's Gaza, which has reestablished itself after being taken because they didn't drive them out.

[16:21] That apparently Judah couldn't drive out because of their advancements advancements of warfare technology. So, here with Samson, it's like the deliverer is symbolically going back to the conquest to take the land of promise.

[16:38] And what Judah couldn't do, they couldn't drive out the inhabitants of the lowlands, this faithful army of Judah, what Judah couldn't do, Samson now does single-handedly being spirit and power.

[16:53] So, back to our text in chapter 16, he's lodged at the house of the harlot and then it says he laid low until midnight. And then, notice in verse 3, Samson took hold of the doors of the gate of the city and the two gate posts, pulled them up, bar and all, put them on, put them on his shoulders and carried them to the top of the hill that faces Hebron.

[17:20] That's one of the names I told you to remember, right? Because Judah had taken Hebron, so, Samson here takes Gaza, or takes the gates from Gaza and places on the hill which faces Hebron.

[17:42] Hebron, Judah, having taken is where Judah settled. So, these gates of the enemy, of the enemy city are facing the people of Judah.

[17:55] Now, what's so significant about the fact that He has taken the city gates? Well, it's not exactly a chain and padlock that we're talking about that's the gates to the city.

[18:07] It is what, the fortified access through a wall of defense. And, what good is a wall of defense to a city without a gate.

[18:19] The gate is the locked access that fortifies the access through the defense into the city. So, what Samson does by uprooting the gate and taking it away is he has left the entire city, this chief city of Philistia, their enemy, defenseless.

[18:37] He has left them defenseless. He's taken the gate, he's taken it on the hill. It's like mocking, it's a mocking display that the enemy is here defenseless.

[18:49] And to their shame, to Judah's, to, sorry, to Gaza's shame, a mocking to them that they are now defenseless against their enemies.

[19:01] And it's like a billboard to the enemies of the Philistines, especially Israel, that they have no defense, particularly to Judah.

[19:13] It's like a billboard to Judah that says, the enemy is here without defense. Samson has accomplished it, but, as other times with other deliverers, where there was marshalling of troops, once the deliverer marshalled the troops, there was the troops that would support and follow into battle.

[19:31] Here, there are no troops that support Samson into battle. So, the gates are on display that this enemy is now rendered defenseless.

[19:44] Philistia is defenseless. In Galatia, sorry, in Genesis 24, 60, something is said to Rebekah. And what is said is Rebekah being the wife of Isaac, the Isaac being the son of Abraham, and God's covenant, part of God's covenant with Abraham would be, that he would have multiplied descendants, the promised land, and that through his seed, the families of the nations would be blessed.

[20:16] So, this covenant is expected as it carries through Abraham's descendants. So, Abraham, Isaac, and then Isaac's wife, Rebekah, who was barren. But it was said to Rebekah, may your descendants possess the gates of those who hate them.

[20:31] There is much significance in the gates, the fortified wall of defense of a city of the enemies and being rendered defenseless with them being taken.

[20:44] Now, in Matthew 16, 18, Jesus said that the gates of hell shall not prevail against his church. Now, the gate is the entrance.

[20:57] The gate is the entrance into the city. And the entrance into hell is through sin. So, Jesus said the gates of hell shall not prevail against his church. We know that Jesus took up and bore the weight of our sins up to Golgotha and was set up there on display for all to see.

[21:17] So, this brings us to our second point, that being the conquest resumed and the enemy rendered defenseless, the deliverer is about to be betrayed.

[21:30] So, our second point is Delilah. Now, Delilah attempts multiple times to find out Samson's secret of where his strength lies and she demonstrates multiple times over and over that she's seeking to betray him.

[21:49] She had the Philistines there to take him. She demonstrated three times over that she was seeking to betray Samson. for his subjugation to the enemy.

[22:04] She's seeking to be able to help subjugate him to the enemy and for payment, which is most likely her people. It's not for sure, but it's most likely she's from the area of Tinba.

[22:21] So, it's most likely her people. And she uses, if you notice, manipulation. she really is mocking him by trying to get him to reveal the secret where his strength lies so that she can hand him over to the enemy for his own destruction.

[22:38] But he doesn't tell her the secret and she's manipulative towards him by saying, you've mocked me, you don't love me. Whereas she is the one who's mocking him.

[22:50] She is trying to betray him. Now, as we've already read what happens, Proverbs 27, 15 says, a continual dripping on a very rainy day and a contentious woman are alike.

[23:06] And in Judges 16, 16, we see that take place. And it came to pass when she pestered him daily with her words and pressed him so that his soul was vexed to death, that he told her all his heart.

[23:27] And this, if you remember from last week, this isn't the first time this has happened to Samson. Samson's first wife, who was burned to death, she also in like manner did this in Judges 14, 15 to 17.

[23:41] Let's actually flip over there. Judges 14, specifically 17, but we'll start in 15 for the context. But it came to pass on the seventh day that they said to Samson's wife, entice your husband that he may explain the riddle to us or else we will burn you and your father's house with fire.

[24:00] Have you invited us in order to take what is ours? Is that not so? Then Samson's wife wept on him and said, you only hate me. You do not love me.

[24:10] You have posed a riddle to the sons of my people, but you have not explained it to me. And he said to her, look, I have not explained it to my father or my mother, so should I explain it to you?

[24:22] Now she had wept on him the seven days while their feast lasted, and it came on the seventh day that he told her, because she pressed him so much.

[24:34] Then she explained the riddle to the sons of her people. So this isn't the first time this has happened to Samson. This isn't the first time Samson has been betrayed by a close companion.

[24:49] So you'll notice that Samson's weakness isn't Philistines. Samson single handedly defeats the Philistines.

[25:01] Samson's weakness isn't his, isn't a shaved head. Samson's weakness was the contentions of a woman. It was the nagging of a woman.

[25:12] Now, it's important to acknowledge here that it's not like there was power, power, wonder-working power in the hair of this man.

[25:25] It was symbolic, just as bulls and goats didn't actually atone for sins, but functioned symbolically or as a sign through the act of, through the act of faith, which was demonstrated through obedience.

[25:41] It was spirit-empowered power from God on Samson. So this brings us to our third point, that having been betrayed for payment and silver, the deliverer is about to suffer, be mocked and save his people by his death.

[26:01] Say that one more time. Having been betrayed for payment and silver, the deliverer is about to suffer, be mocked and save his people by his death.

[26:13] The Dagon Temple. Now flip over to Judges 16 verse 21. Then the Philistines took him and put out his eyes and brought him down to Gaza.

[26:31] They bound him with bronze fetters and he became a grinder in the prison. Now, if you remember, as we reflected on earlier and as we read in a previous sermon, is that the Judahites, the descendants of Judah, they were to drive out the inhabitants of the lowlands, but they compromised.

[26:52] Had they not compromised, the inhabitants of the lowlands would not have been there, they would not have re-established Gaza, and there would not have been this enemy force. Now, this Gaza prison slave labor, which Samson had his eyes gouged out, he was bound, and he was brought to slave labor in prison in Gaza, we probably don't really understand the depths of the affliction that he went through there, because the prison at Gaza wasn't exactly unionized, nor did he have ministry of labor to protect him.

[27:33] He was brought low, he was reduced, he was treated with a bind and blind treatment. And this, I think, points us to Jesus' suffering as is described in Psalm 88.

[27:50] Psalm 88 is a shadow or points to a prophecy of Christ's suffering, Christ's affliction, and I think that Samson here in the prison, it points to Jesus' suffering as is described in Psalm 88.

[28:08] So if you recall from Psalm 88, like a man who has no strength, remembered no more, darkness, under heavy wrath, abandoned, cut off, afflicted, darkness.

[28:25] Now, Samson, remember, our examination of the book of Judges is a redemptive historical look of Judges in how it points to Jesus and how there's a shadow or a type of Jesus and his kingdom.

[28:40] And Samson pointing to Jesus, he was brought low in his hour of darkness. Samson was a reproach of men and despised by the people.

[28:51] All those who saw him ridiculed him. Trouble was near him, no one to help. He was surrounded by many bulls, namely about 3,000 Philistine Dagon worshippers.

[29:05] His heart was like wax and his strength dried up. He was brought low to the dust of death. The congregation of the wicked had enclosed him. This also is the description in Psalm 22 of Christ's affliction.

[29:22] In Isaiah 53, 10 of the suffering servant, it says, of Jesus that it was the will of the Lord to crush him. Now, in the temple of Dagon, the Philistines then bring up Samson and what they're doing, try to picture, if you will, the setting.

[29:43] It says in the text that they praised their God. They're not, atheism prohibited in Scripture. Atheism is a condemnable sin.

[29:57] But it's not like they were just atheists. They were worshipping and praising and accrediting a false God. This is much darkness. They praised their God.

[30:09] And it says here, our God has delivered into our hands Samson, our enemy. Now, we don't know in their praising of their God if it was set to common meter or long meter, but they praised him nonetheless.

[30:22] And I imagine that there was probably quite the charismatic frenzy in what they were doing. That Samson was a very serious threat to them.

[30:35] If you remember all the things we recounted of what he had done. And they now had this, this, he who had single handedly defeated them, they now have him.

[30:48] and they are mocking him. I imagine it was quite the charismatic frenzy in this hour of darkness and worshipping darkness and false gods.

[31:01] And if you recall, with Eglon and Ehud brought tribute to Eglon and Ehud said that he had a message from God and it's likely that Ehud thought that this message was to pay tribute to him.

[31:18] And likewise, when Jesus was offered up on the cross, it's likely that Satan thought that this was being paid tribute to him. I think in a similar way there would have been this enthusiasm of frenzy, of darkness, of just such utter darkness in this false God worship service, mocking God, mocking God's deliverer, mocking God's people.

[31:48] This is the setting, and they praised their God, Dagon. So, let's ask the question then, now we can look back and read what came of it, but imagine being in that place at that time, ask the question, has the uncaused first cause, that is, the almighty God from everlasting to everlasting, has he been bested?

[32:18] Was God dependent on Samson's hair strength, and was God then thwarted? No, rather, this was from God.

[32:29] It was his purpose to crush the enemy with a single decisive blow and save his people, just as it was also the father's purpose that the Christ be betrayed, mocked, suffer, and die to crush the head of the oppressive evil enemy and save his people.

[32:51] So, in conclusion, now, I realize that I am not the most animated and maybe colorful personality in how I express things, but to me this is like a 10 out of 10 excitement.

[33:09] This is me being very excited. If I can't portray it in my posture, let it come out in words. So, in conclusion, his people delivered him over to the enemy, and he went willingly, but the bonds he subjected himself to had no power over him.

[33:32] He is betrayed by his close companion for payment and pieces of silver. silver. He is then humiliated and mocked. With Samson, it was 5,500 pieces of silver.

[33:46] Jesus was betrayed by his close companion for much less, for 30 pieces of silver. And he was betrayed by his close companion to be humiliated and mocked.

[33:59] Samson was surrounded by his enemies in his hour of darkness. darkness. Jesus was surrounded by his enemies in his hour of darkness.

[34:10] Luke 22, 53. The Lord departed from Samson, that is, the Lord turned his favor away from Samson in 1620. With Jesus, Jesus bore the sins of his people by imputation, and the Father turned his favor away.

[34:28] Remember, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Back to Samson. The weight of the Philistine temple crushed Samson. The weight of our iniquities crushed Jesus.

[34:42] Isaiah 53, 5. With Samson, the spirit empowered deliverer single-handedly saved his people with a crushing blow. With Jesus, the spirit empowered deliverer single-handedly saved his people with a crushing blow.

[34:59] With Samson, he fulfilled his mission of deliverance at the cost of his life, and God used his death to crush the enemy. Likewise, with Jesus, he fulfilled his mission of deliverance at the cost of his life, and God used his death to crush the enemy.

[35:16] Back to Samson. Samson, by his death, destroyed the Philistine temple. And Jesus, by his death, fulfilled John 2, 19, where Jesus said, destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.

[35:37] Jesus referring to himself, destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. Now, Jesus, the perfect and final deliverer, was truly unrestrainable.

[35:54] I'm going to go back to that last point again. Jesus, by his death, fulfilled John 2, 19, where Jesus said, destroy this temple, which he was crushed, and in three days I will raise it up.

[36:08] Samson was quite unrestrainable, but even death itself could not restrain Jesus. In three days I will raise it up. Jesus did not remain in the grave, but rose from the dead, victorious over sin, over Satan, and death.

[36:27] He rose victorious over the oppressive evil enemy. So, back to Samson. Out of the eater came something to eat.

[36:39] Death consumes all things. Out of the eater, out of death, Jesus, who is the bread of life. So, out of the eater came something to eat.

[36:52] Out of death, Jesus, the bread of life, rose victorious on the third day. Out of the strong came something sweet. Out of suffering, divine wrath, came subsequent glories.

[37:07] Out of unspeakable sorrows came inexpressible joy. And out of the death of believers, glorified saints will taste the sweetness of glory indefectible.

[37:21] This is a glory that does not fade, a glory that does not corrupt, and a glory that cannot be defiled. Out of the strong came something sweet.

[37:32] So, if you are an unbeliever today, and you are still under the oppression and the misery and the condemnation from sin, and you're asking how you can have life in Christ, let me first bring you back to Samson.

[37:47] if you remember with Samson, with his victory with the jawbone, Samson, after the jawbone hill victory, he drank of water that kept him from death.

[37:58] This is in 15 verses 18 to 19. But he drank of the water that kept him from death. The water revived his life. And we know that Jesus is the living water.

[38:10] John 4, 14 says, whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of a water welling up to eternal life.

[38:25] So again, back to that question, if you are an unbeliever today and are still under the oppression and the misery and the condemnation from sin, and you're asking how can I have life in Christ, the Bible tells us in the book of Romans, chapter 10, it says, whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.

[38:44] This is a very simple equation. It does not say, if your good works outweigh your bad works, then you will be saved. It does not say, if you call on the name of the Lord and you also outweigh your bad works, if your good works, you will be saved.

[38:57] There is nothing about works in this equation. Rather, it is, whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. We also know from the book of Romans that those whom God predestines, he calls, and those whom he calls, he justifies, and those whom he justifies, he glorifies.

[39:21] So, if you are an unbeliever and you're trying to figure this out about how do I know if I've been predestined, how do I know if I've been called, this is God's decree, this is God's knowledge.

[39:35] We don't know these things about other people, but we do know that those whom God has predestined, he calls, and sinful mankind, by our nature, are at enmity with God, and starting even with Adam, at the very beginning of the fall, the first sin, what did they do?

[39:56] They hid themselves from God, and it took God calling them back to himself, which is what makes grace so glorious, is that we don't seek after God by our nature.

[40:09] We are so consumed with sin and self in the course of this world that it takes God calling us to himself by making us aware of our sins and renewing our wills.

[40:23] He enables us and persuades us to embrace Jesus Christ as freely offered to us in the gospel. and those whom he calls by enabling us to embrace Jesus Christ, so if you are a believer, if you have embraced Jesus Christ, you are justified.

[40:44] Those whom he calls, he justifies. Being justified because of Christ's righteousness accredited to us, our sins imputed to Christ, paid for and full on the cross.

[40:56] We are justified, not because of our works, not because of things that we've done, not because of our merit, not because of calling on the name of the Lord and subsequently maintaining our justification.

[41:08] We are justified exclusively on the finished work of Christ on the cross. Those whom are called are justified and those whom he justifies, he glorifies.

[41:21] That also is a very simple equation. So that's why we can confidently say whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. So again, if you are an unbeliever today and you are still under the oppression, misery and condemnation from sin and you're asking how you can have life in Christ, if you are asking how can I be saved, whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.

[41:45] And that is because the finished work of Christ on the cross, his righteousness imputed to us. So if you're not an unbeliever, if you are an unbeliever, rejoice in the finished work of Christ on the cross who saved his people by his death.

[42:01] Let's pray. Our great God, we thank you for your word. We thank you for how Christ is the scope of all of scripture, which points to Christ's suffering and subsequent glories and the blessings in the heavenly places of all those who are in Christ.

[42:18] If there are those here today, Lord, who do not know you, we pray that you would indeed effectually call them and that you would call them out of darkness, out of this world, out of sin, into Christ's glorious kingdom of life and light and glory, which is indefectible.

[42:38] I pray that you would indeed encourage and edify all the believers here today in the sweetness that comes out of Christ's death and resurrection. I pray these things in Jesus' name.

[42:51]  Amen. Well, if you'll take your hand rolls and turn to one.