1 00:00:09,320 --> 00:00:11,160 Hey man, such an awesome reminder. 2 00:00:11,160 --> 00:00:14,480 Lord, I need you. And that's a that's an everyday 3 00:00:16,200 --> 00:00:18,880 truth. Maybe we don't pray that every 4 00:00:18,880 --> 00:00:24,480 day, but it's an everyday truth that we need the Lord so told 5 00:00:24,480 --> 00:00:26,680 the graduates. Well, one, let me just let you 6 00:00:26,680 --> 00:00:28,800 know they're not here because I told them they could leave 7 00:00:28,800 --> 00:00:30,120 because they've already heard me. 8 00:00:30,920 --> 00:00:33,880 So that's why they slipped out. They had permission. 9 00:00:34,120 --> 00:00:36,560 But we are glad to be able to honor them today. 10 00:00:36,560 --> 00:00:38,200 And one of the things I was pointing out in the first 11 00:00:38,200 --> 00:00:43,400 service is that graduation is such a big milestone for us and 12 00:00:43,400 --> 00:00:47,440 our society, One, because it it's sort of marks this 13 00:00:47,440 --> 00:00:51,640 transition when you leave grade school into what's next, then 14 00:00:51,640 --> 00:00:53,440 all sudden you're kind of adulting. 15 00:00:53,840 --> 00:00:57,280 You're making more decisions, you're responsible for more 16 00:00:57,280 --> 00:00:59,200 decisions. You have more expectations. 17 00:00:59,200 --> 00:01:02,440 You also have more freedoms, you have more opportunities. 18 00:01:02,760 --> 00:01:07,360 And so it's a very, it's a cool time in life, but there's a lot 19 00:01:08,160 --> 00:01:11,240 that all of a sudden you, this, this world opens up to you. 20 00:01:11,680 --> 00:01:16,760 And so most graduates get this these questions every year their 21 00:01:16,760 --> 00:01:19,440 senior year. And I tried to encourage seniors 22 00:01:19,440 --> 00:01:21,840 early in the fall. I'm like, just have an answer. 23 00:01:22,120 --> 00:01:24,560 People aren't trying to make you feel pressure. 24 00:01:24,760 --> 00:01:26,280 People aren't trying to be a bully. 25 00:01:26,440 --> 00:01:28,160 They just want to have conversation. 26 00:01:28,160 --> 00:01:30,640 They're really being supportive. But people will generally ask a 27 00:01:30,640 --> 00:01:33,880 senior in high school, So what are you doing? 28 00:01:33,880 --> 00:01:35,480 Where are you going? What are you going to do? 29 00:01:35,560 --> 00:01:37,040 Where are you going? What are you going to do? 30 00:01:37,160 --> 00:01:40,480 I mean, and it, it's this constant questions that come to 31 00:01:40,480 --> 00:01:43,080 you after graduation. Like people just want to know 32 00:01:43,080 --> 00:01:45,480 the plan. And so there's this, there's 33 00:01:45,480 --> 00:01:48,560 this question that's looming even with this new freedom, 34 00:01:48,560 --> 00:01:51,280 these new opportunities, this looming question that can weigh 35 00:01:51,280 --> 00:01:54,280 on a graduate. Like, where am I headed to right 36 00:01:54,280 --> 00:01:56,440 now? Like it's just like, which way 37 00:01:56,440 --> 00:01:59,720 do I go in life? Like, what am I supposed to do? 38 00:01:59,720 --> 00:02:02,000 And you know, they're not going to have all the answers. 39 00:02:02,000 --> 00:02:04,720 And I'll try to encourage them. Like you're not, no one expects 40 00:02:04,720 --> 00:02:08,160 you to know your whole life when you're 18 and how that's going 41 00:02:08,160 --> 00:02:12,040 to play out. And so, but that's still like 42 00:02:12,040 --> 00:02:14,200 you're just wondering like, what do I, where, where am I headed? 43 00:02:14,440 --> 00:02:17,000 Like, where am I going? What is life got for me? 44 00:02:17,160 --> 00:02:18,960 And you know what? It's not just graduates is, is 45 00:02:18,960 --> 00:02:20,960 it man? There are so many different 46 00:02:20,960 --> 00:02:22,400 transition moments that come in life. 47 00:02:22,400 --> 00:02:25,680 Some of some are planned and some are unexpected. 48 00:02:26,680 --> 00:02:28,560 And we asked that question again, like where? 49 00:02:28,560 --> 00:02:29,880 Where am I headed? Which way do I go? 50 00:02:30,440 --> 00:02:35,360 And I love that Scripture gives us good guidance, like the best 51 00:02:35,360 --> 00:02:38,880 guidance. And I love that early Christians 52 00:02:38,880 --> 00:02:40,640 were not originally called Christians. 53 00:02:41,200 --> 00:02:43,640 Not, not right. At first, people didn't know 54 00:02:43,640 --> 00:02:46,480 what to call them. Like these are people who most 55 00:02:46,480 --> 00:02:48,960 of them used to be Jews, but not all of them used to be Jews. 56 00:02:48,960 --> 00:02:52,160 But they're all following Jesus. But he died, but he rose again. 57 00:02:52,560 --> 00:02:54,760 And so this is, this is a whole new movement. 58 00:02:55,160 --> 00:02:57,600 And so at 1st, and you can look at this in Acts, they were 59 00:02:57,600 --> 00:03:01,920 called followers of the way and they were following Jesus's way. 60 00:03:01,920 --> 00:03:04,240 They were followers of the way. Such a cool name. 61 00:03:04,240 --> 00:03:07,120 I think for, for, for Christians, because that's what 62 00:03:07,120 --> 00:03:10,000 we're doing. Like we the way to go is Jesus 63 00:03:10,000 --> 00:03:13,320 and we are following that path according to how he leads us and 64 00:03:13,320 --> 00:03:16,920 guides us. Psalms is is is full of of, you 65 00:03:16,920 --> 00:03:21,200 know, such awesome chaters of Psalms. 66 00:03:21,400 --> 00:03:24,320 I always tell people, if you're new to scripture, one of the 67 00:03:24,320 --> 00:03:27,720 books you may want to start in the Psalms because one, they're 68 00:03:27,720 --> 00:03:30,480 short chapters. So if you're just starting, it's 69 00:03:30,480 --> 00:03:31,800 easy to kind of get into the rhythm. 70 00:03:32,600 --> 00:03:35,280 And two, it will hit you where you are there. 71 00:03:35,280 --> 00:03:37,400 There are some Psalms that will hit you right where you are 72 00:03:37,400 --> 00:03:40,160 right then, often, more often than you would expect. 73 00:03:40,400 --> 00:03:44,240 One Psalm, the really long 1 Psalm 119 is over and over again 74 00:03:44,240 --> 00:03:46,040 showing the worth and value of Scripture. 75 00:03:46,040 --> 00:03:48,400 But one of the things that it says, it talks about direction a 76 00:03:48,400 --> 00:03:50,080 good bit. But one of the more famous 77 00:03:50,080 --> 00:03:55,080 verses from that chapter says your word is a lamp unto my feet 78 00:03:55,080 --> 00:03:58,920 and a light unto my path. And so the word of God lighting 79 00:03:58,920 --> 00:04:01,560 the way for us, so we know which way to go. 80 00:04:01,640 --> 00:04:06,520 What's the way? Well, and that's all well and 81 00:04:06,520 --> 00:04:08,920 good, but sometimes we still have things that try to derail 82 00:04:08,920 --> 00:04:10,320 us. Sometimes we still need 83 00:04:10,320 --> 00:04:13,160 guardrails that are on the sides of the road so we can keep it 84 00:04:13,160 --> 00:04:16,279 between the lines, so we can keep moving forward in the 85 00:04:16,279 --> 00:04:19,600 direction we're supposed to go. Oftentimes the Bible talks about 86 00:04:19,720 --> 00:04:23,680 the following in faith as a narrow path, and even in 87 00:04:23,680 --> 00:04:27,480 Proverbs, it talks about not letting your foot swerve to the 88 00:04:27,560 --> 00:04:31,800 to the left or to the right. So there's this moving forward 89 00:04:31,800 --> 00:04:35,480 along a path that God has laid out the way the God that the 90 00:04:35,480 --> 00:04:37,920 Bible gives us. And but I also want to point to 91 00:04:37,920 --> 00:04:40,480 you to one of those, one of those curbs, one of those 92 00:04:40,480 --> 00:04:43,560 guardrails that keeps us in in line where we're supposed to be. 93 00:04:43,560 --> 00:04:46,520 And so that's going to be in first John chapter one. 94 00:04:47,600 --> 00:04:56,680 I'm going to be in. First John chapter 1, I mean, 95 00:04:56,680 --> 00:05:00,600 sorry, first John chapter 2 verses 15 through 17. 96 00:05:02,160 --> 00:05:08,080 It says this do not love the world or the things in the 97 00:05:08,080 --> 00:05:10,040 world. If anyone loves the world, the 98 00:05:10,040 --> 00:05:13,440 love of the father is not in him for all that is in the world. 99 00:05:13,600 --> 00:05:16,360 And here's three big potholes when you got we have to watch 100 00:05:16,360 --> 00:05:19,640 out for all the things in the world. 101 00:05:19,680 --> 00:05:22,960 The desires of the flesh, the desires of the eyes and the 102 00:05:22,960 --> 00:05:27,840 pride of life is not from the Father, but it's from the world. 103 00:05:27,960 --> 00:05:30,840 And the world is passing away along with its desires. 104 00:05:30,840 --> 00:05:37,680 But whoever does the will of God abides forever keeping us on the 105 00:05:37,800 --> 00:05:40,400 the right path, the right way. Let me pray. 106 00:05:41,320 --> 00:05:42,840 God, thank you so much for your word. 107 00:05:43,200 --> 00:05:44,880 Thank you for the wisdom we can glean from it. 108 00:05:44,880 --> 00:05:48,200 Thank you for the confidence we can have in doing life from it. 109 00:05:48,200 --> 00:05:52,760 Lord, help us to be wise enough to understand the direction you 110 00:05:52,760 --> 00:05:56,680 lead us to be wise enough to heed the warnings that you give 111 00:05:56,680 --> 00:06:02,280 us and not allow our lives to swerve or waver from the 112 00:06:02,320 --> 00:06:03,760 direction that you want us to go. 113 00:06:04,200 --> 00:06:06,120 We love you very much and it's in Jesus name I pray. 114 00:06:06,440 --> 00:06:09,880 Amen. So in your notes, you'll notice, 115 00:06:10,280 --> 00:06:12,320 I don't think there's a slab in your notes. 116 00:06:12,320 --> 00:06:13,520 You notice a couple of weird things. 117 00:06:13,920 --> 00:06:17,240 One, there's the title, What could have been? 118 00:06:17,240 --> 00:06:20,600 We'll get into that in a second. There's also some some 119 00:06:20,600 --> 00:06:22,560 dichotomies here, some some comparisons. 120 00:06:22,680 --> 00:06:24,760 Man is selfish. God is just. 121 00:06:24,840 --> 00:06:28,360 Man takes, God provides. Man is undisciplined. 122 00:06:28,520 --> 00:06:31,120 God is faithful. Man gets trapped. 123 00:06:31,280 --> 00:06:34,760 God frees. Man marked by flaws. 124 00:06:35,120 --> 00:06:39,760 God gives more grace, man gets trapped, God frees. 125 00:06:39,960 --> 00:06:44,360 Oh, that's wrong there twice. And and so this, this comparison 126 00:06:44,360 --> 00:06:46,560 between God and man, it's not a man versus God. 127 00:06:46,560 --> 00:06:48,840 It's just more of a comparison because this is what happens in 128 00:06:48,840 --> 00:06:49,720 life. Man does it. 129 00:06:49,840 --> 00:06:54,200 Man will go and swerve off the path, but God is very, very 130 00:06:54,200 --> 00:06:57,400 fateful, very steady in how he responds and even the direction 131 00:06:57,400 --> 00:06:59,400 he's still guiding and leading us. 132 00:06:59,680 --> 00:07:02,760 And so that's one that's in there as we speak today, as we 133 00:07:02,760 --> 00:07:05,640 talk about our main person we're going to talk about, I just 134 00:07:05,640 --> 00:07:08,640 wanted to pay attention to how many times those those come into 135 00:07:08,640 --> 00:07:16,520 play as we look in scripture. So we also like, you know, along 136 00:07:16,520 --> 00:07:19,840 this journey of life, we like to hear great stories, stories of 137 00:07:19,840 --> 00:07:22,120 greatness, great accomplishments, great men, 138 00:07:22,840 --> 00:07:25,120 things that that keep our attention, draw us in, make us 139 00:07:25,120 --> 00:07:29,200 wonder. We are filled, given this, this 140 00:07:29,200 --> 00:07:31,040 capacity for imagination and wonder. 141 00:07:31,040 --> 00:07:33,640 And we we hear things and sometimes wonder, is it real? 142 00:07:33,840 --> 00:07:36,440 Could it really happen? Scripture tickles that part of 143 00:07:36,440 --> 00:07:38,120 our imagination in our mind very much. 144 00:07:38,400 --> 00:07:40,920 And what's amazing always is that it's true. 145 00:07:41,440 --> 00:07:44,600 But there's, there's also people even in our era now that we 146 00:07:44,600 --> 00:07:49,520 wonder about one such person. His name is Vincent. 147 00:07:50,400 --> 00:07:54,160 That and Vincent was a troubled child. 148 00:07:54,720 --> 00:07:59,720 He was one of like 10 kids. He was mean, I mean mean mean he 149 00:07:59,720 --> 00:08:01,840 was a bully. He was stronger than the other 150 00:08:01,840 --> 00:08:03,120 kids. He was faster than the other 151 00:08:03,120 --> 00:08:05,560 kids and and he didn't have a whole lot. 152 00:08:05,560 --> 00:08:07,600 So he would beat up people, threaten them to take their 153 00:08:07,600 --> 00:08:11,160 money so he could eat lunch. He would do, he was just 154 00:08:11,160 --> 00:08:13,320 ordering. He playing, playing with 155 00:08:13,320 --> 00:08:15,120 friends. He didn't have a lot of respect 156 00:08:15,120 --> 00:08:18,240 for for people. And so one time they were 157 00:08:18,240 --> 00:08:20,480 playing a game where they're tagging each other with rocks. 158 00:08:20,480 --> 00:08:23,200 That's now that is, that is a country game right there. 159 00:08:24,040 --> 00:08:25,440 They're tagging each other with rocks. 160 00:08:25,720 --> 00:08:27,480 The game was over. He didn't think the game was 161 00:08:27,480 --> 00:08:29,720 over just because the other kid went inside and he chunked the 162 00:08:29,720 --> 00:08:31,600 rock through the door and hit the kid in the kitchen. 163 00:08:31,600 --> 00:08:34,000 So, I mean, he was just, he was a problem. 164 00:08:34,000 --> 00:08:36,840 There's all kinds of things about his childhood he was an 165 00:08:36,840 --> 00:08:39,000 issue. Well, then he gets into middle 166 00:08:39,000 --> 00:08:42,640 school and high school and there's, there's a Ave. that 167 00:08:42,640 --> 00:08:45,600 people steered him toward and come to find out he all that 168 00:08:45,600 --> 00:08:48,040 meanness, he was really, really good at sports. 169 00:08:49,120 --> 00:08:53,720 And, and I'm talking freakishly good at sports. 170 00:08:54,360 --> 00:08:57,720 So they channelled that aggression and that and that 171 00:08:57,720 --> 00:09:00,320 temper and, and that energy towards sports. 172 00:09:00,320 --> 00:09:04,320 And he was able to shift and be not the worst kid in your 173 00:09:04,320 --> 00:09:06,680 classroom if you're a teacher, but be one that you're like, oh, 174 00:09:06,680 --> 00:09:10,200 look what's happening here. And so he got, he gets to be a 175 00:09:10,200 --> 00:09:12,640 senior in high school. We don't know, we hear stories 176 00:09:12,640 --> 00:09:14,840 of his accolades in in school, but here's some things. 177 00:09:14,960 --> 00:09:19,600 His senior in high school this phenomenal athlete he rushed for 178 00:09:19,680 --> 00:09:23,320 well over 1100 yards in less games that are played now for 179 00:09:23,320 --> 00:09:27,240 high school he averaged over 10 yards per carry as a running 180 00:09:27,240 --> 00:09:31,760 back which that's a lot if you don't know football in his 181 00:09:31,760 --> 00:09:36,080 baseball season his senior year there were 25 games and in 25 182 00:09:36,080 --> 00:09:38,080 games each he hit twenty home runs. 183 00:09:38,640 --> 00:09:43,680 His batting average was over 500 and in track, which he really 184 00:09:43,680 --> 00:09:47,520 loved and excelled at, he was faster than most. 185 00:09:47,520 --> 00:09:50,440 He could jump higher, longer, further than than most. 186 00:09:50,440 --> 00:09:53,520 He set records in triple jump, long jump, high jump, and the 187 00:09:53,520 --> 00:09:56,840 decathlon that they ran. Then in high school, he was so 188 00:09:56,840 --> 00:09:59,840 far ahead his junior and senior year that he didn't he didn't 189 00:09:59,840 --> 00:10:02,240 like to do long distance and that's the last event and so 190 00:10:02,240 --> 00:10:03,760 he's like, can I just opt out of it? 191 00:10:04,080 --> 00:10:06,560 And he was so far ahead points wise that no one was going to 192 00:10:06,560 --> 00:10:08,760 catch him. So he won the decathlon by only 193 00:10:08,760 --> 00:10:11,240 doing 9 events because he was that dominant. 194 00:10:11,520 --> 00:10:13,400 Now, this is a kid who went to a high school that didn't have a 195 00:10:13,400 --> 00:10:15,920 track, didn't know what a pole vault was until he showed up to 196 00:10:15,920 --> 00:10:17,960 the track meet, watched another kid do it and just said, hey, 197 00:10:17,960 --> 00:10:20,800 can I borrow that? And they're like, yeah, but this 198 00:10:20,800 --> 00:10:23,600 pole is only rated for like, 150 lbs. 199 00:10:23,600 --> 00:10:27,240 Oh, by the way, he still holds a high jump record for indoor high 200 00:10:27,240 --> 00:10:30,160 jump in Alabama. And he did all this weighing 201 00:10:30,160 --> 00:10:34,600 over 200 lbs Freakishly athletic. 202 00:10:34,640 --> 00:10:37,480 You should not be able to do these things. 203 00:10:39,320 --> 00:10:42,560 But this wild kid, they called him a wild boar, but that boar 204 00:10:42,560 --> 00:10:45,560 got shortened to Bo. And he we know him as Bo 205 00:10:45,560 --> 00:10:48,280 Jackson. The rest of his stuff, have fun 206 00:10:48,280 --> 00:10:50,240 on YouTube and look him up. You can see what he did at 207 00:10:50,240 --> 00:10:51,480 Auburn. You can see what he did in his 208 00:10:51,480 --> 00:10:53,920 professional career as a baseball player and a football 209 00:10:53,920 --> 00:10:55,960 player. But one of the things about Bo 210 00:10:55,960 --> 00:10:59,200 Jackson is you look in Marvel and go, wow, he just did that. 211 00:11:00,080 --> 00:11:02,120 But then you look at his whole story and there's this big 212 00:11:02,120 --> 00:11:04,680 question mark that's on the story of Bo Jackson, at least 213 00:11:04,680 --> 00:11:08,640 from a sports fan, because he was injured early and that 214 00:11:08,640 --> 00:11:11,480 injury ended his career. This hip injury that actually 215 00:11:11,480 --> 00:11:14,240 it's a hip injury that only Bo could have sustained because 216 00:11:14,240 --> 00:11:17,440 most people that have a £300 man on their leg will fall down. 217 00:11:18,040 --> 00:11:22,520 He had the muscle to just keep going and it popped his hip out 218 00:11:22,520 --> 00:11:26,200 of socket. So he, he, he was just an 219 00:11:26,200 --> 00:11:27,960 amazing athlete. But there's this question of 220 00:11:27,960 --> 00:11:30,800 what could have been, what could have been, if Bo Jackson's 221 00:11:30,800 --> 00:11:34,520 career had had not been stalled by or Hanford by that. 222 00:11:36,040 --> 00:11:39,600 Well, there's a the guy in the Bible who is actually stronger, 223 00:11:39,800 --> 00:11:44,480 more impressive than Bo Jackson. His physical proudness and, and 224 00:11:44,480 --> 00:11:50,000 feats are more legendary and that he's just as real and it's 225 00:11:50,000 --> 00:11:53,040 the man Samson. Now Samson is a story that you 226 00:11:53,040 --> 00:11:56,200 may know about. You may remember coloring sheets 227 00:11:56,200 --> 00:11:59,480 if you grew up in Church of a guy pushing some columns or 228 00:11:59,480 --> 00:12:01,440 something like that. And he always had long hair. 229 00:12:01,440 --> 00:12:03,880 There's a reason for that. And and so you may remember some 230 00:12:03,880 --> 00:12:05,040 of that. But there's some pieces of 231 00:12:05,040 --> 00:12:08,760 Samson's story story today that I may not that I may get to 232 00:12:08,760 --> 00:12:10,080 share that you're not familiar with. 233 00:12:10,080 --> 00:12:11,400 And so I hope that may be the case. 234 00:12:11,640 --> 00:12:16,320 But Samson, Samson was someone that I mean, God had a direction 235 00:12:16,320 --> 00:12:20,720 for him, but the way was hard for him. 236 00:12:20,920 --> 00:12:23,440 Staying on the way was hard for him. 237 00:12:24,000 --> 00:12:27,480 And so let's look at his story real as briefly as we can. 238 00:12:27,800 --> 00:12:30,480 The scripts or references that I have there in your in your 239 00:12:30,480 --> 00:12:33,880 worship guide, those are those are those specific references 240 00:12:33,880 --> 00:12:38,280 are there because those are the time that Scripture clearly 241 00:12:38,280 --> 00:12:42,720 indicates that there was God and Samson working, whether it's 242 00:12:42,720 --> 00:12:45,000 through prayer or the Spirit coming on to Samson. 243 00:12:45,400 --> 00:12:48,680 And I'm going to try to fill in the blanks quickly as I can. 244 00:12:48,680 --> 00:12:52,480 So Samson is born in a time of it's this is one of the darkest 245 00:12:52,600 --> 00:12:56,560 ages in the history of Israel. Pastors is preaching the sermon 246 00:12:56,680 --> 00:12:59,160 series on Ruth. It happens during that this 247 00:12:59,160 --> 00:13:02,200 time, but it's a it is a dark time in the history of Israel. 248 00:13:02,440 --> 00:13:05,920 People, God's people continually go and do their own thing and 249 00:13:05,920 --> 00:13:08,560 turn away from God. And that's how we start chapter 250 00:13:08,560 --> 00:13:11,880 13 of Judges, if you will look with me. 251 00:13:13,560 --> 00:13:16,880 And the people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight 252 00:13:16,880 --> 00:13:18,920 of the Lord. By the time you get to chapter 253 00:13:18,920 --> 00:13:22,200 13 of Judges, you're like, come on, people like it's AI mean. 254 00:13:22,200 --> 00:13:24,960 It's the same pattern. So the people of Israel again 255 00:13:25,200 --> 00:13:26,680 did what was evil in the sight of the Lord. 256 00:13:26,680 --> 00:13:30,000 And so Lord gave them into the hand of the Philistines for 40 257 00:13:30,000 --> 00:13:32,840 years. There was a certain man of Zora 258 00:13:33,000 --> 00:13:36,240 of the tribe of the Danites, whose name was Manoah, and his 259 00:13:36,240 --> 00:13:38,240 wife was barren and had no children. 260 00:13:38,920 --> 00:13:40,960 And the Angel of the Lord appeared to the woman and said 261 00:13:40,960 --> 00:13:44,120 to her, Behold, you are barren and have not borne children, but 262 00:13:44,480 --> 00:13:46,640 you shall conceive and bear a son. 263 00:13:46,960 --> 00:13:51,040 Therefore be careful to drink no wine or strong, strong drink, 264 00:13:51,120 --> 00:13:54,680 and eat nothing unclean, For behold, you shall conceive and 265 00:13:54,680 --> 00:13:56,960 bear a son. No razor shall come upon his 266 00:13:56,960 --> 00:14:00,760 head, for the child shall be a Nazarite to God from the womb, 267 00:14:01,120 --> 00:14:04,040 and he shall begin to save Israel from the hand of the 268 00:14:04,040 --> 00:14:08,120 Philistines. Skip to the bottom the end of 269 00:14:08,120 --> 00:14:11,760 chapter 13. And the woman bore a son, and 270 00:14:11,760 --> 00:14:14,920 called his name Samson. And the young man grew, and the 271 00:14:14,920 --> 00:14:19,280 Lord blessed him, and the Spirit of the Lord began to stir him in 272 00:14:19,280 --> 00:14:23,760 mana. Muhammad Dan between Zora and 273 00:14:23,760 --> 00:14:28,680 Eshtel. This is one of those stories 274 00:14:28,960 --> 00:14:31,160 like this is one of those amazing birth stories. 275 00:14:31,160 --> 00:14:33,240 This happens in Scripture. We've seen this before. 276 00:14:33,240 --> 00:14:35,400 If you read your Bible, it happens in several places, Old 277 00:14:35,400 --> 00:14:38,760 and New Testament. There is a couple, no kid, 278 00:14:38,760 --> 00:14:41,160 heavenly messenger comes and says, guess what? 279 00:14:41,160 --> 00:14:43,600 You're going to have a kid. He's going to do great things 280 00:14:43,960 --> 00:14:46,240 and this is how his life is going to be marked. 281 00:14:46,240 --> 00:14:50,200 I mean, we've got people like Abraham and and Sarah and their 282 00:14:50,200 --> 00:14:53,000 special son Isaac that was born to them in their old age when 283 00:14:53,000 --> 00:14:55,240 they should they had no business having kids and they're and 284 00:14:55,240 --> 00:14:58,160 God's like here you go. And so, you know, look at 285 00:14:58,160 --> 00:15:02,960 Samuel, the birth of Samuel, the prophet that comes after Samson 286 00:15:02,960 --> 00:15:04,840 here. His mother cried and prayed, 287 00:15:04,840 --> 00:15:09,120 wanting to bear a son and she gave him over to the Lord and he 288 00:15:09,120 --> 00:15:12,440 is born and he's the king anointer and God does great 289 00:15:12,440 --> 00:15:15,240 things through him. Look forward to the New 290 00:15:15,240 --> 00:15:17,360 Testament. You've got the birth of Jesus 291 00:15:17,520 --> 00:15:20,760 where a birth that shouldn't have happened in circumstances. 292 00:15:20,760 --> 00:15:23,160 So be so bizarre. A virgin giving birth to 293 00:15:23,160 --> 00:15:25,760 someone, but God said this one's going to be special and you'll 294 00:15:25,760 --> 00:15:28,920 be blessed and sure enough, thankfully that was all true. 295 00:15:29,040 --> 00:15:32,760 John the Baptist, a couple in their old age and the Angel 296 00:15:32,760 --> 00:15:34,800 appears and says you're going to give birth to a son. 297 00:15:34,800 --> 00:15:38,240 And John was like like Samson and and Samuel. 298 00:15:38,240 --> 00:15:40,160 He was good to be a Nazarite from birth. 299 00:15:40,160 --> 00:15:42,840 That meant that he was set apart for the service of God. 300 00:15:42,840 --> 00:15:46,320 He was set apart to be holy and different than everyone else. 301 00:15:47,160 --> 00:15:49,960 Now a Nazarite vow was something that anyone could participate 302 00:15:49,960 --> 00:15:52,120 in. You can see that in the law, but 303 00:15:52,120 --> 00:15:56,560 it was usually a chosen a chosen commitment for a certain time. 304 00:15:56,920 --> 00:16:00,320 But there are these rare circumstances where it's someone 305 00:16:00,320 --> 00:16:03,040 from from the womb that God's going to do something very 306 00:16:03,040 --> 00:16:05,520 special in. And the end of that chapter 307 00:16:05,520 --> 00:16:11,200 wraps up with that reminder of that special guidance from the 308 00:16:11,200 --> 00:16:15,400 Lord, the way of Samson, because he was supposed to help deliver 309 00:16:15,400 --> 00:16:18,360 the people from the Philistines. And at the end of chapter 13, 310 00:16:18,360 --> 00:16:21,720 there is in the spirit of the Lord begin to stir him. 311 00:16:22,720 --> 00:16:24,720 Spirit of the Lord began to stir him. 312 00:16:24,720 --> 00:16:29,440 His purpose was to go and help deliver Israel, begin to deliver 313 00:16:29,440 --> 00:16:32,160 Israel from the oppression of the Philistines to get them 314 00:16:32,160 --> 00:16:38,000 right on track back to God and and free in the land that God 315 00:16:38,000 --> 00:16:42,480 had promised them. And God stirred Samson. 316 00:16:42,480 --> 00:16:46,520 And I am convinced now this is a little bit of Jason, but I'm 317 00:16:46,520 --> 00:16:49,640 convinced that stirring is God saying, here's the path. 318 00:16:50,760 --> 00:16:54,080 Here's where you need to go. You need to do the hard things 319 00:16:54,080 --> 00:16:57,520 that I'm leading you to do, but you need to be about it and do 320 00:16:57,520 --> 00:16:58,400 it. I've equipped you. 321 00:16:58,400 --> 00:17:01,480 I've gifted you. You have all that you need. 322 00:17:02,640 --> 00:17:07,040 And he was stirred. And yet it seems like Samson was 323 00:17:07,040 --> 00:17:09,839 just like, yeah, no, I don't want to do that. 324 00:17:10,560 --> 00:17:12,599 And it's like, oh, come on. Like this is supposed to be one 325 00:17:12,599 --> 00:17:16,359 of those great birth stories and, and legendary and like, 326 00:17:16,400 --> 00:17:19,680 really, really. And he's just like, Nah, I'm not 327 00:17:19,680 --> 00:17:21,599 into that. And so Samson grows. 328 00:17:21,599 --> 00:17:25,920 The next thing we see is Samson is not the the leader that we 329 00:17:25,920 --> 00:17:28,880 hoped that he was going to be and said he's pretty, he's 330 00:17:28,880 --> 00:17:30,760 pretty self absorbed. He's kind of doing his own thing 331 00:17:31,440 --> 00:17:33,240 and, and it's just, it's wrecking him. 332 00:17:33,960 --> 00:17:37,160 He had a way and he chose detours. 333 00:17:37,160 --> 00:17:39,920 And you're going to see real quick that how in those in those 334 00:17:39,920 --> 00:17:46,240 detours, he serves up unwanted drama and and heartache and hurt 335 00:17:46,240 --> 00:17:50,960 in his life, unnecessary things that had he stayed the course 336 00:17:50,960 --> 00:17:55,480 that God had laid out for him. I can't help but think that 337 00:17:55,480 --> 00:17:57,480 things have been a little bit different for him personally. 338 00:17:57,800 --> 00:18:01,880 And yet even though he was trying to detour, God's purposes 339 00:18:02,040 --> 00:18:05,200 were still right. God's purposes and directive was 340 00:18:05,200 --> 00:18:08,320 still good. And God was even using Samson's 341 00:18:08,320 --> 00:18:10,760 knuckleheadness to accomplish his will. 342 00:18:11,360 --> 00:18:13,840 And so let's look at a few of those incidents real quick. 343 00:18:13,840 --> 00:18:18,480 In chapter 14 of the book of Judges, we see that one of 344 00:18:18,480 --> 00:18:21,600 those, one of those three things that first John warned us about 345 00:18:21,600 --> 00:18:25,760 the lust of the eye is the desire of the eye catches Samson 346 00:18:25,760 --> 00:18:30,680 and he sees a girl. He sees a girl and he thinks, 347 00:18:30,680 --> 00:18:34,240 man, God did right when he made that one. 348 00:18:34,880 --> 00:18:38,560 And so he is all about this girl and she, he can't get her out of 349 00:18:38,560 --> 00:18:40,800 his mind. He is, he is. 350 00:18:41,360 --> 00:18:43,760 Here's the thing though, she is not from his people. 351 00:18:43,880 --> 00:18:48,040 She is one of the Philistines. And and so 1, he shouldn't even 352 00:18:48,040 --> 00:18:51,160 be looking that way, but he is. He's obsessed. 353 00:18:51,160 --> 00:18:53,720 He's whooped. He tells his, he tells his folks 354 00:18:53,720 --> 00:18:57,160 and they're like, can you not find any decent girl in all of 355 00:18:57,160 --> 00:18:58,480 Israel? Like look around here, there's 356 00:18:58,480 --> 00:19:00,880 all these kind of girls. I'm sure they suggested some 357 00:19:00,880 --> 00:19:04,000 names and he's like, Nah, this one mom, this is the one she I 358 00:19:04,000 --> 00:19:06,960 got to have her. And so he convinces his parents. 359 00:19:07,280 --> 00:19:09,600 Only child. He convinces at this point. 360 00:19:09,680 --> 00:19:10,920 At this point, he does have brothers. 361 00:19:10,920 --> 00:19:12,440 We find out later. But I guess, I guess he's still 362 00:19:12,440 --> 00:19:13,560 the only child at this one. I don't know. 363 00:19:13,840 --> 00:19:17,040 He convinces his parents to go to Timna to meet this girl, to 364 00:19:17,040 --> 00:19:20,520 set up the arrangement that they did in that time for a wedding. 365 00:19:21,360 --> 00:19:24,000 And so he's going and then we can pick up this weird incident 366 00:19:24,000 --> 00:19:26,960 that happens where God still is not even though Samson is doing 367 00:19:26,960 --> 00:19:29,640 his thing and he is, he is detouring, he is deviating. 368 00:19:29,640 --> 00:19:31,440 He is not listening to the guardrails or heeding the 369 00:19:31,440 --> 00:19:34,080 warnings. God still hasn't let go of him, 370 00:19:34,720 --> 00:19:37,040 so look in chapter 14, verses 6:00 and 7:00. 371 00:19:37,040 --> 00:19:39,680 Then Samson went down with his father and mother to Timna, and 372 00:19:39,680 --> 00:19:43,080 they came to the vineyards of Timna, and behold, a young lion 373 00:19:43,080 --> 00:19:46,240 came toward him roaring. Then the Spirit of the Lord 374 00:19:46,240 --> 00:19:49,240 rushed upon him, and although he had nothing in his hand, he tore 375 00:19:49,240 --> 00:19:51,960 the lion in pieces as one tears a young goat. 376 00:19:52,600 --> 00:19:55,800 But he did not tell his father and or his mother what he had 377 00:19:55,800 --> 00:19:58,000 done. Then he went down and talked 378 00:19:58,000 --> 00:20:01,600 with a woman, because she was right in Samson's eyes. 379 00:20:01,600 --> 00:20:04,640 There it is again. It was in previous scriptures 380 00:20:04,640 --> 00:20:07,480 that she was right in his eyes. And again, it's like his eyes 381 00:20:07,480 --> 00:20:10,000 are just filled. His eyes like he sees something 382 00:20:10,400 --> 00:20:15,120 and his desire, his desire is, is is overcoming what God has 383 00:20:15,120 --> 00:20:17,440 told him to do, the sustainability of walking right 384 00:20:17,440 --> 00:20:19,240 with God. And he's like, I don't care. 385 00:20:19,240 --> 00:20:21,920 I got to have that thing that I see, that person that I see. 386 00:20:22,360 --> 00:20:25,040 And so he's letting it feel his decisions. 387 00:20:26,240 --> 00:20:29,200 So he goes on. The drama happens like crazy 388 00:20:29,200 --> 00:20:32,560 after this. He gets there and Samson is not, 389 00:20:32,600 --> 00:20:34,240 he's not just a big guy with a small hat. 390 00:20:34,720 --> 00:20:37,720 You know what's the praise? Big shirt, small hat. 391 00:20:37,760 --> 00:20:40,080 He's not one of those guys. Like he's not just a big muscle 392 00:20:40,080 --> 00:20:43,680 guy with no brains. He, he shows us some of his wits 393 00:20:43,680 --> 00:20:46,360 and some of his, his brilliance. He goes to the wedding, he's 394 00:20:46,360 --> 00:20:48,920 meeting all the people. They're doing the ceremonies as 395 00:20:48,920 --> 00:20:51,120 his custom in that area. There's like a party going on 396 00:20:51,480 --> 00:20:54,560 and he's bringing all these people in and he offers them up 397 00:20:54,560 --> 00:20:58,640 a Riddle. Because after, after the lion 398 00:20:58,640 --> 00:21:00,320 had died, after some time, he had gone back. 399 00:21:00,320 --> 00:21:02,960 He had picked up some honey out of the carcass of the lion, 400 00:21:04,360 --> 00:21:07,280 which by the way, he wasn't supposed to touch drapes. 401 00:21:08,160 --> 00:21:09,760 He's in a vineyard. He shouldn't have been there to 402 00:21:09,760 --> 00:21:11,480 begin with. In fact, he may not have even 403 00:21:11,480 --> 00:21:13,480 encountered the lion if he had been where he was supposed to 404 00:21:13,480 --> 00:21:16,400 be. Well, then in the crisscrossing 405 00:21:16,400 --> 00:21:19,440 back and forth during this time, he goes back and there's been 406 00:21:19,440 --> 00:21:23,560 enough time that the bees have made a hive in the carcass of 407 00:21:23,560 --> 00:21:25,560 the lion. There's honey there. 408 00:21:25,800 --> 00:21:28,360 The lust of the flesh kicks in. He's like, oh, honey, I'm hungry 409 00:21:28,360 --> 00:21:29,600 and that looks good. I want it. 410 00:21:30,080 --> 00:21:32,000 And so he goes and grabs it. He's not supposed to touch dead 411 00:21:32,000 --> 00:21:34,880 things. So he's once again in a vineyard 412 00:21:35,120 --> 00:21:37,560 and once, and now he's touching dead things and he's eating from 413 00:21:37,560 --> 00:21:40,000 it. I like honey a lot. 414 00:21:40,480 --> 00:21:46,800 I don't know if I could do that. So this is all happening. 415 00:21:46,920 --> 00:21:49,000 He even gives some to his mom and dad, but he did not tell him 416 00:21:49,000 --> 00:21:53,320 where he got the honey from. And then he gives this Riddle 417 00:21:53,320 --> 00:21:57,440 about involving the lion and the honey. 418 00:21:57,800 --> 00:22:00,720 He says, if you can solve my Riddle, then I'll give you some 419 00:22:00,920 --> 00:22:06,400 some prizes, 30 new garments for each of you, or a garment for 420 00:22:06,400 --> 00:22:08,080 each of you. There's 30 guys there, he said. 421 00:22:08,080 --> 00:22:10,720 But if you can't get my Riddle, then you owe me 30 garments. 422 00:22:10,920 --> 00:22:13,440 And so it's just why competition? 423 00:22:13,440 --> 00:22:16,080 But they're doing it well, they can't solve the Riddle. 424 00:22:16,440 --> 00:22:20,600 They convince his fiance to tell, they find out the answer 425 00:22:20,920 --> 00:22:22,920 and she's like, and they're threatening her. 426 00:22:22,920 --> 00:22:24,320 They're like, we're going to burn you up. 427 00:22:24,320 --> 00:22:26,320 We're going to burn your house down and your father's house 428 00:22:26,320 --> 00:22:28,080 down and you if you don't tell us. 429 00:22:28,080 --> 00:22:29,800 And so she finds out the answer from Samson. 430 00:22:31,000 --> 00:22:34,120 He is, they tell him the answer, the answer, he's bad. 431 00:22:34,120 --> 00:22:36,120 And then we have this occasion where because he owes 30 432 00:22:36,120 --> 00:22:39,800 garments to these guys now. Chapter 1419 and 20. 433 00:22:39,800 --> 00:22:41,920 And the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon him and he went down 434 00:22:41,920 --> 00:22:45,080 to Ashkelon and struck down 30 men of the town and took their 435 00:22:45,080 --> 00:22:47,840 spoil and gave the garments to those who had told the Riddle. 436 00:22:48,200 --> 00:22:49,880 In hot anger. He went back to his father's 437 00:22:49,880 --> 00:22:52,720 house and Samson's wife was given to his companion who had 438 00:22:52,720 --> 00:22:54,920 been his best man. Again, drama that he did not 439 00:22:54,920 --> 00:22:58,200 want. And so all this is going on. 440 00:22:58,480 --> 00:23:01,200 The way it's happening is ugly, it's sloppy, and Samson's paying 441 00:23:01,200 --> 00:23:03,240 the price for it. But what is happening is what 442 00:23:03,240 --> 00:23:04,840 God wanted him to do the whole time. 443 00:23:05,080 --> 00:23:09,440 He wanted him to be a judge in Israel and to and to go after 444 00:23:09,440 --> 00:23:11,440 the Philistines. He was to conquer them. 445 00:23:11,440 --> 00:23:15,440 He was to be someone who stood in the gap between them and the 446 00:23:15,440 --> 00:23:18,880 and the Israelites so that their oppression would end and so the 447 00:23:18,880 --> 00:23:23,520 Israel would be free in their land, but also ultimately in 448 00:23:23,520 --> 00:23:27,240 tune and in line with God again. So it's it's happening kind of 449 00:23:27,240 --> 00:23:30,200 funny, but the Lord is still using Sampson to begin this 450 00:23:30,200 --> 00:23:32,520 attack, this task. Sampson finally has his 451 00:23:32,520 --> 00:23:35,360 attention on the Philistines in a way to go after them. 452 00:23:35,840 --> 00:23:38,280 Well, that happens. Sampson decides he's going to 453 00:23:38,280 --> 00:23:40,320 come back. He cools off. 454 00:23:40,320 --> 00:23:42,760 He was mad. He did not know that they had 455 00:23:42,760 --> 00:23:47,200 given his bride to his best man. So he comes back and he's like, 456 00:23:47,200 --> 00:23:50,000 where's my wife? And they're like, we thought 457 00:23:50,000 --> 00:23:53,440 that was over and well, how about her better looking little 458 00:23:53,440 --> 00:23:55,240 sister? Way to go, Dad. 459 00:23:56,000 --> 00:23:57,760 Well, that didn't that didn't work out too good. 460 00:23:58,280 --> 00:24:01,960 The Philistines then burn his wife and her father because 461 00:24:01,960 --> 00:24:03,840 Samson had burnt all their crops up. 462 00:24:04,280 --> 00:24:06,200 And so it is. I'm telling you, it's drama. 463 00:24:06,880 --> 00:24:09,560 God's still using him because in Sampson burning up all his crops 464 00:24:09,560 --> 00:24:12,320 and he just crippled their entire economy for at least a 465 00:24:12,320 --> 00:24:15,480 year or so, that was it. Hit the Philistines in a hard 466 00:24:15,480 --> 00:24:19,080 blow. But all this Revs up to this 467 00:24:19,080 --> 00:24:21,600 climactic moment where he's like, OK, I've gotten you back. 468 00:24:21,600 --> 00:24:23,320 Well, the Philistines aren't aren't having it. 469 00:24:24,040 --> 00:24:25,680 Sampson's off by himself pouting. 470 00:24:26,720 --> 00:24:31,240 And this Philistines coming to Israel to take Sampson, and 471 00:24:31,240 --> 00:24:32,920 there's 1000 or more of them there. 472 00:24:33,920 --> 00:24:36,320 And the Judeans are and the Israelites are like, what have 473 00:24:36,320 --> 00:24:38,000 you done? Like what have you done? 474 00:24:38,000 --> 00:24:40,720 They're coming in here after us. And he's like, what are you 475 00:24:40,720 --> 00:24:42,000 going to do to me? He's like, well, we're going to 476 00:24:42,000 --> 00:24:44,920 tie you up and take you to them. He's like, OK, just don't fight 477 00:24:44,920 --> 00:24:46,080 me. You can tie me up and take them 478 00:24:46,080 --> 00:24:47,800 to me. Take them, take me to them. 479 00:24:48,040 --> 00:24:51,640 He goes. And then we see in in chapter 480 00:24:51,640 --> 00:24:54,760 15, they're at Lee, they're at Lehigh. 481 00:24:54,760 --> 00:24:58,000 And when he came to Lehigh, the Philistines came shouting to 482 00:24:58,000 --> 00:25:00,800 meet him. He's tied up the spirit of the 483 00:25:00,800 --> 00:25:03,040 Lord rushed upon him and the ropes that were on his arms 484 00:25:03,040 --> 00:25:06,520 became as flax that has caught fire and his bonds melted off 485 00:25:06,520 --> 00:25:08,200 his hands. He found fresh jawbone of a 486 00:25:08,200 --> 00:25:12,760 donkey, took out his hand, took it and struck down 1000 men. 487 00:25:13,880 --> 00:25:18,640 After you whoop 1000 of a of a people with a jawbone of a farm 488 00:25:18,640 --> 00:25:23,280 animal, they're going to leave you alone and that's what they 489 00:25:23,280 --> 00:25:25,920 did. So he stayed in Israel. 490 00:25:26,600 --> 00:25:29,560 He had, he had, he had done something that God was directing 491 00:25:29,560 --> 00:25:32,600 to do earlier in a different way, but he had done that and he 492 00:25:32,600 --> 00:25:37,960 judged Israel for 20 years. In the next passage I gave you, 493 00:25:37,960 --> 00:25:40,120 he's super thirsty. And we see one of the only times 494 00:25:40,120 --> 00:25:42,960 he prays to the Lord and he's complaining like God, I just did 495 00:25:42,960 --> 00:25:44,920 this thing and now I'm super thirsty. 496 00:25:44,920 --> 00:25:45,960 I'm going to die off thirst out here. 497 00:25:45,960 --> 00:25:48,920 And God actually graciously opens up some waters for him to 498 00:25:48,920 --> 00:25:51,640 drink. But he judged the Philistines. 499 00:25:51,680 --> 00:25:54,480 He does. He was a judge in Israel in the 500 00:25:54,480 --> 00:25:57,760 days of the Philistines for 20 years. 20 years is a long time. 501 00:25:58,040 --> 00:25:59,600 He actually was on the right path. 502 00:25:59,600 --> 00:26:02,560 He derailed for a while and he came back and he is the judge 503 00:26:02,640 --> 00:26:03,880 for 20 years. Long time. 504 00:26:05,440 --> 00:26:08,200 I our graduates, I was telling them like y'all haven't even 505 00:26:08,200 --> 00:26:11,840 been alive for 20 years yet and they were, they're already 506 00:26:11,840 --> 00:26:13,080 thinking their life is pretty full. 507 00:26:14,120 --> 00:26:16,640 But 20 years, he did this and we don't have a lot about that 20 508 00:26:16,640 --> 00:26:18,400 years because sometimes when you're doing what you're 509 00:26:18,400 --> 00:26:21,120 supposed to do, there's no need for the fanfare. 510 00:26:21,120 --> 00:26:23,480 There's no need for extra. It's just like, well, you're 511 00:26:23,480 --> 00:26:24,320 doing what you're supposed to do. 512 00:26:24,560 --> 00:26:26,240 This is your expectation and it's OK. 513 00:26:26,800 --> 00:26:28,800 It's OK to fulfill your expectation, to fulfill your 514 00:26:28,800 --> 00:26:32,560 mission, to fulfill the continue in the way that God has shaped 515 00:26:32,560 --> 00:26:34,560 and molded and gifted you. That's OK. 516 00:26:35,000 --> 00:26:37,760 In fact, the next time we see him, it's when he deviates from 517 00:26:37,760 --> 00:26:40,080 the way. Again, this is the familiar 518 00:26:40,080 --> 00:26:43,880 story of Delilah. The eyes he get, he gets he gets 519 00:26:43,880 --> 00:26:46,120 distracted, he gets maybe, I don't know, bored. 520 00:26:46,760 --> 00:26:50,160 He gets, I don't know what his motivation was, but he decides 521 00:26:50,160 --> 00:26:55,320 that he's going to have he's going to leave the Israel Israel 522 00:26:55,320 --> 00:26:57,240 again. He's going to be looking at the 523 00:26:57,520 --> 00:27:00,560 at the ladies over in Philistines and he finds Delilah 524 00:27:00,560 --> 00:27:03,800 and he is smitten with her three times. 525 00:27:03,800 --> 00:27:06,800 She tries to get him to tell her what the source of his strength 526 00:27:06,800 --> 00:27:08,480 is. And he's he tricks them every 527 00:27:08,480 --> 00:27:10,120 time. He whoops up some Philistines 528 00:27:10,120 --> 00:27:12,360 and he just have a has a great old time with it. 529 00:27:12,640 --> 00:27:15,400 But at this point, he has conquered people. 530 00:27:15,720 --> 00:27:19,280 He has he has set himself up as a threat, like the Philistines 531 00:27:19,280 --> 00:27:21,240 won't come into Israel at all. As long as Samson's there, 532 00:27:21,920 --> 00:27:24,280 things are good. He look what I've done. 533 00:27:24,280 --> 00:27:26,240 And that pride of life has crept in. 534 00:27:26,240 --> 00:27:29,720 And so in the biggest, boldest pride, this moment of his life, 535 00:27:29,720 --> 00:27:31,760 he tells Lila, if you cut my hair. 536 00:27:31,920 --> 00:27:33,720 Because remember the three things. 537 00:27:33,720 --> 00:27:35,320 And that's right. Don't touch that things. 538 00:27:35,320 --> 00:27:39,080 Don't he anything from the vine or drink and then don't cut your 539 00:27:39,080 --> 00:27:41,160 hair. He's already struck out like 540 00:27:41,160 --> 00:27:43,000 there's been two strikes against him and this is the third 541 00:27:43,000 --> 00:27:44,160 strike. He's like, just go and cut my 542 00:27:44,160 --> 00:27:46,520 hair, thinking that nothing else is going to change. 543 00:27:46,520 --> 00:27:48,320 He's going to be able to break bonds. 544 00:27:48,320 --> 00:27:50,360 He's going to be able to whoop up on the Philistines. 545 00:27:50,360 --> 00:27:53,640 And of course, if you know the story, his hair gets cut. 546 00:27:54,000 --> 00:27:58,400 That outer marking, that the last step that set him apart as 547 00:27:58,400 --> 00:28:02,480 a man of God in the eyes of the whole society was removed. 548 00:28:03,520 --> 00:28:05,960 They time up, they gouge out his eyes. 549 00:28:06,680 --> 00:28:10,520 They make him a spectacle, a trophy to mock and to entertain 550 00:28:10,520 --> 00:28:12,120 them. They're his torture is their 551 00:28:12,120 --> 00:28:14,440 entertainment. They have this big festival to 552 00:28:14,440 --> 00:28:19,160 their fake fish God Dagon, and there are 3000 plus there in 553 00:28:19,160 --> 00:28:20,840 this temple and they bring Samson. 554 00:28:21,000 --> 00:28:24,280 They bring Samson out as a this is our victory that Dagon has 555 00:28:24,280 --> 00:28:25,680 given us. Look at this. 556 00:28:25,960 --> 00:28:28,040 Look at this poor excuse, pathetic man. 557 00:28:28,600 --> 00:28:30,000 And so he's sitting there in the middle. 558 00:28:30,000 --> 00:28:34,680 He's entertaining them with his blindness, his suffering, and he 559 00:28:34,680 --> 00:28:39,120 cries out to God another time. This is in chapter 16 at the end 560 00:28:39,120 --> 00:28:40,800 he says. Then Samson called to the Lord 561 00:28:40,800 --> 00:28:44,640 and said, Oh Lord God, Please remember me and please 562 00:28:44,640 --> 00:28:47,520 strengthen me only this once, Oh God, that I may be avenged on 563 00:28:47,520 --> 00:28:49,160 the Philistines from my two eyes. 564 00:28:50,040 --> 00:28:53,200 And Samson grasped the 2 middle pillars on which the house 565 00:28:53,200 --> 00:28:56,280 rested, and he leaned his weight against them, his right hand on 566 00:28:56,280 --> 00:28:57,800 the one and his left on the other. 567 00:28:58,160 --> 00:29:00,200 And Samson said, Let me die with the Philistines. 568 00:29:00,480 --> 00:29:01,920 And he bowed with all his strength. 569 00:29:01,920 --> 00:29:05,000 And the house fell upon the Lords and upon all the people 570 00:29:05,000 --> 00:29:07,440 who were in it. So the dead whom he killed and 571 00:29:07,440 --> 00:29:10,000 his death were more than those he killed in his during his 572 00:29:10,000 --> 00:29:13,720 life. Then his brothers and family 573 00:29:13,720 --> 00:29:15,440 came, took him, and buried him with his father. 574 00:29:15,720 --> 00:29:19,240 And again, it reminds us that he had judged Israel for 20 years 575 00:29:20,840 --> 00:29:24,680 now at at that point. And what's crazy is there's 4 576 00:29:24,680 --> 00:29:26,320 chapters and judges about this guy. 577 00:29:26,320 --> 00:29:29,800 He has a miraculous birth, all this set up and his and 578 00:29:29,800 --> 00:29:32,040 scripture is pretty silent on Samson after this. 579 00:29:32,280 --> 00:29:34,960 There's just not a lot. There's not a lot of reference 580 00:29:34,960 --> 00:29:37,400 to him. There's not a lot of, of 581 00:29:37,400 --> 00:29:39,880 remember the days of. I mean, there's, it's just, it 582 00:29:39,880 --> 00:29:42,960 happened. And maybe it's it's because we 583 00:29:42,960 --> 00:29:45,120 look at it and there's just like, man, what could have been 584 00:29:45,440 --> 00:29:48,600 man, if Samson had just stayed on the path, If he just stayed 585 00:29:48,600 --> 00:29:53,160 on the way, would he have been the judge that completely 586 00:29:53,160 --> 00:29:55,680 annihilated the Philistines? Would he have been the one that 587 00:29:55,680 --> 00:29:58,880 completely removed that oppression that the children of 588 00:29:58,880 --> 00:30:03,120 Israel were facing? What could have been if Samson 589 00:30:03,120 --> 00:30:04,200 would have just stayed on the way? 590 00:30:05,320 --> 00:30:07,840 We see it that way. As spectators, that's our 591 00:30:07,840 --> 00:30:10,560 privilege to look and cast a judgement like that. 592 00:30:11,200 --> 00:30:14,360 But get personal for a second. What about your path? 593 00:30:15,240 --> 00:30:18,520 How many detours have you taken? How many times do you know that 594 00:30:18,640 --> 00:30:21,840 the last something, something you saw all of a sudden was more 595 00:30:21,840 --> 00:30:24,400 important than what God wanted in your life and you went after 596 00:30:24,400 --> 00:30:27,200 it? Or some urge you felt was more 597 00:30:27,200 --> 00:30:29,760 important than what God's designed for you is? 598 00:30:30,240 --> 00:30:34,200 And you, you, you pursued that urge or that you're just, you're 599 00:30:34,200 --> 00:30:36,280 just, your nose was up so, so high. 600 00:30:36,280 --> 00:30:38,680 You were so proud of yourself. You thought you were untouchable 601 00:30:39,240 --> 00:30:44,080 and you proceeded anyway and you detoured off of the way that God 602 00:30:44,680 --> 00:30:47,720 had designed for you. So that's what happened to 603 00:30:47,720 --> 00:30:52,480 Samson because it so it could be easy for someone else looking 604 00:30:52,480 --> 00:30:56,040 and observing you and me to say, man, what could have been, man, 605 00:30:56,040 --> 00:30:59,200 if you'd just done this, what, what would have been the story 606 00:30:59,200 --> 00:31:04,600 what what could have been? But that's not the whole story. 607 00:31:05,880 --> 00:31:07,480 Here's the part that's frustrating. 608 00:31:07,840 --> 00:31:11,000 I don't know what is, but I know that God is gracious. 609 00:31:12,920 --> 00:31:15,720 And there was more to Samson than just a disappointment and 610 00:31:15,720 --> 00:31:18,520 great strength. Yes, he conquered. 611 00:31:18,560 --> 00:31:20,600 He did what God had intended him to do. 612 00:31:20,600 --> 00:31:22,840 He did it in a way that was kicking and screaming the whole 613 00:31:22,840 --> 00:31:25,400 way. Except there was those 20 years, 614 00:31:25,400 --> 00:31:28,440 right? There was the acknowledgement of 615 00:31:28,440 --> 00:31:32,720 God working in him. Even the author of of Judges 616 00:31:32,720 --> 00:31:36,760 makes clear that the Spirit rushed upon Samson and these 617 00:31:36,760 --> 00:31:39,480 many of these deeds were done because of God's hand in his 618 00:31:39,480 --> 00:31:42,080 life. He was intelligent, He was 619 00:31:42,080 --> 00:31:45,440 strong, he was artistic, he wrote poetry. 620 00:31:45,440 --> 00:31:50,680 We see that in this story too. But the redeeming factor that we 621 00:31:50,680 --> 00:31:55,400 can have some some solace in and encouragement is in found in 622 00:31:55,400 --> 00:31:58,720 Hebrews Hebrews Chapter 11 is known as the Hall of Fame of 623 00:31:58,720 --> 00:32:00,520 faith. The writer of Hebrews is telling 624 00:32:00,520 --> 00:32:03,160 us that look at all these people that have followed the Lord and 625 00:32:03,160 --> 00:32:05,400 done it. And now as followers of Christ, 626 00:32:05,520 --> 00:32:07,760 we can be faithful, we can follow the Lord too. 627 00:32:07,760 --> 00:32:09,800 We have this this cloud of witness. 628 00:32:09,800 --> 00:32:12,400 We have these people that have gone before us that have done 629 00:32:12,400 --> 00:32:13,840 this. It is possible. 630 00:32:13,960 --> 00:32:17,080 It's encouragement, this encouragement to to go forth do 631 00:32:17,080 --> 00:32:20,280 great things for the Lord stay on the path he has for you is 632 00:32:20,280 --> 00:32:23,880 gifted you stay the course and see what he does in your life. 633 00:32:23,880 --> 00:32:27,240 It will have heavenly and forever impact. 634 00:32:28,960 --> 00:32:36,840 And in Hebrews 11 this knucklehead is mentioned. 635 00:32:37,560 --> 00:32:40,560 And what more shall I say? For time would fail me to tell 636 00:32:40,560 --> 00:32:46,400 of Gideon, Barack, Samson, Jepfa of David and Samuel and the 637 00:32:46,400 --> 00:32:48,720 prophets. And he goes on from there. 638 00:32:51,040 --> 00:32:53,440 There's more to him than just a very great, what could have been 639 00:32:53,440 --> 00:32:56,880 story. Yes, he messed up, but this 640 00:32:56,880 --> 00:32:58,840 gives us a little glimpse of how God sees us too. 641 00:32:59,640 --> 00:33:02,280 We, we, you've messed up. I've messed up. 642 00:33:02,600 --> 00:33:04,200 That's easy. Like that's a, that's a Gimme. 643 00:33:05,080 --> 00:33:07,400 There's times that you have veered off the course that the 644 00:33:07,440 --> 00:33:09,200 Lord has laid out for you. Some of you are in the ditch 645 00:33:09,200 --> 00:33:16,200 right now. God can still he has purpose in 646 00:33:16,200 --> 00:33:19,440 your life though. And God is still encouraging us 647 00:33:19,440 --> 00:33:21,720 to stay the course, stay the path and stay on the path. 648 00:33:21,920 --> 00:33:27,080 Repent, turn away from what has lured you away and get right 649 00:33:27,080 --> 00:33:30,840 back on the path of the Lord. At the end, what you have done 650 00:33:30,840 --> 00:33:37,560 for him is what matters at the end it Samson's faithfulness. 651 00:33:37,640 --> 00:33:40,520 The times that he he had faithfulness in the Lord, the 652 00:33:40,520 --> 00:33:45,400 time that his faith was used, exercised, That's what's matter. 653 00:33:45,400 --> 00:33:46,800 That's why he's listed in this list. 654 00:33:47,560 --> 00:33:52,160 This great man who did God did great things through what could 655 00:33:52,160 --> 00:33:54,040 have been. I don't know, maybe scratch that 656 00:33:54,040 --> 00:33:58,360 out. Maybe put what's going to be So 657 00:33:58,480 --> 00:34:01,360 no matter where you are, maybe you're one of those people 658 00:34:01,360 --> 00:34:03,880 that's in the ditch right now. You've swerved, you've chased 659 00:34:03,880 --> 00:34:06,200 after something and you may not feel like you can get out of it. 660 00:34:07,440 --> 00:34:10,040 God, God can work in that. God can work in your life. 661 00:34:10,280 --> 00:34:12,199 It takes some humility. It takes some admitting that 662 00:34:12,199 --> 00:34:15,000 you're wrong, but God can straighten that out and put you 663 00:34:15,000 --> 00:34:17,920 back on the path. Early Christians were called 664 00:34:17,920 --> 00:34:25,480 followers of the way. There's a today's Star Wars day. 665 00:34:25,480 --> 00:34:27,920 I don't know if y'all knew that, but as a big Star Wars fan, it's 666 00:34:27,920 --> 00:34:30,199 May the 4th and so May the fourth be with you. 667 00:34:31,400 --> 00:34:35,159 And I thought I was going to do something about Star Wars this 668 00:34:35,159 --> 00:34:36,239 whole time. I was excited. 669 00:34:36,239 --> 00:34:37,520 Oh, senior Sunday is the Star Wars day. 670 00:34:37,520 --> 00:34:38,960 I'm going to do something about Star Wars the whole time. 671 00:34:38,960 --> 00:34:41,400 And God did not let me do that. Probably because it would have 672 00:34:41,400 --> 00:34:43,040 been some pride of life kicking in. 673 00:34:44,120 --> 00:34:49,400 But I will talk about one Star Wars thing because I don't want, 674 00:34:49,760 --> 00:34:52,000 I don't want you to think life is hopeless if you've messed up 675 00:34:52,199 --> 00:34:57,440 once, twice, 10 times. There's a, there's a character 676 00:34:57,440 --> 00:35:00,920 in an offshoots Star Wars show called The Mandalorian. 677 00:35:00,920 --> 00:35:05,840 And he follows this ideal, but he calls it the way. 678 00:35:06,360 --> 00:35:09,480 And so when he makes decisions hard, a lot of times the hard 679 00:35:09,480 --> 00:35:10,840 decisions come up. It's like, well, this is the 680 00:35:10,840 --> 00:35:14,320 way. And I like that simplicity of 681 00:35:14,320 --> 00:35:18,440 that, of that character. And then tying that with what 682 00:35:18,440 --> 00:35:21,560 early Christians were called, I'm reminded that you know what? 683 00:35:21,560 --> 00:35:24,240 We are human. We are gifted by God. 684 00:35:24,240 --> 00:35:28,400 If you are a blood vault St. of the Lord, if you confess Christ 685 00:35:28,400 --> 00:35:30,720 as your savior and Lord, you've been gifted. 686 00:35:31,440 --> 00:35:33,000 You've been supernaturally gifted. 687 00:35:33,000 --> 00:35:34,560 Samson was supernaturally gifted. 688 00:35:34,560 --> 00:35:36,840 You have been super supernaturally gifted with a 689 00:35:36,840 --> 00:35:40,000 gift set that is necessary and needed in our church. 690 00:35:41,480 --> 00:35:44,120 But maybe you swear from it. Maybe there's times you're 691 00:35:44,120 --> 00:35:49,600 having a hard time saying on the path, this is the way seek the 692 00:35:49,600 --> 00:35:56,120 Lord, be repentant, know and trust his word and talk to him 693 00:35:56,120 --> 00:35:58,720 often. Say in his presence and you will 694 00:35:58,720 --> 00:36:01,320 continue to move forward in the right way. 695 00:36:02,120 --> 00:36:07,240 I gave the students a Lantern. See if it works. 696 00:36:08,440 --> 00:36:10,440 I gave him this Lantern because it looks like it has a little 697 00:36:10,440 --> 00:36:16,800 flame inside of it. And as a believer each of us has 698 00:36:16,800 --> 00:36:18,920 been given the the gift of the Holy Spirit. 699 00:36:19,400 --> 00:36:23,360 Paul tells his protege Timothy and second Timothy 1/6. 700 00:36:23,360 --> 00:36:26,960 He says, for this reason, I remind you to fan into flame the 701 00:36:26,960 --> 00:36:30,360 gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my 702 00:36:30,360 --> 00:36:34,520 hands. As believers, we get to fan into 703 00:36:34,520 --> 00:36:38,480 flame, seek out the Lord, read his word, trust and pray to him. 704 00:36:38,680 --> 00:36:42,400 We get to fan the flame that's within us and allow that fire to 705 00:36:42,400 --> 00:36:45,280 not be destructive, but be useful to forge things in our 706 00:36:45,280 --> 00:36:48,040 lives and the lives of others. To be a light on our own path, 707 00:36:48,040 --> 00:36:51,720 but also a light to others to to make a difference, to be a 708 00:36:51,720 --> 00:36:55,560 brilliant, a brilliant beacon in a very dark time. 709 00:36:56,680 --> 00:37:00,440 And so we have that opportunity and that blessing to stay on the 710 00:37:00,440 --> 00:37:06,560 path, follow the Lord and to fan in the flame, accepting all that 711 00:37:06,560 --> 00:37:09,800 he has for us in the way that he wants to to to do it. 712 00:37:10,320 --> 00:37:12,960 So I encourage you today, if you don't know the Lord as your 713 00:37:12,960 --> 00:37:15,400 personal Lord and Savior, I'd love to talk to you about that. 714 00:37:15,520 --> 00:37:16,760 Pastor Kyle would love to talk to you about that. 715 00:37:16,760 --> 00:37:19,640 We have several in here that would love to to help you come 716 00:37:19,640 --> 00:37:22,880 to a saving knowledge of the Lord and be gifted by the Holy 717 00:37:22,880 --> 00:37:25,160 Spirit in your own life. If you're a believer that just 718 00:37:25,160 --> 00:37:28,240 needs to confess some things, come to this altar, come pray, 719 00:37:28,600 --> 00:37:32,960 just get right, get get right back on on the path repents and 720 00:37:32,960 --> 00:37:35,360 get going again. God is gracious and what he 721 00:37:35,360 --> 00:37:37,800 remembers is not the what it could have been, but look what 722 00:37:37,800 --> 00:37:41,080 you did and when we see him in glory. 723 00:37:41,240 --> 00:37:44,600 So if you'll stand, we'll pray. God, we love you. 724 00:37:44,600 --> 00:37:47,920 Thank you so much for today. God pray your will be done in 725 00:37:47,920 --> 00:37:49,560 our lives. I pray that we will be faithful 726 00:37:49,560 --> 00:37:52,720 to follow you along the the the path that you have designed for 727 00:37:52,720 --> 00:37:54,240 us. You've equipped us far. 728 00:37:54,240 --> 00:37:57,160 You've gifted us far. God keep us from the lust of the 729 00:37:57,160 --> 00:37:59,280 flesh and the lust of the eyes and the pride of life. 730 00:37:59,280 --> 00:38:02,200 Lord, help us to to heed the warnings of those guardrails and 731 00:38:02,200 --> 00:38:06,240 not to fall into those pits, but to continue forward Lord, so 732 00:38:06,240 --> 00:38:09,440 that we can look forward and see all that you're doing and going 733 00:38:09,440 --> 00:38:11,440 to do. We love you and Jesus name we 734 00:38:11,440 --> 00:38:12,520 pray, Amen.