Good morning, I invite you to take your copy of the scriptures and turn, if you will, please, to the book of Judges. We'll continue in the study of the life of Samson today from chapter 14. Let us give our attention to the reading of God's holy word, Judges chapter 14. Samson went down to Timnah, and at Timnah he saw one of the daughters of the Philistines. Then he came and told his father and mother, I saw one of the daughters of the Philistines at Timnah. Now get her for me as a wife. But his father and mother said to him, is there not a woman among the daughters of your relatives or among all our people that you must go take a wife from the uncircumcised Philistines? But Samson said to his father, get her for me, for she is right in my eyes. His father and mother did not know that it was from the Lord, for he was seeking an opportunity against the Philistines. At that time, the Philistines ruled over Israel. Then Samson went down with his father and mother to Timnah, and they came to the vineyards of Timnah. And behold, a young lion came toward him, roaring. Then the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon him, and although he had nothing in his hand, he tore the lion in pieces as one tears a young goat. But he did not tell his father or his mother what he had done. Then he went down and talked with the woman, and she was right in Samson's eyes. After some days he returned to take her, and he turned aside to see the carcass of the lion, and behold, there was a swarm of bees in the body of the lion, and honey He scraped it out into his hands and went on eating as he went. And he came to his father and mother and gave to them, and they ate. But he did not tell them that he had scraped the honey from the carcass of the lion. His father went down to the woman and Samson prepared a feast there, for so the young men used to do. As soon as the people saw him, they brought 30 companions to be with him. And Samson said to them, Let me now put a riddle to you. If you can tell me what it is within the seven days of the feast and find it out, then I will give you 13 linen garments and 30 changes of clothes. But if you cannot tell me what it is, then you shall give me 30 linen garments and 30 changes of clothes. And they said to him, put your riddle that we may hear it. And he said to them, Out of the eater came something to eat. Out of the strong came something sweet. And in three days, they could not solve the riddle. On the fourth day, they said to Samson's wife, entice your husband to tell us what the riddle is, lest we burn you and your father's house with fire. Have you invited us here to impoverish us? And Samson's wife wept over him and said, you only hate me. You do not love me. You have put a riddle to my people, and you have not told me what it is.' And he said to her, Behold, I have not told my father or my mother, and shall I tell you? She wept before him the seven days that their feast lasted. And on the seventh day, he told her, because she pressed him hard. Then she told the riddle to her people. And the men of the city said to him on the seventh day before the sun went down, what is sweeter than honey? What is stronger than a lion? And he said to them, if you had not plowed with my heifer, you would have not found out my riddle. And the spirit of the Lord rushed upon him, and he went down to Ascalon, and struck down 30 men of the town, and took their spoil, and gave the garments to those who had told the riddle. In hot anger, he went back to his father's house. And Samson's wife was given to his companion, who had been his best man. Thus far the word of God, let us go asking for his help today. Father in heaven, we thank you for your holy word. for all of its honesty, for the glorious way in which you reveal your grace to sinners. Lord, we are in great need this morning to hear from you, to know your truth, and to be encouraged in discipleship in the Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, send down the blessed Holy Spirit, that by his light we might see light. We pray these things in Jesus' name, amen. One of the things that we see is that time and time again, Samson seems to turn on the wrong course towards friendship with the world. So often as Christians, we are tempted to return to that old man to which we have been crucified. But the truth is that God has kept Samson and God keeps us in his grace, and he will not let us return to the wrong course of life. We see this in three ways. First of all, Samson is delivered from a worldly marriage in verses one to four. Secondly, he's delivered from worldly pride in verses five to 18. And then finally, from a worldly alliance with enemies in 19 to 20. First of all, he's delivered from worldly marriage. Now the previous chapter 13 ended with on a very high note for young Samson. His birth was miraculously announced by the angel of the Lord. He was set apart from the womb until his death to be a holy Nazarite in the service of God. His mission was to begin to deliver Israel from the Philistines. And in verse 24 of the other chapter, we hear that the Spirit of the Lord began to stir him. As we turn the page to chapter 14, we might have expected that Samson would rush forward with eagerness and zeal to do the work that God had sent him to do, that he would conduct himself with consecration and with holiness, that he would set his face like flint against the enemy in commitment to the mission that God had sent him on. But instead, we're stunned Samson just seems like another ordinary Israelite, that he is tainted by the same corruption of friendship with the world. He's not one who seems like he's likely to save Israel because he himself is caught up in the same web and slavery of sin. He's doing what is right in his own eyes. And like Israel, he's blindly led by those desires into friendship with the enemy that has entangled him and ensnared him. It says in verse one, he saw one of the daughters of the Philistines. Now this woman whom he fancies is none other than the notorious people of the Philistines, the enemies of the people of God who worship idols and enslave them. The author emphasizes Samson seeing her with his eyes. In verse two, I saw one of the daughters of the Philistines. In verse three, get her for me, for she is right in my eyes. Verse seven, she was right in Samson's eyes. This intentionally follows the refrain of the book, that the whole people of Israel continually return to that practice, not relying and leaning on God's law, but on what was right in their own eyes. It also reflects that pattern from the Garden of Eden. When Eve saw the fruit, she desired it and she took it. So he says, he sees her, now take her for me. What we see is that this way, just like in the Garden of Eden, this disobedient way leads to death. And Samson's manner of death is foreshadowed at the very outset. Being led by his eyes, he will be led forward eventually to a temporary defeat and the physical loss of his eyes. This teaches us the truth, not to walk according to our own wisdom, but to lean on God. Proverbs 14 says, there is a way that seems right to man, but its end leads to death. He's not without counsel. In verse three, his father encourages him, take an Israelite wife, take one from the holy people of God, not from these ungodly people, the Philistines. But Samson is unmoved. He's committed to his own counsel. And this leads him on a path of blindness, and it chokes out his holiness. His mission, ironically, was to deliver Israel, but now he himself is ensnared by his own desires, his own counsel, and he himself needs deliverance. We see that we will not serve God well in the mission for which he sent us when we are full of ourselves, when we have our eyes upon our own selfish desires. Dwight Moody says, the moment our hearts are emptied of selfishness and ambition and everything contrary to the law of God, then the Holy Spirit will come and fill every corner of our hearts. But if we are full of pride and conceit, ambition and self-seeking, pleasure and the world, then there is no room for the Spirit of God. Many a man, he says, is praying to be filled with God, but first, We have so much that we must be emptied of. In verse four, the Lord has a sovereign purpose. The Lord will empty Samson of these things and he will make what seems bitter, what seems sweet to be bitter. Now intermarriage was a way of communicating peace between peoples. And this was especially a snare for Israel. And it wasn't just the fact that she was from another nation. The whole idea was a spiritual alliance that the hearts of God's people would be drawn away from serving the one true and living God. But as much as this marriage might have affected peace and brought these peoples closer, God has a way of overruling it. to actually bring about greater enmity, so that his people would be separated and consecrated again. Instead of bringing harmony, this became a source of enmity. Samson would never again appear to be a man of peace to the Philistines. Now this was at odds with Samson's desires, with Samson's plan for his life. We should not be surprised that God may cross our desires, our plans for our lives, if those desires and plans would lead us away from him. The truth is God loves his people too much to abandon us to our own desires. He will not ultimately give us over to a spiritual friendship with the world, for that, James tells us, is enmity toward God. The Lord teaches us we cannot serve two masters. We will love the one or hate the other. Holiness only makes sense when it occupies the whole heart. So we see also in the New Testament, one who wanted to go back to the world, 2 Timothy chapter four, Paul tells us of a man named Demas. who in other parts of the New Testament is described as a fellow worker with the Apostle Paul, but he says, sadly, Demas, in love with this present world, has deserted me. Samson was in danger of becoming a Demas, giving up on holiness, going back to the love of the world, joining it, finding its enjoyment and its delights. Sometimes Christians can be tempted to abandon that narrow way that Jesus promises leads to life. But the Lord will not let his people ultimately make peace with sin. He will reignite a conflict against it, and he will put us again on the right side. He's delivered from a worldly marriage, but then secondly, he's delivered from worldly pride. In verses five to 18, this section shows us that God used the events of Samson's life, especially this wedding ceremony and his wager, to spoil his relationship with the Philistines. This spoiled relationship then becomes the catalyst for the war between Samson and the Philistines. This came from the Lord, it says in verse four. It was from the Lord. for he was seeking an opportunity against the Philistines. Now, what is it in this situation here that Samson needs to be delivered from? What are the character traits displayed in his actions? Well, on the one hand, we see his pride, his callousness, his coldness towards the things of God, and his arrogant overconfidence. And yet, in the midst of all of this, God is committed to Samson, to work in him and through him. God uses an imperfect servant, and he is at work over the course of his life, to penetrate his stubborn, thick skin, and to get, finally, to his heart. In verse five, Samson and his parents go down to Timnah to get the woman. And on the way, Samson is attacked by a lion. And wonderfully, the Lord comes to his aid. The spirit of the Lord rushed upon him and gave him the strength to tear it as one tears a young goat. Now this reference to the Holy Spirit is important because it points out that he is the source of Samson's strength. It was never in himself. And though the Lord had given him strength to overcome the lion, Samson seems ungrateful to the Lord. He doesn't respond with humility or a concern to be renewed in his Nazirite way of life. But rather, when he returns and sees the lion's body with the swarm of bees who have produced honey, he takes and eats. And as a Nazirite, we should have never come near or touched a dead body. This shows his callousness about the things of God, his coldness towards God's holiness. There seems to be no pangs of conscience, no regret. See how casually he takes the honey and eats it on the way, and even gives to his parents, as if nothing was wrong. The truth is, he's simply not taking holiness seriously. But God will cause him again to come to his senses. In verse 10 to 11, the wedding draws near. The Philistines provide 30 men to celebrate with him. It's a gesture of friendliness. And yet he puts to them an unfriendly gesture, that should they solve his riddle, he will pay them 30 garments. But if not, they pay him 30 garments. This wager shows his arrogance and his overconfidence. A wager is a type of gambling, which is both worldly and foolish. He thinks he's so clever that no one could possibly discover his riddle. And in fact, he wagers an amount that he really can't pay. It was an unfriendly wager. Somebody was bound to lose, either him or they. And this turns violent because in verse 15, after not being able to solve the riddle, they threaten death to his wife and to his betrothed wife. Now she comes to him seeking the answer, and at first he resists her, but like later on, at the constant pressure of woman, he is eventually worn down. He reveals his secret, he loses the wager, and Samson comes to see through this event that the Philistines are actually not his friends. The whole episode underlines the truth that Christians could never truly have peace with the enemies of God. If we have been made God's own, if we've been purchased by the precious blood of Jesus Christ, then we have been set apart from the world, that the world has been crucified to us. and we to it. And God will not permit us again to align ourselves with it. He will stand in our way if we seek to return to it. If we even should come to taste the world again, it now has a bitter taste in our mouths, since sweetness, if it ever was sweet, loses its appeal and becomes repulsive. God loves us too much to succeed in what would destroy us, to let us proudly keep what would corrupt us. He is there present to catch us in all of our stumbling and to restore us onto the path of discipleship. I once knew an elder, a leader in a church in Wales, and in a former life he was a millionaire, but he lost it all in the course of his business. There's nothing wrong, of course, if wealth is gained in an honest and God-glorifying way. But this was God's way of dealing with him and his particular need in that particular time of life. And we know that this must have been for his good, and God had wise and good purposes behind this hard providence. Paul talks about a thorn in his flesh. Nothing wrong for Paul to want that pain to be removed and the comfort restored. But God places greater importance upon our holiness than upon our comfort. The Lord sometimes stands in the way of our desires and does not grant that they be fulfilled to us and we must trust the hand that leads us. Let us pray that the Lord would give us the right desires that please Him and lead us closer to His will for our lives, but also let us pray that He would withhold from us anything that would choke out the love of God. And thirdly and finally, Samson is delivered from a worldly alliance with enemies. Just as the Spirit of the Lord came to his rescue with the lion in verse 19, the Spirit of the Lord comes upon him again. And here he breaks this alliance with the Philistines. We see it as always the work of the Spirit to lead us forward in our holy warfare against our enemies. He is the one who causes us to stand firm in the faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, to resist the devil and to escape temptation. And in the end, the Lord stands with us and does not abandon us. Why does Samson go to this other town, Ashkelon, rather than 30 companions here at Timna? We aren't told for sure, but what we know is the consequence of this action, that this enmity is not just in one town, Timna. This enmity is spreading across the principal places of the Philistines. This alliance is truly broken. Samson takes the garments of the dead men and presents them in fulfillment of his vow, and yet the bonds of peace have been broken. Only an escalating war lies ahead. Samson is disgusted and angry, so angry he doesn't even take his wife. She's given to another. Again, a wonderful, merciful providence of God. Now in the end, it seems like a personal defeat for Samson. But actually, God has preserved him for the victory for which he sent him. He's been spared from further compromise, from further alliances with unholiness. Most of all, he's spared from being a failure for the mission that God sent him to do. Though God's dealings with him seem difficult and bitter, with the eye of faith, we can see the sweet purpose of God in everything. God is at work to preserve him. God is at work to use him for his glory. We're reminded of that hymn. God moves in a mysterious way. He says, the bud may have a bitter taste, but sweet will be the flower. God is at work calling us as well. He's aiding us to die to ourselves. We are pierced in many ways. but it is a gracious piercing. In dying with Christ, he increases within us the blessing of his life. 1 Peter 4 says it this way. Since Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves with the same way of thinking, for whoever has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, so that we may live the rest of the time in the flesh, no longer for human passions, but for the will of God. If you are in the Lord Jesus Christ, The world is crucified to you and you to it. Let us pray. Father in heaven, thank you for delivering us from our wrong desires, from the plans and purposes that we had for our lives, from what was worldly and corrupt and would choke out love for God. Thank you for instead giving us what we truly need, deliverance from all these things and being filled with Christ. Lord, fill us more, we pray in Jesus' name.