1 00:00:06,220 --> 00:00:08,960 I would ask you kindly to turn with 2 00:00:08,960 --> 00:00:11,220 me to the passage from which Mr. Lowe 3 00:00:11,220 --> 00:00:14,820 has just read, and I would like to 4 00:00:14,820 --> 00:00:21,240 read again those closing words, which will be 5 00:00:21,240 --> 00:00:24,380 the focus of our meditation this evening. 6 00:00:25,840 --> 00:00:31,479 Then the Philistines seized him, gouged out his 7 00:00:31,479 --> 00:00:34,620 eyes, and took him down to Gaza. 8 00:00:36,220 --> 00:00:41,000 Binding him with bronze shackles, they set him 9 00:00:41,000 --> 00:00:42,740 to grinding in the prison. 10 00:00:44,860 --> 00:00:48,520 But the hair on his head began to 11 00:00:48,520 --> 00:00:55,110 grow again after it had been shaved, giant, 12 00:00:55,770 --> 00:00:56,970 un-gianted. 13 00:00:59,360 --> 00:01:02,360 Samson's public life as a judge in ancient 14 00:01:02,360 --> 00:01:05,520 Israel stretched over a period of twenty years 15 00:01:05,520 --> 00:01:10,920 or so, though the biblical record covers only 16 00:01:10,920 --> 00:01:15,540 a few chosen excerpts, a few chosen incidents 17 00:01:15,540 --> 00:01:19,440 from the entire history, and the perusal of 18 00:01:19,440 --> 00:01:21,320 the material may well stagger us. 19 00:01:23,340 --> 00:01:29,320 Not one incident really serves to show Samson 20 00:01:29,320 --> 00:01:33,040 as a man of God, or a man 21 00:01:33,040 --> 00:01:35,260 of spiritual stature. 22 00:01:36,640 --> 00:01:41,440 There are indications here of what might have 23 00:01:41,440 --> 00:01:46,220 developed into spiritual maturity, but they never did. 24 00:01:48,400 --> 00:01:50,760 The record of this life is probably one 25 00:01:50,760 --> 00:01:54,360 of the saddest, one of the most tragic 26 00:01:54,360 --> 00:01:56,620 in the entire annals of Holy Scripture. 27 00:01:57,840 --> 00:02:00,240 And I have a distinct fear in my 28 00:02:00,240 --> 00:02:03,820 heart as I speak about Samson tonight, but 29 00:02:03,820 --> 00:02:06,020 I'm constrained to do so, and I feel 30 00:02:06,020 --> 00:02:09,180 I must share with you some of the 31 00:02:09,180 --> 00:02:13,580 sordid facts of the case, in order that 32 00:02:13,580 --> 00:02:16,360 we may discern something of God's grace, and 33 00:02:16,360 --> 00:02:21,880 hear perhaps God's warning to an age that 34 00:02:21,880 --> 00:02:24,700 is very similar indeed to the age in 35 00:02:24,700 --> 00:02:25,820 which Samson lived. 36 00:02:27,800 --> 00:02:30,580 Now there are aspects of Samson's life then 37 00:02:30,580 --> 00:02:34,200 which are positively nauseating to read. 38 00:02:34,760 --> 00:02:37,200 I've no doubt that as Mr. Lowe began 39 00:02:37,200 --> 00:02:40,020 to read that sixteenth chapter tonight, some of 40 00:02:40,020 --> 00:02:42,560 you found a little jerk in your spirits, 41 00:02:44,060 --> 00:02:46,220 because of the things to which it refers. 42 00:02:47,940 --> 00:02:49,600 But that's just it. 43 00:02:50,740 --> 00:02:53,780 The Word of God addresses things exactly as 44 00:02:53,780 --> 00:02:54,420 they are. 45 00:02:54,740 --> 00:02:58,000 God is the faithful witness, and the Word 46 00:02:58,000 --> 00:02:59,100 of God is true. 47 00:02:59,380 --> 00:03:02,060 And it is a mirror of life as 48 00:03:02,060 --> 00:03:04,560 it has been, and as it is. 49 00:03:06,380 --> 00:03:09,600 And on that account of course, this passage, 50 00:03:09,760 --> 00:03:11,720 like every other passage, has its own way 51 00:03:11,720 --> 00:03:17,100 of addressing us in our very sordid civilization 52 00:03:17,100 --> 00:03:19,740 in 1985. 53 00:03:22,040 --> 00:03:24,320 Now the first thing I would like you 54 00:03:24,320 --> 00:03:26,380 to notice in the life of this man 55 00:03:26,380 --> 00:03:31,540 Samson is the almost total rule of lust. 56 00:03:34,310 --> 00:03:36,070 It's a strange thing to have to say 57 00:03:36,070 --> 00:03:36,310 it. 58 00:03:37,110 --> 00:03:39,470 It sounds terrible to have to announce from 59 00:03:39,470 --> 00:03:42,710 a pulpit, but there was a man in 60 00:03:42,710 --> 00:03:45,910 the Old Testament who ruled the ancient people 61 00:03:45,910 --> 00:03:52,290 of God, who was almost completely dominated by 62 00:03:52,290 --> 00:03:53,450 his own lust. 63 00:03:58,570 --> 00:04:00,410 Lust is passion run wild. 64 00:04:02,270 --> 00:04:06,230 It's the mastery of life by what was 65 00:04:06,230 --> 00:04:08,630 meant to be its servant. 66 00:04:10,490 --> 00:04:13,710 The exercise of unlimited rule by a power 67 00:04:13,710 --> 00:04:16,870 that was meant to be under constant control. 68 00:04:18,550 --> 00:04:20,750 In consequence of such a reversal of the 69 00:04:20,750 --> 00:04:26,790 divinely ordained order of things, chaos inevitably and 70 00:04:26,790 --> 00:04:28,210 invariably follows. 71 00:04:30,540 --> 00:04:34,020 When controlled or righteously of course, these latent 72 00:04:34,020 --> 00:04:36,920 human desires given us by the Creator have 73 00:04:36,920 --> 00:04:40,780 a high and a noble intention and goal 74 00:04:40,780 --> 00:04:41,760 in mind. 75 00:04:42,620 --> 00:04:46,000 But once they get out of control, they 76 00:04:46,000 --> 00:04:48,760 turn man into a beast and they turn 77 00:04:48,760 --> 00:04:51,200 society into a moral jungle. 78 00:04:53,660 --> 00:04:57,600 They bring kings from their thrones and angels 79 00:04:57,600 --> 00:05:00,060 from their thrones likewise. 80 00:05:01,760 --> 00:05:07,920 Kingdoms and civilizations that have long and successfully 81 00:05:07,920 --> 00:05:13,960 withstood the power of mailed armor have withered 82 00:05:13,960 --> 00:05:21,020 to the scrap heap because of infernal lust 83 00:05:21,020 --> 00:05:21,860 within. 84 00:05:26,740 --> 00:05:30,080 Now believe it or not, Samson was the 85 00:05:30,080 --> 00:05:32,660 son of a God-fearing father and mother, 86 00:05:32,980 --> 00:05:35,840 and this is where the sad story begins. 87 00:05:38,500 --> 00:05:40,140 If he was a child of some of 88 00:05:40,140 --> 00:05:43,540 our modern homes, then you might not be 89 00:05:43,540 --> 00:05:45,300 so surprised at the issue. 90 00:05:47,700 --> 00:05:50,660 But Samson was the child of a very, 91 00:05:50,900 --> 00:05:52,360 very godly home. 92 00:05:54,550 --> 00:05:58,370 His parents were, one might almost say, peculiarly 93 00:05:58,370 --> 00:05:58,810 godly. 94 00:06:00,250 --> 00:06:02,990 He was a very special gift of God 95 00:06:02,990 --> 00:06:05,170 to a couple who were bent on the 96 00:06:05,170 --> 00:06:08,370 glory of God in an age when very 97 00:06:08,370 --> 00:06:09,350 few people were. 98 00:06:12,640 --> 00:06:16,300 You know, I feel one should interject here 99 00:06:17,640 --> 00:06:18,960 and say this. 100 00:06:19,980 --> 00:06:25,900 Some children of godly parentage need to be 101 00:06:25,900 --> 00:06:31,010 told that they have not arrived in this 102 00:06:31,010 --> 00:06:35,210 world simply due to the turn of biological 103 00:06:35,210 --> 00:06:42,510 processes, but they have come by the intervention 104 00:06:42,510 --> 00:06:44,510 of God in answer to prayer. 105 00:06:47,500 --> 00:06:49,720 Some children need to be told that. 106 00:06:52,310 --> 00:06:53,810 Samson was a case in point. 107 00:06:54,990 --> 00:06:57,750 He was born, he was conceived in the 108 00:06:57,750 --> 00:07:01,810 womb in answer to prayer, and he was 109 00:07:01,810 --> 00:07:05,550 a gift of God to his parents and 110 00:07:05,550 --> 00:07:06,290 to his nation. 111 00:07:07,790 --> 00:07:11,550 Because he was thus given, his parents dedicated 112 00:07:11,550 --> 00:07:13,530 himself to the service of the Lord from 113 00:07:13,530 --> 00:07:14,230 the very beginning. 114 00:07:15,190 --> 00:07:16,670 I have no doubt it was a very 115 00:07:16,670 --> 00:07:19,090 lovely, a very wholesome, and perhaps a very 116 00:07:19,090 --> 00:07:22,770 holy occasion when his father and his mother 117 00:07:22,770 --> 00:07:24,750 brought him, and whatever the nature of the 118 00:07:24,750 --> 00:07:28,830 service exactly, they dedicated the boy to the 119 00:07:28,830 --> 00:07:31,250 glory and the service of the God who 120 00:07:31,250 --> 00:07:32,930 had given him to them. 121 00:07:35,610 --> 00:07:38,530 I personally, I'm reading in, maybe when I 122 00:07:38,530 --> 00:07:40,970 say this, but I have in my heart 123 00:07:40,970 --> 00:07:44,350 the feeling that that they really expected something 124 00:07:44,350 --> 00:07:46,450 from this boy when they called him Samson. 125 00:07:48,410 --> 00:07:51,550 You see, the name Samson is somehow or 126 00:07:51,550 --> 00:07:53,750 other, never mind how quite, but it is 127 00:07:53,750 --> 00:07:56,410 somehow or other related to the Hebrew word 128 00:07:56,410 --> 00:08:03,700 for sun, s-u-n, shemesh, and somehow 129 00:08:03,700 --> 00:08:05,940 or other they looked upon this little bundle 130 00:08:05,940 --> 00:08:10,180 of babyhood in their hands as if the 131 00:08:10,180 --> 00:08:10,940 sun was risen. 132 00:08:13,160 --> 00:08:15,640 And here has come someone into the darkness 133 00:08:15,640 --> 00:08:19,200 of the hour to bring light and life 134 00:08:19,200 --> 00:08:23,380 and hope and joy and a new day. 135 00:08:25,100 --> 00:08:31,100 Samson is born, a sun is risen, but 136 00:08:31,100 --> 00:08:35,059 actually a sun never shone. 137 00:08:37,179 --> 00:08:38,960 It was under a cloud from the very 138 00:08:38,960 --> 00:08:43,680 beginning apart from one or two minor incidents 139 00:08:43,680 --> 00:08:49,040 when something extraordinary seemed to manifest itself. 140 00:08:50,840 --> 00:08:53,300 Actually there were only one or two such 141 00:08:53,300 --> 00:08:57,160 promising signs emerging in the early years of 142 00:08:57,160 --> 00:08:59,140 Samson as far as we can read from 143 00:08:59,140 --> 00:09:02,280 the record, causing his parents perhaps to believe 144 00:09:02,280 --> 00:09:04,320 that their dreams were true, but only to 145 00:09:04,320 --> 00:09:06,620 be disappointed a little later on. 146 00:09:07,020 --> 00:09:09,500 We read, for example, in Judges 13 verses 147 00:09:09,500 --> 00:09:13,580 24 and 25, just after it records the 148 00:09:13,580 --> 00:09:16,880 birth of the boy, he grew and the 149 00:09:16,880 --> 00:09:17,900 Lord blessed him. 150 00:09:18,000 --> 00:09:19,780 So the Lord's blessing was upon him in 151 00:09:19,780 --> 00:09:22,960 his youth, and the spirit of the Lord 152 00:09:22,960 --> 00:09:25,640 began to stir him. 153 00:09:26,280 --> 00:09:28,340 That's a very remarkable statement. 154 00:09:29,300 --> 00:09:32,380 The spirit of the Lord began to stir 155 00:09:32,380 --> 00:09:37,080 him while he was in Mahanedan between Zorah 156 00:09:37,080 --> 00:09:38,720 and Eshteroth. 157 00:09:39,880 --> 00:09:42,160 Doubtless all this raised the hopes of his 158 00:09:42,160 --> 00:09:44,420 parents that we can't say exactly what it 159 00:09:44,420 --> 00:09:46,480 meant, but something happened. 160 00:09:49,760 --> 00:09:51,960 They were doomed, as we have already said, 161 00:09:52,020 --> 00:09:53,880 to disappointment in due course. 162 00:09:55,020 --> 00:09:57,760 Those early promises were not fulfilled. 163 00:09:58,720 --> 00:09:59,960 They came to nothing. 164 00:10:00,100 --> 00:10:04,100 On the contrary, Samson became more and more 165 00:10:04,100 --> 00:10:07,660 body and less and less soul. 166 00:10:10,530 --> 00:10:14,430 Almost everything thereafter recorded of him depicts his 167 00:10:14,430 --> 00:10:18,230 soul becoming more and more shriveled and impoverished. 168 00:10:18,750 --> 00:10:21,330 Even as his body became stronger, he became 169 00:10:21,330 --> 00:10:25,110 physically a giant and his soul shriveled to 170 00:10:25,110 --> 00:10:27,350 a dwarf state. 171 00:10:30,060 --> 00:10:32,760 Wherever he went, he brought darkness rather than 172 00:10:32,760 --> 00:10:37,640 light, dishonor rather than respect and hope. 173 00:10:38,140 --> 00:10:40,540 You know, it is a sad spectacle to 174 00:10:40,540 --> 00:10:44,460 see this judge of Israel proving to be 175 00:10:44,460 --> 00:10:50,360 more morally dangerous to Israel's enemies than militarily 176 00:10:50,360 --> 00:10:50,760 so. 177 00:10:52,820 --> 00:10:57,410 He was a moral nuisance more than he 178 00:10:57,410 --> 00:10:58,970 was a military nuisance. 179 00:11:02,270 --> 00:11:04,990 And so deterioration having set in rather early, 180 00:11:05,090 --> 00:11:06,970 though we cannot give the details, scripture does 181 00:11:06,970 --> 00:11:10,770 not tell us, but that deterioration continued. 182 00:11:10,870 --> 00:11:13,650 The process we have briefly hinted at continued 183 00:11:13,650 --> 00:11:16,230 apace throughout the years of his life. 184 00:11:16,850 --> 00:11:20,230 The deterioration took the form of an ever 185 00:11:20,230 --> 00:11:23,670 -increasing desecration of everything that was holy. 186 00:11:26,550 --> 00:11:28,850 You saw the man growing into a physical 187 00:11:28,850 --> 00:11:32,950 giant, but every inch of his massive frame, 188 00:11:33,830 --> 00:11:38,310 every gift he possessed, all the potentiality of 189 00:11:38,310 --> 00:11:41,450 body and soul, everything seemed to be harnessed 190 00:11:41,450 --> 00:11:45,050 just to give vent to his lust and 191 00:11:45,050 --> 00:11:45,610 his passion. 192 00:11:49,280 --> 00:11:52,600 Though everything was dedicated to God in his 193 00:11:52,600 --> 00:11:56,440 early days, now everything is used to dishonor 194 00:11:56,440 --> 00:11:56,920 the Lord. 195 00:11:58,420 --> 00:12:00,040 It's a very sad picture. 196 00:12:02,570 --> 00:12:06,870 Reared in a Nazarite, as a Nazarite by 197 00:12:06,870 --> 00:12:11,730 parents whose hearts were set on this, he 198 00:12:11,730 --> 00:12:14,390 was disciplined, you remember, not to touch, as 199 00:12:14,390 --> 00:12:17,190 every Nazarite was, not to touch anything that 200 00:12:17,190 --> 00:12:22,140 was unclean, not to drink wine or shave 201 00:12:22,140 --> 00:12:24,580 his head as a symbol of his spiritual 202 00:12:24,580 --> 00:12:25,920 dedication to the Lord. 203 00:12:26,880 --> 00:12:28,620 There was meaning to this, I shall mention 204 00:12:28,620 --> 00:12:31,000 it before we close, more than I can 205 00:12:31,000 --> 00:12:31,460 now. 206 00:12:32,180 --> 00:12:36,640 Yet one by one, Samson desecrated every single 207 00:12:36,640 --> 00:12:36,960 gift. 208 00:12:37,380 --> 00:12:40,880 He broke every single vow, and he used 209 00:12:40,880 --> 00:12:45,400 everything that he was and had for his 210 00:12:45,400 --> 00:12:48,700 own evil purpose. 211 00:12:52,500 --> 00:12:55,740 And he became physically involved in one orgy 212 00:12:55,740 --> 00:12:59,620 of passion after another, until you really wonder 213 00:12:59,620 --> 00:13:01,440 what's going to happen next. 214 00:13:01,880 --> 00:13:05,180 And it is, as one ancient commentator put 215 00:13:05,180 --> 00:13:07,140 it, it is with a sense of great 216 00:13:07,140 --> 00:13:10,780 relief that one sees Samson as a corpse, 217 00:13:11,460 --> 00:13:12,380 dead. 218 00:13:18,500 --> 00:13:21,740 Thus Samson's energies and gifts became wholly dissipated. 219 00:13:22,800 --> 00:13:25,620 I repeat, what was dedicated to God became 220 00:13:25,620 --> 00:13:27,920 completely desecrated by sin. 221 00:13:28,860 --> 00:13:35,260 And with thoughtless, frivolous self-satisfaction, he went 222 00:13:35,260 --> 00:13:38,920 from one escapade to another, until he finally 223 00:13:38,920 --> 00:13:43,740 ended up in the tragedy reported at the 224 00:13:43,740 --> 00:13:46,400 end of Judges chapter 16. 225 00:13:47,080 --> 00:13:50,460 Now in all this we see him defying 226 00:13:50,460 --> 00:13:53,520 the Almighty God, to whom he owed his 227 00:13:53,520 --> 00:13:56,900 life, and to whom he was dedicated from 228 00:13:56,900 --> 00:13:57,720 his childhood. 229 00:13:58,780 --> 00:14:01,240 His every deed seems to have been a 230 00:14:01,240 --> 00:14:03,280 provocation of God's holy wrath. 231 00:14:04,700 --> 00:14:06,660 And it is, it is, it is awesome, 232 00:14:06,880 --> 00:14:09,720 really awesome, it is frightening to find that 233 00:14:09,720 --> 00:14:14,480 wherever Samson appeared, in all these records, wherever 234 00:14:14,480 --> 00:14:17,980 he appeared, it is either to destroy men 235 00:14:17,980 --> 00:14:19,420 or to debase women. 236 00:14:23,130 --> 00:14:24,830 And you read the story, you read the 237 00:14:24,830 --> 00:14:25,110 story. 238 00:14:26,350 --> 00:14:29,390 It is either to destroy men or debase 239 00:14:29,390 --> 00:14:30,070 women, folk. 240 00:14:30,070 --> 00:14:31,790 Either or. 241 00:14:32,450 --> 00:14:34,370 There is very little else in this man's 242 00:14:34,370 --> 00:14:34,610 life. 243 00:14:37,870 --> 00:14:39,890 And so we come to what I would 244 00:14:39,890 --> 00:14:43,330 refer to as an almost total loss of 245 00:14:43,330 --> 00:14:44,790 luster altogether. 246 00:14:47,640 --> 00:14:51,360 I say almost, because there may well have 247 00:14:51,360 --> 00:14:53,360 been features in his life that the scriptures 248 00:14:53,360 --> 00:14:54,400 don't tell us about. 249 00:14:54,700 --> 00:14:56,040 I would love to think that. 250 00:14:59,130 --> 00:15:01,450 The picture, as far as we see in 251 00:15:01,450 --> 00:15:04,230 scripture, is a terribly dark picture. 252 00:15:05,390 --> 00:15:08,710 Knowing his spiritual pedigree, we might be tempted 253 00:15:08,710 --> 00:15:11,470 to hope still for some change. 254 00:15:13,440 --> 00:15:15,920 But the record progresses only to show the 255 00:15:15,920 --> 00:15:18,860 tragedy getting, as we've said, darker and darker, 256 00:15:19,060 --> 00:15:22,360 bleaker and bleaker, until the end comes in 257 00:15:22,360 --> 00:15:24,240 ignominy and shame and death. 258 00:15:26,450 --> 00:15:29,990 Now the record moves gradually towards that climax, 259 00:15:30,550 --> 00:15:35,710 stressing the character of, at that stage, the 260 00:15:35,710 --> 00:15:39,970 ignoble women whom he befriended. 261 00:15:40,730 --> 00:15:43,530 And particularly, of course, the one whose name 262 00:15:43,530 --> 00:15:44,370 is Delilah. 263 00:15:45,790 --> 00:15:48,550 Her nationality is more in doubt than her 264 00:15:48,550 --> 00:15:49,030 character. 265 00:15:50,650 --> 00:15:53,850 Though she has actually spared the disreputable title 266 00:15:53,850 --> 00:15:56,510 given to another of her class in the 267 00:15:56,510 --> 00:15:59,650 first verse of chapter 16, she is no 268 00:15:59,650 --> 00:16:00,990 better than a prostitute. 269 00:16:02,150 --> 00:16:04,430 And she is in league with the Philistines. 270 00:16:04,590 --> 00:16:06,330 Whether she was a Philistine or not, we're 271 00:16:06,330 --> 00:16:07,010 not quite sure. 272 00:16:07,830 --> 00:16:09,650 But she was in league with the Philistines, 273 00:16:09,730 --> 00:16:12,190 who hated Samson and hated the Israelites. 274 00:16:13,990 --> 00:16:17,810 And you remember, as soon as Samson became 275 00:16:17,810 --> 00:16:21,650 involved with her, she began her beguiling ministrations 276 00:16:21,650 --> 00:16:24,070 with insidious mastery. 277 00:16:24,390 --> 00:16:28,990 Here was most certainly a woman who was 278 00:16:28,990 --> 00:16:30,830 under demonic control. 279 00:16:32,610 --> 00:16:34,230 She had her inspiration. 280 00:16:34,730 --> 00:16:36,470 She knew how to do what she wanted 281 00:16:36,470 --> 00:16:36,910 to do. 282 00:16:38,250 --> 00:16:42,570 She enticed Samson so completely that his capacity 283 00:16:42,570 --> 00:16:45,430 for rational thought seems to have been completely 284 00:16:45,430 --> 00:16:46,090 overwhelmed. 285 00:16:48,210 --> 00:16:49,390 It's uncanny. 286 00:16:49,650 --> 00:16:51,890 He just wouldn't believe it if it weren't 287 00:16:51,890 --> 00:16:52,390 in the book. 288 00:16:54,070 --> 00:16:56,310 But a man who could be the ruler 289 00:16:56,310 --> 00:16:59,490 of his people should lose control over his 290 00:16:59,490 --> 00:17:01,270 capacity to think rationally. 291 00:17:02,730 --> 00:17:03,890 But he does. 292 00:17:05,310 --> 00:17:06,849 And passion can do that. 293 00:17:09,210 --> 00:17:17,930 Unbridled passion, passion run wild, can so wreak 294 00:17:17,930 --> 00:17:21,430 havoc in the realm of person's thinking that 295 00:17:21,430 --> 00:17:24,390 he becomes incapable of rational thought. 296 00:17:25,349 --> 00:17:27,970 And here is one of the tragic cases 297 00:17:27,970 --> 00:17:29,250 that the Bible refers to. 298 00:17:31,080 --> 00:17:34,900 He was as a man bewitched, mesmerized by 299 00:17:34,900 --> 00:17:35,420 this woman. 300 00:17:36,760 --> 00:17:38,960 He slept with his head on a lap. 301 00:17:39,920 --> 00:17:43,180 He became insensitive to obvious warnings that were 302 00:17:43,180 --> 00:17:45,840 given him from one source or another until 303 00:17:45,840 --> 00:17:48,180 he finally opens to her the secret of 304 00:17:48,180 --> 00:17:50,700 his heart and of his great strength. 305 00:17:51,900 --> 00:17:54,140 Now the story is a pathetic one as 306 00:17:54,140 --> 00:17:56,160 you read on in chapter 16. 307 00:17:56,920 --> 00:17:58,520 And here it is that we come to 308 00:17:58,520 --> 00:18:00,540 the climax, the awful climax. 309 00:18:01,980 --> 00:18:05,400 Lulled into insensitivity by the enticements of Delilah, 310 00:18:06,480 --> 00:18:10,140 Samson, albeit a little reticent at the beginning, 311 00:18:10,420 --> 00:18:11,600 he led her astray twice. 312 00:18:11,860 --> 00:18:12,980 He lied to her. 313 00:18:13,560 --> 00:18:16,180 He was unwilling at the beginning, but he 314 00:18:16,180 --> 00:18:16,960 couldn't withhold. 315 00:18:17,380 --> 00:18:18,680 His passion was too great. 316 00:18:18,760 --> 00:18:19,900 He loved her too much. 317 00:18:20,840 --> 00:18:26,530 And her charms, finally he gave in. 318 00:18:27,910 --> 00:18:31,190 And he told her, if you shave the 319 00:18:31,190 --> 00:18:33,110 hair of my head, I will be exactly 320 00:18:33,110 --> 00:18:34,170 like another person. 321 00:18:35,050 --> 00:18:37,090 I will have no more strength than anybody 322 00:18:37,090 --> 00:18:37,610 else. 323 00:18:38,650 --> 00:18:40,730 And there's a reason for this, because I'm 324 00:18:40,730 --> 00:18:41,410 a Nazarite. 325 00:18:42,050 --> 00:18:44,050 And he tells her, he opens his heart 326 00:18:44,050 --> 00:18:47,530 to her, and probably says more, enlarges upon 327 00:18:47,530 --> 00:18:49,570 what we have here in a kind of 328 00:18:49,570 --> 00:18:51,770 shorthand report in scripture. 329 00:18:53,830 --> 00:18:58,630 And then when he's told her everything, she 330 00:18:58,630 --> 00:18:59,610 gets him to sleep. 331 00:19:01,410 --> 00:19:03,710 We're not told again how all this happened. 332 00:19:03,810 --> 00:19:05,110 We have to read between the lines. 333 00:19:05,250 --> 00:19:06,890 You see, it's a shorthand record. 334 00:19:08,070 --> 00:19:09,750 But she got him to sleep all right. 335 00:19:09,790 --> 00:19:10,870 She knew how to do that. 336 00:19:11,530 --> 00:19:14,090 And when he was asleep, she said, Samson, 337 00:19:14,670 --> 00:19:16,430 the Philistines are upon you. 338 00:19:17,530 --> 00:19:18,050 What? 339 00:19:19,090 --> 00:19:20,610 And you can see the big old giant 340 00:19:20,610 --> 00:19:21,470 shaking himself. 341 00:19:22,390 --> 00:19:25,410 Big of body, masculine of body, and muscular. 342 00:19:25,790 --> 00:19:28,090 Here he shakes himself free of his sleep, 343 00:19:28,150 --> 00:19:31,390 and he stands on his two high legs. 344 00:19:32,330 --> 00:19:34,130 And he says, I will go out as 345 00:19:34,130 --> 00:19:35,290 at other times. 346 00:19:36,050 --> 00:19:38,030 But there was something he didn't know. 347 00:19:41,260 --> 00:19:45,120 A spirit of God had departed from him. 348 00:19:47,720 --> 00:19:50,320 And because the spirit of God, the source 349 00:19:50,320 --> 00:19:53,180 of his strength, was vanished, he was not 350 00:19:53,180 --> 00:19:54,080 the man he was. 351 00:19:55,700 --> 00:19:57,400 He has lost something. 352 00:19:57,660 --> 00:20:00,080 He did not know that the Lord had 353 00:20:00,080 --> 00:20:00,800 left him. 354 00:20:01,700 --> 00:20:04,340 Grieved a thousand times, the Holy Spirit now 355 00:20:04,340 --> 00:20:06,020 withdrew his benefits. 356 00:20:07,220 --> 00:20:10,140 And he let the man slip into the 357 00:20:10,140 --> 00:20:13,920 self-chosen prison house of his own carnality, 358 00:20:14,620 --> 00:20:18,400 leaving him to himself to cope with the 359 00:20:18,400 --> 00:20:22,560 things to which he had wedded his own 360 00:20:22,560 --> 00:20:23,120 soul. 361 00:20:24,600 --> 00:20:26,080 Now the result was fatal. 362 00:20:26,840 --> 00:20:31,320 You see, when robbed of his physical strength, 363 00:20:31,540 --> 00:20:32,940 poor Samson had nothing left. 364 00:20:36,400 --> 00:20:38,240 What would you have left if you lost 365 00:20:38,240 --> 00:20:39,360 your physical strength? 366 00:20:40,340 --> 00:20:40,740 Anything? 367 00:20:45,320 --> 00:20:48,320 Brother and sister, I suggest to you this 368 00:20:48,320 --> 00:20:50,320 is a very important question. 369 00:20:53,060 --> 00:20:55,020 What would you, what would I have left 370 00:20:55,020 --> 00:20:57,000 if I lost my physical strength? 371 00:21:01,140 --> 00:21:01,560 Anything? 372 00:21:01,560 --> 00:21:01,700 Nothing? 373 00:21:03,840 --> 00:21:05,000 Samson had nothing. 374 00:21:05,780 --> 00:21:07,480 He was all body and no soul by 375 00:21:07,480 --> 00:21:08,060 this time. 376 00:21:11,050 --> 00:21:13,730 His whole being was demuted of its every 377 00:21:13,730 --> 00:21:17,110 semblance of glory and every human prospect of 378 00:21:17,110 --> 00:21:18,890 reclamation, lusterless. 379 00:21:19,810 --> 00:21:22,090 He falls prisoner to a people he would 380 00:21:22,090 --> 00:21:23,690 otherwise have ground to powder. 381 00:21:27,880 --> 00:21:29,160 And the tragedy proceeds. 382 00:21:29,240 --> 00:21:30,220 You see the landslide. 383 00:21:30,360 --> 00:21:32,220 You see, you see the movement. 384 00:21:32,460 --> 00:21:34,260 He's going down, down, down. 385 00:21:35,600 --> 00:21:39,500 There is a bottomless pit that awaits him. 386 00:21:42,390 --> 00:21:43,970 With his head on the lap of the 387 00:21:43,970 --> 00:21:47,430 ignoble Delilah, we can see Samson moving towards 388 00:21:47,430 --> 00:21:51,710 this sad state of affairs. 389 00:21:53,350 --> 00:21:55,290 And then his captors got him. 390 00:21:58,540 --> 00:22:00,300 And the first thing they did is to 391 00:22:00,300 --> 00:22:01,500 gouge out his eyes. 392 00:22:04,110 --> 00:22:06,490 This of course in Philistine, it was the 393 00:22:06,490 --> 00:22:09,790 Philistine way of saying, we treat you with 394 00:22:09,790 --> 00:22:11,670 the utmost disrespect. 395 00:22:15,670 --> 00:22:18,470 It was symbolic of their total mastery over 396 00:22:18,470 --> 00:22:21,970 him and their total disrespect for any person. 397 00:22:22,170 --> 00:22:23,050 This is what they did. 398 00:22:23,670 --> 00:22:25,090 They gouged out both eyes. 399 00:22:26,210 --> 00:22:28,890 The Philistines gouging out of Samson's eyes then 400 00:22:28,890 --> 00:22:33,090 exhibited their total anger and disrespect for him. 401 00:22:33,430 --> 00:22:36,430 It was another way of spitting into his 402 00:22:36,430 --> 00:22:36,770 face. 403 00:22:41,390 --> 00:22:45,250 Many another Samson has lost his vision along 404 00:22:45,250 --> 00:22:47,810 the same path, not physically perhaps. 405 00:22:49,830 --> 00:22:53,130 This is one thing that happens when unbridled 406 00:22:53,130 --> 00:22:55,690 passion rules in a life. 407 00:22:56,530 --> 00:22:59,090 A man or a woman loses his or 408 00:22:59,090 --> 00:22:59,970 her vision. 409 00:23:03,750 --> 00:23:07,590 Time was when God was evident in his 410 00:23:07,590 --> 00:23:13,850 providence, in his grace, in his will, in 411 00:23:13,850 --> 00:23:14,410 everything. 412 00:23:14,710 --> 00:23:18,150 God and God's will was clear. 413 00:23:20,360 --> 00:23:25,520 But when passion rules and holds the reins, 414 00:23:26,520 --> 00:23:28,620 vision vanishes. 415 00:23:31,040 --> 00:23:31,980 Haven't you seen it? 416 00:23:32,500 --> 00:23:33,120 I have. 417 00:23:36,400 --> 00:23:38,680 Not only did they gouge out his eyes, 418 00:23:38,760 --> 00:23:41,300 but they bound him with bronze shackles. 419 00:23:42,020 --> 00:23:43,560 He was deprived of liberty. 420 00:23:44,500 --> 00:23:47,880 Having so long been a man who was 421 00:23:47,880 --> 00:23:51,360 subject to no one else's requirements, moving where 422 00:23:51,360 --> 00:23:54,720 he would and how he would and whenever 423 00:23:54,720 --> 00:23:56,960 he would, a man who was master of 424 00:23:56,960 --> 00:24:00,420 himself, complete master of himself in one sense, 425 00:24:00,560 --> 00:24:03,220 though slave to himself in another sense, who 426 00:24:03,220 --> 00:24:05,760 chose what he would do and obeyed no 427 00:24:05,760 --> 00:24:06,300 one else. 428 00:24:07,560 --> 00:24:10,040 Here he is at last deprived of movement, 429 00:24:10,040 --> 00:24:11,560 deprived of liberty. 430 00:24:12,220 --> 00:24:17,940 Samson the giant in prison and his feet 431 00:24:17,940 --> 00:24:20,960 in bronze shackles that he could not break. 432 00:24:22,360 --> 00:24:25,740 He tore everything, but he couldn't tear these. 433 00:24:28,020 --> 00:24:30,740 Put new cart ropes over his hands and 434 00:24:30,740 --> 00:24:32,620 bind his wrists and his arms. 435 00:24:33,360 --> 00:24:35,080 They were just like a little bit of 436 00:24:35,080 --> 00:24:38,960 flax before the flame, but he couldn't touch 437 00:24:38,960 --> 00:24:39,500 these. 438 00:24:40,820 --> 00:24:44,280 These stayed on, though Samson was a giant. 439 00:24:45,560 --> 00:24:47,400 All the philistines knew what they were doing. 440 00:24:48,180 --> 00:24:50,660 They were determined to humble him to the 441 00:24:50,660 --> 00:24:52,060 very dust if they could. 442 00:24:55,360 --> 00:24:58,320 I've seen others move in that way, spiritually 443 00:24:58,320 --> 00:24:59,460 if not physically. 444 00:25:00,860 --> 00:25:03,500 They've got into a prison house from which 445 00:25:03,500 --> 00:25:08,020 they have cried to get out and wept 446 00:25:08,020 --> 00:25:08,960 and wept. 447 00:25:10,380 --> 00:25:12,780 But it seemed that they too were in 448 00:25:12,780 --> 00:25:14,120 bronze shackles. 449 00:25:17,150 --> 00:25:18,690 But look, it doesn't end there. 450 00:25:18,790 --> 00:25:22,430 The philistines set him in the prison to 451 00:25:22,430 --> 00:25:24,950 grind corn in the prison house. 452 00:25:25,830 --> 00:25:27,650 Now this may not mean very much to 453 00:25:27,650 --> 00:25:31,650 us, but it does mean much in its 454 00:25:31,650 --> 00:25:32,430 own context. 455 00:25:33,170 --> 00:25:36,170 It really is the climax of the whole 456 00:25:36,170 --> 00:25:36,530 thing. 457 00:25:37,590 --> 00:25:41,870 We miss the shame involved in this in 458 00:25:41,870 --> 00:25:46,190 a philistine society because we do not commonly 459 00:25:46,190 --> 00:25:50,030 appreciate that a woman really took a subservient 460 00:25:50,030 --> 00:25:51,870 place in philistine society. 461 00:25:54,190 --> 00:25:56,410 This was a woman's work or the work 462 00:25:56,410 --> 00:25:57,090 of an ass. 463 00:25:59,400 --> 00:26:02,680 Sorry ladies, that's not me, but that's history. 464 00:26:04,560 --> 00:26:07,880 The woman was unquestionably inferior in philistine thought 465 00:26:07,880 --> 00:26:10,200 at this time and it was the woman's 466 00:26:10,200 --> 00:26:13,000 job or the job of an ass to 467 00:26:13,000 --> 00:26:15,760 grind out the corn in the prison house. 468 00:26:17,580 --> 00:26:19,280 And you see what they're doing to Samson 469 00:26:19,280 --> 00:26:19,740 is this. 470 00:26:20,460 --> 00:26:23,460 They're going to humble him to the very 471 00:26:23,460 --> 00:26:25,200 dust and ashes. 472 00:26:26,060 --> 00:26:28,760 They'll give the giant a woman's work to 473 00:26:28,760 --> 00:26:30,820 do or the work of a donkey. 474 00:26:34,710 --> 00:26:36,670 They not only rob him of vision and 475 00:26:36,670 --> 00:26:38,810 liberty, but they set him to do a 476 00:26:38,810 --> 00:26:40,310 maid's work in a prison house. 477 00:26:40,950 --> 00:26:45,730 How completely unjointed is this once great leader 478 00:26:45,730 --> 00:26:47,230 of Israel so-called. 479 00:26:49,430 --> 00:26:52,230 The way of the transgressor is hard. 480 00:26:55,200 --> 00:26:57,240 Neither was Samson the only one you know 481 00:26:57,240 --> 00:26:58,460 who has walked that way. 482 00:26:59,220 --> 00:27:00,320 Do you know your history? 483 00:27:01,480 --> 00:27:03,380 If you do, you will know of many 484 00:27:03,380 --> 00:27:05,780 many illustrations of men who have gone this 485 00:27:05,780 --> 00:27:06,020 way. 486 00:27:07,920 --> 00:27:09,600 This is not the time nor the place 487 00:27:09,600 --> 00:27:11,620 to advertise this kind of thing, but I 488 00:27:11,620 --> 00:27:13,620 will refer to one as we go. 489 00:27:15,380 --> 00:27:19,300 The Greek giant Hercules, to mention one only, 490 00:27:20,480 --> 00:27:23,280 dandied and played so long with Omphale, queen 491 00:27:23,280 --> 00:27:26,740 of Lydia, that he became something in her 492 00:27:26,740 --> 00:27:30,340 lap very much what Samson became in the 493 00:27:30,340 --> 00:27:31,260 lap of Delilah. 494 00:27:34,600 --> 00:27:38,320 Hercules spent his massive energies, believe it or 495 00:27:38,320 --> 00:27:43,280 not, winding and carding wool for his mistress. 496 00:27:44,300 --> 00:27:45,720 That's how he spent his time. 497 00:27:47,960 --> 00:27:49,860 Could anything be more humiliating? 498 00:27:50,140 --> 00:27:56,320 Especially, especially whilst Omphale wore the skin of 499 00:27:56,320 --> 00:27:57,780 a Nemean lion. 500 00:27:58,660 --> 00:28:02,980 So history tells us, which Hercules had killed 501 00:28:02,980 --> 00:28:05,900 to procure for her at great peril to 502 00:28:05,900 --> 00:28:06,280 himself. 503 00:28:06,280 --> 00:28:07,620 Now imagine the man. 504 00:28:07,860 --> 00:28:09,580 Here is the giant who killed the lion 505 00:28:09,580 --> 00:28:13,340 just as Samson did, and she's wearing the 506 00:28:13,340 --> 00:28:16,400 skin of the Nemean lion, and he is 507 00:28:16,400 --> 00:28:23,160 content, he is content to be carding, carding 508 00:28:25,680 --> 00:28:31,660 wool and winding wool into a ball with 509 00:28:31,660 --> 00:28:32,180 his mistress. 510 00:28:35,480 --> 00:28:37,760 Of all the creatures one sees caged in 511 00:28:37,760 --> 00:28:40,680 a zoo, one's heart, my heart at any 512 00:28:40,680 --> 00:28:43,520 rate, goes out very specially to the eagle. 513 00:28:43,720 --> 00:28:45,080 I don't know how you feel. 514 00:28:45,900 --> 00:28:47,940 When I visit the zoo, I'm very happy 515 00:28:47,940 --> 00:28:52,960 with, with animals, but my heart aches for 516 00:28:52,960 --> 00:28:53,500 some of them. 517 00:28:54,200 --> 00:28:56,220 Oh, you may say they're very contemptive. 518 00:28:56,360 --> 00:28:58,300 Well, I wonder. 519 00:28:59,360 --> 00:29:02,340 But I'm always very sorry when I see 520 00:29:02,340 --> 00:29:05,140 in the zoo, in a cage, an eagle 521 00:29:05,140 --> 00:29:09,360 caged, an eagle of all creatures, made with 522 00:29:09,360 --> 00:29:14,240 vast pinions, capable of soaring into highest heaven, 523 00:29:14,920 --> 00:29:17,540 with eyes to look into the very brightness 524 00:29:17,540 --> 00:29:20,880 of the sun itself, and there it is 525 00:29:20,880 --> 00:29:22,380 in a cage. 526 00:29:24,080 --> 00:29:26,960 And it matters very little whether he's spending 527 00:29:26,960 --> 00:29:30,800 his strength to hurt himself against the bars, 528 00:29:31,160 --> 00:29:33,400 or whether he's settled down to it all, 529 00:29:33,860 --> 00:29:36,840 and agreed to become a prisoner without any 530 00:29:36,840 --> 00:29:37,340 fuss. 531 00:29:37,480 --> 00:29:38,440 It doesn't matter. 532 00:29:38,720 --> 00:29:40,840 It's a tragedy writ large. 533 00:29:42,380 --> 00:29:44,480 Did I say there was no greater tragedy? 534 00:29:44,640 --> 00:29:47,060 If I said that, I made a mistake. 535 00:29:47,180 --> 00:29:48,100 There is one greater. 536 00:29:50,960 --> 00:29:56,120 It's the child of godly parents, dedicated to 537 00:29:56,120 --> 00:30:00,180 the Lord, upon whom the Spirit of God 538 00:30:00,180 --> 00:30:02,000 began to move. 539 00:30:04,160 --> 00:30:06,920 And a work of grace began to appear, 540 00:30:07,300 --> 00:30:08,780 and it seemed as if it was the 541 00:30:08,780 --> 00:30:11,180 dawn of a new day, and you could 542 00:30:11,180 --> 00:30:13,440 almost say there's light there. 543 00:30:14,740 --> 00:30:17,780 But the sun never shone. 544 00:30:21,040 --> 00:30:23,780 The day never dawned. 545 00:30:24,940 --> 00:30:27,480 The promise was never fulfilled. 546 00:30:27,760 --> 00:30:29,860 On the contrary, it seemed as if the 547 00:30:29,860 --> 00:30:32,180 train was set in reverse, and the movement 548 00:30:32,180 --> 00:30:36,320 was not forwards, but backwards, and backwards, and 549 00:30:36,320 --> 00:30:40,360 backwards into shame, and catastrophe. 550 00:30:53,540 --> 00:30:55,240 The last thing I have to speak about 551 00:30:55,240 --> 00:30:59,260 is the partial recovery of this lost power 552 00:30:59,260 --> 00:30:59,960 and luster. 553 00:31:02,900 --> 00:31:04,880 Thank God the story does not quite end 554 00:31:04,880 --> 00:31:05,160 there. 555 00:31:06,680 --> 00:31:09,000 There is not much more to add, but 556 00:31:09,000 --> 00:31:11,380 there is something, and that something is very 557 00:31:11,380 --> 00:31:12,040 significant. 558 00:31:12,800 --> 00:31:15,300 I'd like you to notice this very specially. 559 00:31:17,970 --> 00:31:20,810 Scripture does not end the record in terms 560 00:31:20,810 --> 00:31:23,110 of a recovery so great, and so glorious, 561 00:31:23,130 --> 00:31:29,390 and so complete, that anyone can get the 562 00:31:29,390 --> 00:31:31,950 impression that sin does not matter. 563 00:31:38,380 --> 00:31:42,460 You cannot read the story of Samson and 564 00:31:42,460 --> 00:31:45,420 then come to the conclusion a man can 565 00:31:45,420 --> 00:31:48,840 sin as much as he wants, and rebel 566 00:31:48,840 --> 00:31:50,120 as far as he can. 567 00:31:51,000 --> 00:31:52,260 God will forgive. 568 00:31:53,160 --> 00:31:54,980 All will be well at last. 569 00:31:55,900 --> 00:31:57,320 It doesn't matter very much. 570 00:31:57,540 --> 00:31:59,140 You can't read that here. 571 00:32:03,130 --> 00:32:04,530 But then there is something one has to 572 00:32:04,530 --> 00:32:05,570 put alongside of that. 573 00:32:05,930 --> 00:32:08,630 Neither can a man read the story of 574 00:32:08,630 --> 00:32:12,870 Samson without seeing a glimmer of hope for 575 00:32:12,870 --> 00:32:13,650 the penitent. 576 00:32:16,160 --> 00:32:20,240 And you see there is a balance here. 577 00:32:20,360 --> 00:32:22,520 This morning we were talking about another kind 578 00:32:22,520 --> 00:32:23,700 of balance in scripture. 579 00:32:23,920 --> 00:32:25,440 Well we're with it again tonight. 580 00:32:26,860 --> 00:32:32,240 You see sometimes we preachers can so preach 581 00:32:32,240 --> 00:32:35,020 about the forgiveness of God that we can 582 00:32:35,020 --> 00:32:38,020 convey the impression, sin as much as you 583 00:32:38,020 --> 00:32:42,220 can, or as much as you will, or 584 00:32:42,220 --> 00:32:45,240 as much as you must, though no one, 585 00:32:45,900 --> 00:32:47,720 there is no must to sin. 586 00:32:49,680 --> 00:32:51,860 But we say it's all right. 587 00:32:52,060 --> 00:32:55,440 God will forgive, and God will forget, and 588 00:32:55,440 --> 00:32:59,460 we convey the awful impression, the false impression, 589 00:32:59,740 --> 00:33:02,760 the mad impression that sin does not matter. 590 00:33:05,620 --> 00:33:09,200 Now our fathers could preach the gospel better 591 00:33:09,200 --> 00:33:10,020 than we can. 592 00:33:13,010 --> 00:33:15,610 Somehow or other we moderns have lost the 593 00:33:15,610 --> 00:33:21,530 art of preaching forgiveness so sweet, and so 594 00:33:21,530 --> 00:33:23,790 full, and so free on the one hand, 595 00:33:24,150 --> 00:33:27,570 and yet conveying the certainty to men, sin 596 00:33:27,570 --> 00:33:31,650 is a loathsome sin, a loathsome thing, a 597 00:33:31,650 --> 00:33:32,610 horrible thing. 598 00:33:37,360 --> 00:33:41,660 Here you find the Holy Spirit leading the 599 00:33:41,660 --> 00:33:46,320 writer of scripture to walk this narrow ledge 600 00:33:46,320 --> 00:33:49,380 without veering to the one or to the 601 00:33:49,380 --> 00:33:49,580 other. 602 00:33:50,040 --> 00:33:51,580 I just want to say a word about 603 00:33:51,580 --> 00:33:52,880 both of them before we close. 604 00:33:56,790 --> 00:33:59,070 My heart yearns as I conclude this message 605 00:33:59,070 --> 00:34:03,610 that the episode will strike the fear of 606 00:34:03,610 --> 00:34:07,130 sin more into my own soul and into 607 00:34:07,130 --> 00:34:07,570 yours. 608 00:34:09,840 --> 00:34:12,760 I feel that we need a little more 609 00:34:12,760 --> 00:34:16,360 of this, the fear of sin, the dread 610 00:34:16,360 --> 00:34:22,420 of sin, in myself especially, but in others 611 00:34:22,420 --> 00:34:22,920 also. 612 00:34:25,350 --> 00:34:26,770 You know there is a hymn of Charles 613 00:34:26,770 --> 00:34:27,370 Wesley's. 614 00:34:27,429 --> 00:34:28,530 We don't sing it very often. 615 00:34:28,570 --> 00:34:30,449 It's not, yes it is in our book, 616 00:34:31,190 --> 00:34:32,909 but it's set to a tune which is 617 00:34:32,909 --> 00:34:35,469 unmanageable as far as Knox is concerned. 618 00:34:35,630 --> 00:34:37,050 We've tried it out a few times, and 619 00:34:37,050 --> 00:34:39,409 it really, it's unmanageable. 620 00:34:40,370 --> 00:34:43,310 But there are two stanzas in this hymn 621 00:34:43,310 --> 00:34:44,550 which go like this. 622 00:34:45,590 --> 00:34:51,590 I want a godly fear, a quick discerning 623 00:34:51,590 --> 00:34:55,150 eye that looks to thee when sin is 624 00:34:55,150 --> 00:35:00,390 near and sees the tempter fly, a spirit 625 00:35:00,390 --> 00:35:05,570 still prepared and armed with jealous care, forever 626 00:35:05,570 --> 00:35:09,130 standing on its guard and watching unto prayer. 627 00:35:10,210 --> 00:35:11,030 Listen to this. 628 00:35:12,950 --> 00:35:17,690 I want a true regard, a single steady 629 00:35:17,690 --> 00:35:23,690 aim, unmoved by threatening or reward to thee 630 00:35:23,690 --> 00:35:29,750 and thy great name, a jealous just concern 631 00:35:29,750 --> 00:35:34,430 for thine immortal praise, a pure desire that 632 00:35:34,430 --> 00:35:39,790 all may learn and glorify thy grace. 633 00:35:42,070 --> 00:35:44,670 I have a yearning for that, for me 634 00:35:44,670 --> 00:35:47,790 and for this congregation, and for the people 635 00:35:47,790 --> 00:35:50,950 of God at large, a dread of sin 636 00:35:50,950 --> 00:35:52,370 that runs away from it. 637 00:35:54,480 --> 00:35:56,900 More than that, however, I sincerely pray that 638 00:35:56,900 --> 00:36:00,680 the perusal of the dark bit of biography 639 00:36:00,680 --> 00:36:03,400 of an Old Testament character will not leave 640 00:36:03,400 --> 00:36:07,120 anyone who may have yielded to some of 641 00:36:07,120 --> 00:36:09,860 the same temptations in unrelieved gloom. 642 00:36:10,920 --> 00:36:15,760 Now, Samson experienced partial recovery. 643 00:36:19,980 --> 00:36:22,000 The hair of his head began to grow 644 00:36:22,000 --> 00:36:22,460 again. 645 00:36:25,660 --> 00:36:27,860 I don't think I shall ever get over 646 00:36:27,860 --> 00:36:35,840 the electric shock, spiritually speaking, of reading and 647 00:36:35,840 --> 00:36:38,760 recognizing what that meant for the first time 648 00:36:38,760 --> 00:36:40,320 not all that long ago. 649 00:36:41,600 --> 00:36:43,820 The hair of his head that had been 650 00:36:43,820 --> 00:36:49,140 shaved by the Philistines began to grow again. 651 00:36:51,950 --> 00:36:54,630 You see, Samson's long hair was symbolic of 652 00:36:54,630 --> 00:36:58,890 his commitment and consecration to God, and on 653 00:36:58,890 --> 00:37:02,530 its adverse side, of the strength that he 654 00:37:02,530 --> 00:37:06,310 enjoyed as he honored his Nazarite vows. 655 00:37:08,820 --> 00:37:12,540 That strength was not in his hair itself. 656 00:37:12,740 --> 00:37:14,220 This is where people go astray. 657 00:37:15,000 --> 00:37:17,180 You see, the strength was not in the 658 00:37:17,180 --> 00:37:18,220 hair itself. 659 00:37:21,010 --> 00:37:24,170 By the time this passage was written, Samson's 660 00:37:24,170 --> 00:37:25,650 hair must have been down to his hips. 661 00:37:27,390 --> 00:37:30,170 But the strength was not in the hair 662 00:37:30,170 --> 00:37:30,870 itself. 663 00:37:31,510 --> 00:37:33,790 The hair was symbolic of something. 664 00:37:34,690 --> 00:37:36,730 It was symbolic of his commitment and of 665 00:37:36,730 --> 00:37:39,650 his dedication, which of course he was not 666 00:37:39,650 --> 00:37:40,450 loyal to. 667 00:37:41,450 --> 00:37:43,730 But God in mercy, nevertheless. 668 00:37:44,190 --> 00:37:45,970 You see, God's mercy is always greater than 669 00:37:45,970 --> 00:37:46,470 our sin. 670 00:37:47,110 --> 00:37:52,030 God allowed him to have strength, even when 671 00:37:52,030 --> 00:37:53,110 sin had come in. 672 00:37:53,310 --> 00:37:55,910 And for a long time, God's mercy was 673 00:37:55,910 --> 00:37:56,610 gracious. 674 00:37:56,910 --> 00:37:59,630 God's mercy continued, and he had strength. 675 00:38:03,330 --> 00:38:05,810 But the hair was only a symbol of 676 00:38:05,810 --> 00:38:06,270 all that. 677 00:38:07,810 --> 00:38:10,090 That strength was not in his hair itself. 678 00:38:10,190 --> 00:38:11,050 It was God's gift. 679 00:38:11,410 --> 00:38:12,390 The hair was symbolic. 680 00:38:12,990 --> 00:38:16,450 Now, it is my conviction that when Samson's 681 00:38:16,450 --> 00:38:21,050 hair began to grow again, that this is 682 00:38:21,050 --> 00:38:23,790 not something natural and normal. 683 00:38:23,930 --> 00:38:26,370 When you cut your hair, it grows again. 684 00:38:26,550 --> 00:38:28,270 And even people like myself have to go 685 00:38:28,270 --> 00:38:29,990 to the hairdressers every now and again. 686 00:38:30,370 --> 00:38:31,710 I don't give him a lot of trouble, 687 00:38:31,990 --> 00:38:33,810 but I have to go and see him. 688 00:38:34,770 --> 00:38:36,310 And some of you are in the same 689 00:38:36,310 --> 00:38:38,370 category, I see, from this vantage point. 690 00:38:39,310 --> 00:38:42,230 But you know, even if you shaved your 691 00:38:42,230 --> 00:38:45,930 head, your hair would grow again, naturally. 692 00:38:46,110 --> 00:38:47,530 But I don't think that's what we've got 693 00:38:47,530 --> 00:38:47,810 here. 694 00:38:50,560 --> 00:38:52,640 I think that what we've got here is 695 00:38:52,640 --> 00:38:53,860 something supernatural. 696 00:38:56,120 --> 00:38:59,060 I believe that when this man found himself 697 00:38:59,060 --> 00:39:01,840 in prison and humiliated, and when he lost 698 00:39:01,840 --> 00:39:04,240 his physical sight, his two eyes were gouged 699 00:39:04,240 --> 00:39:07,460 out, he began to see things morally and 700 00:39:07,460 --> 00:39:13,430 spiritually for the first time, when truth began 701 00:39:13,430 --> 00:39:18,010 to dawn, and realities broke in that never 702 00:39:18,010 --> 00:39:20,250 had broken into his benighted soul. 703 00:39:20,610 --> 00:39:23,010 And for the first time, I believe, this 704 00:39:23,010 --> 00:39:26,430 man showed some measure of penitence. 705 00:39:28,390 --> 00:39:30,110 Now you say to me, I can almost 706 00:39:30,110 --> 00:39:30,650 hear you. 707 00:39:31,530 --> 00:39:33,230 I don't know who it is, but there's 708 00:39:33,230 --> 00:39:36,250 somebody here who says, why do you say 709 00:39:36,250 --> 00:39:36,590 that? 710 00:39:36,670 --> 00:39:37,870 How can you say that? 711 00:39:37,950 --> 00:39:39,250 It doesn't say that in Scripture. 712 00:39:39,890 --> 00:39:41,770 I know it doesn't say that in Scripture. 713 00:39:42,510 --> 00:39:44,310 Well then, how can you say it? 714 00:39:44,570 --> 00:39:45,290 I'll tell you. 715 00:39:47,430 --> 00:39:48,010 I'll tell you. 716 00:39:48,890 --> 00:39:51,290 One reason for my believing that lies in 717 00:39:51,290 --> 00:39:53,530 the fact that we find Samson among the 718 00:39:53,530 --> 00:39:54,890 worthies of Hebrews 11. 719 00:39:58,140 --> 00:39:58,300 Huh? 720 00:39:58,460 --> 00:39:59,920 Did you remember that? 721 00:40:00,680 --> 00:40:01,800 Samson, this man. 722 00:40:04,390 --> 00:40:05,490 Hey, take your breath away. 723 00:40:05,690 --> 00:40:07,110 Samson in Hebrews 11. 724 00:40:08,730 --> 00:40:09,770 A man of faith. 725 00:40:11,510 --> 00:40:12,610 One of the great. 726 00:40:15,380 --> 00:40:17,880 Well now, where did Samson's faith come in? 727 00:40:19,580 --> 00:40:21,960 Where did Samson manifest faith? 728 00:40:22,300 --> 00:40:22,820 Anywhere. 729 00:40:24,720 --> 00:40:26,640 Not in the early part of his life. 730 00:40:26,740 --> 00:40:27,800 It never came to anything. 731 00:40:30,320 --> 00:40:31,880 Not in the middle of his life. 732 00:40:32,360 --> 00:40:35,340 It could not have been, if the record 733 00:40:35,340 --> 00:40:40,000 is accurate, and I believe it is, until 734 00:40:40,000 --> 00:40:40,880 the very end. 735 00:40:42,160 --> 00:40:45,240 And it must have been during that prison 736 00:40:45,240 --> 00:40:47,900 scene in Gaza, when he was reduced to 737 00:40:47,900 --> 00:40:49,720 rubble and to nothing. 738 00:40:50,860 --> 00:40:54,680 It must have been there, when without any 739 00:40:54,680 --> 00:40:59,260 hope apparently, the man began to experience the 740 00:40:59,260 --> 00:41:03,380 grace of penitence, of repentance in some measure. 741 00:41:04,180 --> 00:41:12,720 And God, oh merciful Father, God granted that 742 00:41:12,720 --> 00:41:16,420 the hair of his head should grow again. 743 00:41:16,920 --> 00:41:19,140 The symbol is coming back. 744 00:41:21,610 --> 00:41:24,610 And little by little, along with the symbol 745 00:41:24,610 --> 00:41:27,230 that became evident, became the strength that was 746 00:41:27,230 --> 00:41:30,270 not yet evident to the Philistines, until at 747 00:41:30,270 --> 00:41:33,530 last on that day, he asked the slave 748 00:41:33,530 --> 00:41:35,470 that was leading him around as a blind 749 00:41:35,470 --> 00:41:38,110 man, take me to the pillars on which 750 00:41:38,110 --> 00:41:39,190 the temple depends. 751 00:41:40,170 --> 00:41:42,350 And he put his two massive hands upon 752 00:41:42,350 --> 00:41:44,510 those two pillars, and you remember what happened. 753 00:41:45,390 --> 00:41:47,850 How he tore the whole place down, and 754 00:41:47,850 --> 00:41:49,790 the three thousand on the gallery, and the 755 00:41:49,790 --> 00:41:53,470 multitudes underneath, the Philistines died with him. 756 00:42:00,900 --> 00:42:04,520 Samson's experience of partial recovery. 757 00:42:06,240 --> 00:42:07,300 Partial recovery. 758 00:42:11,380 --> 00:42:12,800 And you see, this makes a world of 759 00:42:12,800 --> 00:42:15,220 difference to an understanding of Samson's life now. 760 00:42:16,200 --> 00:42:19,680 You see, if this is true, then Samson's 761 00:42:19,680 --> 00:42:21,880 death at the end was not a suicide, 762 00:42:24,770 --> 00:42:28,270 neither was it a matter of altogether unqualified 763 00:42:28,270 --> 00:42:31,510 revenge against his captors, though that is an 764 00:42:31,510 --> 00:42:33,230 element the scriptures tell us. 765 00:42:34,610 --> 00:42:36,030 But it was more than that. 766 00:42:37,170 --> 00:42:40,130 It was Samson acting as a man of 767 00:42:40,130 --> 00:42:44,330 faith, as the leader of Israel, to cause 768 00:42:44,330 --> 00:42:48,570 some indication to the enemies, the enemies of 769 00:42:48,570 --> 00:42:50,990 his own self and of his nation, that 770 00:42:50,990 --> 00:42:53,610 Jehovah is God. 771 00:42:58,720 --> 00:43:02,420 You see, I'm coming towards the close, so 772 00:43:02,420 --> 00:43:04,320 I must summarize what I wanted to say. 773 00:43:05,340 --> 00:43:09,320 God and Samson's parents working together under divine 774 00:43:09,320 --> 00:43:13,020 command, the parents working under the Lord's command, 775 00:43:13,360 --> 00:43:15,340 had brought him up as a Nazirite, as 776 00:43:15,340 --> 00:43:16,440 we've already indicated. 777 00:43:17,700 --> 00:43:19,800 And this was a special calling. 778 00:43:19,960 --> 00:43:21,840 It had two orders to it. 779 00:43:25,460 --> 00:43:29,840 There was a temporary order of Nazirites. 780 00:43:30,600 --> 00:43:34,540 You became a Nazirite for a period, or 781 00:43:34,540 --> 00:43:38,260 you might become a permanent Nazirite, and there 782 00:43:38,260 --> 00:43:43,860 are only three mentioned in scripture, Samson, Samuel, 783 00:43:44,480 --> 00:43:45,540 and John the Baptist. 784 00:43:48,070 --> 00:43:52,910 The Nazirite calling was to fortify the future 785 00:43:52,910 --> 00:43:57,390 judge against the fierce temptations that the Philistines 786 00:43:57,390 --> 00:43:57,870 would bring. 787 00:43:58,970 --> 00:44:00,650 Let me enlarge a little upon that. 788 00:44:01,450 --> 00:44:04,910 Why was Samson brought up a Nazirite? 789 00:44:05,090 --> 00:44:06,470 What was the divine purpose? 790 00:44:07,270 --> 00:44:10,170 This, that he should be prepared from a 791 00:44:10,170 --> 00:44:12,490 youth not to touch anything unclean, not to 792 00:44:12,490 --> 00:44:14,530 drink anything that would take his senses away, 793 00:44:15,650 --> 00:44:17,310 not to do things that would make him 794 00:44:17,310 --> 00:44:20,330 less than a giant, not only physically but 795 00:44:20,330 --> 00:44:21,630 spiritually and morally. 796 00:44:22,610 --> 00:44:23,570 That's the purpose of it. 797 00:44:24,010 --> 00:44:26,350 In order that he might make the God 798 00:44:26,350 --> 00:44:28,710 of Israel known to the people of the 799 00:44:28,710 --> 00:44:30,390 plains, the Philistines. 800 00:44:34,210 --> 00:44:40,200 But you see, Samson's calling was not fulfilled. 801 00:44:44,560 --> 00:44:47,340 His divine mission was not fulfilled. 802 00:44:48,580 --> 00:44:51,220 His passion robbed him of his calling. 803 00:44:52,200 --> 00:44:55,740 And even though something of his luster or 804 00:44:55,740 --> 00:44:57,700 of his power was returned to him at 805 00:44:57,700 --> 00:44:59,520 last, I want you to notice this, and 806 00:44:59,520 --> 00:45:02,020 this is one of the serious elements of 807 00:45:02,020 --> 00:45:02,380 it all. 808 00:45:02,760 --> 00:45:04,760 It was not to rule over Israel. 809 00:45:06,800 --> 00:45:09,920 It was simply to deal a blow at 810 00:45:09,920 --> 00:45:11,060 Israel's foes. 811 00:45:13,510 --> 00:45:14,650 Samson missed his calling. 812 00:45:15,590 --> 00:45:19,810 Even so, God, the God of mercy, granted 813 00:45:19,810 --> 00:45:21,970 him a sense of shame that was altogether 814 00:45:21,970 --> 00:45:23,830 a new factor in his life. 815 00:45:24,510 --> 00:45:29,390 And with that came a token of hope. 816 00:45:30,370 --> 00:45:31,990 But the last thing of all with which 817 00:45:31,990 --> 00:45:33,350 I must conclude is this. 818 00:45:35,050 --> 00:45:38,590 Samson was only partially recovered and restored. 819 00:45:39,730 --> 00:45:43,830 As I've said, he never recovered his sight 820 00:45:43,830 --> 00:45:44,190 again. 821 00:45:48,150 --> 00:45:51,470 His feet were never liberated again whilst he 822 00:45:51,470 --> 00:45:54,510 was alive, only after he died. 823 00:45:57,800 --> 00:45:59,500 And the only thing he was allowed to 824 00:45:59,500 --> 00:46:01,120 do, the only thing he was allowed to 825 00:46:01,120 --> 00:46:03,820 do, was to give the enemies of God 826 00:46:03,820 --> 00:46:07,140 and of Israel one mighty stroke. 827 00:46:08,300 --> 00:46:09,700 And he died with them. 828 00:46:11,460 --> 00:46:15,060 Brothers and sisters, sin is a terrible thing. 829 00:46:16,220 --> 00:46:17,480 Oh, God forgives. 830 00:46:18,060 --> 00:46:20,480 Oh, God's grace is wide as the ocean, 831 00:46:20,620 --> 00:46:22,940 high as the heavens, deep as the ocean. 832 00:46:26,110 --> 00:46:29,630 But that does not give any man liberty 833 00:46:29,630 --> 00:46:31,230 to go on in sin. 834 00:46:31,390 --> 00:46:33,850 Shall we continue in sin that grace may 835 00:46:33,850 --> 00:46:34,210 abound? 836 00:46:34,450 --> 00:46:35,510 God forbid. 837 00:46:36,210 --> 00:46:38,490 How can we that have died to sin, 838 00:46:38,630 --> 00:46:40,370 and that's the meaning of becoming a Christian, 839 00:46:40,650 --> 00:46:41,850 live therein? 840 00:46:42,590 --> 00:46:43,150 No, no, no. 841 00:46:43,190 --> 00:46:44,890 We've died and risen again. 842 00:46:45,090 --> 00:46:46,450 That is the Christian experience. 843 00:46:47,010 --> 00:46:48,870 Sin is a terrible thing. 844 00:46:54,630 --> 00:46:58,990 And though God's grace may come to us 845 00:46:58,990 --> 00:47:03,530 and renew us partially in the closing days 846 00:47:03,530 --> 00:47:07,010 of our life, and grant us the grace 847 00:47:07,010 --> 00:47:10,190 of penitents who have wandered far on passion's 848 00:47:10,190 --> 00:47:13,230 way, there will be some things that we 849 00:47:13,230 --> 00:47:14,630 will not have been able to do with 850 00:47:14,630 --> 00:47:15,250 our lives. 851 00:47:16,820 --> 00:47:23,280 A mission incomplete, if it's even if started. 852 00:47:26,890 --> 00:47:28,970 When the seas are calm and the sun 853 00:47:28,970 --> 00:47:34,870 is bright, we don't need a lighthouse along 854 00:47:34,870 --> 00:47:35,430 the shores. 855 00:47:36,590 --> 00:47:38,730 But when the skies are dark and the 856 00:47:38,730 --> 00:47:40,790 gale is blowing, and we know that there 857 00:47:40,790 --> 00:47:44,330 are sunken reefs and quicksands, oh, it is 858 00:47:44,330 --> 00:47:47,350 a welcome sight, if you're sailing on a 859 00:47:47,350 --> 00:47:55,070 ship to see a lighthouse flashing, flashing, flashing, 860 00:47:58,670 --> 00:48:02,650 and it tells you, don't come too near. 861 00:48:05,520 --> 00:48:07,280 Samson is such a life. 862 00:48:12,640 --> 00:48:19,540 Every flash of experience tells you, man, woman 863 00:48:19,540 --> 00:48:22,360 of God, don't follow me. 864 00:48:25,590 --> 00:48:27,050 Don't come too close. 865 00:48:28,630 --> 00:48:30,010 Keep away from here. 866 00:48:30,930 --> 00:48:31,950 There are quicksands. 867 00:48:32,690 --> 00:48:33,710 There are perils. 868 00:48:34,770 --> 00:48:35,770 There is danger. 869 00:48:38,160 --> 00:48:40,980 Steer your buck another way. 870 00:48:43,560 --> 00:48:45,420 In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, 871 00:48:45,540 --> 00:48:46,460 I bid you to life. 872 00:48:47,240 --> 00:48:48,800 Take a good look at Samson. 873 00:48:50,500 --> 00:48:55,820 In this debauched age of passion run riot, 874 00:48:58,940 --> 00:49:02,040 take a look at this man who let 875 00:49:02,040 --> 00:49:08,080 it rip, and in all the wild orgy 876 00:49:08,080 --> 00:49:14,710 of his life, got everything he wanted, missed 877 00:49:14,710 --> 00:49:19,830 God's purpose, landed in a dungeon in more 878 00:49:19,830 --> 00:49:24,210 senses than one, and was saved by the 879 00:49:24,210 --> 00:49:25,650 skin of his teeth. 880 00:49:28,080 --> 00:49:29,180 He's saying something. 881 00:49:32,280 --> 00:49:33,540 Do you hear what he says? 882 00:49:37,110 --> 00:49:38,150 God grant it. 883 00:49:39,190 --> 00:49:42,350 For his name's sake, let us pray. 884 00:49:48,440 --> 00:49:54,390 Oh, Lord, our God and Father, we never 885 00:49:54,390 --> 00:49:57,150 cease to thank you and never will cease 886 00:49:57,150 --> 00:49:59,190 to thank you for your word. 887 00:50:02,710 --> 00:50:07,150 We are amazed that the Holy Spirit has 888 00:50:07,150 --> 00:50:11,890 recorded some of these episodes, and yet we 889 00:50:11,890 --> 00:50:14,930 seem to sense the reason why. 890 00:50:16,070 --> 00:50:18,930 When we look at ourselves in the mirror 891 00:50:18,930 --> 00:50:20,910 and when we, in the mirror of your 892 00:50:20,910 --> 00:50:25,410 truth, and when we consider the nature of 893 00:50:25,410 --> 00:50:26,810 society around us. 894 00:50:28,500 --> 00:50:32,220 Heavenly Father, grant us to hear the voice 895 00:50:32,220 --> 00:50:36,740 of this wreck of a man, this wreck 896 00:50:36,740 --> 00:50:41,400 of a giant who was un-gianted, and 897 00:50:41,400 --> 00:50:45,980 who, apart from your almighty grace, would have 898 00:50:45,980 --> 00:50:51,400 been utterly and irretrievably and eternally ruined. 899 00:50:52,120 --> 00:50:57,400 Blessed God, let us hear what he's saying 900 00:50:57,400 --> 00:51:01,340 to us, or rather, what you are saying 901 00:51:01,340 --> 00:51:02,940 to us through him. 902 00:51:05,840 --> 00:51:09,120 And may we follow the light and be 903 00:51:09,120 --> 00:51:13,400 obedient to the heavenly vision, for your glory 904 00:51:13,400 --> 00:51:17,520 in Christ, your Son, our Lord. 905 00:51:18,360 --> 00:51:19,160 Amen.