Hebrews
11:32 "And what shall I say more?
for the time would fail me to tell of Gideon, and of Barak, and of Samson, and
of Jephthae; of David also, and Samuel, and of the prophets: Who through faith
subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths
of lions. Quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of
weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies
of the aliens. Women received
their dead raised to life again: and others were tortured, not accepting
deliverance; that they might obtain a better resurrection: And others had
trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and
imprisonment: They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were
slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being
destitute, afflicted, tormented; (Of whom the world was not worthy:)" A phrase
in the 34th verse says ". . .out of weakness we're made strong." It gives a list of faithful people who
through faith and the power of God working in their lives were victorious in
serving God, in glorifying God and honoring God with their lives. It speaks here about Samson. I would like to speak a little bit
today about Samson. We have the
story of Samson over in Judges 13 through the 16th chapter. This was a dark time and history of
God's people but there was a boy, a son was promised. It tells us that this boy was to be a
Nazarite, an exceptional child.
He had exceptional strength.
You remember that his mother was told not to drink wine or strong drink
and when this lad was born she was not to cut his hair. This was part of the vow of a
Nazarite. He was a Nazarite from
the womb. Now, not all Nazarites
were lifetime Nazarites but this boy was. He had incredible strength and
power. One time he came across a
lion and it says that he rent him, or tore him, like he was a little
goat. Another place tells us that
they bound him with two new cords and he took his arms and tore them apart
like it was just flax or like they were just threads. He took the jaw bone of a donkey and
killed 1000 men. The enemy could
not understand or figure out where his strength lay. They tried everything to find
out. Come to find out, it was in
his hair. When they finally found
out, they tricked him and trapped him and cut his hair. Then he lost his strength. He lost his
vision, you remember they put out his eyes. They put him in the prison, the mill,
to grind. Blind and weak going
around, and around, and around, a captive. He lost all of his joy. He lost all of
his peace. When I think of that
story I think of my own grandfather on my mother ' s side. He heard this gospel many, many years
ago, in the 1920s. When he heard
it he recognized it and made his choice to be part of it. He was a part of it for a time then he
got offended and fell away. He
lived the most of the rest of his life without God. He lost his strength, he lost his
vision, he lost his faith and his life was just around, and around, and
around. I am glad that was not
Samson's choice but it was the situation that he found himself in. We read in the 16th chapter that his
hair began to grow again.
Samson's strength was connected with his hair. With God ' s people today it is not
so. Our strength is connected with our prayer. The enemy knows that if he can cut off
our prayer life then we lose our strength. We lose our vision. We lose our
faith. Samson said that if he
lost his hair then he would be just like any other man. If we are cut off from prayer, then we
would be just like any other person.
We would find ourselves in the same category that others find
themselves in. So, we pray to get
the strength because it is a power that other people don't have. It gives us understanding, it gives us
help, so we guard our prayer life.
I have often heard it said, people who have lost out, people who have
gone away, and others: What
happened? They said, "I stopped
praying," and they lost faith. Now here is Samson in the prison house
grinding, going around, and around and around and it says, his hair began to
grow. I thought of those who find
themselves, and my grandfather did, captive like Samson and helpless. Their
course should be to begin praying again. Then their strength, which comes from
God, would return. That strength
which comes by faith from God would begin to grow. It says there that Samson's hair began
to grow and his power returned.
He was still blind and on this particular day, out there in that arena
there were 3000 men and women gathered to honor their gods and to make a
mockery of Samson and his God.
That arena must have been quite a feat of architecture because it was
held upon two pillars and all of these folks up there, and they bring Samson
out to mock him. A little child
brings him in. They bring him out
there to make sport of him and he feels the pillars of the building. He put his hands against them and then
prayed. Judges 16:26 "And Samson
said unto the lad that held him by the hand, Suffer me that I may feel the
pillars whereupon 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 three thousand 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 at once 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, of the one with his
right hand, and of 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." He had greater victory in his death
than he had in his life. God
answered that prayer and gave him his strength.
I
think of my grandfather. He lived so many years without the Lord. Then he
found that he was dying of cancer.
It is one thing to live without the Lord, but it is another thing to
die without the Lord. My
grandfather humbled himself.
Pride had gotten in the way, but when he found that he was dying, he
humbled himself and asked for the workers to come and they did come. My grandfather wanted to know if the
Lord would accept him after turning his back on him. They assured him that He would, that
would be God's will. That would be what God wanted. If he would serve the Lord
with all his heart and soul, then God would accept him. My grandfather made his choice again,
and his joy came back and his faith and hope returned. That was the first contact that my
family had with the gospel. He
was anxious that his children would hear and believe. And that was the beginning of my story
when my parents began to attend the meetings. My grandfather had greater victory in
his death than he did in his life.
When he was dying and with what little strength that he had, he gave it
to the Lord and the Lord blessed it.
I like that verse over there in second Corinthians 12:9. "My grace is
sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness." There was now a power in my
grandfather’s life that he didn’t have when he wasn’t serving God. God’s
strength was made perfect in weakness.
In his illness he asked my parents if they would come to meetings. Well, what could dad and mom say? There he is on his deathbed and he is
asking them if they would come.
Well, of course we would come.
In his weakness, he was able to accomplish something that is very
difficult to do, ask people to come to meeting. God’s strength was made perfect in
weakness. My dad began to attend
the meetings. Isn’t that
wonderful? That applies to us
today too. God’s strength is still made perfect in weakness, and we don’t have
to fear our weakness. You know
how it is in this world, we don’t want to admit to weakness or to show
weakness, but our weakness appeals to God. There is something in our weakness and
our need that touches the heart of God. Then His strength is made perfect in
weakness. In our most feeble
efforts His strength is made perfect in that. Here, in the case of Samson, with what
little strength that he had, with the help of God and an answered prayer, he
accomplishes more in dying than in his living. OK now, that is a little key we want
to focus on. We want to accomplish more in our dying than we do in our
living.
We
think of Jesus, he was a promised child and he came at a very dark time in the
history of God’s people. He had a
power in his life: power to heal, the power to raise the dead. He had a power in his life that others
did not understand. They found
fault with him. They tried to
trick him. They tried to trap
him. They would do whatever they
could to reduce him. He had this
power in his life and they were never able to take that from him. He gave his life. They didn’t take it
from him. So, we see him with his
tremendous strength doing the will of God, the armor of God with him. Those seeking to belittle him, to
destroy him, to ridicule him, but he has something, the truth that he knows
and understands, and it causes him to give his life. In John 12:24 we see this great truth
that he knows. "Verily, verily, I
say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth
alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. He that loveth his life
shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto
life eternal." He knows that
except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if
it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. He knows that he, like a corn of wheat,
has to fall into the ground and die.
Now, he could live out his life. He could avoid suffering, but then he
would be alone. There would be no
salvation for us. There would be no redemption. He could live out his life and maybe
become an old man, but he would be alone and we wouldn’t be with him. There is going to be an eternal
harvest of those that God loves, whose souls are so precious. He knows that he has to die, so he
lets himself be led. In the case
of Samson, a little child led him. With Jesus that was the spirit of a little
child that led him. He let
himself be taken. When they come
for him, he doesn’t fight. He
knows that this is how fruitfulness comes. They tied him and they mistreated
him. It says that one of the
disciples, Peter, drew out his sword and cut off the ear of the high priest’s
servant. Jesus stopped him and said, "Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to
my Father, and he shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels?
But how then shall the scriptures be fulfilled, that thus it must be?" That is
over in Matthew 26:53. He still had the power, he had all of heaven behind
him, but what hope would there be for us? The scriptures were going to be
fulfilled and it would not be with a sword. It was going to be by dying. So, he just lets himself be led. We have already heard about how they
treated him: how they spit upon him; they mocked him before he was to
die. I like this picture of
Samson standing between those two pillars. Jesus was put on that cross and he was
put in a position where the greatest victory that was ever known to man was
about to happen. Jesus was nailed to the cross, suffering, and with his last
little strength He prayed to God, bowed his head and died. Then all of the power of Satan came
tumbling down just like all of those people in that arena, when Samson pushed
those pillars apart came tumbling down.
The vail of the temple was rent in twain and Satan’s kingdom was
conquered. Those in the Old
Testament, Abraham, Moses, who were like hostages because of their sin, on
that day when Jesus died on the cross, they were freed. The power of Satan was broken and that
is our hope of salvation, that Jesus when he died on the cross, the power that
sin has over us was taken away so that we can be forgiven and our past can be
put away because the offering of Jesus was acceptable to God. Well, I guess we
could say this, it almost seems awesome to say this, because we know that
power in his life, but he accomplished something in his death that he couldn’t
accomplish in his life, and that is our salvation. When he was willing to die that
accomplished something for us.
I
was just thinking about something that happened several years ago when I was
in the Lebanon field, and Albany is just across the freeway where they had a
Veteran’s Day celebration. I
thought about it and I wanted to go because I was a veteran. I went over on the day and saw the
parade and it was impressive.
There were quite a number there.
We saw the high school bands playing the patriotic music. The marching bands with all of the
young people in step. It was just
wonderful. Then the military
bands came marching along and then right behind them came the big guns, so to
speak, the tanks and then came the Generals and high up officials. I hardly ever saw Generals, but there
they were, come marching by. It
was inspirational. It just made
you proud to be an American. Finally the last one went by and I thought it was
over, but I noticed that no one left.
Everyone just stood there. So I just stood there and we waited and
waited and waited. No one was
leaving, so I didn't leave.
Finally, way down about three blocks around the corner comes a
man. He was carrying the flag of
the United States of America. He
was walking alone and his wife was walking a ways behind him. He was walking on two artificial
legs. He had lost his legs in the
war. He was a veteran. He had
been marching a long time. You
could see that every step now was a step of pain. He was marching and you could see that
he was determined to finish this race.
There was something in us that wanted to go out and help him to carry
the flag. There wasn’t anyone of
us that was worthy to do
that. So he just kept marching
step by step to the end. I
remember that I stood there and I realized that this man had given his legs
for his country. I stood there
and I cried. There was something
that was just so moving about that.
I remember that as I left the parade that there was something that had
changed inside of me. The big
guns, the marching bands and all of that had inspired me, but this that I saw
of one that had made such a sacrifice for the freedom that I enjoy, for the
country that we love, that it was at such a cost. It was something that made
me want to go away and be a better citizen. It moved
me.
Behind
the scenes of this kingdom is this picture that we have of Jesus that is so
important, we hold and respect and honor because all that we have in the
Kingdom, the special meetings, the conventions, the wonderful privilege of
fellowship on Sunday morning, all that our friends mean to us, we hear the
singing and the songs. It all
inspires us and makes us thankful for what we have, but if we were to take the
dying life of Jesus out of the picture, there wouldn’t be anything. It is that same dying life that must
be in our lives or we don’t have anything, just a form. Behind every faithful life, every
godly example, there is the dying life.
That is the way that we can be a help in this world, to be a
light. The dying life has power
to draw people. We can accomplish
more in our dying to ourselves, in denying ourselves, than we can ever do in
just going to meetings. It is the
dying life that speaks loudly.
We
know a man who was a millionaire several times over. He was a success. He did well. He is one of us. There is something about that that is
inspiring if we would want that, but when the time came for his testimony
decision he lost it all to save his testimony. He sacrificed it all. Now there is something about that that
is powerful, but what is even more powerful is to be willing to die to one’s
self. I have more respect for
that man today with the little that he has than I had when he was a
millionaire, because there is a power in dying and it speaks
loudly.
We
are going to face experiences, tests and trials and it is going to be like
dying. You remember the time when
Jesus in Matthew 27:54 was on the cross: "Now when the centurion, and they
that were with him, watching Jesus, saw the earthquake, and those things that
were done, they feared greatly, saying, Truly this was the Son of God." They didn’t say that when he was
living. They didn’t have that conviction. But when he died, God shook the
earth around them and there was an impression left that they feared greatly
and they said, "Truly this was the son of God." Jesus was just faithful in
dying. He didn’t shake the ground. He didn’t cause the earthquake. He was just faithful in dying on the
cross. When he was faithful in
dying, then God caused the earth to shake. Then maybe that impression on those
hardened people caused them to fear and believe that this was the Son of
God. If we are faithful in dying
in our weakness and in our feeble effort to deny ourselves and to die, then
God will do the shaking around us.
God will use that to making impressions around
us.
In
that little picture in Judges that we have of that little lad guiding Sampson
to those two pillars, I like that picture because in a sense we could compare
those two pillars to Luke 9: 23, some very, very familiar verses; "And he said
to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up
his cross daily, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose
it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save
it." One pillar we could call
self-denial and we will call the other pillar taking up our cross daily and
following him, following Jesus.
As Sampson placed himself between those two pillars and with a prayer
to God to help him, he put all of his strength into that effort of moving
those two pillars and all of the enemy came tumbling down. Jesus put all of his strength into
denying himself and doing the will of God and the power of sin, and of Satan,
and all of that came tumbling down.
There was a great victory.
In our lives if we give all of our strength into denying ourselves and
taking up our cross and with a prayer to God to help us, then all of the sin
that does so easily beset us in our lives comes tumbling down. Sin in our life is a mere fact that we
have not been denying ourselves and we have not been following Jesus. But when we put all of our strength
and all of our force into denying ourselves and with a prayer to God to help
us then sin has no power over us.
There is a power given to us that we didn’t have before and we have
victory in our lives.
This
little thought now: Sampson prayed, “Let me die with the Philistines.” Sometimes there is a prayer in our
hearts or thought in our minds, let me live like the Philistines. That is our flesh. But he was praying to die and we
should have that prayer, not that we would be living like the Philistines but
that we would die like a child of God, to die doing the will of
God.
J. WICKS – 2008-01-13 - Samson, Dying To Self - Salem , OR.
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