[0:00] Let us pray. Thou knowest all things.
[0:14] Thou art the searcher of the heart, and the trier of the reins of the children of men.
[0:25] All things are open and naked to thine eye. And we pray, blessed one, that thou wouldst give us to believers, to believe that thou knowest us.
[0:55] That we might realize our great need of thy mercy.
[1:07] For we are sinful. We have sinned and do sin against thee.
[1:23] We have left and done the things that we ought to have done. And we have done things that we ought not to have done.
[1:40] Graciously teach us that we may know something of the meaning of this.
[1:55] Know something of what our own confession entails. And we would bless thee that due to thy mercy and in connection with the proclamation of the gospel of thy grace, thou dost convict sinners of sin.
[2:28] Thou dost give them in a measure to understand that it is a hard and a bitter thing to sin against God.
[2:43] that sin is the reproach of any people. And that because of it, shame and confusion of his belong unto us.
[3:04] Lord, cast us not from thy sight. Give us not over to ourselves.
[3:17] Leave us not ignorant of what we are and of what we need. May thy blessing this day be upon us.
[3:33] And may we have not only a knowledge of our sin, but also knowledge of him who came to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.
[3:53] Who is the great high priest Having once offered up a sacrifice to satisfy divine justice sat down forever on the right hand of the majesty on high.
[4:17] O may the glory of Christ as the Savior of the lost, the Redeemer of his people be so brought before our mind this day As that we shall in truth and indeed bless God for his unspeakable gift Lord, we would commit us to thy gracious care We need thy care We cannot take care of ourselves It is not in him It is not in him that walketh to direct his steps
[5:19] But thou dost direct the steps of thy know Thou leadest them in the paths of righteousness Even for thy known name's sake And we pray that Despite our unworthiness Despite our ignorance Thou would lead us on those paths For thy name's sake Be with us as we are gathered professing to worship thee Give unto us the spirit of the true worship The spirit of those who worship thee indeed Save us from the deceit
[6:21] The hypocrisy of our own heart And grant that the truth may be within us For thou art delighted with the truth In the hidden part Bless thy word this day Wherever it is preached Wherever it is read May it be a means of convincing And converting sinners Of building up thy people In holiness and comfort Through faith and through salvation Lord, remember us In this dark and cloudy day O, wilt thou not shine forth Wilt thou not come for our deliverance
[7:25] Eh? Giving us times of refreshing From thy presence We are unworthy Worthy But worthy is the Lamb that was slain And in his name we would plead That thou wouldst work in midst of all the earth Salvation manifold Remember all who were denied our privilege Sick and afflicted one everywhere Do thou thyself be with them And we would remember especially those who decide To be named in the prayer of this congregation this day Lord, do thou be with them where they are
[8:28] Be a little sanctuary to them comforting their hearts And giving them to understand And giving them to understand That thou were near to all who call upon thee We would commit us to thy gracious care Lord, bless us Teach and direct us And take away all our iniquities For the Redeemer say Amen We shall turn now To consider as we shall be enabled Words you will find in the book of Judges
[9:29] Judges The book of Judges Chapter 16 Judges Chapter 16 And we shall read at verse 21 And we shall read at verse 21 The book of Judges Chapter 16 Reading at verse 21 The Philistines took him And put out his eyes And brought him down to Gaza And bound him with fetters of brass And he did grind in the prison house
[10:33] How be it The hair of his head began to grow again After he was shaven Then the lords of the Philistines gathered them together For to offer a great sacrifice And to take on their God And to rejoice For they said Our God hath delivered Samson our enemy Into our hands Especially the 22nd verse How be it How be it The hair of his head began to grow again After he was shaven All scripture
[11:35] All scripture Is given By inspiration of God And it is all profitable For doctorate For doctorate For correction And for instruction In righteousness And the words of our text of course Are of that nature It may seem that There is not very much material For spiritual consideration In the words
[12:37] But If there isn't But if there isn't It is because We have not The power or the ability to perceive it It is profitable For doctrine And for instruction in righteousness Now you will notice that This passage divides The life of Samson Into three parts There was a time When the hair of his head Was not shaven There was a time When the hair of his head Was shaven And there was a time
[13:41] When the hair of his head Began to grow again After He was shaven Now that divides his whole life And includes his whole life Within That division Now when you consider in your words For a little as we shall be enabled We may do so in the order In which we have indicated First Samson In strength Secondly Samson In weakness And thirdly Samson Restrength Now in considering the first We are led to cause To cause To cause To cause To cause To cause To cause
[14:42] To cause To cause To cause To cause To cause To cause To cause That This was A child Of promise That is to say A promise A promise concerning His birth Was given Before before he was born.
[15:13] His birth was the fulfillment of a promise. That is the first thing we are told of this man's history.
[15:31] And in close connection with that we have the rules and the regulations that were given his parents for this child.
[15:47] He was to be brought up in a particular manner. He was to be a Nazarene from the womb.
[16:03] That is certain rules had to be observed. And the most prominent of which are these.
[16:23] He was not to drink wine or strong drink. Secondly, he was not to cut to cut off the head of his head.
[16:43] These were the two vows. The two special vows that distinguished whom wished the Nazarenes from the other Israelites.
[16:59] Now, Samson was to be a Nazarene from the womb. the two of the people.
[17:11] Now, while these rules were observed, all was well. While he took care of what God had commanded, then God took care of him.
[17:31] And we read of his great strength on various occasions.
[17:45] Take, for instance, the time he was going down to Timna when he met the Lion in Wain.
[18:01] There was no escaping from this danger but by killing the Lion. That is to say, the danger had to be faced and had to be overcome.
[18:17] There was no way of escape. We know what happened. It held the Lion to bits, as if it had been a kid.
[18:33] This is the man, then, of whom old text speaks. The man who, according to God's promise, was born at a certain time.
[18:47] According to God's instruction, was brought up in a certain way. And according to that same instruction, was brought up in a certain way. And according to that same instruction, had himself, when it came to years of discretion, to observe carefully, diligently, and consistently that which devolved upon him as a duty.
[19:11] Here he is. He's outstanding. He begins to deliver Israel from the Philistines.
[19:31] A most promising beginning. A beginning according to God's promise.
[19:43] And on these grounds, we would expect that the end would be a glorious end.
[19:55] With nothing coming in between, but evidences of God's power and of Samson's faithfulness.
[20:09] That is what we would expect. But things don't turn out as we expect. There is what we might call a twist in reality.
[20:25] that gives the lie to 90% of our expectations. There is something which we fail to take into our calculations.
[20:45] And therefore, which causes our conclusions to be wide of the truth.
[21:01] It was so in the case of Samson. And it is so very often in the experience of men. So what happened?
[21:15] Perhaps, one of the most tragic chapters in the life of any man of God opens up before us now.
[21:35] Samson had experience on various occasions the Lord's deliverance. The Lord's the Lord's blessing.
[21:47] The Lord's presence. The Lord's presence. But alas, a time came when things changed.
[22:03] And here we come to our second point. Samson in weakness. What brought this abode?
[22:19] His carelessness. The fact that he did not look as as the God to have looked.
[22:33] To what God had commanded him. He became careless. And his enemies were ready to take advantage of that.
[22:51] He was a marked man. He was a man whom his enemies were on the lookout to trap, to ensnare, to cut out.
[23:07] And when the opportunity came, they were ready to execute their designs and plans concerning him.
[23:19] to be on the lookout. But notice. He had been warned. And he had been warned very thoroughly.
[23:37] To be on his guard against something. there was a certain thing pointed to in his life which spelled that here was a peculiar danger of which he was always to beware.
[24:03] You remember that he was always to beware. when he put forth the riddle. Everything went well.
[24:15] The Philistines were unable to give him the meaning of that riddle. Until...
[24:27] Until he told someone that he was told that he was to beware.
[24:39] What the answer was. And immediately he told that. Things went against. Here he should have considered.
[24:51] No. There is one thing of which I must be always aware and one thing of which I must be aware I cannot put my keeping in the hands of anyone.
[25:13] There is only one who can keep me and that is the Lord. Once I begin to trust in a creature then I deliver myself into the hands of my enemies.
[25:31] I must beware. into the hands of my enemies. That is the principle of that incident of which we are told concerning the riddle.
[25:45] But that is exactly where he failed. In that very point which was single doubt for his particular kid.
[25:59] it was there precisely that he failed. The Philistines were unable to overcome him until he trusted in the creature.
[26:19] He told where his great strength lay. and that of course is the point of that. And that of course is the point of that.
[26:33] And that the principle underlying his telling is that he trusts in the creature. the enemy and furthermore trusts the enemies of the Lord.
[26:51] It was sinful trust. It was something which he should not have done. Something concerning which he was particularly and specially warned.
[27:07] yet that is what he did. He told where his great strength lay. And he did not have his strength long after that.
[27:23] No. But the next part of this tragedy is this. He did not know that the Lord had departed from him.
[27:39] Though I don't think this can be overemphasized. It is so solemn and of such far rich in consequences that we should ponder it with special care.
[27:55] He knew not that the Lord had departed from him. Oh, what that's it words.
[28:09] And this was a man who knew what it was to have the presence and the protection of the Lord. This was a man who had experienced the Lord's blessing in a multitude of ways.
[28:25] And the Lord's presence. But he did not know that the Lord had departed from him. And hence he says, I will go and do what I did at other times.
[28:41] I will go and do the same thing. And hence he says, I will go and do what I did at other times. I will go and do the same. I will go and do the same.
[28:53] That's what he thought. But he was soon disillusioned. Now he came up against the strength of the Philistines.
[29:11] The strength of his enemies. With no divine strength of his own. He was as another man. Why?
[29:23] The Lord had departed from him. It wasn't a difficult thing for the Philistines to overpower him. To bind him.
[29:35] To put out his eyes. And to bring him to the prison house. There was a time when they couldn't do that.
[29:53] There was a time when all their courts. Bound with all their ingenuity. Could not bind. Samson. But it is not sooner.
[30:05] He is easily bound. Taken away. Into captivity. Why? Why? Why is this?
[30:29] Why such a change? Why such a change? Such a transformation? Or rather such deterioration? He did not give heed.
[30:43] To what the Lord had commanded. This was the result.
[30:59] Of his own deliberate. Disobedience. He was to learn. That it is a hard.
[31:13] And a bitter thing. To sin against God. To neglect. That which God commands.
[31:25] To overlook. That which God lays. As a duty upon his credence. To neglect the evil. He neglected it.
[31:37] He was like. Another man. But what happened to him? He is taken to the prison house.
[31:49] And. He grinds. In the prison house. And. He grinds. In the prison house.
[32:01] And. That is to say. They set him to work. Grinding coal. He had enough strength for this.
[32:13] He had. Still this. Left to him. And what's the principle involved? Now let us put it like this. What is he doing? When he is grinding in the prison house.
[32:25] He is. No. A means. Of. Feeding. The enemies. Whom he formerly destroyed. That is. The death.
[32:36] Of. Of. Feeding. The enemies. Whom he formerly destroyed. The enemies. Whom he formerly destroyed. That is. The death. Of his humiliation.
[32:47] Instead of being a menace. A danger to the Philistines. He is. No. Instrumental. In feeding them. He grinds for them. Oh my friend. Don't you see what has happened?
[33:12] Well. You know. What has happened? Don't you see that things have changed quite round?
[33:26] Instead of being Israel's savior from the Philistines, he is now the very opposite.
[33:40] And all the time, remember, this is a man of God. Well, must you ask the question, can a man of God be the means of strengthening his enemies?
[33:56] And the enemies of the Lord? Yes. As long as this incident is on record, we have that principle plainly enunciated in the word of truth.
[34:13] This is what he is. He did grind in the prison house.
[34:23] Now this would be the end of the story. And a very tragic end it would be, were it not, that the God of Samson, the God of Israel, remained unchanged and unchangeable.
[34:51] How be it? Oh, what a blessed word that is. How be it? That is to say, despite everything.
[35:05] Despite everything that has happened. Despite Samson's negligence and carelessness.
[35:17] Despite the victory of his enemies over him. The hair of his head began to grow bigger.
[35:31] Now what do we find there first? It is this. There were some things of which his enemies could not deprive him.
[35:43] There were things of which they could deprive him and did deprive him. But there were things hidden.
[35:59] Which was beyond, which were beyond the reach of the enemy. They did their worst. They couldn't think of anything else to do.
[36:13] And they had done much. But there were things they could not do.
[36:29] You remember what we are told of Job. When the Lord said to Satan, He is in thy hand.
[36:45] Yes, he is in thy hand. But not unconditionally. He is in thy hand, but touch not his life.
[37:04] That is the wall that God set through Job. Over which the devil could not climb.
[37:16] And which he could not break down. Touch not his life. There were things concerning Samson.
[37:29] That ensured that the enemy could only go a certain length.
[37:42] Beyond that they had nothing they could do. And what was it? Oh well, literally. His hair began to grow because in the ordinary course of events, the roots of it were still in his head.
[38:06] Although the Philistines shaved off his head. Yet the roots thereof were in his head.
[38:17] And because of this, it began to grow again. It began to grow again. But notice the timing of God.
[38:33] Over all this, the Lord prayed. And was bringing his own purpose to accomplishment.
[38:47] Notice the time. Notice the time. It's when. When did the hair of his head begin to grow again? Well, apparently, it was before the Philistines took him up.
[39:03] To make sport. To make sport for them. Yes. Something was happening. In the quietness of the prison.
[39:16] And during the time of Samson's agony. Something was happening. The hair of his head was growing again.
[39:31] Little thanks to Samson for that. Oh, yes, that's true. Nevertheless, this was true. And the Philistines could not take the final step.
[39:48] In their means of degrading Samson. Until things were ready for the plan of God to be materialized.
[40:02] And the Philistines. It began to grow. And then, of course, as we read here, the Philistines took him up.
[40:15] To the temple. To their temple. When they were giving thanks to their God for their victory over Samson.
[40:26] It proved that they were rather premature with their thanksgiving. They had calculated without the God of Samson.
[40:39] Their calculations were based on their thanksgiving to their own God. The God of Samson was left out of the picture.
[40:52] Yes. It would seem that Samson was altogether forsaken. That he was left to the malice of his enemies.
[41:07] That is how things seem to be. And on that principle, the Philistines proceeded.
[41:19] But they proceeded to their own confusion. And death. Now, there is something here to which I should like to draw your attention.
[41:32] Which to me is very significant. Samson prayed. Samson prayed. Samson prayed. Samson prayed. Samson prayed.
[41:45] We don't read that he prayed in the prison house. I don't say that he didn't, mind you.
[41:57] But I do say that there is no record of his praying in the prison house. But the time came when he did pray.
[42:13] And what a prayer. Recently, I read somewhere that Samson's mind was confused when he offered this prayer.
[42:28] I don't believe that at all. It was anything but confused. He prayed. Remember me, Lord, this once.
[42:42] Oh, what agony is expressed. What anguish comes out in these words. What a confession. Remember me, this once.
[42:55] As if he had said, thou hast remembered me often before. But alas, I did not make the right use of it, and that is the reason for my condition now.
[43:11] Alas, but I had misused and abused the Lord's goodness hitherto.
[43:22] Nevertheless, O Lord, remember me this once, this once.
[43:34] Remember me again. Cast me not from thy side. Now I take it that this is faith that lay more or less dormant in this man's hope, since the time his enemies overcame it, that faith now bursts into flowers, and it has sailed the gates of heaven.
[44:05] Remember me this once.
[44:17] Do you know what it is not to be able to pray? Do you know what it is to lie in the prison house?
[44:30] Having nothing to say. Looking over your mistakes with your mouth shut in the presence of God.
[44:44] Well, apparently, Samson knew that. Things were pent up within him.
[44:59] But, when there is a note left, it shows the force of what was there, despite the indications to the contrary.
[45:14] It shows the life of God. For it was by faith that Samson did the things that he did. By faith. That was the secret of his strength.
[45:29] The fact of the Nazarene, the keeping of the Nazarene vow, was but the condition on which his faith was to be in strong exercise.
[45:47] Yes. Remember me, Lord, this once. It is a short prayer.
[45:59] It is full of anguish. Full of sorrow. Full of repentance. But it is a powerful prayer. It is a prayer that was answered.
[46:13] And no more proof is needed. That it was the prayer of faith. It was answered.
[46:24] The Lord remembered him. Strengthen me this once. That I may be avenged of the Philistines. For my two eyes.
[46:41] In the New Testament we read. Of some of the results of what Paul calls repentance not to be repented of.
[46:56] How does that work? It works many things. But this is one of the things it works. Vengeance. Vengeance.
[47:07] Vengeance. Vengeance. Vengeance. Vengeance. You were sorrowful after a godly soul. And in that you were, see, that what has worked in you.
[47:20] What cleansing of yourselves, and so on. Give what? Vengeance. Vengeance against what? Vengeance against what?
[47:32] Vengeance against that which dishonors God. That vengeance, that godly sorrow works. Against everything that is against God.
[47:46] But the desire comes to fruition at least the desire gains strength that in the act of repentance if the believer could he would destroy everything in himself that is against God That's the meaning of repentance It worth vengeance Oh you see but the vengeance of Samson was directed towards the Philistines Yes, that is true It was first It was to himself but it was to find expression against the Philistines And here we have to distinguish between some of the peculiar characteristics the peculiar differences that obtain between the Old and the New Testament dispensation We find David also prayed in exactly the same vein as Samson is praying
[48:52] He wants vengeance on his enemies Not as private enemies But as enemies to God Enemies to the cause of God Enemies to the church of God Not as private ones Well We take it that we find the same spirit in this man That I may be avenged of the Philistines For my two eyes That prayer was heard He was strengthened Now there is this Change for the better The transformation from weakness to strength It is a picture over which we would like to linger
[49:53] The change from strength to weakness was so tragic That we would fain pass over it But we would like to linger over this For in the first place We should hold the constancy The faithfulness of God He is faithful Everyone else Failed Samson When he trusted them His trust was misplaced But his God Jehovah Now proves himself to be different from all others And only as he proves himself like that to us will he be our God This trust in his God is not misplaced
[50:55] He calls on him And the Lord answers Oh what faithfulness What constancy There is in God And because of that And only because of that Is there any sin I've saved He changed not Now In applying these words And we better leave that application to slow You can think In applying them We can at least say this And point out this practical lesson from it all Samson received his strength back He was trellular
[52:00] But consider this He never received his sight back He never received his sight back He went down blind to the grave He received his strength Yes But not His sight The Philistines took that away from him Forever As far as this life was concerned Now isn't that most solemn When we give due prominence And lay due stress On the Fearfulness The constancy of God His Unchangefulness His immutability That does not In the slightest degree Take away
[53:01] The responsibility of man To do what God commands The responsibility of the church To give heed He To that which he has laid down For our direction and guidance And remember my friends There are some things that cannot be restored If we lose them They cannot be restored There are some things that will be But there are some things that cannot Once gone Gone forever If we lose our good name By willfulness and carelessness Our good name Among our fellow creatures
[54:03] We can't get that back That blot remains Forgiveness doesn't take it away Grace doesn't take it away And if you wanted any proof of that I ask you again to read the portion of the epistle to the Hebrews that were read this morning But the thing is so obvious that no proof should be needed There are things that cannot be restored furthermore let us notice the difference there is between the safety of the things and the comfort of the things the usefulness of the things their safety is beyond any danger
[55:16] Why? Because their life is hid with Christ in God They are saved for time and for eternity And their safety has nothing whatsoever to do with their smells God has taken care of them But their comfort their usefulness does not fall into that category In large measure This depends on the speed they give to God's word The carefulness which they exercise in their daily walk and conversation
[56:25] Hence we read and we read again and again Walk the the people do not walk as other Gentiles walk Walk in the fear of the Lord God know if we don't it is the height of presumption God to God to think that we can have what he has linked to obedience that we can have it without nothing to Oh you say but we can only walk by grace of that my friend I am fully awake but that does not in the slightest degree minimize the duty of the believer to walk at all times according to the word of
[57:47] God if he does he will know of it he may not know that the Lord departed from him in one sense of course there's a sense in which the Lord does not depart from his own but he may not know it for a while but he will soon get to know of it why by his defeat his inability to stand against his enemies that is always the price that has to be paid for disobedience and unfaith who knows now my friends while this is primarily to the people of God who make a profession of knowing him and who know him in truth there is a lesson here for us all and in one word it is this without
[58:50] God we have no safeguard against our enemies our enemies are numerous they are powerful they are ingenious we are no much for them and without God we are eternally undone of course the lesson is that we should give you attention to this and you care that whatever else we lack in life we may have the Lord as our portion our guide our protector and if that is so then we will ultimately arrive in the comfort of the spirit at the desired heaven which he has prepared for all who love him let us pray oh
[59:57] Lord bless us we are so weak so cruel so prone to earth we would bless thee that thou art grace that thou art almighty and that thou watchest over those who does this envy may we be of this blessed number and may we be kept watchful vigilant remembering that the enemy go as a boat like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devout all Lord preserve us bless thy word who has taken away our sins for the redeemer's sake Amen