Let's see who we discuss this morning, talking about listening to God. Hebrews chapter 11, go to verse number 32. Hebrews chapter 11, verse number 32. And what shall I more say? For the time would fail me to tell of Gideon and of Barak and of Samson and of Jephthah, of David also and Samuel and of the prophets. Today, we come to Samson, let's pray. Our Father, bless us, teach us your word, guide and direct us as we listen to you today. And I pray as we listen to you, we would truly listen to you. Guide and direct and bless us as we study. We'll thank you for it in Christ's name, amen. In our study of those who listen to God, we come to a man who didn't listen to God. until he did. It is a story of wasted benefits, lost opportunities, selfish decisions, and yes, a return of what I call the Old Testament prodigal son. He truly is just that. Much like the New Testament prodigal, Samson wasted, Samson wanted what he wanted and no one was going to stop him. At least that's what he thought. But God didn't give up on him. And God chases him down in grace. Amen. And Samson at the end realizes what he wasted. So today, what a waste. Yes, the phrase what a waste comes to mind when we think of Samson. But wait a minute. His name is recorded for us in Hebrews chapter 11, the great hall of faith. He is recorded for us as a man of great faith. So let's see what has happened and what is happening, what has happened to this Old Testament prodigal son. Number one, Samson's vow. Samson's vow. We find a story back in the book of Judges. So turn back to the book of Judges chapter number 13. Judges chapter number 13. Judges chapter 13, verse number two. And there was a certain man of Zorah of the family of the Danites, whose name was Manoah, and his wife was barren and barren not. And the angel of the Lord appeared unto the woman and said unto her, behold now thou art barren and barren not, but thou shalt conceive and bear a son. Now therefore beware, I pray thee and drink not wine nor strong drink and eat not any unclean thing. For lo, thou shalt conceive and bear a son, and no razor shall come on his head, for the child shall be a Nazarite unto God from the womb, and he shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hands of the Philistines. We read about his parents' dedication. An angel from God delivers great news to Samson's dad and to his mom. You've had no children as of yet, nothing has happened yet, but now you will. God would trust them with a child who would be a deliverer, who would be a judge over Israel and help deliver them, begin to deliver them, as God put it, from the Philistines. They received this child with joy. They received this child and vowed to give him to the Lord, amen. Now, this is a Baptist church, amen, have you noticed that? As a Baptist church, we do not believe in baptismal regeneration. We believe that baptism is a necessary step of obedience to God after salvation. If you're saved, you ought to want to get baptized and please God. Amen. It doesn't save you. It doesn't wash away sins, but it's a step of obedience. In doing thus, we don't believe in baptizing babies either. You will not find the word baby in the word baptism mentioned in the same chapter in the Bible, let alone in context with one another. You don't baptize babies. All that does is get them wet. All right, we don't believe in that. But we do believe in what we call baby dedication. Some of you sitting here today were dedicated, held in your parents' arm on this platform as your parents vowed to bring you up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. Amen. We call it baby dedication. We are dedicating babies to be brought up for God's honor and glory and to be used for his honor in honoring God's honor and glory, but it's actually a parent dedication. It's actually a parent saying, we're going to do this. We're going to take this child, realizing this baby is a gift from God, and we're going to give this baby back to God and do our very best to raise him up so that he knows right from wrong, so he knows salvation at an early age, so he comes to Christ at an early age and understands all of this. It is a parent's dedication. Amen. That's what we see here in the life of Samson's parents. You're going to raise this child. You're going to raise him up. And in it we see that Samson was supposed to live by what the Old Testament calls a Nazarite vow. A Nazarite vow. It is not to be confused with someone from Nazareth. Jesus was from Nazareth, so they will call him the Nazarene, but it had nothing to do with Nazarite. All right, that's probably where the confusion about Jesus had long hair comes in, because he didn't have long hair either, but that's a whole another story. Okay, that's where the confusion comes in, but he was not a Nazarite. Samson was to be a Nazarite. The Nazarite vow, that one took was to show that they were completely separated and given to God. They were to live their life in a separated manner, totally given over to God. It came with three things in this separation. They were to drink no alcohol. They were to touch no unclean thing. and their hair could not be cut. These three things all told the world that they were completely separated to God for his use, for his service, and they weren't supposed to touch any of those things. Samson's parents vowed to raise him up this way. They promised God, they promised the angel of the Lord, that they would raise him up this way, and Samson knew it. I guarantee you parents cannot come to this kind of dedication themselves and not let this child know. Not if something different going on in their homes that would say you're being raised different from everybody else. You're being raised in a special way because you are a gift from God. And you are on loan to us from God. And we're gonna raise you up for his honor and his glory because you belong to God. Well, Samson grew up knowing this. And one day he decided he wanted to live his own way. He wanted to live his own life. He didn't like being different. He didn't like being singled out. So he would go ahead and do things his way. He would not listen to God. And in doing so, Samson broke all three aspects of his vow. Okay? He broke all three things that he wasn't supposed to do. He went ahead and broke them. Go in your Bibles now to Judges chapter number 16. Judges chapter number 16. We will not go in and through all the exploits of Samson. You can do that on your own and see how these things were broken. But let's look at what it says in Judges chapter 16. Go to verse number 17. Judges chapter 16, verse number 17. Then he told her all his heart and said unto her, there is not a razor upon mine head, For I have been a Nazarite unto God from my mother's womb. If I be shaven, then my strength will go from me, and I will become weak and be like any other man. And when Delilah saw that he had told her all his heart, she sat and called for the lords of the Philistines, saying, Come up this one, for he hath showed me all his heart. Then the lords of the Philistines came up unto her and brought money in their hand, and she made him sleep upon her knees. And she called for a man, and she caused him to shave off the seven locks of his head. And she began to afflict him, and his strength went from him. And she said, the Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And he awoke out of his sleep, and he said, I will go out as at other times before and shake myself. And he wist not that the Lord had departed from him. Now understand, there was no strength in his hair. Amen? Or I would be a complete weakling. You're supposed to smile a little bit with that. The strength wasn't in his hair. The strength was in God and he had vowed to be separated from God. He had already turned his back on the no alcohol. He has already turned his back on the touching of no unclean thing. There's one thing left. What is that one thing left? cutting of his hair. Now, if you read the account with Delilah, you talk about somebody who's dumb. Samson was a dumb jock, if you will. She says, tell me, if you really love me, what's your secret? And he's thinking in his head, well, you know, I was given to the Lord. I was a Nazirite from my youth. He knows all of this. We read it. His parents told him he knows all of this. And he's thinking in the back of his mind, well, I've already blown the alcohol. I've already blown the touching no one clean thing. I've touched something that is dead. So the only thing left is my hair. And he begins to tell her stories that aren't true. He tells her something, he tells her a lie, he makes up the story about the strength. She believes him, she calls for the Philistine lords, they come in and they try to subdue him and he beats them up. Okay, so what does she do? Oh honey, you lied to me. Oh sweetheart, you don't trust me. Why should I? You just called in them to take me and they didn't. And what does he do? He tells her another story. But if you read the account, he's closer to the truth this time. Okay, this time he told me the truth. She calls in for the Philistines. They come in, they try to subdue him. They can't because it's not the truth and he beats them all up. Now, you'd think he'd be learning by time number two. Okay, it happens again. Oh, Samson, please tell me the truth. Why? Okay, the words dumb isn't strong enough. You know what I'm talking about here? Okay, he tells her again, but this time, a little bit closer to the truth. Well, eventually, he tells her the truth. I've been a Nazirite from my birth. I blew the alcohol, I blew the touching no unclean thing, the only thing left is my hair. If you cut my hair off, My strength is gone, because my separation is gone, my dedication is gone, my vow is completely gone, and I will be as any other man. Okay? What are you, nuts? She's going to call them again, and this time, you can't beat them up. They're going to take you. And he does. Here, understand, it's not the hair. It's the last of the three parts of his vow that is surrendered here. No power in the hair. The power was in his surrender to the Lord Jesus Christ. He was living under a vow and now that vow was completely gone. Hold your finger here and go to Ecclesiastes chapter number five. Ecclesiastes chapter number five. Ecclesiastes chapter number five, verse number four. When thou vowest to vow unto God, defer not to pay it, for he hath no pleasure in fools. Pay that which thou hast vowed. Better is it that thou shouldest not vow, then that thou shouldest vow and not pay. Wow. What's God saying here? When you make a vow to God, you better follow through with it. When you make a vow to God, don't break that vow. Don't go back on that vow. You are making a solemn promise to God to do something, a solemn promise to God to not do something. You are making a solemn promise to God. And he said, you better pay it then. You better pay it then. Better not to vow than to vow and break that vow. Samson had broken that vow. And now he was in big trouble. As I said, the power was not in his hair. The power was in his surrendering to the Lord. And I submit unto you, the power was in listening to God. And that we've been talking about over and over again for the past several weeks. God says, listen to me, listen to me, listen to me. And Samson in his life said, no, I'm going to listen to me. No, I won't listen to you. I'm going to do it my way. I'm going to live my way. I want what I want. No one can stop me from getting it. And that's how he lived. He lived under a vow and broke that vow. And his life became a mess. Number two, Samson's wow. Samson's well, like I said, we're not gonna go through all of the exploits in his life from beginning to end. Let's move right to the end. The one good thing he did. Samson, the mighty, has fallen. You know the account, I just said it for you again, Delilah finally talks him out of his vow. One of the saddest verses in all of the Bible, in my opinion, is Judges chapter number 16 and verse number 20. Let's go there. We read it once, let's read it again. Judges 16, verse number 20. And she said, the Philistines be upon thee, Samuel. And he woke out of his sleep and said, I will go out as at other times before and shake myself. And he wist not that the Lord was departed from him. That word wist is an Old Testament Old English word that means no. Okay, I want not, I know not. Wist means he doesn't know. A battle of the wits means a battle of your knowledge, right? Says verse in the Bible, he didn't know that God was gone. Now in the Old Testament way of doing things, a man was filled by the Spirit of God for a certain task, for a certain job, for a certain duty, and then the Spirit left him. Okay, that's what happened. David, the Holy Spirit went on David and never left him. Samson, he came and went. Limel says, well, this is just like other times Samson thought. I'll just go ahead and shake myself. I'll be just like I always am. I'll defeat these guys. But he didn't even know that the power was gone. He didn't even know that the Lord was not with him. Wow. He had started to think, and probably for a long time now, that the power was his. That the strength was his. That the ability to do great exploits for God, or the ability to do great exploits in any way, were of him. But they weren't. They were all in his surrender to God. As we talked about in the Sunday school hour, they were all in his sanctification, all in his being made into the image of God. And now that was gone completely. And so was his power. So was the Lord in whom the power resided because he refused to listen to God. Wow. His. biggest victory is gonna come with his own death. The greatest battle he will fight, the greatest battle he will win will now come in his death. Go to verse number 21 of Judges chapter number 16. Verse number 21. But the Philistines took him and put out his eyes brought him down to Gaza and bound him with fetters of brass and he did grind in the prison house. Albeit the hair of his head began to grow again after he was shaven. The lords of the Philistines gathered them together for to offer a great sacrifice unto Dagon their God and rejoice for they said our God hath delivered Samson our enemy into our hand. And when the people saw him, they praised their God, for they said, our God has delivered into our hands our enemy and the destroyer of our country, which slew many of us. And it came to pass, when their hearts were merry, that they said, call for Samson, that he may make us sport. And they called for Samson out of the prison house, and he made them sport. And they set him between the pillars. And Samson said unto the lad that held him by the hand, suffer me, that I may feel the pillars where upon the house standeth, that I may lean upon them. Now the house was full of men and women, and all the lords of the Philistines were there. And there were upon the roof about 3,000 men and women that beheld while Samson made sport. And Samson called unto the Lord and said, O Lord God, remember me, I pray thee, and strengthen me, I pray thee, only this once. O God, that I may be avenged of the Philistines for my two eyes. And Samson took hold of the two middle pillars upon which the house stood, and on which it was borne up, one of them with his right hand and the other with his left. And Samson said, let me die with the Philistines. And he bowed himself with all his might, and the house fell upon the lords and upon all the people that were therein. So the dead which he slew at his death were more than they which he slew in his life." Wow. One last battle. One last victory. One last chance to listen to God. Wow. One last chance to turn one's gaze to heaven. and say, God, I need you, your power, your strength, your might to work in me one last time. The New Testament, Prodigal Son was in a similar situation, but all of his own making at the same time. Take your Bibles, go to Luke chapter number 15. Luke chapter 15. Go to verse number 11, Luke chapter 15, verse number 11. And he said, a certain man had two sons and the younger of them said to his father, father, give me the portion of goods that falleth to me. And he divided none of them his living. And not many days after the younger son gathered all together and took his money into a far country and there wasted his substance with riotous living. And when he had spent all. There arose a mighty famine in that land, and he began to be in want. And he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. And he would fain have filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eat, and no man gave unto him. What a sad situation for a little Jewish boy to be in. He's gonna eat what the pigs don't. That's all he's got. That's all he's got. Wow, what a mess. Verse 17, one last chance, one last battle, one last chance to turn your eyes and look to where it really matters. And when he came to himself and he said, how many hired servants of my father's have bread enough to spare and I perish with hunger? I will arise and go to my father and will say unto him, father, I have sinned against heaven and before thee, and I'm no more worthy to be called thy son. Make me as one of thy hired servants. And he rose and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him. And the son said unto him, father, I've sinned against heaven in thy sight, and I'm no more worthy to be called thy son. But the father, he interrupts his speech, But the father said to his servants, bring forth the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his feet and shoes on his feet, and bring hither the fatted calf and kill it, and let us eat and be merry. For this my son was dead and is alive again. He was lost and is found, and they began to be merry. Oh, the blessings of listening to God. Oh, the consequences of listening to self. Though the consequences may be severe, the Father is always looking for his child. Wow. Wow. The father, every day, just gazes toward the driveway, gazes toward the front of the field. Perhaps my son will return today. I've been praying for him for a while now. Perhaps today is the day he will return. Finally, one day, There's somebody out there. He's walking familiarly. Perhaps, maybe it's my son. And what does he do? He runs to meet that son. Amen. He's got a speech all prepared. Make me one of your servants. He never gets there. He says, my son has returned. Wow, amazing. Samson said, Lord, just this once, one more time, use me to defeat your people's enemy, the Philistines. The New Testament prodigal said, Getting back to my father and listening to him was a smarter thing to do. I should have done that. Go in your Bibles to James chapter number four. James chapter number four. James chapter four. Verse number six, but he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble. Submit yourselves therefore to God, resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw nigh to God and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Be afflicted and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to heaviness. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up. Draw an eye to God, and he will draw an eye to you. If you look at your life right now, if you examine your heart and where you stand before God, if there was ever a time in your life where you were closer to God than you are right now, you're prodigal. You're backslidden. You're away from God. You've decided that your way, your thoughts, your life was yours to live and decided to do it that way. And maybe you've suffered some consequences because there are always consequences. Maybe they've been light to this point. Maybe they're severe, but understand in any point of that journey, if you draw an eye to God, he'll draw an eye to you. If you come back to God and say, God, I was stupid, turn my back on you. I was foolish to think that I knew more than you knew. God, forgive me. You know something? He will every single time. Amen. He did it for Samson. He did it for the New Testament prodigal. He's done it for thousands of people throughout the years. He'll do it for you. He is there. Understand that God has built the laws of sowing and reaping into the fabric of the universe. The entire universe could not run without sowing and reaping. Could not go. There are laws, there are consequences, there are things that happen. They are in there. And God also says that sin must be judged. And very often, After we're saved, now understand, before salvation, Christ paid all of our sin, amen, when he died on the cross for it, all of it. If you're not saved today, Jesus Christ paid your sin penalty in full, and you can come to know him as Lord and Savior, amen. After salvation. Sometimes we do stupid things. And we're not always punished for our sin as much as we are punished by our sin. Because sowing and reaping is fitted into the fabric of the universe. And you do something stupid, you're gonna receive the consequence of that stupid deed. Amen? Well, we like to blame God, but we did it. We like to say, God, why'd you put me through this? We did it. We go driving down the highway at 90 miles an hour and get pulled over and get a very large speeding ticket. We say, oh God, why'd you let that happen? And God says, no, you did it. I told you not to, but you did it. You did it. Wow. You eat pizza with jalapenos on it at midnight. and you wake up at two with heartburn. Oh God, why are you doing this to me? No, you did it. Now, silly illustrations, I get it. But how often do we do that? We don't listen to God. We make a stupid choice. We do something dumb and selfish, and then we look at him and say, oh God, why? We did it. We did it. We are not punished for our sin, we're punished by our sin. Because sin is natural consequences. But you know what God says? If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us of our sins and to cleanse us of all unrighteousness. And God says, you take a step toward me, and I'll take two towards you. You draw an eye to me, and I'll draw an eye to you, because I want you back. Wow. What a God we serve. What a God we serve. I like the New Testament story that Jesus gives. At no time does that father say, You should have listened. And no time does that father say, I told you so, and I guarantee you he did tell him so. I guarantee you that boy knew what he was doing was against his father's will, was against his father's love, was wrong, and he shouldn't do it, but he did it anyway. But what'd the father say? Welcome home, my son. Wow. That same God, that same father, heavenly father is waiting for you to return to him and he says before you ever even get away in the most loving fatherly way possible. I know more than you do. Listen to me. Listen to me. Consequences are tough. Consequences are many times severe. And it is true, experience is always the best teacher. But it's always the hardest teacher. The toughest teacher. And if you can learn by simply listening to someone else, that's better for you. You know what God says? Samson, before you mess everything up, listen to me. To the prodigal, listen to me. To you, to me, in every area of our life, God says, I know what's best. I know what will make your life better. Not always easier, that's another sermon, but better. You'll never regret doing the right thing. Listen to me. And while yes, there are commands in scripture, and yes, there are certain things that God says unequivocally, do it this way. It's for our protection and for our provision. He is saying over and over again as a loving heavenly father, Listen to me. Listen to me. And every one of us has been in a situation where we said to ourselves in one way or another I should have done it God's way. I should have listened to God. OK. Maybe you've gotten it right. Maybe you've come back to God. Hallelujah. That's great. I'm here to stand before you this morning and say, if you've not, he's ready. He's willing. He loves you. And he'll say, welcome home. What a God, what a savior. Let's do ourselves a favor. Let's listen to God. Our heavenly father, thank you for all that you've done. Thank you for Christ. Thank you for salvation. Thank you, Lord, for paying our sin penalty in full. Thank you, Lord, for wanting what's best for us and showing us what's best for us in your word. Help us to understand it's so simple, just following you, just listening to you. Lord, we're not as smart as we think we are. Help us, Lord, to realize you know everything. and listening to you is in our best interest. Work in our hearts. Show us, Lord, where we need to be right with you. Just listen to you so we can not have those bad consequences. Lord, right now, bring us all to a place of decision where we're gonna say, God, I'm yours, and I will listen. Lord, you know each heart. You know each life. work and show us exactly what we need to do right now. We'll thank you and we'll praise you for it in Christ's name. Amen. With every head bowed, every eye closed. What does God want you to do? What decision does he want you to make? Let me say it simply. He wants you to listen to him. Simply listen to him. That's what you need to do. First of all, are you saved? Have you trusted Jesus Christ as your personal savior? Do you know for certain you're going to heaven? Do you know for certain your sins are forgiven? Do you know Jesus Christ is your savior? You say, pastor, I'm saved and I know it. Put your hand up as a testimony of that fact. You're saved and you know it, amen. God bless you, amen. You put your hands down, amen, amen, amen. If you're not saved, God says, listen to me. Your sin must be paid for. Now, I've already done it in Jesus Christ. But if you don't receive him, you need to do it yourself. And that's an eternity in hell. Listen to me. God says, I want to save you. If you're not sure you're saved here today, that's the first thing you need to do. He simply says, you can't save yourself. You gotta listen to me. I've done everything necessary. Come to me. Christian, you're saved. Your sins are forgiven. But every now and then, our free will tries to get the best of us and get us to do things our way. Get us to do things the way we want to do them, whether right or wrong, we just want what we want. And God says, no, listen to me. No, listen to me. I don't know where you're at right now. I don't know your heart. God does. You do. Maybe you're in a place where you need to come running back to God. If you do, he's going to come running to you, too. He wants you back. Maybe you're in a place where you've not strayed. Listen to God. Listen to him. Don't bring consequences into your life that don't need to be there. Listen to God, always do it his way. Wherever you are today in that spectrum, you say, pastor, God has spoken to me, and I wanna make sure I'm listening to God. Pastor, pray for me, God spoke to me today. Just slip your hand up, put it back down, amen, amen, amen. God bless you, amen, amen, amen, amen. As I said earlier, maybe you're not saved. Maybe you've never come to Christ for salvation. The consequences of not listening to God there are eternal. It's hell. But he said, I don't want you to go there. I have made a way out. There is one way out. It is Jesus Christ, the way, the truth, and the life. If you come to him, you can be saved. You say, Pastor, I don't know I'm going to heaven. I don't know that my sins are forgiven. I don't know Jesus Christ. Pastor, pray for me. Anyone like that, put your hand up, put it back down. I'm not sure I'm saved, Pastor, would you pray for me? Anyone at all, just lift your hand up, put it back down. Our Father, I pray that you'd bless now as we make our decisions. Lord, you know what each one of us needs to do. I pray you'd make it clear to us And I pray that we'd make that decision today, because you're right, we're not. Lord, please bless every decision that is made here this morning for your honor and glory. In Christ's name we ask it, amen. Let's all stand. Rebbe, handbook right in front of you and turn to page. 390, turn to page 390 in your hymn book. Let's all stand as we sing this hymn of invitation. We invite you to make that decision that God has spoken to your heart about. Listen to him. What does He want you to do? Listen to Him. Do what He wants you to do. As we sing this, determine you will listen to God. If you need to speak to me about salvation, I'll be waiting for you right down front. Baptism, church membership, whatever it might be, I'll be waiting for you right down front, right now, on this first verse. What does God want you to do?