Okay. Well, if you find your seat, turn with me to Judges chapter 16 tonight. Judges 16, conclusion of Samson.

And—

Where are we?

Uh, Judges 16. Yes, concluding Samson.

Yeah. And then it's into, man, the whole mess with Dan and the Benjamites, and we'll be done with Judges. All right.

Well, looking at Samson and Delilah, we need to remember that we have the victory in Christ. Amen?

Amen.

Right? We cannot be snatched out of His hand. Amen?

Right. Amen.

And yet Peter—

No one performed against His full cross.

That's right. And yet Peter warns us to be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary, the devil, walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.

Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world. He's talking to saints, brothers and sisters in Christ, sealed and secure in Christ, but far too often finding ourselves devoured by the deceptions of Satan and drawn away by our flesh from that firm foundation we have in faith.

Right? Our eternity rests with Christ, but our effectiveness here is what is under attack. What Samson suffers failure in, and sin will always lead to, is bondage in our lives.

Right? That consumes our freedom and the effectiveness we have in God's calling for us. His will is not thwarted, but our participation and purpose becomes paralyzed.

And so we should not be shaken or unaware of this reality. Right?

We shouldn't be discouraged by looking at Samson tonight. Because after the hall of faith in Hebrews, right, where we see lives on display, examples of faith, lives God clearly puts before us in their strengths and weaknesses.

Right? Men like Samson—Moses, Abraham, Noah, Gideon, Sarah, Jacob—right? The hall of faith.

So many more. Hebrews 12:1 says, "Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses," right?

We know what the flesh produces in life. Right?

What it did for Abraham when he was afraid. Right?

And what faith saw him through, though, when he stood fast and trusted God. He says, "Let us lay aside every weight and the sin which so easily ensnares us." It's not some sinister, dark, heavy thing.

It's easy. It easily ensnares us.

Right? Rather, we are to, "Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us," looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. Samson's sin, it starts with where his eyes fall.

And it begins with when he sees a harlot. And yet, when they were on the Lord, right?

When he cried out to the Lord at the end of chapter 15, we saw him receiving refreshment, right? That thirst quenched by God.

Like we just sang, "As the deer pants for the water, so my soul longs after you." Samson got to that point in his life where he was just in this cycle of revenge, doing what was done to him in return. And it left him alone and thirsty and in a place where he cries out to the Lord.

And from there, he was kept for 20 years, effective in his ministry. Right?

In his calling to be a judge to the nation of Israel. And we know he was effective in that because the Philistines, 20 years later, into chapter 16, still want him out of the picture.

Satan never really gives up, especially concerning those who are effective in their walk and witness. Sunday's examination, right, on Paul's prayer for the church highlighted that for us.

We need to support and pray for not just those in need, but those who we are thankful for, who we see God working effectively in and through their lives. So notice, as we read this chapter tonight, how quickly the Philistines give up on killing Samson.

Satan knows he ultimately cannot destroy the life that we have in Christ, our eternity, our victory over death in Jesus. But the tactic in verse 5 that comes forth—to entice, to overpower, to blind, to afflict—the resulting blindness and servitude, the false gods being exalted, and the ministry removed from Samson, right, continuing to be highly effective.

But also notice God's longsuffering, His mercy and nearness through it all. Let's go ahead and pray and look at Judges 16 tonight.

And Father, I do thank You for this time. And I thank You for, Lord, this great cloud of witnesses.

Lord, how we see the truth of faith, Lord. And we see the faithfulness of our God when we are faithless.

Lord, I pray for the warning to be received and well understood today. Take heed, lest we fall.

Lord, I thank You for this time. And I pray that You would work quick in our hearts to Your word in Jesus' name.

Amen. All right. Well, Judges chapter 16.

It says, "Samson went to Gaza and saw a harlot there and went into her. When the Gazites were told, 'Samson has come here,' they surrounded the place and lay in wait for him at night at the gate of the city.

They were quiet all night, saying, 'In the morning, when it is daylight, we will kill him.' Samson lay low till midnight. Then he arose at midnight, took hold of the doors of the gate of the city and the two gate posts, and pulled them up, bar and all, and put them on his shoulders and carried them to

the top of the hill that faces Hebron. Afterwards, it happened that he loved a woman in the valley of Sorek whose name was Delilah.

And the lords of the Philistines came to her and said, 'Entice him. Find out where his great strength lies, and by what means we may overpower him, that we may bind him, to afflict him.

And every one of us will give you 1,100 pieces of silver.' So Delilah said to Samson, 'Please tell me where your great strength lies, and with what you may be bound to afflict you.' Samson said to her, 'If they bind me with seven fresh bowstrings and not yet dried, I shall become weak and be like any other

man.' So the lords of the Philistines brought her up seven fresh bowstrings, not yet dried, and she bound him with them. Now men were lying awake, staying with her in the room.

She said to him, 'The Philistines are upon you, Samson.' He broke the bowstrings as a strand of yarn breaks when it touches fire. So the secret of his strength was not known.

Delilah said to Samson, 'Look, you have mocked me and told me lies. Please tell me what you may be bound with.' So he said to her, 'Let they bind me securely with new ropes that have never been used, then I shall become weak and like any other man.' Therefore Delilah took new ropes and bound him with them

and said to him, 'The Philistines are upon you, Samson.' And the men lying awake, staying in the room. But he broke them off his arms like a thread.

Delilah said to Samson, 'Until now you have mocked me and told me lies. Tell me what you may be bound with.' And he said to her, 'If you weave the seven locks of my head into the web of the loom.' And so she wove it tightly with the batens of the womb and said to him, 'The Philistines

are upon you, Samson.' But he woke from his sleep and pulled out the baten and the web from the loom. And she said, 'How can you say, 'I love you,' when your heart is not with me?

You have mocked me these three times and have not told me where your great strength lies.' And it came to pass when she pestered him daily with her words and pressed him so that his soul was vexed to death, that he told her all his heart and said to her, 'No razor has ever come upon my head,

for I have been a Nazarite to God from my mother's womb. If I am shaven, then my strength will leave me and I shall become weak and like any other man.' Delilah saw that he had told her all his heart.

She sent and called for the lords of the Philistines, saying, 'Come here once more, for he has told me all his heart.' So the lords of the Philistines came to her and brought the money in their hand. She lulled him to sleep on her knees and called for a man and had him shave off the seven locks

of his head. And she began to torment him, and his strength left him.

She said, 'The Philistines are upon you, Samson.' So he woke from his sleep and said, 'I will go out as before, as other times, and shake myself free.' But he did not know that the Lord had departed from him. The Philistines took him and put out his eyes, brought him down to Gaza, and bound him with bronze

fetters and became a grinder in the prison. However, the hair of his head began to grow again after it had been shaven.

And the lords of the Philistines gathered together to offer a great sacrifice to Dagon, their god, and rejoice. And they said, 'Our god has delivered into our hands Samson, our enemy.' The people saw him, and they praised their god.

And they said, 'Our god has delivered into our hands our enemy, the destroyer of our land and the one who multiplied our dead.' So it happened when their hearts were merry that they said, 'Call for Samson. He may perform for us.' So they called for Samson from the prison, and he performed for them.

And they stationed him between the pillars. And Samson said, the lad who led him by the hand held him by the hand, 'Let me fill the pillars which support the temple so I can lean on them.' Now the temple was full of men and women.

All the lords of the Philistines were there, about 3,000 men and women on the roof, watching while Samson performed. Samson called to the Lord, saying, 'O Lord God, remember me, I pray.

Strengthen me, I pray. Just this once, O God, that I may with one blow take vengeance on the Philistines for my two eyes.' Samson took hold of the two middle pillars which supported the temple, braced himself against them, one on the right, one on the other left.

Samson said, 'Let me die with the Philistines.' And pushed with all his might, the temple fell on the lords and all the people who were in it. So the death that he killed that day, at his death, were more than he had killed in his life.

And his brothers and his father's household came and took him, brought him up, buried him between Zorah and Eshtal and the tomb of his father, Manoah. And he had judged Israel 20 years.

All right. Quickly, before we go back through this, Samson didn't have magic hair.

Right? Hair was a part of his Nazarite vow, a part that he had held onto until this point. That personal connection, he had an awareness of still of his consecration to God with his life.

But his strength was the Lord. Right?

That is clear in the text. In verse 20, that the Lord's strength, His power had departed from Samson.

And in verse 28, it's when Samson calls again on the name of the Lord for strength that that strength returns. The hair plays a part.

And we'll look at that a little bit. But the hair is not the strength.

But all this, following 20 years of victory, really, at the end of chapter 15, he judged Israel 20 years in the days of the Philistines. Right?

And that was like the end of chapter 15 was the highlight of Samson's life. A faithful ministry, turning the people's hearts to the Lord.

Right? Delivering them from the oppression of their enemies. And yet the enemy still is all around them, just as it is us today.

Right? We're not in heaven. We are in the days of the church as pilgrims in a foreign land, crying out, 'Repent for the kingdom of God is at hand.

Salvation belongs to the Lord Jesus. And He is the way, the truth, and the life.' Right?

The only way to the Father. Saints walking with God for 20 years, faithful in our call and message and what He has put before us to walk in as His people, our calling.

We looked at that a little bit on Sunday as well. Right?

Saints walking with God 20-plus years does not make us immune to the snares that line the straight narrow. Hopefully, we are wise.

Right? We'll look at a little bit of the wisdom from the Proverbs tonight. Hopefully, we are humble, right, willing to recognize when we are weak.

Hopefully, we keep our eyes upon the author and finisher of our faith. The funny thing about our security in Christ is the liberty that we have in Him, the victory over the enemy.

It does, and we are called to walk boldly in that. But as we sometimes walk boldly into the enemy's camp, like in verse 1, Samson went to Gaza and saw a harlot there and went into her.

Right? Why was Samson going to Gaza? Likely, it wasn't to see a harlot.

It says he saw a harlot there. Right?

It may have been to do something completely reasonable. Right?

To lay the smackdown on the Philistines that weekend, to tell them to back off in their raids or to create havoc or to free prisoners that were there. But wouldn't you know it?

Samson sees a harlot. Right?

We know he has a thing for Philistine women. And it's one thing to see something sinful.

Right? And harlotry, fornication, everything in Judges chapter 16 that Samson is entangled with is clearly sin, going in direct contradiction to God's word and design for His creation. There's no excusing Samson's actions.

But it's one thing to see and recognize sin and another to engage in it. And this is what Christians struggle with.

Right? Samson was there in Gaza. Not necessarily a problem that.

Sees a harlot. Not necessarily a problem with that.

But he went into her. He went and hired her.

There's a problem with that. And Christians struggle with this.

Right? Because, well, didn't Jesus go and associate with the prostitutes and tax collectors? He fellowshipped and was present there.

And yet we find in Samson, right, this warning that Solomon understood. Proverbs chapter 5, in verse 20 through 23, hear the wisdom of Solomon.

'Why should you, my son, be enraptured by an immoral woman and be embraced in the arms of a seductress? For the ways of man are before the eyes of the Lord, and He ponders all His path.

His own iniquities, His own sin, entrap the wicked man. And He is caught in the cords of sin.

He shall die for lack of instructions, and in the greatness of His folly, He shall go astray.' Right? This is foolishness.

This is a snare and an entrapment of Solomon here by sin. Right?

That the Lord was Samson's, he wasn't a witness. He was a willing participant in this sin.

Right? And this rallies the enemy. This reminds them of his weaknesses, exposing complacency that had begun to develop in him.

Did he feel entitled to this? Had God stopped being the one who we saw in chapter 15, who satisfied his thirsty soul?

Right? Was he confident in his liberty to where he forgot the reason he had such boldness and what his calling was in the world? We truly should not.

Right? We definitely have liberty, like Solomon, to go to the enemy's camp, to proclaim freedom to the captives, to love the hopeless, to bring healing to the sick in Jesus' name. The enemy doesn't pounce.

He lies and waits. Samson is the one who tempted Samson here.

Samson bit not Satan. And Satan knows that he has a live one on the hook and is going to try and reel him in.

Right? To take him out is their plan here in verses 1 through 3. But Samson is alert and wiggles free.

The Gazites were told, 'Samson's come.' They surrounded the place. They lay in wait by the gates of the city.

They were quiet, saying, 'We're going to kill him.' Verse 3, 'Samson lay low until midnight. And then he arose and took hold of the doors of the gate and pulled them up bar and are, ballar and all on his shoulders and carried them to the top of the hill that faces Hebron.' We see God's grace here, saving

Samson from destruction, empowering him, though he was clearly outside of God's will for him. City gates were massive.

Right? Heavy defensive structures. Hebron is 40 miles from Gaza.

Right? So even if this hill was halfway to Hebron, this is an impossible and miraculous feat that Samson hefts across the desert there to that hill. And he leaves the city defenseless.

Right? He clearly showed Satan that he didn't have a chance at overpowering Satan. The gates not only were a defensive place for the city, but they're the place where the business was conducted or the elders would congregate, where the big decisions were being made and the seats of power resided.

Right? Clearly, you have no authority here. Right?

Not today, Satan. Right?

God doesn't reject Samson and his sin here, nor does He us. Right?

His grace is sufficient. But rather than being a wake-up call and a reminder of the battle and the weakness of his flesh, rather than verses 1 through 3 being a point of repentance in Samson's life, it only seems to wet his appetite of his flesh.

Oh, Christians. Right?

It's just that the tale is old as time. 1 Corinthians 10:20, 'Therefore, let him who thinks he stands take heed, lest he falls.' Right?

It's not even so much this fall, but what is revealed to Satan about now where to tempt Samson. Right?

He doesn't bring before Samson money. He doesn't bring before Samson power.

Nobody's like, 'Hey, Samson, come be our king.' And no. What we see is another woman.

Right? Samson tempted Samson in looking at the harlot. Now Samson almost tempts God as he continues to dare him to stop him, interfere in his continued sin.

Well, I got away with it. Well, now, verse 4, 'Afterwards, it happened, and he loved a woman in the valley of Sorek whose name was Delilah.' She's the one.

Right? Samson gives his heart. He says he loved this woman, but he gives his heart to sin.

He loves this Philistine woman. Would God really disapprove of love?

How many times have we heard that? Right?

It makes me happy. Right?

It gives me a sense of being. Maybe he had a hard time finding love in Israel, being the judge.

Right? Being the one who had to keep people accountable. Maybe the thrill of his last encounter and seeing God work even in his weakness was lost on his understanding.

He clearly does not appear to seek the Lord or acknowledge His grace and power. We see no repentance, no confession.

And the enemy approaches again, this time not attempting to kill Samson, but simply make him ineffective. Verse 5.

Verse 5, 'The Lord's of the Philistines came to her and said, 'Entique him. Find out where his great strength lies and by what means we may overpower him and we may bind him to afflict him.

Every one of us will give you 1,100 pieces of silver.' Right? That's enough for her to retire well on.

In the next passage, oh, I can't remember what it is. Anyway, it gives us a kind of a current day's worth of the silver.

Right? So you're wondering, well, what is that adjusted for inflation? No matter how you slice it, they're offering Delilah a windfall here.

But this is it. Right?

Verse 5 is so much the crux here. When we ask, why does Satan torment the believer when he knows the battle is lost?

It's because you shine the truth of God's great love. It's because you hold the testimony of everlasting life.

He knows he can't kill you, but he looks for means to overpower you, to bind you, to afflict you, to remove you from the call that God has before you to glorify Him and to get us ensnared in playing games that erode our faith and forget where the victory lies. They ultimately do not find the source of

Samson's strength. They inadvertently get him to abandon it.

And so it ends worse than we can even imagine because instead of God being recognized, a demonic idol gets worshipped. Understand Colossians 1:27.

Then to them, to His saints, God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. The mystery of our lives is the power of Christ, is the gospel being received and trusted.

If it's our good deeds or our diet or our dedication, right, whatever else we play around with, and we don't remember the saving grace of Jesus Christ, right, that we have our power and life in, man, we're primed to delude ourselves and give a false confidence to the lost. Right?

When we inevitably fail in our own strength, Samson couldn't solve the world's problems. Right?

He couldn't be the perfect husband or beat whatever came his way. The only answer was God in him.

Right? Our only answer is Christ in me. It's our hope of glory.

Rather than simply testifying, right, answering this question, Samson toys with sin here. Delilah says to Samson, 'Please tell me where your great strength lies and with what you may be bound with.' The way out of this temptation in verse 6 is worship.

See that? She asks him where his strength lies.

God is the strength of my life. Right?

That's worship. It's acknowledging and putting the spotlight on the truth of God.

It's glorifying Him with your life. The answer to her question, right?

The answer out of his temptation here is worship. Hey, the God who was with me freed my entire nation from the bondage of slavery in Egypt.

That's the God that you're up against here. Also, sin doesn't lie as much as we give it credit.

She reveals her purpose here. Right?

Please tell me where your great strength lies and with what you may be bound to afflict you. Right?

She's very forward in what lies before him if he reveals where his strength lies. She reveals her purpose.

Right? I'm sure it was in a sexy tone, but she wants to bind and afflict him. Right?

We know this about sin, don't we? It's why God warns man.

It's not because He says it's bad. It's because it is bad.

Drugs make you feel good, sure. But does anyone have any doubts where it will lead?

No doubts. We can always say, well, not me.

You know, I'm going to just. Just enough to take the edge off.

We can lie to ourselves. Right?

And the voice that is drawing us away. Rather than inviting God in, Samson tests the Lord further as if and to see if His grace abounds.

Should we sin that grace may abound? Certainly not.

Certainly not. Samson says to her, 'If they bind me with fresh seven bowstrings and not yet dried, I become weak like any other man.' Maybe he thinks this is just a thought experiment, a theological dilemma.

Surely his conversations and sinful dealings with this woman will not affect him. Right?

Let alone the nation, let alone his brethren. But no, she was serious.

Verse 8, 'The Lord's of the Philistines brought up seven bowstrings, not yet dried. She bound him with them, and the men were lying in wait, staying in the room.' And she says to him, 'The Philistines are upon you, Samson.' And he broke the bowstrings with a strand of yarn when it touches fire, and the secret of his

strength was not known. Again, wake up, Samson.

This should have got his attention. Be a Joseph here, Samson.

Genesis 39, 'As Potiphar's wife advanced, she caught him by his garment, saying, 'Lie with me.' He left his garment in her hand and fled and ran outside.' There's no need to entertain. There's no need to see where it goes.

There's no need to try and defend yourself. In facing Satan's ploy, number one, we saw, man, worship.

Don't deny the Lord. Fear Him.

Praise His strength. Two, is run, remove yourself.

Don't hang around when it's clear the pitfall that lies before you. Change your situation and your scenery.

2 Timothy 2:22, right? 'Flee youthfulests, but pursue righteousness, faith, love, peace with those who call on the name of the Lord out of a pure heart.' It's clear Delilah's intents are not pure.

Fellowship here is not making an impact, but inviting compromise to sin. And the threats and dangers are real.

It's not a thought experiment. As much as we have warnings in the word of God about sin, right?

The conviction of the Holy Spirit, the law of God written on our hearts. God has given you eyes to see, the ability to reason, and put two and two together.

Right? Sin leads to death and bondage. Samson lacks accountability in this moment and counsel, but he has more than enough to go on here.

But he's listening to the voice that his heart has tied itself to. He can't serve two masters.

And he emerged through this seemingly unscathed, but mortal and growing blind before his eyes even get gorged out. And so he plays.

Verse 10 through 11, right? Bowstrings, ropes.

It's the same, but different. Right?

Not very exciting. In 13, he begins to move towards his hair.

Delilah says, 'You've mocked me, told me lies. Tell me what you may bound with.' And he says, 'If you weave the seven locks of my head into the web of the loom.' You kind of get the picture.

He's got dreadlocks, right? He never cut his hair.

He's got seven locks. I don't think he braided them.

I'm thinking it's like Arcadia Plaza. Right?

He doesn't have the mono dread, but he's got seven distinct dreads going, I think. That's my opinion.

Anyway, again, not magical hair. Right?

But he knows. Right?

He tells her. It's part of himself that he knew was dedicated to God.

And Samson gives this up in verse 13. He says, 'If you weave my seven locks into the web of the loom.' Right?

He gave it to her. It was not taken from him.

She doesn't know. She doesn't care.

Right? We know that she's only there for the money, for the promise of her information. But Samson, again, wakes up and breaks through.

He's compromised his faith, if you will, at this point, and nothing has happened. He's tested the waters with his hair, and it feels confident to continue.

What's a little, right? What's a little resentment when I'm called to forgive?

I can live with it. Right?

What's a little new age philosophy when we have all we need for life and godliness? At this point, he expects the ensuring struggle.

He thinks he's invisible. He wakes up and pulls out the baton and the web from the loom.

Verse 15, she says to him, 'How can you say you love me when your heart is not with me? You have mocked me and not told me where your strength lies.' But the thing is, his heart is with her.

That's the sad part. Her heart is not with him.

Right? John 10:10, 'Understand that the thief does not come except to steal and kill and destroy.' Satan's appeal to Eve was not for her benefit, not because he cared for their well-being, even though, right, didn't he say to her, right, 'This is for your well-being. You're lonely.

You're wrong. You're in pain.' Right?

To remain there, verse 16, 'Came to pass when she pestered him daily with her words, pressed him. His soul was vexed to death.' Right?

Torment. But the truth is, he's free. He has the strength.

He has complete ability at this point to leave. The spiritual battle isn't going toe to toe with demons.

It's falling before the Lord and staying there. Remaining before this temptation and sin, he now gives up directly his consecration to God, his sign of dedication to the Lord.

He had broken the Nazarite vow before. Right?

He touched the lion. He grabbed the donkey's jawbone.

Those were just as much of a failure in his vow as cutting his hair. Again, it's not the hair.

It's this surrender of his vow to the enemy. And she saw that it was different.

Verse 18, 'When Delilah saw that he had told her all his heart, she sent and called for the Lord, saying, 'Come once more. He has told me his heart.' So the Lord came up and brought the money.

She lulled him to sleep on her knees and called the man to shave off his seven locks. She began to torment him, and his strength left him.

And she said, 'The Philistines are upon you, Samson.' And so he awoke from the sleep and said, 'I will go out as before and as other times and shake myself free.' But he did not know that the Lord had departed from him.' Right? The anointing of the Holy Spirit upon his life had departed.

The power to witness, to go confidently and powerfully in the call that was upon his life, it departs. God is with us.

He is in you. His power upon you is given to be witnessed to His name.

Acts 2:8, 'You shall receive power from the Holy Spirit or when the Holy Spirit has come upon you. Then you shall be witnesses to me in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth.' Right?

That coming upon of God in our life is to witness powerfully the truth of Jesus. And Samson gives it up.

Right? His life in consecration to God, that call in his purpose, and God departs from him. And these are unbelievably sad words in verse 20.

Samson gave himself over to the wages of sin, promising him pleasure, and the lust of his eyes makes him blind. The Philistines took him and put out his eyes, brought him down to Gaza and bound him with bronze fetters, and he became a grinder in the prison.

Right? He was brought further down than he went of his own will. Right?

And sin will do that with us. He was bound.

He was put to carry burdens meant for oxen. That ministry and service to Israel ended those 20 years.

His sin not only found him in bondage, but the nation without a protector and judge. That call to trust God disgraced.

And look where it got Samson. And that's not the truth, right?

What gets celebrated here. But that's how Satan paraded it.

That's how it's broadcast when Christians fail across social media. Right?

How it clings to our legacy. And God sees Samson's faith.

He records him in Hebrews 11. But we still struggle with it.

Right? To unearth it from the folly of his flesh even today. However, verse 22 says, 'The hair of his head began to grow after it had been shaven.' His hair grows.

Satan's not anything if not short-sighted, for sure. If they truly thought it was the hair of his head that was the key to his strength, why did they not make that part of his daily routine?

Right? Wake up, shave Samson's hair, make your breakfast. Right?

Check. Let's make that number one on the job description of Samson's caretaker. But as his hair returns, so does his memory of his vow.

Right? Of where his strength came from. Right?

What's growing is more than hair. It's repentance and reminders of God's truth.

The Lord's of the Philistines in verse 23, 'Gather together to offer a great sacrifice to Dagon, their God, and to rejoice.' And they said, 'Our God has delivered into our hands Samson, the enemy.' That's not true, is it? Samson surrendered himself.

Sin tempted and wore him down. But the lie is celebrated.

When the people saw him, they praised their God and said, 'Our God has delivered into our hands the enemy, destroyer of our land, the one who's multiplied our sorrow and debt.' Right? Sounds an awful lot like what the Antichrist gets the people to proclaim after those two witnesses are struck down in Revelation 11.

Rather than recognizing the power that was with them, they rejoice in its rejection. Right?

Those two witnesses, right? They're calling down fire from heaven.

They're just unstoppable. Right?

Samson, this guy. Like, our city gates, where are our city gates?

They're on that hill 20 miles over there. Like, how do they get there?

This one guy hefted them all by themself. Rather than wondering what would do that, they rejoice in the rejection.

And so too, as Satan folly, sin doesn't just destroy humans and bind and afflict the saints. It causes the final collapse and will come to an end to all who champion it.

Satan himself, he was the most blind and led astray by it. And yet for the time, it produces pleasure, rejoicing.

It happened their hearts were merry. Verse 25, they said, 'Call for us, Samson, and he may perform for us.' Samson obliges.

He performed for them. I wonder what he performed for them.

I don't know. Some Laurel and Hardy or something.

They stationed him between the pillars. Samson said to the lad who held the pillars, 'Let me feel them so I can lean on them.' And the temple was full of men and women, about 3,000, watching while Samson performed.

Right? Pleasure is not our pursuit. We receive grace and love and peace in Christ.

But faith weighs the options and chooses to follow God even when it is through that valley of the shadow of death sometimes. Right?

Moses had the easy life of pleasure before him. He was the prince of Egypt.

And yet Hebrews 11:25, it says, 'He chose rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt, for he looked to the reward.' Right? Samson can again see clearly, even though he has no eyes.

We only see Samson pray two times in the whatever three or four chapters that he's before us and judges. But both come from this place of him at his lowest, yet finds God present with him, ready to save.

Right? God has always been there. He never left Samson.

He lost his strength, his ministry, but not an audience before the throne of God. Verse 28, Samson called the Lord, saying, 'O God, remember me.

I pray, strengthen me. I pray, just this once, O God, that I may with one blow take vengeance on the Philistines from my eyes.' Samson knew it wasn't his hair.

He knew it was the strength of God that he needed. Right?

He needed to humble himself before the Lord more than try to stand in the midst of temptation. Proverbs 16:32 says, 'He who is slow to anger is better than the mighty.

He who rules his spirit than he who takes the city.' God can use a donkey, and sometimes he has to. But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, his own special people.

Right? 1 Peter 2:9, 'Right? That you may proclaim the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.' Right?

That is the strength. That is the witness.

That is the reason for the power of God upon your life. To acknowledge him, to worship him, and run and flee from the temptation.

Even if it's plucking out one of your eyes, Jesus says, 'Right? It's not worth it.' Satan knows that there will be some he can entice through those passing pleasures, right?

The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. But as we look at Samson, don't mistake God's grace for his approval.

Right? Let those moments of being confronted with your failings and seeing the faithfulness of God, right? Awaken us to repentance, knowing that he hasn't left us.

Because ultimately, like Samson here in verse 31, we will all be gathered with our brethren. But Satan would love nothing more than to find us all like Samson here, blind, binded, paraded.

The failures and destructionness of sin. And yet God wants to see you powerfully move rather from glory to glory.

Right? To be strengthened in all faith. To bring and live the praise of his glory to the world around us.

That was Samson's call. He had judged Israel 20 years.

Right? The question that kind of lingers is, what did Samson miss out on? Right?

What following in this book? And there's a mess in the end of Judges.

If you've never read the end of Judges, it's a mess. Like, what did Samson's life and the call that God had upon him rob the nation of?

Right? And invite in to just the chaos that we're going to see in the next few chapters. We have a call to be mindful, right?

To be like Joseph, to respond like Paul counsels Timothy, to find ourselves in not just fellowship, but in places where we understand what God is doing and we don't find ourselves being lulled to sleep on the knees of what is truly and clearly sin before us. Because it will be to our destruction.

And yet we're called to live to the praise of the glory of God and the work of Jesus Christ, which is life and that abundantly. Amen?

God, I thank you for this time. And my heart still breaks for Samson, Lord.

I truly am. I lost her words at some points reading through this.

God, but I know it's just because I see too much of myself. I know it's just because I've seen too many Christians get robbed and led astray.

Lord, help us to not ever doubt your nearness. Lord, clean and cry out.

Lord, to run and to acknowledge, Lord, your power and your strength. Because it's you.

Not of ourselves, Lord, lest any man should boast. So we thank you again, Lord, and ask that you would just work this out before us as we walk, Lord, in the fear of you.

In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

Amen. All right.