Well, we're going to look one more time at the strong man, at Samson. So we've spent at least a good month in the life of Samson. We've journeyed with him. We've journeyed with the long haired strong man from birth to death. I want us to look one more time at him. I want us to kind of reflect a little bit more on Samson on a practical level, even though I've given you, I hope, some applications along the way. I'd like to do it one more time. You know, along the way we met his parents, we met a hungry lion, we attended a wedding, we fought a few battles with Samson, we observed some amazing feats of spirit given strength, and we dealt with a lot of hair in the narrative as well. And it was quite the hairy narrative. See, this is what happens when you get older, you have these corny puns. But we've gone on the journey with long-haired Samson. Question is, what should we learn from Samson? What do we take away from him other than just an entertaining story of a man who seems to wander around aimlessly with an amazing supernatural strength? I continue to think about 1 Corinthians 10 verse nine. I've repeated it many times. Paul says, in reference to Israel, he's actually referencing the book of Numbers to Israel's wanderings. Now these things took place as examples for us that we might not desire evil as they did. And then he mentions this also in Romans 15, where Paul is saying the Old Testament stories, though they're about Israel, right, generally, or about other nations back then, but they are for us. They serve, he says, as examples for us. So stories about Israel, about God's people, thousands of years ago, actually serve as lessons for you and me. You know, to merely learn about history from Judges isn't enough, is it? There's a lot more to it than that. And we certainly learn about God. He's been the main character in the book of Judges. He's always the central character of the Bible. Of any story in the Bible, God is always the central character. And yet there's also application to be found about our own lives, right? Things that we can take away from these stories. Even these strange stories that we read, particularly in the book of Judges. We learn about redemption, we learn about God's plan, how he's fulfilling his covenants, he keeps his word and his covenants, and yet there's much to apply to our own lives, and we need to be faithful with the Old Testament. Obviously, that's where my brain has been, the Old Testament. Lord willing, my plan after Judges is to do Ruth, and then the rest of the, no, I'm not gonna do the rest of the Old Testament, but I will go to the New Testament after Ruth. Titus and I were just talking about what epistle to do after, so. But we need to be faithful with the Old Testament. I had a professor tell us that 5% of the Bible is Paul. But how much time do you spend in Paul? Probably a lot of time, right? Which isn't bad, right? Paul's inspired scripture. But there's so much other parts of the Bible, isn't there? In fact, I would argue the better you understand the Old Testament, the better you'll understand the Apostle Paul. And so again, I wanna encourage you to get into the Old Testament. The book of Judges demonstrates how Israel compromised with the surrounding nations. They rejected God, they actually forgot him and they forgot his covenant, his promises, his commands. They began to go their own way and they strayed after these other idols here. And the book of Judges demonstrates that. It's a dark time. And even the judges in the book of Judges are all flawed for the most part, maybe except for one or two of them. Othniel or Deborah seem to be maybe exempt from flaws, but most of them are flawed. And Israel continues to go after pagan gods, and they compromise, and then they're oppressed by their enemy, and then usually they'll cry out to God for help. But we saw there earlier here, beginning of Samson's life in chapter 13, verse 1, that they don't cry out to God anymore. That's how dark, how low Israel has gotten. They don't even cry for release from oppression. They don't even pray. And that's how we enter the life of Samson in chapter 13. It's a dark time, it says the people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, so the Lord gave them into the hand of the Philistines for 40 years, that's a long time. But I think it's an occasion for the grace of God though, right? Isn't some of the darkest points in your life those exact occasions for the grace of God? Isn't that when God works greatly and mightily? You know, someone was telling me recently that they were so down and low, there was no hope in their life, but that's exactly when God works, right? Blessed are those who are poor in spirit. That's how Jesus begins his sermon. Blessed are those who are down and out and who mourn. That's when God begins to work. And I love the beginning of Samson's life because Israel doesn't cry out, but God nevertheless begins to work in Israel. It's a reminder of the grace of God. It's not about our own works, is it? God is at work anyways, and he's gonna keep his word. But this is a loud signal to God's people, to Israel, to us, to wake up and see that God keeps his word, that we need to worship him and stay faithful to him, but that he's also a forgiving and patient God. So, the story of Samson. God creates a savior from scratch. He's very different than the other judges, right? He creates a kind of super soldier in order to fight the Philistines and the giants of the Philistines. Unfortunately, Samson is quite flawed. In fact, he might very well be the worst of all the judges that are in the book of Judges. Jonah looks a lot better after reading the life of Samson. Jonah knew the will of the Lord to go to Nineveh, but he went the other way. Samson just seems to do whatever he wants to do all the time. He lives according to what is right in his own eyes, and he doesn't fear the Lord at all. Mark Ruecker says, Samson is a portrait of a nation in miniature as he blatantly violated God's instructions. Samson is a judge, but he doesn't quite act like a judge. And he's right, Samson's a picture of Israel, straying from God, Israel doing what is right in her own eyes, forgetting God's promises, forgetting the past. forgetting the redemption that Yahweh provided out of Egypt, which is the central, most important part in the Old Testament for Israel, is their salvation. They forgot what it meant to have God in their life, to live for Him, what He did for them. And Samson is really that picture, isn't he? He's a picture of what Israel is doing. And God is using Samson to wake Israel up. Now also, we will read later. at the end, in chapter 21, verse 25, in those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes. That's kind of the theme of Judges, right? You're quizzed on it later. What is the key verse, key theme of Judges? It's they did what was right in their own eyes. It's repeated throughout the book. But it says there, there was no king. And I think this Judges is actually preparing us for the next book, which is 1 Samuel. And that is that God is going to provide a king. Now, that won't solve the ultimate problem, right? Having a human king is gonna have problems also. But basically, it's chaos, it's anarchy at this point. And we see how low they get when they've strayed from God. We can see judges, I think, though, as a type of mirror. You know, I always think of what James tells us. James right one of the pillars as Paul calls him James says there in chapter one To be a doer of the word not a hero only and he says if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer He is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he is like and Sometimes we can do that right where we we we see the issues in our life and we don't work on them at all We don't change them. We don't repent. We don't turn to the Lord It's like having celery in your teeth, and you see it in the mirror, but you don't do anything about it. Maybe your friends tell you and remind you about it, but you don't do anything about it. And James says he looks at himself, and he goes away and he forgets what he was like. The idea of forgetfulness. But he says, you're the one who looks into the perfect law, he calls the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets, but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing. So James kind of sees the word as a kind of mirror. When you look into it, you see the beauty of God and the glory of Christ, but you also see your own fallenness, right? It reflects back to you, and you can see a better picture of who you are. And I think we see that in Judges. We begin, hopefully, to see a reflection of ourself here. The problem wasn't just with Israel, but I have the same problem in my own life, that I stray from the Lord, that I forget God, that I forget the gospel, that I choose to not obey him. Well, remember now, the angel of the Lord, in the beginning of chapter 13, had appeared to Samson's mother. and had given the mission of Samson, one will be born, he'll be a savior for Israel against the Philistines, you're not to cut his hair, and we saw those Nazarite calling vows that the angel of the Lord detailed to her. And then, you jump into Samson's life, and you're immediately disappointed, right? There's all this buildup, there's this magnificent birth, and there's an angel visiting the birth, sounds very familiar to us as New Testament Christians. And we anticipate this great savior, and then there at the end, actually the beginning of chapter 14, Samson is doing whatever he wants to do. And really it's a disappointing ride all along from Timna to Gaza. Now, I don't know about you, but I feel worn out a bit after the life of Samson. I think the narrator probably was worn out a little bit too. But in the end, we saw last time that Samson finally sees, doesn't he? He finally gets it. He finally sees at the point where he doesn't have sight. He finally sees with the eyes of faith, reminding us again of the grace of God. In fact, it wasn't until he lost his strength, his sight was taken captive and made a trophy for the Philistines that Samson finally completely depended upon the Lord, right? He finally stopped placing his confidence in himself and he put it in the Lord. And that's when the Lord used him for the greatest feat ever. God answered Samson's prayer and he gave the Philistines into his hands and he destroyed the whole building. Some 3,000 people perished that day. Yahweh defeated Dagon. Yahweh won using Samson. So we've seen lions and bees and honey and hair and weddings, riddles, garments, ropes, gates, jawbones, hills, and falling houses all through the story of Samson. And these pictures really should capture our mind and imprint these truths upon our heart. Samson's story should vividly capture in our minds the truth about God and the truth about ourself. Well, let me give you just three kind of reflections on the life of Samson. Just kind of practical reflections. I've already given you a lot of application. I won't go through all of that. But just three things that I've been reflecting on. And the first one is know your calling. Know your calling. Again, I've argued in this story that it's very likely from the entire account of Samson that he never knew the reason for his strength, that he never understood the reason he was called by God. He just knew he had this supernatural strength. He never knew he was Israel's savior. Robert Chisholm writes, when Samson's mother reports the news to her husband, She makes a glaring omission. She leaves out the reference to her son being God's deliverer. No wonder Manoah is confused about his son's role in life. The story gives no indication that Samson ever understood his larger purpose in life. His struggles with the Philistines end up by being mere personal vendetta, not a holy war. He says. And I think that's what we see, right? He fights the Philistines because he's angry with them, because he's taking revenge for himself, but he's not really fighting for God, is he? At least not directly. We've seen God uses Samson providentially. Now how did that happen? Well, the angel came to his mother, but his mother failed to tell her husband, his father, his mission. In fact, she very well had forgotten what his mission was. And so that news never got to Samson himself. And so I think we can give Samson a little credit here, even though he was doing his own thing. He never seemed to know why God made him the way he was. Samson never knew his true identity. And do you know your calling as a Christian? I don't mean the career that God has placed you in. That can be somewhat subjective. You know, sometimes people ask, how do I know what career to choose for the Lord? You know, I wish God would write something in the mail and would be delivered and you can know this is exactly what you should be doing and apply for. We have to pray and seek wisdom and counsel and we trust in the providence of God for those things. But I mean, why are you ultimately placed on this planet? God has saved you. Why did he save you? He saved you, but he didn't glorify you immediately, did he? Hopefully you don't think that. Your spouse will remind you that you're not glorified yet. But why did he leave you on earth and not take you to heaven? Why has he left you here? Hasn't our Lord given us the commission that we need, right? We often call it the Great Commission. Our brother Nathan from Taiwan preached on it a few weeks back. that the great commission, the end of Matthew, each gospel has a commission. We're most familiar, I think, with Matthew's, right? That we're to make disciples of all nations. That is the Lord's commission for us after his resurrection, before his ascension. And that really is our mission and our calling here. No matter what else you might be doing and that you have to do, your greatest mission, your greatest commission from the Lord is to take the gospel to the world. And that starts right here in town. You don't have to go to Serbia. You don't have to go to Taiwan. You don't have to go to South Africa. It starts right where you are. Our Lord though, if you remember back in chapter two, the angel of the Lord that came to Israel is God, very God. And so our Lord, who was the angel of the Lord, who appeared to Manoah's wife, who gave her the commission there for Samson, is the same Lord at the end of Matthew who gives the commission to you to make disciples, right? I know your commission is not through a supernatural superman strength ability to go fight the Philistines. First of all, I don't know where the Philistines are. I don't think they exist anymore. Secondly, none of us have supernatural strength like that. And if you have strength, you lose it as you get older. Beware, young people. But here, the Lord has given us a commission, right? Go into all the world and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. And then the Lord says, teaching them to observe all that he has commanded. So we are to make disciples. We give them the gospel. By the grace of God, they're changed, they're given new birth, and then we teach them everything the Lord has taught us. That's the great mission that each of us have. We tell others the story of Jesus. We tell him that he died for sinners, that he rose victoriously on the third day. We do not serve a dead Messiah. We serve a risen one. So no matter what you do in life, no matter what career the Lord has you in, no matter where you live, you've been given a mandate from the risen Lord as a believer. And that is to make disciples, to take the gospel. I have to remind myself of this, because most of the time I'm with believers myself. I have to go somewhere to find unbelievers. We have to remind ourselves, why are we here? Yes, we're here to glorify and worship God, but we gotta be more specific. What does that look like? What does that mean? Part of that certainly is taking the gospel. In the midst of a busyness of life, I know life is busy, it's a crazy world, it's filled with endless distractions, we can easily forget our calling. But we now live for Christ, right? Life is short, isn't it? You know, soon your life will be over. Not to be so grim this morning, but time is short. Only what's done for Christ will last, right? Paul said in Galatians 2 verse 20, I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live. It is Christ who lives in me, Paul says. It's like, you know, all those kind of ambitions I had and purposes, they're not necessarily bad in themselves, but ultimately what it is. Now Christ is in me. Now he is first place in my life. Philippians 121, for to me to live, Paul says, is Christ. It's like the most simplified Pauline statement, right? For me to live equals Jesus. So he now is my life. Jonathan Edwards penned this resolution. Resolved that I will do whatsoever I think to be most to God's glory, in my own good, profit and pleasure, in the whole of my duration, without any consideration of the time, whether now or never, so many myriads of ages hence. Resolved to do whatever I think to be my duty and most for the good and advantage of mankind in general. Resolved to do this whatever difficulties I meet with, how many and how great so ever. It's quite the resolution, right? You don't have to write something so amazing like that. But maybe you need to write it on your heart. I want to be about the glory of the Lord, the glory of Christ, and the gospel. Lord, use me however you want. You know, those are dangerous prayers, right? If you say, God, use me. Come Monday morning, he might be using you. And it may not be quite the way that you think. So be ready for that. So know your calling. It's an easy reminder. Someone asked, what is the will of God in my life? Make disciples, right? Make disciples. You know, you could almost make it this simple. Be about that, and you don't really have to worry about all the rest of life's stuff, right? What career, what job, where do we live? You know, those are all secondary. The Lord will help you with those things. Make his commission the most important. Secondly, learn from the past. Learn from the past. Kind of addressing the issue of forgetfulness. Because that's really a big theme in Judges. It's a big theme in the life of Samson. Samson fails to learn from the past. We often fall into sin or temptation or the same trial simply because we fail to learn from the past. We are a forgetful people. And I'm pointing most of my fingers at me when I say that. We are forgetful. Yeah, I know some of us forget where we put our keys or something like that. I don't mean that. We forget names and those kinds of things. But the idea here is to forget the Lord. to forget what matters to Him, to forget His Word, His promises, His commands. We forget about His presence, right? You know, Paul addresses that in Philippians, dealing with anxiety. He says, the Lord is at hand in Philippians 4. Do not be anxious about anything. It's like Paul says, you know, what's the beginning of dealing with anxiety? You forgot the Lord is here. The Lord is at hand. The Lord is present. He's here, God himself. In fact, the Spirit is within you. Yet we can forget about God. I mean, it makes sense to forget about our keys or to forget where we put something. But how can we forget about God? He's the biggest entity, the biggest being, the biggest truth in the universe, right? We can forget about him of all things. We can forget about his presence. His love, His salvation, His promises. This is why we don't fear the Lord because we forget about Him. And our story began that way, right? That the Lord gave them into the hands of the Philistines. They did what was right in their own eyes. Earlier in chapter two, it talks about how they really forgot God. The next generation came and they didn't remember the Lord. They didn't know the Lord. And we can feel this sting when it says they did again What was evil in the sight of the Lord? That word again. You know, how often do we do the same things over and over, right? Sometimes that's the most discouraging parts of the Christian life. It's not like there's a new problem, a new sin I'm dealing with. It's the same ones. It's the same ones all the time. Those besetting sins. Often our problem is we simply forget the gospel. We forget the Lord Jesus. We're not thinking about him. We're not aware of his presence. Israel fell into that. Samson fell into that, and we can fall into that as well. We must learn about the danger of forgetfulness from the life of Samson. Forgetting God's words, forgetting God's commands and desires. forgetting his warnings, forgetting his past mercies and grace. You know how easy it is to forget answered prayer, right? You might have prayed for something a long time. God answers that and we forget to thank the Lord. Or we get troubled for the next request but we forget that, oh, God answered the last one. We forget those things. And we forget the great salvation that Jesus has provided. I think that's one reason the Lord gave us the Lord's Table. To help us remember. We need all the help we can get, right? And we lose hope because we forget his promises. To forget is to have less hope. Israel became very comfortable with the enemy nations. And they forgot they were in danger. They forgot the danger they were in. like the frog in the boiling pot. They forgot the warnings from Yahweh, from their God. They forgot that they would forfeit the blessings of God, and that's exactly what happened. They continued their cycle, right? They would rebel, they would be oppressed, they would cry out to God, and God would deliver them. But that's kind of a pattern we see in our own life as well. We really are not that different from Israel. We can be stubborn, we can be apathetic, forgetful, cold, and indifferent to God, but God is patient with us, isn't he? As he is with Israel. God admonished Israel to cry out for deliverance, and he used Samson as a great help in their life. In the last words of Samson, he cried out for deliverance, and that's the lesson we need to learn. We need to cry out to God, we need to depend upon Him. We need to remember the God that we serve, and we need to rely upon Him. You know, it's interesting looking at the beginning of Samson's life and the end. In the beginning of Samson's life, there's no prayer, there's no cry for deliverance, but at the very end of Samson's life, Samson does cry for deliverance, he does pray. And I think there's a lesson to be learned with the bookends of Samson's life. And that is the issue of dependence upon God and prayer, right? Sometimes we don't even pray. We don't need God anymore. We become self-sufficient. And yet we learn from Samson that we really need the Lord. So don't be forgetful like Samson, like Israel. Don't forget about their forgetfulness. Their forgetfulness is there to help you remember. Remember the Lord and cry out to him and depend upon him. So know your calling, know the Lord has left you here for the great purpose of taking the good news of his death and resurrection to the nations. But also learn from the past. Don't forget God, remember what he's done for you. You're taking the gospel to people, but you don't wanna forget the very message you're taking to people, right? Let me give you one more. may seem a bit scattered, but just some reflections this morning. And then number three is accept that your gifts, position, and experience are no replacement for holiness. Accept that your gifts, position, and experience are no replacement for holiness. I mean, look at Samson's position. He is the judge of Israel. He is the savior of Israel. He is in this high and noble position. He is one of a kind. He's been given this supernatural spirit-given strength. And notice his calling. He was called by God before he was born. Kind of reminds us of Paul. And the Savior of Israel, a unique calling with unique gifts. He could overcome a lion, overcome a gate, overcome an army. I mean, if you look at his resume, he's doing really well. Right, again, it reminds me of Paul. A Hebrew of Hebrews. The tribe of Benjamin. As to the law, blameless. You know, you look at the resume of Samson, you go, this guy's got it all going, right? He's got great potential here. Quite the qualifications. I mean, let's look at his superhero profile. He killed a lion with his bare hands. Has anyone done that this morning? I kind of wrestle with my cat, and she wins, right? Because she has claws. He killed 30 men of Ashkelon just to get their clothes. He burned endless acres with jackals as he tied their tails and lit them on fire. I wouldn't recommend any kids do that. He slaughtered an unnumbered group of Philistines. He escaped with new bound ropes. He could break anything that he was tied with. He killed an army of 1,000 Philistine warriors. He carried a 10 ton gate 36 miles up 3,100 feet in elevation. He went through all those stats. He destroyed 3,000 Philistine leaders and spectators with a single blow. Is it a bird? Is that a plane? It reminds us of Superman, right? Unstoppable, superhero. I mean, this is who Israel needs. They can win with this man. But what did he lack? Holiness, godliness, right? Character, godly character. The one thing lacking. He's got everything else, though. He should be okay, right? But we see that wasn't the case because he did not follow in the footsteps of his Lord. Let me look at the examples. First of all, Samson troubled his own household. Samson troubled his own household. He was disrespectful towards his parents in getting a wife. He disregarded God's prohibition against foreign wives that would turn his heart away. He failed to heed his parents' advice. Proverbs 11, verse 29 says, whoever troubles his own household will inherit the wind, and the fool will be a servant to the wise of heart. Eventually he brings shame and death on his wife, his bride's family, fulfilling Proverbs 11, 29 literally. Proverbs 17, 25 says, a foolish son is a grief to his father and bitterness to her who bore him. Samson fulfilled these verses of Proverbs. But also Samson is naive. To be naive is to be simple-minded in Proverbs. Someone who is unlearned, unstudied, believes everything is true, believes whatever they hear. Proverbs 14, 15 says the simple believe everything. How about when he desired to marry into Israel's enemy? Being foolish, being naive. How about when he visited a harlot in a Philistine city? How about when he finally spilled his supernatural secret to Delilah of Philistine? He was naive, he lacked wisdom, he lacked discernment. Samson exercised no discernment in life and especially in his relationships. Proverbs 13, verse 20 says, whoever walks with the wise becomes wise. You know this verse. But the companion of fools will suffer harm. Being naive, Samson failed to examine his own life. Proverbs 14, eight says to examine our way. It says the wisdom of the prudent is to discern his way, but the folly of fools is deceiving. We don't see Samson reviewing his own heart and his own life at any point, do we? He doesn't stop for a moment and think, you know, maybe I'm going the wrong way. Things aren't going so well for me. But we should learn from Samson with his lack of godliness and character. Samson's also arrogant, right? By the way, the superhero profile isn't looking so good, is it? He's proud. He parades his strength and his ability. He builds a hill of dead Philistine warriors. And then he sings about himself. He throws down a 10-ton gate at Hebron to impress the men of Judah. And when he prays, it's often tainted with selfish ends. Samson is arrogant, and that's exactly what leads him into all the trouble he has. Proverbs 16, 18, pride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall. He's convinced his way is best. Friends, you could write down Proverbs 16, 25. There is a way that seems right to man, but its end is the way to death. It's a good warning for us all. He may be full of a lot of muscle, but he was full of a lot of pride, wasn't he? Samson is also sensual. He is sensual. He sees women, forbidden women, and he likes what he sees, but he fails to look for godly character. We certainly didn't see him looking for a wife, thinking, well, I wonder if she has the fruits of the Spirit in her life. Right? You know, what do I look for in a spouse? Look for fruits of the spirit. He often finds himself in vineyards where he shouldn't be as a Nazirite. He exercises no restraint in eating honey, even if it's in a rotting carcass. He puts on a drinking feast during his wedding. He lives in temptation's pathway because he lives by his senses. He's not only captive to the Philistines, but he's captive to his own lusts, right? It's one of those ironies of the life of Samson. He can break free of anything except his own desires. Proverbs 6, verse 22. In fact, go there with me for a moment. Proverbs 6, 22. He's captive to himself, to his own desires. I'm sorry, Proverbs 5, 22. See, I'm forgetful as well. should be in the middle of your Bible on the left side. No, probably not in your Bible, but. The iniquities of the wicked, notice, ensnare him, and he is held fast in the cords of his sin. This is really a picture of Samson's life, even though he was bound often with ropes, he was captured, yet really the issue, the problem in his life was he was bound by his own sinfulness. He wasn't strong enough to free himself from his own sinfulness, and neither are you or me, right? Sin is far too powerful for you to free yourself from sinfulness. That's why it took the Son of God himself to accomplish that on the cross. But Samson, he's captive to his own desires and feelings. It's not until Samson is blind that he finally stops living by his senses and sees with the eyes of faith. So here's a lesson, right? Don't live by your senses. Don't live by what feels good. Live by faith in God. Trust and obey, for there's no other way to be what? Happy in Jesus than to trust and obey. And then also, Samson is vengeful. He thought I was done. There's more to Samson. He's vengeful towards anyone who crosses him. Don't cross Samson at the playground. I don't know if he was strong on the playground, but I think all the kids probably learned, don't mess with Samson. Proverbs 17 verse 13, if anyone returns evil for good, evil will not depart from his house. There's a warning, right? Taking matters into your own hands. I know Hollywood is based on this idea. I bet you there's a movie coming out tomorrow that's about some man whose injustice was done to his family, and he's taking revenge, and there will be, that's what people wanna see. That was Samson's life, but that's not the will of God. With Samson's revenge comes constant evil, damage, and tragedy. Proverbs 20, verse 22, do not say I will repay evil. Wait for the Lord and He will deliver you. You know, friends, God does a far better job of revenge than you can. He knows all things. That's a great advantage. Can you imagine playing chess with the Lord? Some of you kids play chess. You never win. It doesn't matter how much you study it. Is it how much videos you watch and books you read on chess? He even knows the move you're gonna make, right? He knows everything. Proverbs says, leave it in his hands. That's not for you to take revenge. But Samson constantly took revenge. Paul tells us in Romans 12, do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight. Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. If possible, so far as it depends upon you, be at peace with all men. And then he says, beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord. To the contrary, if your enemy is hungry, feed him. If he is thirsty, give him something to drink, for by doing so, you will heap burning coals on his head. Do not overcome, do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. Good Pauline reminder, right? Well, Samson also is sexually immoral. Maybe he falls under the category of sensual. He's captivated by the love and attention of women. Proverbs chapter five warns us, as does Proverbs chapter seven. Proverbs five, seven through eight says, don't even go near the door of her house. The forbidden woman, trying to lure the man in. Samson doesn't stay away, he actually goes after her. He takes whatever is forbidden. And I really do think Samson knew what he was doing. He seemed to have some understanding of Old Testament history, as we saw. But he constantly seeks sexual gratification. It always ends in disaster, right? Herbert Wolfe writes, unable to conquer himself, he was ruined by his own lust. He could conquer the enemy, but not himself. Samson is also slanderous. The list continues. Words can cut, and Samson uses his words as a sword. He slandered his own bride at their wedding, remember? You know, you don't call your new bride a heifer. There's the beginning of premarital counseling, friends, okay? How do we have a good marriage? Don't begin marriage that way. Samson did. He was disrespectful towards his parents. Later, he lies to Delilah. He just says what he wants to say. Proverbs constantly communicates the power of the tongue. Proverbs 12, 13, an evil man is ensnared by the transgression of his lips, but the righteous escapes from trouble. How often do our words get us in trouble, right? James says, you know, if you can control the tongue, you can control the whole self. It's really difficult to control what you say. That's why we need the Spirit. Proverbs 12, 18, there is one whose rash words are like sore thrust, but the tongue of the wise brings healing. That's the power of the tongue. It can hurt, it can harm, or it can heal, it can repair. Paul tells us in Ephesians 4, speak only that which is good for edification according to the need of the moment, right? that you might give grace to the hearer. Realize the power of the tongue as you reflect on Samson. Let me give you another one. Samson is short-tempered. Isn't that true from the narrative? Are one of these convicting you, by the way? There's gotta be one in this list somewhere that the Lord maybe is laying on your heart. He's angry, he's got a real problem with anger. He doesn't exhibit righteous anger. There is a righteous kind of anger, but there's an unrighteous anger, and he exhibits this self-centered, uncontrolled anger. Listen to Proverbs 16.32. 16.32, it's a great verse for Samson. Whoever is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and he who rules his spirit than he who takes a city. Isn't that a great verse for Samson? Samson could take a city gate, 20,000 pounds, but he couldn't rule his own self, his own anger, right? Strength is demonstrated, godliness is demonstrated in self-control and self-restraint. The real strong man, according to Proverbs, is the man who can control his anger, not the guy who's a warrior who can take the city. In short, Samson fails to live righteously. He fails to live in the fear of the Lord. He fails to make it his aim to please the one who enlisted him, to quote Paul. He fails to give God the credit and the gratitude that God deserved. He fails as God's servant in every conceivable way. Proverbs 13, 21, disaster pursues sinners, describes Samson's life. Samson really is the foolish man of Proverbs. John MacArthur writes this, I had to quote him, you know, in light of MacArthur. In 12 Unlikely Heroes, he writes about Samson, his fatal attraction to pagan women was not only the pattern of his life, but proved to be the path of his death. If Samson were Superman, his own sinful desires were his kryptonite. He could kill a lion, but not his lust. He could break new ropes, but not old habits. He could defeat armies of Philistine soldiers, but not his own flesh. He could carry away the gates of a city, but allowed himself to be carried away when lost in passion. I mean, MacArthur always says it better. That's why I saved him to the end. realized Samson had every possible advantage. He had the Lord's favor. He was prepared before birth. He had a supernatural kind of birth. He was commissioned as a Nazarite by God. He had a special anointing by the Spirit at a young age, according to the beginning of chapter 14. He was given supernatural strength, and yet he fell miserably. He's a tragic example of a man who possessed great abilities, great potential, but who lacked the godliness that the Lord wanted. So know your calling, learn from the past, accept that your gifts, your position, your experience, your resume really are never a replacement for godliness and holiness. Well, Samson is a tragic story, but turn with me to Hebrews chapter 11, and we'll end there this morning. Hebrews chapter 11. I'm sure you know where I'm going with this. Hebrews 11's an amazing chapter where I feel really small. All these great men and women of faith, and you read about all of them along the way, with Abraham and Sarah, and on he goes with Moses, how he left Egypt and the treasures of Egypt for the reproach of the people, and all these amazing lists. And then you get to verse 32, what more shall I say? And usually by reading Hebrews 11, I'm thinking like, Yeah, I don't really compare to these people. I know it's the Lord's work, but man. But then he says, for time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah of David and Samuel and the prophets, who through faith conquered kingdoms and forced justice, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, were made strong out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight. And who is listed among there? Samson of all people. Now, friends, let's be honest for a second. When you read Judges 13, 14, 15, 16, did you think he was a believer? I didn't conclude that. But look where he is in the hall of faith. Samson is right here next to Jephthah, who sacrificed his daughter, by the way. This is the list we have here. Samson was a believer. Was he a believer early on or later? I don't know for sure. Conversion is mysterious. I lean towards he was probably converted at the end of his life. Maybe when he lost his eyesight, that's when he came to truly trust in God and his Lord. And then the Lord worked through him powerfully then. But believe it or not, we find Samson. Does that give you hope as a believer? I sure hope it does. You know what's an amazing thing about Hebrews 11? Is there's no mention of their sin in Hebrews 11. There's no mention of sin. There's a lot that I talked about with Samson. A lot of problems. But the Lord mentions his faith here. I think that's humbling for all of us. Samson knew God. At least at the end of his life, he trusted the Lord, he relied upon him by faith. Even the faith we apply is by the grace of God. Samson had to first be humbled by becoming weak, blind, void of strength. But once humbled, he relied upon the strength of the Lord. We should be reminded of that. Samson's life reminds us of the grace of God. We really deserve no different than a long-haired Nazarite, do we? Well, we may have shorter hair, but we're really no different than Samson. We all need the grace of God. There's more we can learn from Samson, but after seeing this poor Savior, let's look at our Savior, the Savior, chapter 12 of Hebrews. He says, verse one, therefore we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses. Let us lay aside every weight and the sin which clings so closely. Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us. Looking to whom? Samson ultimately. Now looking to Jesus, he says, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. The end of the hall of faith is Jesus himself. Jesus applied faith in his life. He ran the race perfectly and went before us. Like Samson, though, Christ had a unique, spiritual, supernatural birth. Like Samson, Christ had a calling from a young age. Like Samson, Christ grew in the Holy Spirit. Like Samson, Christ had the leading and guiding of the Holy Spirit. Like Samson, Christ is a judge. Like Samson, Christ is a Savior. But the difference is Christ is the Savior, right? Not just for Israel, but for you. Thankfully, we don't have to rely upon a savior like Samson, but we rely upon a savior like Jesus, who's perfect. He is the warrior who set out with unlimited power to defeat sin, death, and the evil one, and he did just that. You know, Jesus brought the whole building down on sin, on Satan, on death. But the good news is that he rose on the third day out of the rubble, didn't he? We serve a perfect Savior, let's pray. Lord Jesus, we're reminded of our own fallenness. Oh Lord, we are just mere creatures. We can't save ourself, neither can we save anyone else from sin and death and from the evil one. But Lord Jesus, as we look at imperfect Samson, a man who you saved by your grace, we're reminded that you are our savior. We're reminded that you're the savior of the world, the one who gave of yourself for our sins, the one who saves us from the wrath to come, the one that really gave his life but it had an atoning effect to atone for our sinfulness, our fallenness, to reconcile us back to God, back to you. Lord Jesus, we thank you that you gave your life and we thank you that you rose again victoriously. We pray in your name, amen.