Let's open the sacred Scriptures tonight to Judges 14. Judges 14. Let's read the whole of the chapter. We have covered in our series so far the first seven verses. Tonight we take all the verses 8-20 as the text for tonight's sermon. I will not take the time to reread that, but we will reread verse 19 which is going to be the focus of tonight's sermon. So let's read together Judges 14. And Samson went down to Timnath and saw a woman in Timnath of the daughters of the Philistines. And he came up and told his father and his mother and said, I have seen a woman in Timnath of the daughters of the Philistines. Now therefore, get her for me to wife. Then his father and his mother said unto him, Is there never a woman among the daughters of thy brethren? Or among all my people that thou goest to take a wife of the uncircumcised Philistines?" And Samson said unto his father, Get her for me, for she pleaseth me well. But his father and his mother knew not that it was of the Lord that he sought an occasion against the Philistines. For at that time, the Philistines had dominion over Israel. Then went Samson down and his father and his mother to Timnath, and came to the vineyards of Timnath. And behold, a young lion roared against him, and the Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon him. And he rent him as he would have rent a kid, and he had nothing in his hand. But he told not his father or his mother what he had done. And he went down and talked with the woman, and she pleased Samson well. And after a time he returned to take her, and he turned aside to see the carcass of the lion. And behold, there was a swarm of bees and honey in the carcass of the lion. And he took thereof in his hands and went on eating, and came to his father and mother, and he gave them, and they did eat. But he told not them that he had taken the honey out of the carcass of the lion. So his father went down unto the woman, And Samson made there a feast for so used young men to do. And it came to pass when they saw him that they brought thirty companions to be with him. And Samson said unto them, I will now put forth a riddle unto you, if ye can certainly declare it me, within the seven days of the feast, and find it out, then I will give you thirty sheets and thirty change of garments. But if ye cannot declare it Me, then shall ye give Me thirty sheets and thirty change of garments.' And they said unto him, forth thy riddle, that we may hear it. And he said unto them, Out of the eater came forth meat, and out of the strong came forth sweetness. and they could not in three days expound the riddle. And it came to pass on the seventh day that they said unto Samson's wife, Entice thy husband, that he may declare unto us the riddle, lest we burn thee and thy father's house with fire. Have ye not called us to take that we have? Is it not so? And Samson's wife wept before him and said, Doubt us, but hate me, and love us me not. Thou hast put forth a riddle unto the children of My people, and hast not told it Me. And he said unto her, Behold, I have not told it my father nor my mother, and shall I tell it thee? And she wept before him the seven days while their feast lasted. And it came to pass on the seventh day that he told her, because she lay sore upon him, and she told the riddle to the children of her people. And the men of the city said unto him on the seventh day before the sun went down, What is sweeter than honey? And what is stronger than a lion? And he said unto them, If ye had not plowed with my heifer, ye had not found out my riddle. And the Spirit of the Lord came upon him, and he went down to Ashkelon, and slew thirty men of them, and took their spoil, and gave change of garments unto them which expounded the riddle, and his anger was kindled, and he went up to his father's house. But Samson's wife was given to his companion, whom he had used as his friend." Thus far we read God's Word. The focus of tonight's sermon will be verse 19. And the Spirit of the Lord came upon him, and he went down to Ashkelon and slew thirty men of them and took their spoil and gave change of garments unto them which expounded the riddle. And his anger was kindled and he went up to his father's house. Child of God, in your ongoing battle against sin and temptation, are you ever tempted to despair? Are there certain sins you have become so entangled in that you have begun to doubt that you will ever be free from them? Has the enemy made such great advances into your heart that you worry you will never be able to drive him out again? If that's how you feel, then you can relate to how the Israelites no doubt felt with regard to ever getting out from under the oppression of the Philistines. For as we have seen in this series, Israel no longer had any hope for that. They were not asking for a deliverer. They did not even want a deliverer once he started his work. And that was partly because the Israelites were worshiping the same gods as the Philistines, such as their god, Dagon. And therefore, they were perfectly content to be under the rule, the dominion of the Philistines. But more than that, surely a part of Their contentment with the status quo was that they had assumed that throwing off the yoke of the flistons was impossible. They had given up hope and thus they had lost their will to fight. How much is that true of you and I in our battle against sin? Have we lost hope? Insofar as that's true for us, tonight's sermon is meant to give us encouragement. Because in this sermon, we consider Samson's initial victory over the Philistines, that is, we see Samson here make a beginning, a small beginning, but a beginning nevertheless, and throwing off the yoke of the Philistines. And the lesson for us is that this is how it most often goes in our own battle against sin. There's deliverance, but it usually comes one small victory at a time. Progress takes place by little and little. And what an appropriate word for us on this occasion of an applicatory sermon. For this morning we had the joy, the privilege of partaking of the Lord's Supper, and with gratitude swelling in our hearts, we now want to turn away from sin, to put away sin from our lives. And this passage gives us the guidance and the encouragement that we need to press on in the battle. and to fight against our spiritual enemies. So let's see that tonight as we consider Judges 14 verses 8-20 using as our theme, Samson's beginning in delivering Israel. Samson's beginning in delivering Israel. First, we'll look at the occasion. And there we'll cover verses 8-20. And then we'll look at the victory in the second point, v. 19, and third, the encouragement for us. Samson's beginning in delivering Israel. The occasion, the victory, and the encouragement. Now it's been some time since we've had a sermon in this series, so let's remind ourselves that this whole chapter started with Samson setting his eyes upon a young woman from Philistia." Verse 1 of the chapter, "...And Samson went down to Timnath and saw a woman in Timnath of the daughters of the Philistines." And we recall how he went home, told his parents all about this young woman, and asked them to make the necessary arrangements so that he could be married to this woman. Though his parents rightly protested this desire of Samson. Samson foolishly insisted, she's the one. She is right in my eyes. Get her for me. What Samson's parents did not know was that Samson had a purpose in this. And his overarching goal was to seek an occasion to fight, to quarrel against the enemies. That was verse 4. But his father and his mother knew not that it was of the Lord that he, Samson, saw an occasion against the Philistines. He's looking for an opportunity to quarrel against them. He wants to rub shoulders with the Philistines, confident that their enmity towards him and Israelite will come out He will have opportunity to fight them in such a way that it appears merely to be revenge on his part. But we also saw that this was a foolish and sinful means to seek about that commendable goal. But nevertheless, he persisted. And evidently, his parents relented, because as we saw the last time we had a sermon from this series, Samson and his parents went down to Timnath, the hometown of this woman, to make the arrangements for the marriage. Verse 7 speaks of that. And he went down and talked with the woman. And the idea is, at that point, they become espoused to one another. They are betrothed to one another. Now before he was able to get there, There was that encounter in the vineyard with the lion that met him in the way. But rather than being rent by the lion, the Spirit gave Samson the strength to rend the lion so that he slew that lion with his bare hands. And then he proceeded to talk with a woman that is to become betrothed, espoused to her. That's everything we've already covered. Now in this section that we consider, Samson is on his way back to take this woman to come and live with him. That's the idea being expressed in verse 8. And after a time, he returned to take her. And standing behind this is the marriage custom of those days. A couple would become espoused, betrothed, and at that point they were legally married, but then the husband would leave for a time and prepare a place for the two to live together, and then once he had prepared a place for them to live together, he would go back for his wife, they would have a marriage feast, and then he would bring her home for the first time. Samson is on his way back. And on his way back, Taking the same path down to Timnath, he decides to turn aside to see the carcass of the lion that he had slain. God had given him a great victory, and evidently he wanted to remember it. But when he comes to the carcass, he finds that bees have taken up residence in it, and he decides to avail himself to the honey that was available, He took some not just for himself, but some also for his parents. And no doubt, as he enjoyed that honey, he pondered whether there was any significance in it. Whether God was communicating some sort of message that in the very lion that he had slain, there was something sweet. But eventually, his thoughts would have turned elsewhere. His thoughts would have turned to his wedding feast. That's what we read about in v. 10. So his father went down unto the woman and Samson made there a feast. This is a seven day long wedding feast. And like the wedding feast that Jesus attended, wine would have been a component of this because that word feast there in v. 10 means literally a drinking feast. And because Samson came with only his parents, without any of his friends, the Philistines decided to take it upon themselves to provide Samson with groomsmen, as it were. That's the idea being expressed in verse 11. And it came to pass when they saw him, they brought him 30 companions to be with him. These would be his groomsmen. Now it's at this wedding feast that Samson proposes his riddle. Verse 12, and Samson said unto them, I will now put forth a riddle. Literally, I will riddle a riddle unto you. Now before he tells them, he makes a wager. If ye can certainly declare it, me within the seven days of the feast and find it out, then I will give you 30 sheets and 30 change of garments. That is, 30 pieces of underclothing and 30 pieces of outer clothing. But if ye cannot declare it me, then shall ye give me 30 sheets and 30 change of garments. Either these Philistines would all have a new outfit to wear to the next Dagon festival, Or, Samson is going to have the most complete wardrobe of anyone in his town. He's going to have the wardrobe of a nobleman. That's the wager. And the Philistines agree to it. They said unto him, Put forth thy riddle that we may hear it. And so he tells them his riddle in v. 14. And he said unto them, Out of the eater, came forth meat, and out of the strong came forth sweetness." If we wanted to build rhyme into this, we would say, out of the eater came forth something to eat, and out of the strong came forth something sweet. Understand, in proposing this riddle, Samson is seeking an occasion against the Philistines. That is, when we come to this riddle, we have to bear in mind what we learned back in verse four, that Samson is looking for an opportunity to fight. And that's why he proposes this impossible riddle to them. And it is indeed an impossible riddle without the context that only Samson knows that he had slain a lion and then come back to it later on and found honey inside of it. No one else knows about that. He had not even told his parents. And therefore, there's really no way for them to ever figure this out. And that's precisely the point. Samson is confident they will not be able to come up with the answer. And that this will then give him an opportunity to fight. Because one of two things is going to happen. They're not going to be able to guess the riddle and therefore they're going to have to pay him the garments and they will give him the garments, but they're going to do so, so begrudgingly, so reluctantly and with such hatred in their hearts for Samson, that really they're going to want to pick a fight with him. That's what he's looking for. Or the alternative is that they cannot guess the riddle and they refuse to pay up. They refused to give him the 30 changes of clothing that he rightly deserves and therefore he would have an opportunity to quarrel. That's his purpose. That's his motivation. So he puts this to them. And thus the battle of wits begins. And now evidently for three days, the Philistines sought to guess it by fair means. Because the end of verse 14 says, and they could not in three days expound the riddle. They tried. They guessed everything that they could. But now the fun and games is turning to frustration and anger. And by the seventh day, that frustration and anger has boiled over. And the Philistines resort to devious, really malicious means to find out the answer. They go to Samson's wife. Verse 15, And it came to pass on the seventh day that they said unto Samson's wife, Entice thy husband. that He may declare unto us the riddle, lest we burn thee and thy father's house with fire. Have ye called us to take that we have? Is it not so?" That last part, they're accusing her. You're in on this, aren't you? You just want to take our possessions, don't you? And thus, they threaten her. Be your old seductive self. and get that answer. Otherwise, we are going to burn you and your entire household with fire." And now this woman finds herself in a no-win wedding celebration. And thus she resorts to tears, and, you don't love me, in order to pry the answer out of Samson. That's verses 16 and following. And Samson's wife wept before him and said, Thou dost but hate me, and lovest me not. Thou hast put forth a riddle unto the children of my people, and hast not told it me. And then verse 17, And she wept before him the seven days. Now when it says she wept for the seven days, it's not a conflict to the rest of the passage. The idea is that for all seven days, She herself has been curious of the answer. Since day one, she's been trying to get the answer out of Samson. What is it? Can you tell me? But now on the seventh day, now that she has this threat to her life, she really turns up the dial. And she uses every available tactic to try to get the answer from Samson. So that in v. 17, it says, because she lay sore upon him. And the idea is she pressed him hard. She drove him into a corner. And in the end, it was too much for Samson. He shared his secret. And not surprisingly, the words he told are very, very quickly followed by She told. Verse 17, And she wept before Him seven days while their feast lasted. And it came to pass on the seventh day that He told her, because she lay sore upon Him, and she told the riddle to the children of her people. And now these companions, these groomsmen, come to Samson at the final hour, as it were, just before the sun goes down, feeling a bit triumphant, and they give the answer as though they had finally at last deduced it. What is sweeter than honey? And what is stronger than a lion? But though they give the answer as though they had finally figured it out, Samson knows better. He understood exactly what happens and says one of the more memorable lines in all of Scripture, if ye had not plowed with my heifer, ye had not found out my riddle. And while it could be translated, if you had not devised with my heifer, yet every Bible translation I checked has this same wording that we find in the King James. And in response to all this, becomes quite angry at his wife. That's the idea expressed at the end of v. 19. And his anger was kindled and he went up to his father's house. And the idea is he's so angry at his wife for divulging his secret that rather than taking her home to live with him, he actually left her there. But though that was true, In the end, Samson did find what he had been looking for. An opportunity to fight. Now before we look at that fight and his initial victory, it's worth taking the time to step back and to evaluate this history that we've covered very, very briefly in this first point. We want to evaluate, look at, both Samson himself as well as the Philistines. And what we see when we look at Samson is that he was indeed a flawed deliverer. Yes, God gives him great strength at times, but yet, he's very, very weak in many other respects. And that's true that we see his flaws, his weakness here, regardless of what view we take regarding whether he's broken his vows as a Nazarite. Because that is a part of the question that we face when we come to this history. Whether or not he has gone against his calling as a Nazarite. There are those who would argue that he does in fact break his vows. And I am inclined to agree, although I will qualify that in a moment. Because remember, if you are a Nazirite, there are three things you must avoid. Strong drink, having a razor come upon your head, and touching dead bodies. And what do we see in this history? Well, Samson retrieved honey from the carcass of a dead lion. Strike one. And then what do we see later on in this history? Samson is hosting a drinking feast. Strike two. That's the argument for those who would argue that Samson has broken two of the three aspects of his vow. And again, I am inclined to agree with that, but yet, I am not willing to assert dogmatically that he did, in fact, break his vows." In other words, I'm not willing to stand up here and say, thus saith the Lord, Samson broke two of the three aspects of his vows. Because with regards to the drinking, it's true, he's at a drinking feast, but it's also true that there's nothing explicit in the passage that indicates that Samson himself partook of the wine. Perhaps he's there, He never indulged. Could be. And with regards to touching a dead animal, the carcass of an animal, there's many different explanations that are given for why that wasn't necessarily breaking His vows. And really, I don't find any of them to be convincing, but what gives me pause is the thought that perhaps God was communicating some sort of message to Samson. Out of the eater came forth meat. Out of the strong came forth sweetness. I wonder, is that more than a riddle? Is that Samson pondering the significance of that? that in the way of defeating the enemies, of overthrowing the yoke of the Philistines, there is sweetness that will come from that. Whether or not that was God's purpose, I do not know. And again, I am not willing to assert that dogmatically, leave it as an open question. But if that were God's purpose, I struggle to understand how it would be wrong for Samson to enjoy that sweetness. So I'm inclined to believe he broke his Nazaretic vows, but unwilling to assert it dogmatically. But now go back to the statement at the beginning of all this discussion. Regardless of whether Samson broke his vows as a Nazirite, we see in this history his flaws, his weakness. Regardless of what position you want to take, there can be no debate, there can be no question about the sinfulness of this union. of this marriage to an unbelieving woman who belonged to the Philistines. One who was not one of God's covenant people. And what is more, he's surrounding himself. He's having fellowship with these ungodly companions. These ungodly groomsmen. And more than that, we see Samson's weakness here. This weakness with respect to women. There is in this chapter a foreshadowing of the history that follows and his interactions with Delilah. And you put it all together and what we see is that women are Samson's kryptonite. His great weakness. And thus we see, though a deliverer, he is indeed flawed. That's how we evaluate Samson when we look at this history. We also want to take some time to look at the Philistines. Not to decide whether or not they are wicked, but to take note of the specific evil that we see here in this passage. And what stands out is their willingness to make use of threats and manipulation. How was it that the companions convinced this woman to help them uncover the answer to the riddle? Entice thy husband that he may declare unto us the riddle, lest we burn thee and thy father's house with fire. That's a threat. And how is it this woman gets the answer from Samson? By weeping before him? By saying to him, Thou dost but hate me and lovest me not. In other words, if you loved me, you would tell me the answer. That's manipulation. And the seriousness of this is that these are really the tactics of what we would call an abuser. This is how an abusive person operates. By using whatever means are necessary in order to get what he or she wants. Now it's one thing to see this sin among the wicked Philistines. It's quite another when it makes its way into the church. And may God deliver us from this great evil. May He deliver all of us from ever making use of such tactics. From ever playing on someone's emotions. From ever threatening others or manipulating their love for us. And insofar as we might see this in ourselves, an inclination to operate this way, an inclination to interact with each other this way, the calling is to repent and really get help in putting this sin away. Because it has no place in the Christian church in the Christian school and in the Christian home. But sadly, recent history has taught us that this sin has come into the Christian church, school, and home. Thus, there also needs to be a word for any who are in such a relationship. Congregation, if any of you Have a loved one who resorts to threats, to manipulative tactics. Reach out for help. And in saying that, I say it very carefully. Recognizing that reaching out for help can be one of the hardest things to do. Because the reality is that Typically, the threats and the manipulation are designed in such a way to keep you from reaching out. But know that the church will help you. And the church will seek to protect you. And as a pastor, I also want to say a word to our young people and our young adults as you date is you look for a spouse. If the person you date ever makes use of such threats, ever seeks to manipulate you, if you really loved me, you would do this for me. Do not marry that person. Break off the relationship and encourage that person to get help. Because that's what true love for that person will look like. All of that is application for us when we look at the Philistines. But our interest is not primarily in the Philistines. That's a side point. Our focus is on Samson. And while we do see his weakness here, We do also see Him as the deliverer of God's people. Yes, there's weakness, but there's also strength from the Spirit. For here we have His first victory over the Philistines. And that's what we read about in v. 19, His victory. And the Spirit of the Lord came upon Him and He went down to Ashkelon and slew thirty men of them and took their spoil and gave change of garments unto them which expounded the riddle." The verse tells us this took place in Ashkelon. Ashkelon would have been 25 miles to the southwest of Timnath. Ashkelon is one of the principal cities of the Philistines located right there on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea. We're told almost no details about what happened. whether Samson slew these 30 men very covertly, or whether he did this openly and others saw and knew what happened. But in every case, he made sure to grab their clothing. And likely, because he's getting clothing to provide to these 30 companions, likely, he targeted the wealthy, the leading class among the Philistines, those who would have nice clothes to give. And the key in understanding this act of Samson is to see the Spirit standing behind him. We need to point that out because on the surface, this looks to be nothing more than revenge. On the surface, it looks as though Samson is walking according to the flesh, according to that old man of sin that he's just angry and can't control his temper. But verse 19 would have us to understand this otherwise because the beginning of verse 19 says, and the Spirit of the Lord came upon him. And on the one hand, that's communicating to us that the Spirit of the Lord gave Him the strength to do this. In other words, just as the Spirit gave Him the strength to rend that lion in the vineyards, so the Spirit gives Him the strength to slay these 30 men. We see the source of His strength in that opening line. But more than that, what we see on the other hand, is that this entire deed was something that the Spirit moved Samson to do. Samson is not walking according to the flesh. He's being led by the Spirit so that this was a righteous act on his part. And it was a righteous act because he's fulfilling his God-given calling as an office bearer. Before he was ever born, God announced That he would use him, Samson, to begin to deliver the Israelites. This was his life calling to fight against the enemies of God and God's covenant people. So that he's being faithful to that calling. And what he's doing is he's making a beginning and throwing off the yoke of the Philistines. This was his first victory against them, and we must understand it that way. But now perhaps you're thinking, but it's only 30 Philistines. What difference is that going to make? There's an entire nation of Philistines that must be overthrown. How can 30 possibly mean anything? Let us not stumble at the smallness of this beginning. Because it had to start somewhere. And it's going to start with Samson. Remember, God's word was that Samson would begin to deliver Israel. And now here we have the beginning of the beginning. It has to start somewhere. And the key is that it's this one small victory that will pave the way for all the subsequent victories. Samson will slowly engage the enemy more and more forcefully, so that what we see in this history is a series of small victories, all of which lead to and culminate in the decisive victory that Samson will accomplish at his death. When he pulls down the pillars of the temple of Dagon, and slays thousands all at once. Samson never gets to that point without taking this first step. This is indeed a victory and the beginning of Israel's deliverance. That's how we need to see it. For was that not how it went for our Savior? when our Savior Jesus Christ came into this world to save sinners, He did not, immediately upon coming down into this earth, strike the decisive blow to the enemy. But instead, what we see when we read the Gospel accounts is a long series of victories, all of which lead to and culminate in that decisive victory that He would accomplish at the cross of Calvary. This was true when He battled against the devil in the wilderness. He was engaging the enemy there. The devil came and tempted Him three times trying to lead Him astray. And our Savior, the captain of our salvation, laid hold of the sword of the Spirit, the Word of God, and he withstood the enemy. Those were initial victories. And it may seem small, it may seem insignificant that he refused to turn stones into bread, but you see, if he fails there, everything else that follows is a failure. It has to start with the small victory. And the same applies every time that He casts out a devil. Again and again, our Savior Jesus Christ, as the Son of God, showed forth His power over the kingdom of darkness. He would deliver one of His own from the oppression of being demon-possessed. And each one was a victory. Whether it was a single devil, that he cast out, or whether it's an entire legion all at once. It's a series of victories. And it's not just when he's directly battling against the devil or against the powers and principalities of darkness. Really, it's every single moment of his life. For you understand, That if Jesus sinned one time, the devil would have won. If Jesus slips up for just a moment, even when He's only a boy, we lose. And now, wonder of wonders, He never did sin. Wonder of wonders. He never once succumbed to the devil. But every single temptation, that is, every single battle that he faced, he was victorious. And it's all those small victories that lead to, that culminate to the decisive victory at the cross of Calvary. where He struck the death blow to the enemy. When He destroyed him that had the power over death, that is the devil. When He spoiled principalities and powers, triumphing over them, making an open show of them. That's how Jesus Christ won the victory. And His victory includes all of the little skirmishes that ever came before He got to the cross. By winning the victory, He's accomplished our salvation. The salvation that includes for us the forgiveness of our sins. Because like Samson, we have many flaws. many weaknesses. There are certainly stretches of our lives, if others were to evaluate them the way we have evaluated Samson, they would think, what were you doing? We too fall short. But now praise be to God, there's forgiveness. Because Jesus Christ went to the cross, not just to strike the death blow to the devil. But more fundamentally, He went to the cross to satisfy God's justice. To atone for our sins so that the debt has been paid. There's forgiveness. But not just the forgiveness of sins, there's a righteousness in Christ that's now freely imputed to us. For you see, that life of perfect obedience is made ours by faith so that Christ's victories against sin and temptation and the devil all along the way, it's those victories, that is His obedience, His righteousness, that is made ours and serves as the basis for our justification. He truly is a glorious and a mighty deliverer. He is the greater than Samson. No flaws, no weaknesses. The captain of our salvation. And what is more, that salvation includes not only His work of grace for us, but also His work of grace in us, including His work to sanctify us. And for the sake of our encouragement tonight, we must see that our sanctification is likewise a process that takes place one small victory at a time. Like Samson, we're called to fight the enemy. And our enemy is not the Philistines or any other people group, for we fight not against flesh and blood, but we fight against principalities and powers, against the kingdom of darkness. We have that three-fold enemy. The devil. That roaring lion. That subtle serpent. the world that allures us to conform ourselves to it, and the old man of sin that's inclined to all evil and incapable of any good. And thus, we're called to fight, not with a sword, not with a spear, not with a bow, But by putting on the whole armor of God, resisting the lies of the devil, living antithetically to the world around us, and mortifying that old man of sin. Now, if we're honest with ourselves, this fight can be very discouraging. For like Samson, we have flaws. We have weaknesses. And thus, we often sin. And it's our repeated failures that leave us tempted to think it's hopeless. And that's true, especially when we become entangled in a particular sin, or we have this besetting sin. It can start to feel like, well, I'm never going to be free from this sin. I'm never going to be able to push the enemy out of my heart. And we begin to think, why bother even trying? Is that you? Is that me? Are we ready to give up? To throw in the towel? If so, then what we need is the encouragement this passage gives us to fight, and the reminder that it takes that progress against the enemy most often takes place one small victory at a time. That's how it went for Samson. When Samson begins to deliver Israel, the first thing he does is not that he slays a thousand Philistines all at once. It's not that he takes the gates of a city and carries them far, far away. But it starts with 30 Philistines. And almost certainly, those 30 took place one at a time. That's how he would begin to deliver Israel. And really, that's how it always goes, at least most often. That's what we see when we survey the rest of Scripture. This is how it would go for Israel as a nation in conquering the promised land that they were now living in. or at least most of it that they had now conquered. This was God's Word to them all the way back in Exodus 23. Exodus 23. We're at Mount Sinai. We haven't even gotten to the edge of the land of Canaan. Already here, God is telling them how it's going to go. He promises them that He'll give them the land that will drive out the enemy. That's verse 27. And I will send My fear before thee, and will destroy all the people to whom thou shalt come. I will make all thine enemies turn their backs unto thee, and I will send hornets before thee, which shall drive out the Hivite and the Canaanite and the Hittites from before thee. God's saying, I will give you the victory. But how's it going to go? Verse 29, I will not drive them out from Thee in one year. It's not going to be just one big battle and then it's all over. But instead, positively, verse 30, by little and little, I will drive them out from before Thee. By little and little. And that language is found elsewhere. For example, in Deuteronomy 7 v. 22, "...And the Lord thy God will put out those nations from before thee by little and little." And all this is instructive for us as it sets before us the pattern for overcoming sin and temptation. Now it may be that God does give us A decisive victory against sin and temptation. It does happen in the life of a child of God that he comes to see a certain sin for what it was, he repents of it, and he puts it away fully and completely right then and there. But that's the rare exception. And we ought not plan on it going that way. Because ordinarily, The fight against the enemy is something that is a process. And this is even reflected in our Heidelberg Catechism. In Lord's Day 33, which concerns true conversion, putting away sin, turning unto God, it uses that biblical language of more and more, that I more and more hate and flee from sin. There's a process, there's slow progress that's being made. It takes place one small battle at a time. There's setbacks along the way, but yet by God's grace, there can be real progress. So if you're struggling in your battle against sin, remember Samson started with but 30 Philistines. And if 30 even sounds like too many for you, Start with one. That is, the next time that temptation comes, you say no. You seek to win the next battle. Not worrying about all the battles that are going to follow. Do not let your mind go there, otherwise you're going to become discouraged. But live day by day, moment by moment, one battle at a time. And make sure that you fight with this motivation. Thankfulness. Gratitude for the deliverance you already have in Jesus Christ. For our salvation does not depend upon our success against the enemy. But it depends upon the success of Jesus Christ, the captain of our salvation. And thus we go forth in His strength, ever rejoicing that the captain of our salvation has won the victory. And He will give us the grace by His Spirit to do the same. Amen. Let us pray. Our Father which art in heaven, we thank Thee for our Savior Jesus Christ and for the wondrous deliverance that He has wrought for us. And we look forward to the full completion of that when we ourselves are brought to glory and thus may lay down our armor. And when Christ Himself comes again and finally fully overthrows all of our enemies, we long for that day. And thus we pray, hasten the day of our Savior's return. Hear this prayer for Christ's sake. Amen.