Well, good morning, everyone. Good morning and welcome. Welcome to the Lord's Day Assembly at Evangelical Free Church of Oroville. I invite you to come in and find a seat as we begin this morning. I love hearing all the fellowship and the greeting. And it sure is a joy to be able to gather with everybody today. And if I may, I'd like to begin. I want to read a section from the Valley of Vision, which if you're not familiar with the Valley of Vision, it's a collection of Puritan prayers, a book I would recommend it to anybody as a part of your devotional life. But in this one of the prayers, there's a particular one that says, it is thy duty and privilege to rejoice in God. He requires it of thee for all his favors of grace. Rejoice then in the giver and his goodness. Be happy in him, O my heart, and in nothing but God, for whatever a man trusts in, from that he expects happiness. and I as I reflected on that this week I was just thinking about how God loves to pour out his favor and he loves to bring happiness to his people and that we should put our hope and our trust and our affection in God because he first loved us and it's a joy and we have this joy in knowing that the God of the universe smiles down upon us and so let's we want to prepare our hearts now for worship through the reading of his word so i want to read to you this morning from psalm 67 it'll be on the screens psalm 67 begins it says may god be gracious to us and bless us and make his face to shine upon us that your way may be known on earth your saving power among all nations let the people praise you oh god let all the peoples praise you let the nations be glad and sing for joy for you judge the peoples with equity and guide the nations upon the earth let the peoples praise you oh god let all the peoples praise you the earth has yielded its increase god our god shall bless us god shall bless us let all the ends of the earth fear him let's pray this morning Our Heavenly Father, oh, our good and gracious King, a ruler of heaven and earth, Lord, we seek to praise your holy name this morning, not only this morning, but every morning, God, may you be pleased with our worship of you today. May you be glorified through it. It's in the name of your Son, Jesus Christ, that we pray, amen. I'm gonna invite you to stand as we sing. We're gonna be singing this morning with that cry that we read in Psalm 67, to lift high the name of Jesus and let the peoples praise him this morning. One, two, three. One, two, three. ♪ Lift high the name of Jesus, Lord Jesus our King ♪ ♪ Make known the power of his grace ♪ ♪ And to be of his peace ♪ ♪ Remember how his mercy reached me ♪ ♪ We cried out to you ♪ ♪ He lifted us to salvation, to freedom from sin ♪ Sing my soul, tell all he's done, let the earth and heaven tell of his glory. ♪ We've tied the name of Jesus, Jesus our Lord ♪ His power in us is greater, is greater in this world ♪ To share the reason for our hope ♪ We serve with love and praise ♪ That all who see him shall praise Oh, sing, my soul, and tell all He's done to the earth and heavens. Lived by the name of Jesus, Jesus our light. No other name on earth can sing and raise a soul to life. He opens up our eyes to see the harvest he has grown. Oh, sing my soul. Tell all he's done to the earth and heaven's eye. I approach the throne of glory Nothing in my hands I bring But the promise of acceptance From a good and gracious King I will give to you my burden ♪ As you give to me your strength ♪ ♪ Come and fill me with your spirit ♪ ♪ As I sing to you this praise ♪ ♪ You deserve the greater glory ♪ ♪ You overcome, I lift my voice ♪ ♪ Nothing empty-handed I rejoice ♪ ♪ You deserve the greater glory ♪ ♪ Overcome what you have seen ♪ ♪ By your love I am accepted ♪ ♪ You're a good and gracious King ♪ ♪ Oh, what grace that you would save me ♪ ♪ As your child and as your friend ♪ ♪ Safe, secure, and you forever ♪ ♪ I pour out my praise again ♪ ♪ You deserve the greater glory ♪ ♪ I rejoice, I deserve the greater glory ♪ ♪ Overcome with joy I sing ♪ ♪ I am accepted, You're a good and gracious King ♪ Holy, holy, Lord Almighty. Good and gracious, good and gracious. Holy, holy, Lord Almighty. Good and gracious, good and gracious. Good and gracious, good and gracious. Holy, holy Lord Almighty. Good and gracious King. You deserve the greater glory. I love you. You're a good and gracious King. All right, take some time this morning just to welcome one another, say good morning to someone that maybe you haven't seen, and just say we're glad you're here. Sing, we will glorify with us. We will glorify the King of Kings. We will glorify the Lamb. We will glorify the Lord of Lords, who is the great I Am. Lord Jehovah reigns in majesty. He will bow before His throne. We will worship Him in righteousness. We will worship Him alone. He is Lord of heaven, Lord of earth. He is Lord of all who live. He is Lord above the universe. All praise to Him we give. Alleluia to the King of kings. Alleluia to the King of kings. Hallelujah to the Lord of Lords, who is the great I Am. Amen. You may be seated. Does anybody in your life need a little bit of love, a little kindness, a little encouragement? We have to do that intentionally sometimes, don't we? To reach out to people around us and show them kindness and love. So, you know, we need to ask the question, who should we be showing kindness to? Not if there's someone in our life we need, who are the people that need that? Well, welcome, good to be together. Great to be together. And I think that there's, I wanna acknowledge one of our really, really, you know, all of you are very special guests today, but there's someone especially, especially important, welcome. And that's to Dennis Hurd. Good to have Dennis Hurd here. You know, Dennis Hurt, what a great member of this church for so many years, OCS principal and elder, and I think he was a number one discipler in the church for many years. And sure, great to have you here again, Dennis, and God's granddaughter, Kayla, too. So visiting from Seattle area, and we're very sorry that this is a season for him to, be mourning the loss of his wonderful wife, who we love too, Dorothy. And so nice to have you here. I hope you have a good trip. I know there's a lot of other people here that we want to acknowledge. If I was good at it, I could acknowledge every one of you. And I met a really great new couple that came and they came back again. That says something. That was Earl and Donna, I think it's Nelson, is it? Earl and Donna Nelson, right back here, good to have them here. Thank you for coming back. I mean, that's really says something, they're willing to come back. Last week I met, could see you there, could see, last week I met David from the Lineman School, good to have you here, David, good to have you. But I know there's a lot of others, we are certainly blessed when you come and it's good to see you all. See, I have, I have some announcements I want to remind you of. You know, these are things that you can plan to participate in or these are things you can plan to pray for or praise God for. Let's see, we first want to just remind you of the women. This is one I'm not planning to go to, but I will pray for them. But the women have a prayer time. They are meeting this week, Thursday at the Hensel's house, September 9th. If you want more information, talk to Carol or Peggy. Also, the women have another prayer opportunity and great to see that. It's very, very clever, pray and polish. And that's coming on September 25th. They're gonna be coming here, meeting at the church and working on helping just keep the church beautiful and clean. in a place so they're gonna pray and polish. And that's September 25th, nine to noon. I like the part that there's going to be a bag lunch provided. That might be worth coming right there. That would probably be delicious. The missions committee is pleased to announce that our ministry partners of the month are the Nakamura's, Richard and Carrie Nakamura. Remember, Carrie is a daughter of Dorothy and Dennis Hurt. And they have, Five wonderful children, they live up in Seattle. And I think on the prayer request there, I see that some of the prayers that are on this prayer request is helping pray for Carrie and her father Dennis as they grieve the loss of Dorothy. That's one of the prayers. I saw another one here, pray for the expansion of the Japanese community groups in order to train them to become mature disciples. So anyway, you wanna get one of these cards, I think it'll be passed out after church. So that's the Nakamura's. Let's see, our own connection groups are gonna get going here in the fall. Connection groups, a place for you to join others getting together in a home or at the church here and learning to connect and love each other and show kindness to each other and learn from God's word and learn from each other. There's clipboards in the back if you wanna sign up. We'd sure love to have a place to plug you in at. And when you sign up, we'd like to know the days of the week that are best for you. The men are getting together. I just wanna remind yourself of, The men are, the next large group meeting is September 21st, and the evening's here at the church, and we also have the men's breakfast on September 11th, and that's at 8 a.m. here in the Fellowship Hall. Contacts people that you might wanna learn more, Michael Fredy, Joe Canacci, or Al Maurer. Awana's starting up. I don't know how much experience you have with Awana, but what a great ministry that is, and Tim and Laura Giordano, lead that and it is a great ministry for children. And you know it's a blessing. I'm going to be there. I've been a leader there for a number of years and I love working with kids and you know there's a lot of different ways you can help out in Awana. You can you can be one of the leaders. I know some some Tim has found ways to have some of our members come just to listen to verses and that is exciting to hear children that are learning God's word. But if you want to be a part of that talk to Tim. Tim Giordano, I think they're still in need of leaders. Today, the pastor's class, A Journey Through the Bible, Discovering the New Testament. The pastor leads that in the music room. There's room in the class for anyone that wants to attend. They're working on First Corinthians today. Our offering box is in the back. Today, if you would consider the Deacons Fund, you'd put your offering in a blue envelope and mark it that way. The Deacons Fund is there to help help people in need in our church and also outside of our church. Any designated offering, put it in a blue envelope. So anyway, at this time, I wanted to direct our thoughts to the word of God. We're reading out a psalm. We're gonna be doing an invocation out of Psalm 57. There's a couple of references I just wanted to say about, as I meditated on this verse or these verses, One of them is the word steadfast. The word steadfast is referred to a quality we can be steadfast and also our God is steadfast. Steadfast is firmly fixed in place and movable, not subject to change, firm in belief, determination, or adherence. You know, there's a lot that I need to grow in being steadfast. I wanna be steadfast, but there's a lot that we need to grow in being steadfast. And the other thing I meditated on was The reference that says here, I will give thanks to you, oh Lord, among the people. And I wonder if you make that your practice. Do you publicly give thanks to God when you're with friends or with your family or we're here at the church? Do you have a sacrifice of praise to give when you see other people, things you're thankful for? I will give thanks to you, oh Lord, among the people. That's a good practice to maybe to think about adding to your life if you're not already. With that, let's, Let's read God's inerrant, beautiful word. And while we stand and read that, I'm gonna read from Psalm 57, seven to 11. Hear the word of the Lord. My heart is steadfast, O God. My heart is steadfast. I will sing and make melody. Awake, my glory. Awake, O harp and lyre. I will awake the dawn. I will give thanks to you, O Lord, among the peoples. I will sing praises to you among the nations, for your steadfast love is great to the heavens, your faithfulness to the clouds. Be exalted, O God, above the heavens. Let your glory be over all the earth. You may be seated. May God bless his word, and we thank him for his word. Join me in prayer. Our Father in heaven, we are thankful and praise you for your steadfast love to us. Dear God, you are so merciful and you provide grace to us that is undeserved. Lord, we thank you for that. Lord, may you be exalted above the heavens. Lord, may your glory Be seen everywhere. Lord, may we acknowledge, may humankind, may we acknowledge your glory. Lord, we are thankful for your many blessings. Forgive us, Lord, when we forget to be thankful. Forgive us, Lord, for our grumbling and complaining. Lord, you have brought things into our life that are good, and you are using even those things that are not so great to build faith in our lives. We thank you. We thank you, our families, our spouse, the school we go to, the work you've given us, the homes we live in. Lord, you are good. Lord, we thank you for how you provided for the church. Lord, we thank you for providing financially and with members to serve. We thank you for the classes and those places where your word is taught. We thank you for our school. And we pray for the children in the school that they may come to a saving faith, Jesus Christ as their savior. Lord, and we need a savior. We need a savior. Lord, we confess that we are sinners. We confess that I missed the mark, Lord. I have missed the mark and I'm continually missed the mark and I need a savior, Jesus Christ. Lord, forgive us, forgive me. And when I become angry, when I am fearful, when I am selfish, when I am not steadfast, Lord, we thank you. We thank you for Jesus Christ. Help us, help us, Lord, and help us to be a church that has a revival, a spiritual awakening. We all need that in our lives. Lord, we help us to be revived and being spurred on to confess our sins and turn from the wicked ways. Lord, we pray for our missionary of the month, Richard and Carrie Nakamura. We pray that you would strengthen them, give them wisdom as they reach out to the Japanese people in the Seattle area. Dear God, may you open up hearts and minds and help people respond to your word. And Lord, we pray for the church in Afghanistan, the persecuted church. Oh Lord, give comfort and peace to these people that are believers that are in Afghanistan. Lord, protect them, watch over them. Lord, we pray for the ministry of the church. I'm thinking today of the trustees. We pray that you give them humility, wisdom, and strength as they maintain the facilities of this church. God, give them unity and purpose in their mind. Lord, we pray for those who are sick, discouraged, that may not be able to be here because of an illness. We pray that you would touch them with your mercy and comforting grace. Lord, there are fires that are burning, that are threatening places. Lord, we pray for those that are working in those fires. May you strengthen them. And Lord, may these challenges, the fires and COVID and other things, may they cause our leaders and cause those in government to turn and call for the Savior of the universe, the Savior who can save, and call for the people to pray and acknowledge our need for God to intervene. Lord, if it be your will, we would love to have rain come soon and quench this dry land. We need it, we need your help, Father. We pray for the offerings today that you might use these offerings to your honor and glory. May we be good stewards of these offerings and may these offerings go to your glory. We pray for the sermon today that we might hear the word of God. We thank you for our brother, Greg, as he has prepared a lesson for us to hear. God, thank you for, that work and may it be fruitful in our lives. Lord, may you increase our capacity to love, Lord, to forbear with each other, to forgive each other, to be kind to each other. Lord, may we endure the differences among us as we love each other and care for each other. And Lord, may your spirit, may your spirit change us. We need to be changed. We want to be more like your son, Jesus Christ. Lord, we need your spirit to work in our lives. We pray these things now in Jesus' name, amen. Well, good morning. As I was preparing for this communion meditation, there has been agony in my soul. You know, in these challenging times, it's good for us to come together around the table of the Lord. And it's especially when times are hard and confusing. Those are the times that we especially need to work hard to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace, as Paul says in Ephesians 4. So this morning, as we prepare to eat and drink together, I'm going to begin with a few words from Romans 14. As for the one who is weak in faith, welcome him but not to quarrel over opinions. One person believes he may eat anything while the other, the weak, only eats vegetables. Let not the one who eats despise the one who abstains. Let not the one who abstains pass judgment on the one who eats, for God has welcomed him. As I came across the words in verse 1 where he said not to quarrel over opinions, I was reminded of what the situation was in the church in Rome. They had come from many different backgrounds. They had many different ethnic identities. They had come out of different situations. They were both Jew and Gentile. And there were those in their midst that thought It was okay to drink wine and to eat meat and to do different things as they experienced a measure of freedom in Christ. And there was another side that said, no, we must emphasize dietary purity and we must refrain from those things. Both sides had their arguments. Both sides had their proponents. Both sides probably pinned to the wall, thought that they were a little better than the other. And both sides had attitudes that needed to be checked. Those who felt the freedom to eat and drink those things looked down upon those who did not, and so Paul warns them against, quote, despising those who abstain. Those who avoided those things thought that the ones who did consume them were, in fact, unclean. And Paul warns them not to pass judgment. their brothers. One side called the other legalistic and uptight, the other side called the first side impure and lawless, and this was all among believers that required the Apostle to write these words to this church, right at the core of the Roman Empire. Well today, believers still argue over those issues, and they still use very much the same arguments, and the Council of Paul is still very much the same, but today there is another issue that threatens Christian unity and every church around the world, if it is not handled according to biblical principles. And I'm speaking of COVID-19 protocols and the COVID-19 vaccine. The same attitude that Paul warns against in Romans 14 show up in this discussion. One side takes the vaccine and sees it as a good thing and is tempted to look down on those who have not received the vaccine, accusing them of fear or ignorance or even slowing down the recovery. The other side refuses to take the vaccine and says they're protecting their health or protecting their rights and that those who take the vaccine are lacking faith and making themselves somehow impure. And Paul shows us a better way. The issue of vaccines, like the issue of food and drink, is not an essential gospel issue. It is one of opinions and personal convictions, and we should never allow it to divide believers. In that same chapter of Romans 14, Paul says, for the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. Therefore, Paul gives us three principles out of Romans 14 that he calls believers to adhere to. And I think he calls us to adhere to today as we prepare to celebrate that which is the symbol of our unity, but in order for us to take it with integrity. We need to make sure that our hearts have been properly prepared before God. And the first principle he gives us is in verse five, which says, each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. Paul is not saying for us to be wishy-washy. He is not saying for us to don't do your research or just follow along. He is saying, no, do your research. It's not because these issues were not important that he addresses them. It's because they are. but they need to be handled properly. So be convinced in your own mind of what you should be doing. That's part of loving God with heart, soul, mind, and strength. But when you have come to your conviction, we move to the second point, which is Paul says clearly, do not judge one another. For in verse four, he says, who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master that he stands or falls and he will be upheld for the Lord is able to make him stand. Verse 10, why do you pass judgment on your brother? Or why do you despise your brother? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God. Verse 13, therefore let us not pass judgment on anyone any longer. So in the midst of developing our own convictions, we are called to not despise on the one hand or condemn on the other. There are true believers in the Lord Jesus Christ who have come down on different sides on this issue. And you need to come to the point to recognize that they love the Lord Jesus Christ just as much as you do. That they want to serve the Lord Jesus Christ just as much as you do. And so we can agree. And we can disagree, but we must not be disagreeable about it because the Lord is the one to whom we will render our account one day. And if we keep that in mind, we don't have enough time to cause people to render an account to us. The third principle that Paul gives us in Romans 14 is seek to serve one another above all else. For if we live, Paul says, we live to the Lord. But if we die, we die to the Lord. So then whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord's for to this end, Christ died and lived again, that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living. The width and breadth of our lives belong to the Lord and for his glory. My friends, God accepts the one who gets the vaccine and he accepts the one who does not. and calls us to accept one another, and recognize that there may be issues upon which we will not agree, but even in our disagreements, we must not be disagreeable. For there is a Lord Jesus Christ, who has given us one body, is one Lord, is one head, and will give us one loaf to eat and one cup to drink. We must focus our attention on the Lord, and learn to act like Christians in our disagreements and not fight like those who are still in the world. Well, with that said, if this morning you are trusting in Jesus Christ alone for the forgiveness of your sins, If you believe that it is only because you are clothed in His righteousness that you will enter into the presence of God and you confess Him as Lord and Savior. And if you are ready to come together to eat and to drink with fellow brothers and sisters in Christ, even with those who might disagree with you over opinions, then I invite you to join us this morning. But if you're struggling this morning, because of this issue or any other with a believer, then refrain. It's too serious. It's for that reason that Paul warned the church in Corinth that many of them were sick because they were eating and drinking judgment on themselves. In a few moments, I'm gonna have the servers come forward. I'm going to read Paul's instructions from 1 Corinthians 11. And then we will sing together as the elements are being distributed. They are in the pre-filled cups. So after everything has been distributed, we will then eat and drink together. Please come forward. For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus Christ, on the night when he was betrayed, took bread. And when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, this is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me. In the same way, also, he took the cup after the supper, saying, this cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this as often as you drink it in remembrance of me, for as often as you eat and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes. Whoever therefore eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord. Let a person examine himself then and then so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. Let us pray. Father, we know that ultimately is before the holy throne of God that we stand. And we know that it is ultimately in the righteousness of Christ that we are saved. And so I pray, Father, that as we recognize that, that we are broken and hungry and needy, and we come to this table to eat from the bread of life and to drink from the new wine of the new covenant, it is our prayer, Father, that you would find us ready to be fed by you, to be led by you, and to celebrate the unity that we have in Christ. But Father, may we recognize this moment as a time that you're doing business with your people, and we invite you to do so now. In Jesus' name, amen. Oh, great God of highest heaven, ♪ Occupy my lowly heart ♪ Own it all and reign supreme ♪ Conquer every rebel power ♪ Let no vice or sin remain ♪ That resists your holy word ♪ You have loved and purchased me Made me yours forevermore I was blinded by my sin Had no ears to hear your voice Did not know your love within ♪ Had no taste for heaven's joys ♪ ♪ Then your spirit gave me life ♪ ♪ Opened up your word to me ♪ ♪ Dear the God of your Son ♪ ♪ Gave me endless hope and peace ♪ Help me now to live a life ♪ That's dependent on your grace ♪ Keep my heart and guard my soul ♪ From the evils that I face ♪ You are worthy to be praised ♪ With my every thought and deed ♪ O great God of highest heaven Glorify Your name through me. You are worthy to be praised with my every thought and deed. O great God of highest heaven, glorify Your name through me. you For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus Christ, in the night when he was betrayed, took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, this is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me. Let us eat in honor of our Lord. In the same way also, he took the cup after the supper saying, this cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this as often as you drink it in remembrance of me. Let us drink in recognition of his life given for us. For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes and as we await that great day. We look back to a great day when we were saved and look forward to a great day when he will bring us around his table forever. Amen. I believe the children are dismissed at this time. And so if you are able, please stand with us for the next song. We've sung a lot this morning about the goodness, the graciousness of our God, the love that our God has for us. And then Mark shared with us in his scripture reading about the steadfastness, the steadfast love that our God has. And so we're going to sing this song, Blessed Assurance. We're so thankful that we can have assurance in knowing Christ and that his love is steadfast. Until the moment you rescued me and your love filled my heart. What blessed assurance I found in you, I found in you. I won't be shaken, I will not be moved. How steadfast Your strong hand is keeping me, is keeping me. I won't be shaken. I will not be moved. Oh, blessed assurance. No other love that I've ever found has done what you've done. What blessed assurance I found in You, I found in You. I won't be shaken, I will not be moved. How steadfast and strong You are. I won't be shaken, I will not fail. Blessed are so nice. Ever my anchor, ever my strength. Ever my portion and all I need. Ever my healing. Ever my hope. Ever the truth that leads me home. Blessed assurance I found in you, I found in you. I won't be shaken, I will not be moved. How steadfast your strong hand is keeping me, is keeping me. Well, good morning again. As we ended our time in Judges 13 last week, we saw that Mrs. Manoah had her son and called him Samson, which means little son. And this promised son would prove to be a major player, not only in the book of Judges, but in the folklore of the history of Israel. And when we left off last week, we saw that the Lord had blessed this child and that the spirit began to stir him. And what that stirring will look like is what we will get to in today's message, which will be drawn from Judges 14 and 15. Now, our time in the Word is going to look a little different this morning because we're going to attempt to go through two complete chapters. And so there'll be times where we're just going to summarize things that we are seeing, looking at the main events of the text, offering some application, because these two chapters hang together. They focus on what Samson did individually, but not as much as what he did involving others from the tribes of Israel. He participates in a number of individual battles, but never leads an army into battle. His battles are personal and private, but there's not much that is national or public that is really seen. He's a Nazirite, but we will see that he really doesn't value his vocation. In fact, at one time or another, and sometimes all at the same time, he violates all of the conditions of his Nazirite vow. And so, there will be many twists and turns as we move through Judges 14 and 15. We will see this ongoing interplay that is throughout all of Scripture of divine initiative and of human decision-making. We'll see that the Israelites are under the oppression of the Philistines. They have been for 40 years, but as we said last week, they have settled into a complacency over it, no longer even crying out over their dilemma. So bogged down they are in their compromise and spiritual idolatry. So God doesn't wait for them to cry out as we saw last week, but God raises up Samson to be a type of deliverer. In fact, a type of Savior because he was the one who would begin to save Israel. We saw that in the early part of chapter 13. But while he was raised up to stir up the situation between the Israelites and the Philistines, he doesn't show a lot of interest in actually pursuing and confronting the Philistines. Rather, as we will see, he seems a little more interested in pursuing their women. He's a man ruled by his passions. Specifically, the passions of lust and power. Samson shows us a bad combination of sensuality, stubbornness, and stupidity. And at times, he acts more like an animal than he does a man, which is interesting while there's so, in these two chapters, there's so many interactions with animals. But he's an interesting figure. One that is entertaining on the one hand and bewildering on the other. And so because these chapters are long and they tie together, we will move through them quickly. And so let's just take a moment to commit this time into the Lord's hands and get into the text. Now, Father, as this is your word given by your Holy Spirit, and as you are the great teacher, would you teach us now that we might hear from you, give us ears to see and eyes to hear in Jesus' name. Well, as you follow along in your sermon outline, we'll come to our first major point this morning, which is honey and some honey. Now, I'm not going to have the scriptures on the screen. I need you this morning, especially this morning, every week, but especially this morning, with your copy of God's Word open in front of you and follow along as we move through the text. But I am going to read the first nine verses just to get us started. Samson went down to Timnah, and at Timnah he saw one of the daughters of the Philistines. And then he came up and told his father and mother, I saw one of the daughters of the Philistines at Timnah. Now get her for me as my wife. But his father and mother said to him, is there not a woman among the daughters of your relatives or among all our people that ye must go take a wife from the uncircumcised Philistines? But Samson said to his father, get her for me, for she is right in my eyes. His father and mother did not know that it was from the Lord, for he was seeking an opportunity against the Philistines. At that time, the Philistines ruled over Israel. Then Samson went down with his father and mother to Timnah, and they came to the vineyards of Timnah, and behold, a young lion came toward him roaring. Then the spirit of the Lord rushed upon him, and although he had nothing in his hand, he tore the lion in pieces as one tears a young goat. But he did not tell his father or his mother what he had done. Then he went down and talked with the woman and she was right in Samson's eyes. And after some days he returned to take her and he turned aside to see the carcass of the lion and behold there was a swarm of bees in the body of the lion and honey. He scraped it out into his hands and went on eating as he went and he gave to his father and mother He came to his father and mother and gave some to them and they ate, but he did not tell them that he had scraped the honey from the carcass of the lion. And so now we see that Samson is beginning to be stirred by the spirit of God. And as we saw last week, that means to trouble or to disturb. And we're going to see what this stirring will lead to. Samson is a gifted individual. He is an empowered individual. but doesn't always act according to the abilities he has been given. So he goes down to Timnah, which is a territory right on the edge of where there was a large Philistine population and an Israelite population, and of course, these peoples would interact, and there would be tension, as you would expect. After all, it's the oppressed living among their oppressors. And when they get to Timnah, Samson sees the woman he wants to marry. We draw emphasis on that word, I saw. This is a key expression in all throughout the book of Judges. Samson says that he wants this woman because he has seen her, and he calls upon his parents to arrange the marriage for him. Now that's strange in our ears, but arranged marriages were common in the ancient Near East. In fact, they're still practiced in many parts of the world today. It would be the parents who would get together and arrange that this one will marry this one. But in this case, Samson jumps to the front and says, I want this one. Make it happen. And at this point in the story, then, as we reflect upon Samson, what has just happened in the calling and now what he is doing, we see that Samson truly reflects what Israel has become. And not what God intended for him or for them. Driven as they are by lust and by their attraction to foreign women, they make shipwreck of what they were called to be as the people of God. And in this little incident, Samson is now breaking the religious and cultural barriers that God had placed on marriage because the Israelites were commanded to intermarry within the tribes of Israel. But Samson reflects what Israel has been doing throughout the book of Judges, choosing those things that are outside of Israel, whether it is women or gods. And so in addition to breaking the expected codes of marriage, he is also breaking the expected authority one would give towards parents. We will see that throughout chapters 14 and 15, he's rather petulant and sharp with his parents, lacking the respect for him that he should have according to the law to honor your father and mother. And then to top all that off, he violates the law of God. So he violates the ideas of marriage, the ideas of family, the ideas of God. So far, so bad. And his parents are shocked by his request. Are there no women among the people of Israel? Is there no one acceptable anywhere that you have to marry one of these uncircumcised People? This group of unclean pagans? The only reference they make to this incident has to do with the differences perhaps in culture. We're not quite sure what was behind them and their concerns, but certainly it had to do with this just ain't right. It shouldn't happen in this way. And we continue to see the downward spiral of the judges in the book of Judges. Othniel, the first judge, who started out so well, but as a non-Israelite married a great woman of Israel, did it the right way, whereas Samson, a Nazarite, now goes outside of Israel to choose his wife. So think of what is happening here in this interplay between divine initiative and human decision-making and the mystery that is involved in the governance of God. Samson is stirred by the Spirit of God. and he goes against convention in Israel. Michael Wilcock in his commentary on the book of Judges at this point as he is reflecting on the life of Samson says that Samson is the classic example that there can be no harmonious coexistence between God's people and the world. There will always be spiritual conflict from those that are on the side of truth and those that are on the side of error. And if it ever reaches a point where there is no conflict between the two, it is because the world has taken over. That's what we see all throughout the book of Judges. Rather than them transforming Canaan, Canaan is transforming them. Now, in this case, it's the Philistines, or it was the Ammonites before, or the Moabites, or the people of the East. There's a lesson in what Dr. Wilcox is saying. If we are the people of God, then we should be the ones that are the change agents of those that are around us, not seeking necessarily to fit in, but seeking to bring people to the foot of truth, that they might be transformed by that truth. Well, Samson responds to the objections of his parents and And look what he says, he says, get her for she is right in my eyes. And I've underlined that verse because this whole idea of what is right in someone's eyes is the sad theme of judges. It was right in Samson's eyes. So he wants to do what he wants to do. He's a Nazarite. He's an Israelite. This was not to happen. For from the very beginning of the giving of the law, as God was preparing his people to go into the land of promise, it was very clear, do not marry an unbeliever. And that is a truth that comes even into the New Testament today. It's not complicated. We make it complicated when we want to do what's right in our own eyes. But if we do what's right in the eyes of God, it is not all that complicated. And may we not then be those of whom it is said we do whatever we want, whenever we want to, with whomever we want and whatever situation, because we would do what is right in our eyes. Because it only is what is right in God's eyes that ultimately matter. So all this is going on. I saw, I want, arrange it, there's tension going on. And yet in the mystery of the providence of God, He's in control. He's bringing this about. He was seeking an opportunity to punish the Philistines because they've been oppressing his people. It's not Israel that cried out for deliverance, it's God who gave the promise of deliverance. It seems the people themselves have become resigned to be under the thumb of the Philistines, and we'll see that later. As they say, basically, is much. And so the Lord is stirring Samson. in a sense to stir up the status quo with the Philistines. Now Samson is responsible for his decisions. He is responsible for his sinful, boorish, selfish, poor decisions. But somehow, God is providentially moving in all of these things so that his plan is brought about. Now let me be clear, God never causes anyone to sin. God never leads anyone into sin. But nothing is outside of his ultimate control. And the greatest example we have of that is seen on the cross. Putting Jesus Christ on the cross was an undeniably wicked thing to do. It was unspeakably evil. And those who did it will be punished by a holy God. And yet, God says that in his providence, as he spoke through his people in the early church, that God was involved in all of it to bring about his plan of redemption. And we have a glimmer of that here. Samson's parents say this is not right, but they don't quite understand that at a deeper level, God is involved in it. And sometimes God works in secret ways, revealing only what he's doing in secret later on. But he still calls for our trust and still calls for us to do what is right. So after this incident, now they go down to a vineyard in Timnah, which leads us to the question, what is a Nazirite doing in a vineyard? He was told to avoid, his mother was told to avoid everything that involved the vine of the grape, which is the literal translation, and here they are in a vineyard. And so he finds himself being where he's not supposed to be, and he comes upon a lion, a young, strong lion that is normally no match for any man. And we see here that God overcomes even the foolishness of his servants. Because the Spirit rushes upon Samson and says he tears apart this lion like one tears apart a small goat. Now, I'm not a farmer, and I've never torn apart a small goat, so I have to take it at its word that it's not that difficult. But somehow, in comparison to a lion, it's pretty easy. And Samson, under the strength of God's Spirit, tears this lion apart. Does he recognize at this point where his strength has come from? But notice it goes on, it says, but he doesn't tell his father or mother about the incident. Now, if I had killed a lion, I might just want to go home and tell mom and dad. But he doesn't. You see, what happens all throughout each decision here is he's pushing his parents more and more to the periphery. But there's a bigger issue here at stake. He's a Nazirite. And according to the law, if he has touched a carcass, if he has come across something that is dead, his first response is to immediately go to a priest so that he can go through the ceremony of purification. But we're told he doesn't do that. Why? Well, because in verse seven, he's got another agenda in mind. There is the right woman that he wants to go and see. And here for the first time, we're told that he actually talks to her. Now, perhaps he did before, but it specifically points out that here he talks to her, and she is right in his eyes. Now, it's interesting, you probably haven't had a chance to notice it, but the directions are sometimes not very clear in Judges 14. Are they going, are they coming? Because they go down to Timnah, and they're in a vineyard, they tear the line, he sees the woman, and then in verse eight, he returned again to take her. In between there, he's obviously gone back somewhere, and in verse 8, he's returning. But for whatever reason, he decides to go and check out his trophy of the hunt. So he goes to see the carcass of the lion. He's not supposed to do that. He's a Nazirite. He's supposed to stay away from it. But he goes to it. And then, there's something interesting going on in the text here, and in nature. Because he finds there the ESV translates as a swarm of bees. Now what's interesting is that the word is translated elsewhere as congregation or assembly. There is a word for swarm, it's not used here. I'm not sure why they used swarm when they could have said he finds a congregation of bees. But that's just someone who plays with languages and has some fun, but bees? I'm sure some of us have studied biology and the natural decaying process that takes place. Bees do not swarm to a carcass of a lion. Maggots and flies do. Interesting that there's honey here. Is God doing something unspoken here? We don't know, but in any case, he should have left it alone. It was not something that he was supposed to take. He was a Nazirite. Stay away from the carcass. Certainly don't eat anything from the carcass. And then he makes it worse and goes and shares it with his parents, now making them unclean. That's a great guy, isn't it? He's all about Samson, all the way around. So he's ritually unclean. He does what he shouldn't do. He makes his parents ritually unclean, doesn't tell them about it. And as one commentator says, his parents had sanctified him, they'd set him apart for the service of God, but he desecrates them. So we're not off to a very good beginning. But then we get to a riddle and a wardrobe, and I'm gonna ask you just to keep your Bibles open here, as time's sake, I won't read the entire text. But we see that the parents are arranging and planning the wedding. They're involved somehow. But as we'll see, not for very long. Now, a wedding in those days would usually take about seven days. But it says right away that Samson, in verse 10, prepared a feast there. In other words, he even takes away from what his parents are supposed to do. Prepares a feast there, for so the young man used to do. And we see that he's doing his own thing. But what's interesting here is the word behind the word feast translated in ESV. It's the Hebrew word mishtah, which in every case means a drinking fest. means there's alcohol involved. You'd have to be pretty naive to think that Samson was not involved with these 30 men during these seven days and just didn't touch the stuff. Not when he's touched a dead body, not when he's married outside of Israel, not when he's paid no attention to any of the vows that he could. And so he continues to just do what shouldn't be done. And these men, these 30 men that are mentioned, that was a common ritual, there would be 30 men who would help the bridegroom, as it were, to help plan the events. I mean, after all, who wants to run a wedding for seven days? Those of us that have planned a wedding for children who know how much is involved, can you imagine a whole week keeping people fed and happy and entertained? And if that brings us to the next point, there's got to be some entertainment that goes on for that period of time. And so they get involved in a competition, and Samson says, So we see the competition that's going on here. It's very interesting what's going on. There's 30 sets of clothes involved. This was not a place that had a Costco nearby. Clothes were not cheap. Clothes were very expensive. The time that it would take to raise an animal, to take the wool, to spin the wool, to make the clothes. This was a very expensive bet, if you will. 30 changes of clothes. But what's interesting is the context. There's the riddle composed of six short words in Hebrew in three sentences. over a seven-day period. The ESV captures it well. Out of the eater came something to eat. Out of the strong came something sweet. If we were to make it a little more wooden, it would be something like a consumer produces food. Something strong produces sweetness. And so they're trying to solve the puzzle. They've got seven days. And we're told that after three days, they can't solve it. I mean, how can they? They weren't there to see the lion and the honey. And that's not something they would expect to see come out of a lion in any case. But the clock is ticking. There's pride involved, cultural pride, family pride. You know, we've seen in previous encounters between the judges in the Book of Judges, this macho monkey showdown that we've talked about. Well, here comes another one. And so they're under pressure. So they say on the fourth day, to Samson's wife. Entice your husband to tell what the riddle is, lest we burn you and your father's house with fire. Have you invited us here to impoverish us? Are you going to make a fool of us? Are you going to make us poor? We're going to burn your house down. He could feel the tension that his wife must be feeling. What a dilemma. If on the one hand, she doesn't comply with her demands, they most certainly will kill her. But on the other hand, if she does comply, she betrays her husband. And in the context, she clearly decides to go with her family as she's trying to save her life. And so we see what goes on in verse 16. And Samson's wife wept over him and said, you only hate me. You do not love me. You have put a riddle to my people and have not told me what it is. And so she's beginning to be a complainer. She's pleading for her life, literally, but the waterworks are turned on. Right? You don't love me? You see all the dysfunction that's going on here. He even goes on and says, I haven't told my parents. Why should I tell you? Doesn't exactly show a lot of deference to her, a lot of respect to her. There's a lot of dysfunction here. A marriage that probably shouldn't have happened, attitude towards parents, deferring family over the spouse. If only they had listened to Genesis 2.24, where God makes it clear what his commands are for marriage. It works a lot better to do it God's way. But for seven days, we're told that she is nagging at him, pleading with him, crying with him, and he just reaches his limit. And so she gives the secret, we're told in the text, and shares it with her. And then they decide to play it coyly. Verse 18. And the men of the city said to him, listen to this, it was seven days, on the seventh day before the sun went down. That's a dramatic way of saying on the last day in the 11th hour, they appeared and they said, we have the riddle. So they have won because they have messed around with his wife. Samson is upset, and Samson knows now what has happened because in their response, they refer to honey, they refer to lion, they refer to sweet, they refer to strong, and he knows now that his wife has betrayed him. And Dale Davis in his commentary says this, Samson is no dummy. He knows sweet honey and strong lines only come from talking heifers. Because he refers to his wife as a heifer, in verse 18. No, it's no better in Hebrew. Samson is not showing any respect to his wife. This is an offensive term in whatever language you wanna use. But Samson is gonna get his revenge. You've done this only because you've cheated. And now I'm gonna get my revenge. But you notice that Samson never gets around to blaming himself. After all, he was the one that killed the lion. He was the one that took the honey. He was the one that wanted this foreign woman. He is the one that did the riddle. He's the one that did the contest. He should be blaming himself. But that's not his style. It's always about Samson and for Samson. And so he goes down and he kills 30 men. Sorry, I jumped ahead in the PowerPoint. He goes down and kills 30 men. Steals their garments and their undergarments. I don't know how many of you have ever seen the movie The Terminator, but that's what comes to mind. You know, Arnold Schwarzenegger comes and rips the clothes off this guy after he's killed him. It probably was not any prettier than that. He's guilty of murder. He's guilty of larceny. He's guilty of theft. And somehow, God is in it to bring punishment against the Philistines. He brings back the pile of clothes. He dumps them at their feet. He walks off in a huff. We see that in verses 19 and 20. And the father-in-law doesn't know what to do at this point, so he just hands his wife off to the best man of the ceremony. This poor woman, she's not been treated well at any point in this contest. And we might look at this judgment and we say, boy, this really, this is messy. He went down to Ashkelon, one of the principal cities of the Philistines, and just randomly, seemingly, took 30 men, killed them, stripped their clothes off them, all the way down to the undergarments, piled it all up, and brought it back, and dumped it at the feet of the Philistines. It's messy. But who says that God's judgment has to be clean? God brings his judgment in ways that will show that he will not be mocked, he will not be ridiculed, he will work even through the foolishness of his saints. So much dysfunction that we see here, but let's jump ahead to chapter 15, where we have a foolish firefight. And I want to read this, because there's some funny things going on here. But after some days at the time of wheat harvest, Samson went to visit his wife with a young goat. And he said, I will go into my wife in the chamber. But her father would not allow him to go in. And her father said, I really thought that you utterly hated her. So I gave her to your companion. Is not her younger sister more beautiful than she? Please take her instead. And Samson said to them, this time I shall be innocent in regard to the Philistines when I do them harm. So Samson went and caught 300 foxes and took torches and he turned them tail to tail and put a torch between each pair of tails. And when he had set fire to the torches, he let the foxes go into the standing grain of the Philistines and set fire to the stacked grain and to the standing grain as well as the olive orchards. Then the Philistines said, who has done this? And they said, Samson, the son-in-law of the Timnite, because he has taken his wife and given her to his companions. And the Philistines came up and burned her and her father with fire. And Samson said to them, if this is what you do, I swear I will be avenged on you. And after that, I will quit. And he struck them hip and thigh with a great blow. And he went down and stayed in the cleft of the rock at Etam. So you've heard this story. He storms off. His father has this woman that's supposed to be married. Well, okay, what's behind curtain number two? Well, it's this other guy, so he gives his wife or his daughter away. But Samson doesn't understand that that's what has happened. We have a little detail there that he went around the wheat harvest. That would have been around the month of May. It would have come after the barley harvest. That comes later on in the story. But Samson decides, okay, it's time for me to go and be with my wife. Apparently, she is useful to him only when he has needs. And his father-in-law blocks the way to the bedroom. Say, nope, she now belongs to someone else. And the betrayal that Samson feels continues. His wife's betrayed him, the companions betrayed him, now his father-in-law has betrayed him. But that's not a good lot for these women either. They pass them around like property, so it seems. This is not a family that we want to emulate. So Samson is angry. And so we're told that he ties together 300 foxes. which in and of itself is just an amazing feat. But what is interesting is that the same word that is here for foxes in Judges 15 is translated elsewhere as jackals. And I think that's a better translation here, because jackals are actually an animal that roams in herds, and they don't stay individual like the foxes do. But whatever, you take a fox, you take a jackal, you tie them tail to tail, you put a torch between them, and then let them go, and what are they going to do? They're wild animals, they're just gonna go all over the place, burning the flocks, burning the grain, burning the house, doing all kind of crazy things. And we stand back and we say, I mean, on a certain level, this is quite an amazing man. He tears apart a lion with his bare hands. He kills 30 men to get their clothes. He ties together 300 foxes, jackals. The same story, the same chapter, he's gonna tear apart two fresh ropes. He's gonna kill 1,000 men with a jawbone. This is a man with great strength, but does he recognize that this strength has come from the Lord? Remember, in his mind, he's still doing what's right in his own eyes, not showing a proper sense of reverence to God. As we get down, we see that they would have burned the stocks, of grain, you can see that in verse 5, this would have included then the barley, it would have included the wheat, it would have included the olive orchard, it would have included all that they had. He's bringing great devastation against this city, this particular area of the Philistines. But the cycle of vengeance continues. They've now lost all of their reserves. Who did this? Well, this father-in-law, not given his name, we're not even given the name of the woman ever, as near as I can tell. Oh, they're the cause of this? So they go and kill the daughter and her husband, and what she feared would happen to her, happened to her. She was afraid of being killed at the hands of her own people, and she was. So then Samson says, okay, We're gonna literally fight fire with fire, and the foxes, and the fire, and now we get into this strange statement in verse eight where he says, he struck them hip and thigh with a great blow. The expression literally says, the leg on the thigh. Sign of a powerful blow that just brings the person down with a great blow. And we're not told how many died, it just says there was a great blow. God's judgment continues against the Philistines. He continues to use Samson. And notice Samson says, well, you know, I've gotten this revenge at this time, and I got revenge at this time, and I got revenge here. And he said, and after that, I'll quit. But if you've done any study of the history of mankind, you know that one side just can't call it quits when it's revenge, counter-revenge. Most of world history is just battled over that fact that one enemy must seek the final blow against the other. But of course, the enemy won't accept that final blow. And so, we get to the... Sorry, I hadn't gone through with all this and I have foolish firefight. Okay. Judahites and a jawbone. Judahites and a jawbone. Then the Philistines came up and encamped in Judah and made a raid on Lehi. And the men of Judah said, why have you come against us? And they said, we've come up to bind Samson to do to him as he did to us. Then 3,000 men of Judah went down to the cleft of the Rock of Edom and said to Samson, do you not know that the Philistines are rulers over us? What then is this that you've done to us? And he said to them, as they did to me, so I've done to them, verse 12. And they said to him, we have come down to bind you, that mean we give you into the hands of the Philistines. And Samson said to them, swear to me that you will not attack me yourselves. And they said to him, no, we will only bind you and give you into their hands. We will surely not kill you. So they bound him with two new ropes and brought him up from the rock. And when he came to Lehi, the Philistines came shouting to meet him. Then the spirit of the Lord rushed upon him, and the ropes that were on his arms became as flax that had caught fire, and his bonds melted off his hands. And he found a fresh jawbone of a donkey and put out his hand and took it. And with it he struck a thousand men. And Samson said, with the jawbone of a donkey, heaps upon heaps, with the jawbone of a donkey have I struck down a thousand men. And as soon as he had finished speaking, he threw away the jawbone out of his hand, and that place was called Ramoth Lehi. For the first time now, we have other Israelites that are mentioned, the Judahites. But it seems as if they're more interested in just appeasing their oppressors than in throwing them off, or they even ask the question, do you not know that there are rulers? In fact, the actual word is better translated as Lord, because the word translated really means to make someone Lord. The people of Israel are calling their oppressors Lords? But are we not, as the people of God, to have only one Lord? They even sent 3,000 men to capture Samson. Wouldn't it have been better if they'd gone with Samson to try to bring about their own deliverance? But they act like they prefer their bondage. rather than moving forward towards their freedom. And so it gets personal with everyone involved. He attacked us, you attacked us, we attacked them, I'm doing to them as they did to us. You notice it's all about individual, what is right in our own eyes and not for the greater good of the people that are involved. And so Samson figures it out. He says, it's better to die in the hands of the Israelites than die in the hands of these uncircumcised. And so he says, agree not to kill me. So they say, okay, no, we won't kill you. We're just gonna tie you up and give you to your enemies. We know they'll do the job for us. They bound up. The one who had been promised by God would be a savior to them. And they handed him over to their enemies. Hundreds of years later, the Jews would do the same thing. They would bind up the one who had been given to them, who was born to be the Savior, because they were afraid of their Roman oppressors, and they handed them over to their enemies. But the great plan of God cannot be thwarted, not in the life of Samson, not in the life of the one who would come and be a greater Samson, even our Lord Jesus Christ. The Philistines see Samson, he's all bound up and he's ready to hand them over. They cheer, they cry out. And then it has to be a miracle because we're told the ropes just fall off his hands like melted wax as the Spirit is stirring Samson. Because the Spirit is clearly mentioned there. The Spirit rushed upon him. And then he finds a fresh jawbone. You get the picture? A fresh jawbone. This is not one that's been sitting out under the sun for a year and a half and is dried out and is bone dry. It's unclean. And so the words, he stretches out his hand, shows that he is intentionally making a decision to touch something that is unclean. But by being fresh, it would be something he could use in this entire battle. And somehow he strikes down a thousand men And so this fresh jawbone, perhaps still covered with flesh and blood from animals, certainly now is covered with flesh and blood from his enemies. But Samson, there's a wordplay here between the word donkey and heap. I just want you to listen to it in Hebrew and you'll hear the rhythm. Hamor, hamor, hamor, hatayim. Hamor, hamor, hamor, hatayim. In heaps I heaped them. With hamor, donkeys, I hamoratayim, I donkeyd them. It's as if he's saying one heap of donkeys, two heaps of donkeys, there's mockery that's going on. God has gotten another opportunity to bring judgment against his enemies. But here Samson boasts in himself. With the jawbone of a donkey, heaps upon heaps, with the jawbone of a donkey have I struck down a thousand men. And then he throws the jawbone away. The unclean man using an unclean instrument is used by God for a great victory because it was the Spirit's power who was behind all of this and all victories ultimately from the Lord. But what is his response? And now we get to our last point quickly, a drink on the rocks. And he was very thirsty, and he called upon the Lord. That's a point we'll come back to, it's a good one. And said, you have granted this great salvation by the hand of your servant, and shall I now die of thirst and fall into the hands of the uncircumcised? And God split open the hollow place that is at Lehi, and water came out from it, and when he drank, his spirit returned, and he revived. Therefore, the name of it was called En Hakorei. It is at Lehi to this day, and he judged Israel in the days of the Philistines. The name has been given a new name, the Hill of the Jawbone. But he starts out by only talking about his personal feet. And you notice in the story that we've looked at in Judges 13, 14, and 15, that until now, none of the Israelites have cried out to the Lord. In fact, Samson hasn't cried out to the Lord either until now. Finally, someone cries out to the Lord. And I think it's for examples like this where Samson cries out to the Lord after a great victory that he's mentioned in Hebrews 11 among the heroes of the faith. He does have some recognition that this was of God. But even there, his confession is incomplete. It's almost as if there's an accusation. He's still concerned about himself. Are you going to let me die? Are you going to let me go into the hands of the Philistines? But aren't we glad that God is merciful? Aren't we glad that God deals with us and our petulance, and in our lack of understanding, and our wanting to steal a little bit of glory, and our wanting to draw attention to ourselves? He cries out to the Lord, you've given this salvation to the one who would save, now don't let me die of thirst. Verse 19, and God split open the hollow place that is at Lehi. God continues to show up when his people continue to mess up. And that makes the great news of the gospel true for all of us. But the story's not yet done yet, because, look at that phrase in verse 20, a great victory has come, deliverance has come, God has provided, he judges 20 years, but we are still in the land of the Philistines. We go back to chapter 13, it said, He will begin to save the people from the Philistines, but it is not yet come. And perhaps if you're hearing this story for the first time, you get to the end of chapter 15 and you're thinking, okay, maybe finally, maybe finally this time they'll do what's right. Maybe finally this time there'll be victory. We'll have to finish the rest of the story as we come back next week. Now I'm going to jump over something that I had put in my conclusion and we'll look at it next week just so we can get to the application. What are some lessons we can learn from Judges 14 and 15? One is God's plan for marriage works when it's applied according to his word. Samson should have known better. He had been exposed to the law. His parents should have known better. It works when you do it God's way, when you do not expect trouble. Secondly, God works even through the foolishness of his servants. Samson acted foolishly again and again and again, and yet God will move his plan forward. Yet in all of that, that does not give us license to violate his law, to go against his will, or to do whatever is right in our eyes. We always seek to do what is right in his eyes. because we're not to lead others into sin through our own sin. We see Samson doing that again and again. As we reflect on the life of Samson, it is a tragedy for a believer to live what is right in his own eyes. Only God's word determines what is right. And there are times that we all have to face the fact that we don't know better, that we don't know it all. And that we make decisions that unless we are guided by clear principle of scripture, we can fall and fall greatly. When we are grieved by the cycle of vengeance and revenge, which is most of human history, we as God's people can be relieved that the vengeance of violence is broken at the cross. And it's not ours today to seek revenge or to seek vengeance. We trust the Lord who will bring it in his time for his glory. And as great as the things Samson might have accomplished, we see that it is still God who is the hero of every Bible story. If God doesn't show up, if God doesn't empower, if God doesn't overrule, if God doesn't intervene, it all turns out very differently. Let's pray. Our God and our Savior, we thank you that we have the promise today that you lead us, you guide us, you have given us your word to teach us, to keep us from falling into errant ways. We thank you that because of Christ, what you begin, you will finish. But we thank you as well, Father, that we can see ourselves in a story like Samson and recognize that we oftentimes in your sight are sinful and selfish and stupid. But in Christ, we can be clothed with the righteousness and holiness and wisdom of Christ. And therefore, we can enter into your presence and cry out to you and receive mercy and grace. And so we thank you, Father. May you continue to give us eyes to see and ears to hear all that is in your word because you've given it to us. And even in the book of Judges, may we be reminded that this is still your world and the gospel is still true and your promises will come to pass. And may in that strength and in that truth and in that hope, will you send us out this week. And may it serve you well, that we might proclaim you well that we might know you in a deeper way because of who you are and how you've revealed yourself to us in your word. As we pray now in Jesus' name, amen. Would you stand as we close out our service as we sing, my worth is not in what I own. My worth is not in what I own, not in the strength of flesh and bone, but in the costly wounds of love at the cross. My worth is not in skill or name, in win or lose, in pride or shame, ♪ But in the cost of moon and flow and the cross ♪ ♪ I rejoice in my Redeemer, greatest treasure ♪ ♪ Wellspring of my soul ♪ ♪ I will trust in Him no other ♪ ♪ My soul is satisfied in Him alone ♪ ♪ As summer flowers we fade and die ♪ ♪ Vain youth and beauty purify ♪ ♪ But life eternal calls to us at the cross ♪ ♪ I will not boast in wealth or minds ♪ ♪ Or human wisdom's tame mind ♪ ♪ But I will boast in knowing Christ at the cross ♪ ♪ I rejoice in my Redeemer ♪ ♪ Great is His treasure, wellspring of my soul ♪ ♪ I will trust in Him, no other ♪ ♪ My soul is satisfied in Him ♪ Two wonders here that I confess My worth and my unworthiness My value fixed, my ransom paid At the cross I rejoice in my Redeemer Greatest treasure, wellspring of my soul I will trust in Him, no other, my soul is satisfied in Him alone. I rejoice in my Redeemer, greatest treasure, wellspring of my soul. I will trust in Him, no other, my soul is satisfied Imagine what your life could look like this week if at each moment of every day you're able to say I'm satisfied in Him alone. May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God the Father and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Let us go in peace and have a wonderful Lord's Day.