Judges chapter number 13 as we are continuing preaching through the series Portraits of Grace. It's been a joy to preach through the various characters that we have looked at thus far. Noah, Abraham, and Rahab the harlot last week. Today we're going to be looking at one found in Judges chapter 13 and verse number 1. It is a joy to be here this morning and to preach the glorious gospel of our Lord Jesus. So glad that you are here. Judges 13 and verse 1. It says again, the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord. And the Lord delivered them into the hand of the Philistines for 40 years. Now there was a certain man from Zorah of the family of the Danites. whose name was Manoah, and his wife was barren and had no children. And the angel of the Lord appeared to the woman and said to her, Indeed now you are barren and have born no children, but you shall conceive and bear a son. Now therefore, please be careful not to drink wine or similar drink, and not to eat anything unclean. For behold, you shall conceive and bear a son, and no razor shall come upon his head. For the child shall be a Nazarite to God from the womb, and he shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines." We gaze upon a individual this morning who defies every expectation that you would think of, of what a spiritual hero would be. He was a man whose heart was enticed by lust. If you know the life of Samson, you know that his heart was one that was clouded by pride, and yet, And yet His name is forever engraved in the Hall of Faith chapter, Hebrews chapter number 11. And again, if you know His life, if you know His failures and the various falls in His life, you ask this question, how can that be? How is it possible that Samson ends up in that commendable chapter, the Hall of Faith in Hebrews chapter 11? Well, the reason he ends up there is because Samson's story is not about the greatness of man. Samson's story is about the greatness of grace. Samson's story is about a greater God. So it's not the story, Samson's story is not a story of human strength. Samson's story is a story of divine grace and divine mercy. We know Samson was a man whose strength was undeniable, but we also know that his sin was also undeniable. And yet, here's the marvelous thing about it. God used him. God claimed him. And in the end of his life, God commended him. So I want us this morning to look at this most unlikely character who is one of the portraits of grace that we are looking at as we think about Samson Grace greater than our sin. The first thing I want you to notice with me this morning is this, a grace-initiated calling. A grace-initiated calling. Samson's story does not begin with Samson's strength. It does not even begin with Samson's weakness. It does, however, begin with Israel's weakness and Israel's sin. As we get into Judges chapter 13, the people of God have once again forgotten the Lord. They have strayed from the one who has led them, strayed from the one who has loved them. And yet once again, God here has not forgotten them. Though Israel may have strayed, God did not stray. And we see this as in verse 1 of the apostasy that was repeated in the life of Israel. Now notice here, it says, again, the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord, and the Lord delivered them into the hand of the Philistines for 40 years. But notice that word, again. Again, the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord. Now, with that word again, it's just not stating for us a historical fact. It is stating for us a personal fact that this is not the first time that the children of Israel strayed from the loving and faithful Lord. No, when it says, again, the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord, it is speaking of that this was the language of relapse. This was habitual sin for Israel. That word again speaks of spiritual forgetfulness. that Israel was so prone to fall into. And here we are in Judges chapter 13, how we see how the nation had fallen into the same mire, into the same muck and mud as they have many times before. But this time, the Lord delivers them not into the hands of a prophet who may come and preach repentance and then the children of Israel repent. No, the Lord here this time, He delivers the nation of Israel into the hands of the Philistines, the enemy. And He does so for 40 years. But even Here, even in the midst of judgment, even in the midst of wrath, God's grace was not absent. God's grace was not absent. Yes, God raised up an oppressor with the Philistines, conquering Israel, but we also see in verse 1 that He was also raising up a deliverer. He was raising up a deliverer. And we see this in Judges verses 2 and 3 of His appearance, the Lord's appearance to the barren. Verse 2 tells us, now, there was a certain man from Zorah of the family of the Danites whose name was Manoah. And his wife was barren and had no children. And the angel of the Lord appeared to the woman and said to her, Indeed now you are barren and have born no children, but you shall conceive and bear a son." So here we see how Samson's birth announcement places him in a rare company. It's very rare to read in scripture that the angel of the Lord appeared to a mother and told that mother, that barren mother, that she was going to have a son. And we know that this is also, when it says the angel of the Lord appeared to her, that this is a pre-incarnate appearance of the Lord Jesus Christ. So when the angel of the Lord shows up, you know something big is about to happen. Something great is about to happen. And you would think that if the Lord is going to raise up a deliverer, that he would first look to a palace. He would look to the rich and the fruitful. But here we find the Lord appearing to a barren woman. We don't know her name, but we do know this, God knew her. God knew her name. And God planted in her womb the promise that there would be a deliverer. And he planted it in a womb whom the world had given up on. He had planted it in a womb that was seen in that day as a curse to be barren. And so, beloved, listen, this is not just a miracle of biology. This is a miracle of theology. It shows us that God loves to begin where there seems to be no hope. Amen. The Lord begins and He can begin. He loves to begin where there seems to be no hope whatsoever. It reminds me of the old song, the old chorus that says, God can make a way. where there seems to be no way. Amen? Hey, we are all living testaments of that very thing. And so just like God gave Isaac to Sarah, just like God gave Samuel to Baron Hannah, it is just like our Lord, it is just like our Lord not to just choose some woman from a palace but to come quietly to a barren womb and say, in essence, here, it is here that I will begin my deliverance. That is grace, even in the midst of judgment. Notice in verse 5, the appointment from the womb. The appointment from the womb. The Bible tells us in verse five that the child shall be a Nazarite to God from the womb. So think about that. Here is Samson before he ever takes his first steps, even before he breathes his first breath, God has marked him as his own. God has set him apart. God has called him. He has separated him for lifelong service. You say, Brother Wade, what does it mean to take the Nazirite vow? What does it mean to be a Nazirite? Well, according to Numbers chapter 6, a Nazarite was someone consecrated by the Lord or consecrated to the Lord by special vow. Three things especially marked these individuals. Number one, they could not drink wine. They had to abstain from wine or anything, for that matter, from the grapevine. Another thing that marked them was that no razor shall be upon their head. They could not cut their hair. Another thing was that they could not touch a dead body or a dead carcass. And so it was a visibly radical life of consecration to the Lord. But for Samson, this vow was not something that he chose. No, listen, it was placed upon him even before he was born. It was placed upon him. And so this was God choosing Samson. This was God Samson was set apart without even seeking the Lord. Samson was appointed without asking. Listen, it reminds us of what God said through the prophet Jeremiah concerning Jeremiah. He said in Jeremiah 1 verse 5, before I formed you in the womb, I knew you. Before you were born, I sanctified you, I set you apart to be a prophet to the nations. It also reminds us of what Jesus said to His disciples. You did not choose me, but I chose you. Beloved, listen to me. Samson did not earn this calling. Samson did not earn this favor. Samson did not earn this grace, and neither did we. Neither did we. Oh listen, before we ever sought the Lord, the Lord set His love upon us and set us apart for His glory. Notice. the assignment to deliver. In verse 5, in the last part of verse 5, he, that is Samson, shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines. So we see God's plan for Samson was quite clear. What was his plan? Deliverance. Deliverance. And notice that word, begin. He shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the blistings. In other words, Samson would not see this come to full fruition. He would not see the full result, but he would strike the first blow to the enemies of the Lord. Even though he would not see this come to pass in his lifetime, deal a deadly blow, we could say, in this act of deliverance. But that one word, begin, there, it reminds us that God's plans often unfold in a span of time. They often unfold over time. And so Samson would not finish the war, he would not finish the battle, but his life, and especially the end of his life, would ignite it. And it would be that first blow that was needed to be that...that would lead to Israel's deliverance. Oh, beloved, listen, the same thing is true for us today. You may never see your prodigal Come home, but you still need to pray. You still need to be faithful. You may not see that in your lifetime. You may not live to witness the fruit of all the seeds that you have sown for the glory of God in this life, but you still need to be obedient. and faithful. You may not ever see in your life a revival that strikes our nation, a revival that reaches the world, but that should not keep you from being faithful in the here and now and praying for it. Please know this, that your obedience matters. Your obedience matters because faithfulness is not measured by what you can see. Your faithfulness is measured by whom you live for and whom you serve. God does not call us to see everything. He calls us to be faithful. And listen, we cannot control All the happenings we cannot control of how the Lord uses us in such a way. We just have to trust that God is going to use us for His glory. We think about David. The Bible tells us about David. That David served the purpose of God in his generation. We think about David's life and David was not able to see the temple built. but his son was able to see it. David did not live in a time of total peace in the nation of Israel, but his son Solomon did. But he trusted the God who promised. And he did what he could in that time in which he lived. Samson did this as well, and you and I can today. Now notice, secondly, not only a grace-initiated calling, but notice a mighty but misguided man. We know Samson was uniquely empowered by God? A lot of times when we think about Samson, we think about somebody that might have looked, you know, big and strong and muscular, you know, somebody that may resemble me, but that's not the case. I don't believe because if he was so muscle-bound and looked like a young Arnold Schwarzenegger, then there would be a reason for his strength. I believe he looked like a normal man, and his power was supernatural. But we know his unique power, and it was all empowered by God. It was all supernatural. As a matter of fact, three times in just two chapters, we're told that the Spirit of the Lord came upon him mightily. Mightily. But what's so striking is that those spirit-filled moments that he had, and he had his spirit-filled moments, they were often filled by self-willed decisions or selfish decisions. Oh, Samson, he had divine power. But Samson lacked spiritual discernment. The man who was raised up to fight the Philistines, we find him in Scripture flirting with the Philistines, so much so that his passions erode or overrode his very purpose. And that tension is exposed immediately in the first act of his adulthood. We see this in verses 1 through 3 of chapter 14 where Samson was craving the forbidden. Chapter 14 verse 1 says, Now Samson went down to Timnah and saw a woman in Timnah of the daughters of the Philistines So he went up and told his father and mother saying, I have seen a woman in Timnah of the daughters of the Philistines and now therefore get her for me as a wife. Then his father and mother said to him, is there no woman among the daughters of your brethren or among all my people? that you must go and get a wife from the uncircumcised Philistines? And Samson said to his father, get her for me, for she pleases me well." Oh listen, Samson was set apart by God. But his eyes often led him astray." It's very telling there in verse 1 of chapter 14 where it says, and he saw a woman in Temna. And when he saw this Philistine woman, He wanted her. He desired her not because she was a godly woman. No, he saw her because only for her beauty. So his choices were shaped by what? His choices were shaped by what pleased him. He made decisions based upon what pleased him, what pleased his desires. And we notice that he ignored the wisdom of his parents. And they, who knew the Word of God, knew that the Word of God forbid the children of Israel to intermarry. And so they're trying to tell him, hey, you don't need to do this. But he tells them that he will do this. And so he, in this moment, discarded the very vows that marked him to set him apart as a man of God. And we notice that Samson here, he does not stop to pray. He does not stop to consult with the Lord. He just plunges head first, head first into following his heart. And so Samson here was not acting like a Nazarite. He was acting like a narcissist. And that's what he was. And Nazarite is supposed to deny himself for the glory of God. And Samson is doing the exact opposite of that. He's living for himself and himself only. Oh, listen, beloved. You say, well, that's a one-time thing for Samson. No, that's the pattern of his life. The pattern of his life is seen in the very first act of his adult life. Yes, Simpson's strength was real, but his discernment was very weak. We see this all throughout his adult life. We've already seen how he pursued ungodly relationships. In chapter 14, in the later parts of this chapter, he touched that which was forbidden. He touched the carcass of a dead lion. In chapter 15, he boasted in his victories, rather than giving glory to God. Samson said, with the jawbone of a donkey, I slayed a thousand men. And not one word was given to the Lord. Not one time did Samson say, I did this because the Holy Spirit came upon me and empowered me to do so. You don't find that. Samson treated God's gift as his possession, not a stewardship. He used divine strength for personal vengeance. He used these divine gifts for selfish gain. He thought he could use God's gifts for trophies that he could somehow display and not for the glory of God. Yet, we see next in various verses, Samson was carried by the Spirit. Three different times we have this phrase, "...and the Spirit came upon him mightily." So think about that. God still empowered Samson even after Samson's sins. Now please don't take this as somehow God dismissing the sins of Samson. This is not God overlooking Samson's sin. This is not God turning a blind eye. Rather what this is, is God keeping His promise. God keeping His promise and it's a sobering reminder that listen, you can be used by God and at the same time still be far from the Lord. Listen, sin may not stop your ministry immediately. Sin may not stop the blessings of the Lord in your life immediately. Sin does not always strike like Lightning, and all sin often erodes slowly like rust. So knowing this, beloved, this should send, and this should be a warning to us, this should send a chill down our spine because we can all think of men. We can all think of gifted men, once faithful men. who stood behind the pulpits and maybe led ministries and preached. And all the while, unbeknownst to us, they're living in secret sin, unrepented sin. And for a while, God still used them. People were saved during this time period. There was seemingly much fruit during this time period, even during this time of secret sin, but eventually and inevitably, the bottom gave out. Now why is that? Because, listen beloved, God's patience is not to be taken as God's permission. And ministry success is not the same as personal holiness. And the gifts of God are not licensed to grieve the God who gave them. And this is what Samson has done. And this is what other faithful men have done. So Samson's life warns us that you can have the applause of men and still be drifting from the presence of the Lord. Listen, beloved, don't mistake usefulness for approval. Don't assume that because God is still using you today that he will use you tomorrow and the next day and the next day. Yes, Samson judged Israel for 20 years, but judgment came. It finally came. So listen, this truth ought to make us tremble. It ought to make us repent if we are living in secret sin. And we think, nobody else knows, just me. I still have the blessings of God upon my life. I still have my ministry. I still have my reach. Listen, beloved, that is the patience of God. That is the patience of God. He's calling you to repent, even today. Listen, the most sobering words in Samson's life were not that he killed a thousand men with the jawbone of a donkey. The most sobering words are this, that the Spirit of God departed from him and he knew it not. That's scary. Notice thirdly, Samson was a crushed but claimed vessel." And we notice that Samson's fall, his failure, did not happen all at once. It happened after ignoring warning after warning. Hardening his heart is what led to the spiral downward in his life that led to sin. And listen, this is how sin works. It numbs the conscience, and it tightens the grip around our heart. The longer we leave sin unchecked, the tighter it grips us. And if unrepented, it descends us further, and it will drag your life to rock bottom. And so for Samson, that downward spiral continued with a woman named who? Everybody knows Delilah. Yeah. We see in chapter 16 and verse 1 that Samson was a seduced. He was seduced by desire. Notice in verse 1, it tells us that Samson went to Gaza and saw a harlot there and went in to her." So this is even before Delilah. Here's another woman in his life, another sinful relationship that he has engaged himself into. He's not living like a man of God. Well this spiral downward continues in verse 4. It says, it says, he loved a woman in the valley of Zorak whose name was Delilah. Now we know Delilah was not Samson's first compromise but it would be Samson's last. It would be his last. Samson fell head over heels for this girl, but she did not care for him one bit. You know the story how the Philistines came to her and bribed her with a thousand pieces of silver if she could figure out what was his secret to his strength. And so Delilah begins to press Simpson, asking him various questions. How in the world do you have this strength? How in the world can you do this and do that? And at first, he deceives her. He lies to her and gives her fake answers and says things like, well, if you bind me with bow strings, then I will not be able to escape, or if you bind me with new rope, If you bind me with...by weaving my hair." But each time that she would do that, the Philistines would come in and then he would break those bands that were binding him. And you would think that he would be smart enough to catch on, you know. Samson was a strong man, but smart was not his, you know, forte. But he continues to be led astray by this girl. And eventually, after relentless nagging, Samson tells it all. As a matter of fact, verse 17 says that he told her all his heart. I mean, he just laid it out. He laid it all out, and especially the secret to his strength which was tied to his Nazirite vow, specifically that no razor has ever touched his head. So in this moment where he shares his secret, what is Samson doing here? He is giving away to Delilah what belonged to the Lord. He's giving away what belonged to God. You see, his uncut hair was a visible sign of his lifelong vow of consecration and being separated to the work of the Lord. But in a moment of weakness, He handed it over for the price of sensual pleasure. In other words, He gave away what was holy for that which was fleshly. He surrendered the sacred for sin. And before we throw Samson under the bus, We're guilty of doing the same thing from time to time. Listen, today we give away what belongs to God when we indulge in secret sin that defiles our witness and defiles our relationship with the Lord God. We give away what belongs to God when we use what God has given us. our voice, our influence, our resources for personal gain and comfort only, and never using those things for the kingdom of the Lord. Oh, listen, we give away what belongs to God when our affections, our desires, our love are more stirred by politics or social media or sports instead of the Word of God. And friend, listen to me, just like Samson, we may still look like we're walking in strength, we may still look like that we're walking in the Lord's blessing, but when we give away what belongs to God, the power begins to drain over time. So let this be a warning. Guard what God has entrusted you with. Guard it. Your gifts are not your gifts to waste. As for Samson, when his hair was cut, the vow was broken, the Lord departed. His strength was gone and his fall came fast. And sadly, we read in verse 21, he was shackled in darkness. Verse 21 says, they put out his eyes, they bound him with bronze fetters and he became a grinder in prison. Think about that. Here is Samson, the mighty, strong man of God. He's now blind. He's now bound. He's now being used as a brute beast to grind up grain. The man who once fought armies is nothing more than a spectacle for the Philistine crowd. Oh, can't you hear him now as he's grinding at the mill? Samson, where's your strength now? Samson, I cannot believe that we used to be scared of you. Hey, Samson, your God abandoned you, but He was our God who conquered you." Imagine hearing that as they mocked and jeered him. You say, brother, wait, what's going on here? Divine discipline is what's happening here. It's divine discipline. And as Paul said, God is not mocked. For whatsoever a man sows, that shall he also reap." Listen to me this morning. Sin has consequences. Sin always has consequences. And what we see here in the life of Samson is that there is always a high cost to low living. Sin blinds us. It leaves us spiritually blind. We lose that spiritual clarity. Sin also binds us just like it did Samson. We lose that spiritual freedom and then sin grinds us. Listen, if you live an unrepented sin, you will live a spiritually frustrated life. Notice in verse 22, that Samson was stirred by grace in the shadows. Verse 22 tells us, however, the hair of his head began to grow again. Don't overlook sin. That verse. Yes, Samson failed. Yes, Samson had fallen, but grace was still moving in his life. His hair had been cut, but God's faithfulness to him had not been cut. His strength was gone, but God's purpose remained. His sight was lost. Oh, but God still saw him and knew exactly where he was. And listen, Samson's story reminds us that your greatest failure, your greatest failure cannot cancel God's sovereign grace. Friend, listen to me. As long as you have breath in your lungs, you have hope and you can still repent. You can still run back to your Father who will forgive. But, oh, I'm reminded in Samson's life here of what Paul said in 2 Samuel 2 verse 13, even if we are faithless, He is still faithful. I love that. Notice quickly and lastly, we see a faith-filled finish, a faith-filled finish. We see Samson doing here what he has not done previously. Samson prays. We see here, first of all, a plea for penitence. We find in chapter 16 that during a pagan celebration in the temple of Dagon, the Philistines, who were absolutely drunk with victory, they called for Samson to be brought out of prison so that he could be their entertainment, so that they could, while he was blinded, while he was humiliated, He could be their entertainment. And as they mocked him, Samson asked the young boy who was guiding him out. Samson told this young boy to place his hands on the very pillars that upheld this majestic and tall temple. Unbeknownst to them, Samson was positioning himself to leave one big mark upon the Philistines. Now the Bible tells us that at this time period, this area was...there was over 3,000 people that had gathered. 3,000 people of common citizens, but also those who were rulers. And at this moment, he prays in verse 28, he says, Remember me. I pray. Strengthen me, I pray, just this once, O God, that I may with one blow take vengeance on the Philistines for my two eyes." For the first time, we witness Samson's prayer. He prays. Now, his prayer was not a perfect prayer by no By no means. His prayer was a little vengeful. There's no mention that whatever power the Lord gives him, that he's going to do it for the glory of God. This is not a perfect prayer, but what this is, is a prayer of faith. He says, Lord, remember me. Does that remind you of another prayer? It reminds me of the prayer of the penitent thief. on the cross when he prayed and said to the Lord Jesus, remember me. I started thinking about the comparisons of these two prayers and the similarities of these two prayers and how both Samson and the thief on the cross, both of their lives were marked by failure. One wasted his strength. The other wasted his life. One played games with a calling of God upon his life and the other defied the very laws of God. But it's very interesting that neither man tried to bargain with God. Neither man tried to make any promise to the Lord that he would be better after this. No, both prayed surrounded by mockers. Both were bound in shame. And both were just moments away from death. And in that, neither of them, neither Samson nor the thief on the cross had anything to offer God. They both came to the end of their life with empty hands and a desperate plea, Lord, remember me. What's amazing is that both prayers were heard by a merciful God because both prayers were offered in faith. Notice verse 30, a pillar crushing proclamation. So the dead that he killed, at his death were more than he had killed in his life. So in this one final act, Samson becomes a means of God's judgment against the Philistines. At this one final act, the enemies of the Lord fall. The idols are crushed. The temple is laid into ruins. And listen to me, heaven records it all. Heaven records it all. People would see the way that Samson died, that he died as a loser in life, but God records it as a measure of great faith. As a matter of fact, let me read Hebrews 11, 32. It says, and what more shall I say? For the time would fail me to tell of Gideon and Barak and Samson and Jephthah, also of David and Samuel and the prophets who through faith subdued kingdoms, worked righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, became valiant in battle, and put foreign armies to flight." This man, Samson, ends up Though the world may say he died in the eyes of the world, he died in disgrace, but God says he died in faith, in great faith. Oh listen, in his death, Samson destroys the enemies of God and secures a measure of deliverance for God's people. But it came at a cost, and that was his own life. Now, does that sound familiar? Listen, like Samson, Jesus stretched out his arms to bring down the powers of sin and darkness. But unlike Samson, Jesus didn't die with sinners. No, Jesus died for sinners. Samson crushed his enemies in death. Christ saved his enemies by his death. In Christ, beloved, the story of grace does not end in rubble. The story of Christ and the story of grace ends in the resurrection. That, in that, Jesus is a greater Samson. He's a greater Samson. And so I ask you to the believer who may be in sin, you may be living in secret sin, you may be so discouraged knowing that your spiritual life has been nothing more than frustration, you can find no peace in your life, and the Lord has convicted you, He is drawing you unto Himself, and I say even as a Christian, repent. Turn to Him. Turn to Him and repent. Why? Because grace still flows in our life even after the moment of our conversion. Listen, I have done more repenting in my life after my salvation than I did prior or at the moment of my salvation. And that is grace. Grace is what is a characteristic of every child of God. So if you're here and you're already a child of God, but you notice that your life is not where it should be, return to the Lord. And I would say to the sinner who feels like you are beyond hope, you are beyond reach. That's the way the devil can make us feel sometime, understand this, that the Lord saved Samson. He heard Samson's cry while he was in a Philistine prison. And if he can hear Samson's cry in a Philistine prison, he can hear your cry of humble faith in your pew. He can hear your humble faith and your prayer, even though you might be in sin and your addiction. So God can save a man like Samson, He can save a man or a lady like you.