...
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male announcer: This
presentation is brought to you
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by the friends of the
Amazing Facts Ministry.
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Doug Batchelor: The devil
is trying to make a monkey
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out of every one of you.
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If he's got you thinking you
can continue in a life of sin
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and everything's gonna
end well, you're being a fool.
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Tell me I'm
wrong from the Bible.
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It does not end
well for the wicked.
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announcer: For over
40 years, "Amazing Facts"
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has been dedicated to sharing
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This program
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of our best
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We invite you to sit back
and enjoy this edition of,
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"Amazing Facts Presents."
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Doug: We're continuing a
series that we began a couple
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of weeks ago dealing with
the Bible character of Samson.
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And today, in particular, we're
gonna be talking about Samson
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who was conquered by compromise.
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Samson's story is something
of a paradox, because through
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the story of Samson,
we see shadows of Jesus.
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He was one of
the judges, a leader,
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a type of Christ
in some respects.
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Many failures, but,
of course, David failed,
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and Abraham failed,
and yet, there were things
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in their life that were
clearly types of Christ.
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And so, you'll see, as
we conclude, I'm gonna do
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my best to bring out a
picture of Jesus in all of this.
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Go to verse 4,
Judges 16 verse 4.
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"Afterward it
happened that he loved a women
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in the Valley of Sorek
whose name was Delilah."
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Sorek was a little bit down
the hill, right on the border.
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It was a place that was
famous for wonderful grapes.
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Right on the
border of the Philistines
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and the people of
Israel, the tribe of Dan.
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And maybe Samson was thinking,
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"Well, look, you know,
I sure like so many things
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about the Philistines."
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He spent a lot of
time with the Philistines,
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I mean, that's how he
ended up marrying one of them.
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He thought, "I'm gonna find the
halfway ground between the two."
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He was looking for a compromise,
and he found a girl that lived
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in Sorek, Delilah, may
have been very beautiful,
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it says he loved
her, but she sold him out,
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which, again, is
another type for Christ.
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And so, when he
falls in love with Delilah,
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and by the way, the
name Delilah means consumer.
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It means
something that is feeble,
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and she made Samson,
who was so strong, feeble.
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He was consumed
through this relationship.
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So, the lords of the
Philistines come down to her,
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they said to her, "Entice
him and find out where his great
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strength lies, and by what
means we might overpower him,
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that we might bind him to
afflict him, and every one
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of us will give you eleven
hundred pieces of silver."
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Now, there were five
lords of the Philistines that
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we see several
other places in the Bible.
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They were like governors,
there was a joint kingdom,
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and that means 5,500, if
I'm right, pieces of silver.
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Now, a piece of silver
would be worth about $20
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in today's currency.
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Jesus was sold for what?
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Thirty pieces of silver.
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The amount of money that they're
offering her is approximately
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$110,000, just to see
if they could find out
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where the secret was.
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By the way, that's 183 times
what was offered for Jesus.
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Again, it was silver.
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Well, now if Samson's strength
was because his mother ate
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very carefully, and
she had good prenatal care,
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and he was born
just super strong,
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and he had big muscles, then
it would have been obvious where
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his strength was, but the
Spirit of the Lord came on him,
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and he had
supernatural strength.
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They wanted to
know what is the secret?
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We've gotta
fight fire with fire.
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There is a spiritual
thing happening here.
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You remember even the king
of the Moabites said one time,
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called Balak, he said,
"Look, it's obvious God is
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with these people.
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I've gotta find the
secret to their strength."
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If you could come
and fight fire with fire,
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if you just cursed
them, it's a spiritual battle,
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and we're gonna
fight in a spiritual way.
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So, they said,
"Delilah, there's a secret here.
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There's something
spiritual going on here."
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I mean, maybe, you
know, the Bible doesn't say,
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Samson could have
been five feet five,
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shorter than me.
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He could have worn glasses
and looked like a computer nerd,
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and the Spirit of the
Lord would come on him,
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and he'd get his donkey jawbone
and go out, smite hip and thigh,
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and you can't prove me wrong.
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I mean, I have the glasses,
but it doesn't say anywhere
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he was big, do you realize that?
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Nowhere, nowhere does
it say he had big muscles.
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Matter of fact, when the
Spirit of the Lord left him,
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it says he was
like everyone else.
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So, she begins to tease him.
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"So, Delilah says to
Samson, 'Please tell me where
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your great strength
lies, and with what might you
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be bound and afflicted.'"
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Now, right away, if
you're dating a girl
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and she starts asking
that question, how could you be
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tied up and tormented?
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I'd say, you know, I'm
probably dating the wrong girl.
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But, you know, when you're
being governed by your feelings
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instead of the truth, you
make a lot of bad decisions.
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How can you be bound?
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And Samson said, "Well,
if they bind me with seven
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fresh bowstrings, that have
not yet dried," a bowstring,
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now bowstrings were very strong,
because it needed to hold
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a strong bow, it
needed to maintain the tension
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of a strong bow.
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They'd find the very strongest
fibers, like, you know,
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a piano string for us.
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They'd find the strongest fiber
they could find, and when dried,
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it could handle a
long arrow and not break.
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And he said get fresh
new ones, they're not worn.
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And you think, well, nobody's
gonna break out of that,
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that's like steel.
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Tie me up with that, and
I'll be as weak as other men.
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She thought, "Okay,"
so, she has him tied up.
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"Now there were men lying in
wait with her," and she says,
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"The Philistines are
upon you, Samson, wake up."
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And he wakes up, and
he's tied up with bowstrings,
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"But he broke the
bowstrings as a strand of yarn
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when it touches the fire."
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You remember our
illustration last week.
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"So, the secret of his
strength was not known.
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Then Delilah said to
Samson, 'Look, you've mocked me,
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and you've told me lies.
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Please, tell me now and where
in where you may be bound.'"
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Well, I would have been
suspicious way before this,
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but it gets worse.
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"So he says to her,
'If they bind me securely
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with new ropes,'"
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well, he had already
been bound with new ropes
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by his own people when he
was handed to the Philistines,
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but these are new ropes
that had never been used.
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There's something
spiritual about that.
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"Then I'll become
weak and like other men."
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Notice, he even knows that
it might be possible for him
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to be weak.
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"Therefore Delilah took new
ropes and bound him with them,"
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I guess again
while he was asleep,
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and then she shouts, "The
Philistines are upon you,"
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again, they're hiding in
the background somewhere,
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and he jumps up,
and the Bible says,
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"He broke them off his arm like
thread," supernatural strength.
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Then Delilah says
to Samson, "Until now,
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you've mocked me
and told me lies.
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Tell me with what
you may be bound."
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Now, he's getting
tired of this, and so,
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you notice what
he keeps thinking?
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Samson thinks, "I
know, I can't trust Delilah,"
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but he was infatuated with her.
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She may have been beautiful, he
might have loved a lot of things
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about her character, he
just couldn't tear himself away.
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And so, even though she
keeps after him about this,
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he keeps making
things up, but you know,
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interrogators have found
that if you keep asking people
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the same
question again, you keep--
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and say, "Tell me
the story," and you say,
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"Well, I already told you,"
"Tell me again," every time
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it seems like they give up
a little bit more information
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and they get closer
and closer to the truth.
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And the devil will
wear people down, and so,
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he's flirting, he's
toying with temptation.
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He thought, "I'm chosen by
God, I've got this strength,
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this power of God,"
and because he sinned,
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and nothing happened, he figured
he could just keep on going.
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This is a very
important point, friends,
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sometimes we deceive
ourselves into thinking because
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the sun shines and it
seems like our job is good,
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and the Lord has bless
us, that that must mean that
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even though we're living
in known rebellion to God,
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"I have the favor of God."
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And because, sometimes we fall,
and he gets us out of trouble,
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and he gets us out of
trouble, we start thinking,
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"Hey, I guess, you know, this
is just the way it's supposed
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to be, is that I just
keep doing what I want,
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and God keeps blessing
me and giving me his power
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and his Spirit."
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And we don't realize that
we're playing Russian roulette
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with eternity.
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The Bible tells us that, if you
read in Ecclesiastes chapter 8,
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"Because the sentence against
an evil work is not executed
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speedily, therefore the hearts
of the sons of men are fully set
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in them to do evil."
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If the first time that
Samson had stepped over the line
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began to compromise
with the Philistines,
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God had hit him with
lightening--you ever seen,
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they got these
collars on dogs, you know,
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they walk out of the
circle and they get shocked,
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and you can teach the
dog, don't go past that point.
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Matter of fact, I understand,
I've never done this to a dog,
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but I understand that once a dog
finds out where the borders are
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that they're not supposed to go
beyond because they get zapped
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every time they go beyond this,
you can take the collar off
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and they won't go
anymore, because they say,
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"Man, I get shocked."
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God doesn't teach us
like that with a shock collar.
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He doesn't zap you
every time you disobey,
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have you noticed that?
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Now, if you've
got the Holy Spirit,
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your conscience
might trouble you,
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but you can quiet that.
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And eventually Samson
kind of just felt, you know,
00:11:01.39\00:11:04.26
I'm the exception.
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I've got the
Spirit of God, I mean,
00:11:05.93\00:11:07.50
look at how many
people I've killed,
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and pride was getting after him.
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He thought, well, I
deserve it, you know,
00:11:12.27\00:11:14.10
being a judge is tough.
00:11:14.14\00:11:15.97
And so, little by
little, he begins to sacrifice
00:11:16.00\00:11:18.14
his purity and sacrifice his
consecration because he thinks,
00:11:18.17\00:11:22.04
"Well, look, God's
still blessing me."
00:11:22.08\00:11:24.68
It's like believing once
you're saved you can't be lost,
00:11:24.71\00:11:27.58
you ever run into that before?
00:11:27.62\00:11:30.45
And he kept
pushing the boundary.
00:11:30.49\00:11:34.19
He said, "Yeah, my hair," so
they tie his hair in the loom,
00:11:34.22\00:11:39.09
and she again says, "The
Philistines are upon you."
00:11:39.13\00:11:44.03
He woke up from his
sleep, he pulled out the batten
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and the web from the loom.
00:11:47.37\00:11:49.07
He just gets up from bed and
this whole big loom apparatus
00:11:49.10\00:11:52.01
is clanging and
battering behind him.
00:11:52.04\00:11:54.74
And then she
says, "How can you say,
00:11:54.78\00:11:56.81
'I love you,' when
your heart is not with me?'"
00:11:56.85\00:11:59.91
It says, "It came to pass when
she pestered him daily with her
00:11:59.95\00:12:04.22
words and pressed him so that
his soul was vexed to death."
00:12:04.25\00:12:11.33
He's at the point of death.
00:12:11.36\00:12:14.13
Do you know the Bible
says that Jesus, in the Garden
00:12:14.20\00:12:16.30
of Gethsemane said, "I
am pressed even to death?"
00:12:16.33\00:12:22.00
And three times he said,
"Not my will, thy will be done."
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And Jesus was willing to die for
a bride that did not love him
00:12:24.47\00:12:29.81
back, but he was betrayed by
his own people into the hands
00:12:29.84\00:12:35.45
of the enemy, for
silver I might add.
00:12:35.48\00:12:39.75
Do you see it, friends?
00:12:39.79\00:12:42.59
He couldn't tear himself away.
00:12:42.62\00:12:44.76
He says, "I've loved you
with an everlasting love."
00:12:44.79\00:12:46.96
Doug: Don't go
anywhere, friends, we'll be back
00:12:48.40\00:12:50.13
in just a moment with the
rest of today's presentation.
00:12:50.17\00:12:53.44
You know, Jesus said that a
Christian must learn how to live
00:12:53.47\00:12:56.40
in the world without allowing
the world to live in them.
00:12:56.44\00:13:00.44
The sad truth is, millions
of profession Christians
00:13:00.48\00:13:03.14
are searching for ways to
strike a compromise between
00:13:03.18\00:13:06.38
their Biblical convictions
and the standards of the world,
00:13:06.41\00:13:10.02
how about you?
00:13:10.05\00:13:11.72
Are the values and the
ways of the world creeping
00:13:11.75\00:13:13.56
into your lifestyle?
00:13:13.59\00:13:15.32
How can you know where to
draw the line and take a stand?
00:13:15.36\00:13:18.36
Or, more importantly, where do
we find the strength to resist
00:13:18.39\00:13:21.70
the constant
temptation to compromise
00:13:21.73\00:13:24.20
our Christian convictions?
00:13:24.23\00:13:26.17
Well, I have some
good news for you.
00:13:26.20\00:13:28.27
We have a free gift
that will inspire you
00:13:28.30\00:13:30.31
in your Christian walk.
00:13:30.34\00:13:32.34
It's titled, "Compromise,
Conformity, and Courage."
00:13:32.37\00:13:35.98
Learn what it means to be a
light in the darkness and how
00:13:36.01\00:13:38.75
to draw a line between good
compromise and bad compromise.
00:13:38.78\00:13:43.05
Learn what it means
to stand tall for Christ
00:13:43.08\00:13:45.55
when others are bowing down.
00:13:45.59\00:13:47.86
To get your free copy, call
the phone number on your screen
00:13:47.89\00:13:51.26
and ask for offer number 774.
00:13:51.29\00:13:53.83
Or, visit the web
address on your screen,
00:13:54.63\00:13:56.67
and after your read
this incredible resource,
00:13:56.70\00:13:58.77
make sure and
share it with a friend.
00:13:58.80\00:14:01.27
Well, let's get back to
today's presentation and learn
00:14:01.30\00:14:03.77
some more amazing
facts from the Word of God.
00:14:03.81\00:14:06.31
Doug: Now, who does
Delilah represent in this story?
00:14:07.98\00:14:10.61
Well, I told you she kind
of represents a corrupt church,
00:14:10.65\00:14:12.61
but certainly the Lord's not
with her, it's the devil, right?
00:14:12.65\00:14:16.62
How does the
devil break us down?
00:14:16.65\00:14:19.39
Daily, he tries to
undermine your resolve to do
00:14:19.42\00:14:23.49
the right thing.
00:14:23.53\00:14:25.39
And because we stay so
close to the devil's territory,
00:14:25.43\00:14:30.47
Sorek was a place
of beautiful vines.
00:14:30.50\00:14:32.90
He's surrounded by vines.
00:14:32.93\00:14:35.34
A Nazarite is not
supposed to be near a grape,
00:14:35.37\00:14:37.27
he's not supposed
to be near a raisin,
00:14:37.31\00:14:38.94
let alone wine, and so
he's placed himself on enchanted
00:14:38.97\00:14:43.18
ground where he's not
safe, and daily she's after him.
00:14:43.21\00:14:48.15
So, if you and I are living in a
world where the devil's after us
00:14:48.18\00:14:50.75
daily, how do you compensate?
00:14:50.79\00:14:53.99
Give us this day our what bread?
00:14:54.02\00:14:56.66
Daily bread,
Paul said I die daily.
00:14:56.69\00:15:02.50
Jesus said if you
would live forever,
00:15:02.53\00:15:04.33
let every man take up his
cross daily and come after me.
00:15:04.37\00:15:09.57
Being a Christian is
a daily turning to God,
00:15:09.60\00:15:12.91
because you've got an enemy
that will pester you daily.
00:15:12.94\00:15:17.31
Can any of you think of
a day where you didn't have
00:15:17.35\00:15:19.08
any temptation?
00:15:19.11\00:15:22.78
If you think you had a
day with no temptation,
00:15:22.82\00:15:24.82
you were probably totally
sold out and didn't know it,
00:15:24.85\00:15:27.16
'cause you felt no resistance,
you were just flowing,
00:15:27.19\00:15:28.99
going with the tide,
and you didn't notice it.
00:15:29.02\00:15:32.96
But, if you try to
swim against the current,
00:15:32.99\00:15:34.96
you are gonna daily
feel temptation, amen?
00:15:35.00\00:15:38.37
You're in a word where you're
just surrounded with evil.
00:15:38.40\00:15:43.30
A lady came once to the
evangelist Billy Sunday and
00:15:43.34\00:15:46.14
she said, "Pastor Sunday, you're
always preaching against sin,
00:15:46.17\00:15:48.88
you just keep rubbing
the cats fur the wrong way."
00:15:48.91\00:15:52.18
And he said, "Sister, if
the cat would turn around,
00:15:52.21\00:15:54.98
I'd be rubbing the
cat's fur the right way."
00:15:55.02\00:15:58.05
So, you need to turn around.
00:15:58.09\00:16:00.96
So, if you're
living in this world,
00:16:00.99\00:16:02.66
and you're trying
to be a Christian,
00:16:02.69\00:16:04.99
you're just gonna
meet with temptation.
00:16:05.03\00:16:06.56
Daily, she's after him.
00:16:06.59\00:16:08.53
Finally, he's vexed to death,
"And he told her all his heart."
00:16:08.56\00:16:13.47
Notice the word heart.
00:16:13.50\00:16:14.80
She says, "You haven't
told me your heart," and finally
00:16:14.84\00:16:16.20
he gives her his heart.
00:16:16.24\00:16:18.61
And he says to her, "No razor
has ever come upon my head."
00:16:18.64\00:16:24.25
I would have
moved out at that point.
00:16:24.28\00:16:25.78
I said, "Now she
knows, she can't be trusted.
00:16:25.81\00:16:27.75
Every time I
wake up, I'm tied up,
00:16:27.78\00:16:29.98
my hair is in a loom, you know.
00:16:30.02\00:16:31.85
Every time I tell her a
secret, the Philistines are
00:16:31.89\00:16:33.82
in the house."
00:16:33.86\00:16:35.96
And she goes, "Oh, Samson,
the Philistines are here."
00:16:35.99\00:16:39.49
I mean, you gotta be
pretty dumb to know that she has
00:16:39.53\00:16:42.53
nothing to do with it.
00:16:42.56\00:16:46.57
Yeah, you ever heard the
expression love is blind?
00:16:46.60\00:16:48.84
Some people think they're in
love and they got these strong
00:16:48.87\00:16:52.27
feelings for someone, and this
person is just tearing 'em down,
00:16:52.31\00:16:56.44
and they don't see it.
00:16:56.48\00:16:57.78
Everyone around them
says, "What's wrong with you?
00:16:57.81\00:17:00.65
How come you don't see
he's no good, she's no good?"
00:17:00.68\00:17:03.85
"Oh, no, I love him.
They would never hurt me."
00:17:03.89\00:17:09.32
Come on, have you
heard that before?
00:17:09.36\00:17:12.69
Now, if you're
married, you're stuck.
00:17:12.73\00:17:16.10
I'm talking about the ones
who are dating the wrong way.
00:17:16.13\00:17:23.20
And so, "She lulled him to
sleep," and it said she shaved
00:17:23.24\00:17:29.11
off his locks, or had a
barber come shave off his locks,
00:17:29.14\00:17:32.01
and boy, he must have
had that razor sharp so that
00:17:32.05\00:17:34.02
he didn't hear
it going snip, snip.
00:17:34.05\00:17:37.62
"And she said, 'Sampson,
the Philistines are upon you,'"
00:17:37.65\00:17:41.42
and he gets up, and
he's still a little groggy,
00:17:41.46\00:17:44.43
he doesn't notice that
he's feeling a cool breeze
00:17:44.46\00:17:47.76
on his head that he
had not ever felt before.
00:17:47.83\00:17:51.87
He doesn't notice the hair
laying on the ground around him.
00:17:51.90\00:17:56.10
He gets up and he thinks I'll
go shake myself another time
00:17:56.14\00:17:58.77
and then I'll throw those
Philistines out the window
00:17:58.81\00:18:00.84
and out the door, and
I'll teach them a lesson,
00:18:00.88\00:18:03.04
and he gets up, and suddenly,
he's only five feet five
00:18:03.08\00:18:08.25
and he has no strength.
00:18:08.28\00:18:10.29
And the Bible says, "He
did not know that the Lord
00:18:10.32\00:18:14.16
had departed from him."
00:18:14.19\00:18:17.23
You know, it's interesting,
it says she woke him up
00:18:17.26\00:18:19.43
and she tormented him.
00:18:19.46\00:18:21.10
She sang him to sleep
and woke him up in torment.
00:18:21.13\00:18:24.93
The devil will try to stroke
your heads and lull you to
00:18:24.97\00:18:28.70
sleep, he'll get you to sin,
and he's the first one to point
00:18:28.74\00:18:32.57
the finger at you, and he'll
make the most of your torment.
00:18:32.61\00:18:36.14
He acts like,
"You just listen to me,
00:18:36.18\00:18:38.15
you'll really enjoy yourself."
00:18:38.18\00:18:40.68
You just compromise,
and you'll really have fun."
00:18:40.72\00:18:43.89
And then, when
you do compromise,
00:18:43.92\00:18:45.39
you find out that
it doesn't play well.
00:18:45.42\00:18:47.96
He did not know.
00:18:47.99\00:18:49.29
You know, that makes me
shutter, I don't know about you,
00:18:49.32\00:18:50.96
just the very idea that you
could have the Spirit depart
00:18:50.99\00:18:53.23
and not know it.
00:18:53.26\00:18:57.27
Did King Saul
grieve away the Spirit?
00:18:57.30\00:19:00.97
It says the Spirit of the
Lord departed and left him
00:19:01.00\00:19:02.70
because of his
pride, and his stubbornness,
00:19:02.74\00:19:04.77
and his persistence
and rebelling against God.
00:19:04.81\00:19:06.94
God finally said, "Look,
you don't really want me to be
00:19:06.98\00:19:09.78
in charge, I'm gonna
let you do your own thing,"
00:19:09.81\00:19:11.91
and God withdrew the Spirit.
00:19:11.95\00:19:15.28
David, after he
sinned with Bathsheba,
00:19:15.32\00:19:17.12
Psalm 51, he prayed and said,
"Lord, take not thy Holy Spirit
00:19:17.15\00:19:20.66
from me."
00:19:20.69\00:19:23.43
One of the most frightening
things is that there'll be
00:19:23.46\00:19:25.53
people in the last days
that will stand before the Lord,
00:19:25.56\00:19:28.13
and they'll say, "Lord, Lord,"
he'll say, "I don't know you."
00:19:28.16\00:19:30.63
They'll say, "What do you mean?
We thought we belonged to you."
00:19:30.67\00:19:35.14
And they didn't
have the Spirit of God.
00:19:35.17\00:19:37.11
A lot of people doing religious
things and they don't have
00:19:37.14\00:19:39.44
the Spirit of God.
00:19:39.47\00:19:41.48
"Then the Philistines
took him and put out his eyes,
00:19:41.51\00:19:47.12
and brought him down
to Gaza," remember Gaza
00:19:47.15\00:19:49.65
where he had torn the gates off?
00:19:49.68\00:19:51.62
He thought, "You
could never trap me in Gaza,
00:19:51.65\00:19:53.66
I'll just tear the gates off."
00:19:53.69\00:19:54.99
Well, now he's in Gaza,
"And they bound him with
00:19:55.02\00:19:57.33
bronze fetters, and he became
a grinder in their prison."
00:19:57.36\00:20:02.30
How sad, now Samson, who
had been called to be a judge
00:20:02.33\00:20:06.84
of Israel, a representative
of God, a leader of God,
00:20:06.87\00:20:10.31
he's been living by
the flesh, and he ends up
00:20:10.34\00:20:14.61
living like a beast.
00:20:14.64\00:20:16.88
Instead of being
ruled by the Spirit,
00:20:16.91\00:20:18.65
he had been ruled
by the flesh, and so,
00:20:18.68\00:20:21.68
now they've got him doing
what animals typically did.
00:20:21.72\00:20:24.99
And I'll tell you, it
is a pretty pitiful scene.
00:20:25.02\00:20:27.09
I don't know if you've
ever seen how they do that,
00:20:27.12\00:20:29.56
but there would be a large room,
it might be outside in a yard,
00:20:29.59\00:20:34.30
and there was a
big stone circle,
00:20:34.30\00:20:36.80
and on top of the
stone circle platform,
00:20:36.83\00:20:38.27
there was a big stone wheel
that had a wooden axel going
00:20:38.30\00:20:41.44
through it, and
the axel stuck out.
00:20:41.47\00:20:44.01
And they would
throw grain in the middle,
00:20:44.04\00:20:48.84
and this oxen or something would
go around in a circle like this,
00:20:48.88\00:20:53.11
all day long, making--and
then people would be off in the
00:20:53.15\00:20:56.15
middle of the pole, and they'd
be shoveling new grain in.
00:20:56.18\00:20:58.39
It would be grinding, and
it would slowly spill off.
00:20:58.42\00:21:00.46
It was sloped a little bit,
so it would be spilling off,
00:21:00.49\00:21:02.72
and all day long the
animal would go like this,
00:21:02.76\00:21:05.23
and there would be a rut.
00:21:05.26\00:21:06.90
Every now and then, some of the
grain would fall into the rut,
00:21:06.93\00:21:08.90
and that's why Paul
says don't muzzle the ox
00:21:08.93\00:21:10.67
that's grinding out the grain.
00:21:10.70\00:21:12.37
But now, Samson is
going round and round,
00:21:12.40\00:21:15.80
and he's in the dark.
00:21:15.84\00:21:17.77
Sometimes the
Philistines would come.
00:21:17.81\00:21:20.71
I mean, he'd been
a judge for 20 years,
00:21:20.74\00:21:22.41
and this is after
he'd killed thousands,
00:21:22.44\00:21:24.51
and he'd done
all these exploits.
00:21:24.55\00:21:25.95
And the Philistines said,
"Oh, we've conquered him,"
00:21:25.98\00:21:28.78
and they'd come and they'd
taunt him, and they would spit
00:21:28.82\00:21:31.82
on him, and they would
poke him with an ox gourd,
00:21:31.85\00:21:35.99
and I'm sure they treated him
very cruelly, like an animal,
00:21:36.02\00:21:41.06
and then he'd be by
himself, bound at night.
00:21:41.10\00:21:44.83
What do you think was
going through his mind?
00:21:44.87\00:21:48.10
Why have I wasted my life?
00:21:48.14\00:21:49.77
He probably, like Peter, he
wept bitterly, day after day,
00:21:49.80\00:21:54.88
because he had been such a fool.
00:21:54.91\00:21:57.11
You and I read his story and
we can see what Delilah's up to,
00:21:57.15\00:21:59.55
but it took him until he
lost his eyes and he lost
00:21:59.58\00:22:02.25
his strength to realize
how could I be so blind?
00:22:02.28\00:22:06.42
Now, he's blind
and his eyes are open.
00:22:06.45\00:22:08.99
Before, his eyes were
open, but he was blind
00:22:09.02\00:22:10.86
to what the
devil was doing to him.
00:22:10.89\00:22:12.56
The devil is trying to make a
monkey out of every one of you.
00:22:12.59\00:22:16.20
If he's got you thinking you
can continue in a life of sin
00:22:16.23\00:22:18.90
and everything's gonna
end well, you're being a fool.
00:22:18.93\00:22:23.84
Tell me I'm
wrong from the Bible.
00:22:23.87\00:22:26.47
It does not end
well for the wicked.
00:22:26.51\00:22:29.08
I don't know if I read
the rest of that verse to you
00:22:29.11\00:22:30.85
in Ecclesiastes.
00:22:30.88\00:22:32.61
"Though a sinner does evil
a hundred times and his days
00:22:32.65\00:22:35.32
are prolonged, yet I know
that it will be well with those
00:22:35.35\00:22:38.59
who fear God,
who fear before him,
00:22:38.62\00:22:40.36
but it will not be
well with the wicked."
00:22:40.39\00:22:43.63
It might seem to
go okay for a while.
00:22:43.66\00:22:45.53
God was so patient w Samson.
00:22:45.56\00:22:47.03
God is loving, he's
merciful, but you can't continue
00:22:47.03\00:22:49.93
to live like that and
expect it to end well.
00:22:49.96\00:22:53.47
You know, the amazing thing
though is that while he was
00:22:53.50\00:22:56.97
going around, day
after day, and he's praying,
00:22:57.01\00:23:03.78
his hair was growing.
00:23:03.81\00:23:06.65
But, it doesn't
grow overnight, does it?
00:23:06.68\00:23:09.15
And it's interesting as the
people came by and they saw him,
00:23:09.18\00:23:11.35
you know, he's
blind, he's in chains,
00:23:11.39\00:23:12.85
they weren't afraid, and it just
didn't occur to the Philistines,
00:23:12.89\00:23:15.46
you know, he lost all his
strength when his hair was cut,
00:23:15.49\00:23:19.13
but his hair began to grow.
00:23:19.16\00:23:20.46
What do you think that means?
00:23:20.50\00:23:21.96
I don't think the big thing
is that his hair began to grow,
00:23:22.00\00:23:24.00
I think that his
heart began to grow.
00:23:24.03\00:23:27.17
His
consecration began to return.
00:23:27.20\00:23:29.60
He was repenting of his sins,
and God was hearing his prayers.
00:23:29.64\00:23:34.61
He was wishing he
could do something else.
00:23:34.64\00:23:37.41
The reason he was raised
up was to defeat the enemies
00:23:37.45\00:23:40.02
of God's people that
had been oppressing them.
00:23:40.05\00:23:44.72
And so, there he is,
grinding in the prison.
00:23:44.75\00:23:47.09
It says, "Now the lords of the
Philistines gathered together
00:23:47.12\00:23:51.13
to offer"--I'm in
verse 23, chapter 16,
00:23:51.16\00:23:54.20
"To offer a great
sacrifice to Dagon,
00:23:54.23\00:23:56.56
their god, and to rejoice.
00:23:56.60\00:24:00.70
And they said, 'Our god has
delivered into our hands Samson
00:24:00.74\00:24:04.07
our enemy.'"
00:24:04.11\00:24:05.44
I don't think a
year had gone by,
00:24:05.47\00:24:06.78
because this is the first
kind of national Dagon feast
00:24:06.81\00:24:08.94
their having.
00:24:08.98\00:24:10.28
All the lords
of the Philistines,
00:24:10.31\00:24:11.61
they come together
to Gaza, this one town,
00:24:11.65\00:24:13.55
they have this big
national feast, and,
00:24:13.58\00:24:17.75
"When the people saw
him, they praised their god,
00:24:17.79\00:24:20.29
for they said, 'Our god
has delivered into our hand
00:24:20.32\00:24:22.32
our enemy, the
destroyer of our land,
00:24:22.36\00:24:25.66
the one who
multiplied our dead.'
00:24:25.69\00:24:28.50
So it happened, when their
hearts were merry, they said,
00:24:28.53\00:24:31.60
'Call for Samson, that
he might perform for us.'"
00:24:31.63\00:24:35.50
And so, they've got
this great temple of Dagon,
00:24:35.54\00:24:38.87
and in the middle there's
these two pillars that probably
00:24:38.91\00:24:41.24
are straddling an
altar, or are near an altar,
00:24:41.28\00:24:43.98
and when they bring him in,
it's a good chance they were
00:24:44.01\00:24:46.82
getting ready to execute
him after they tormented him,
00:24:46.85\00:24:50.79
like someone else
we know in the Bible.
00:24:50.82\00:24:53.56
"Then Samson said to the
lad who held him by the hand,"
00:24:53.59\00:24:56.42
he was blind, he said,
"Let me feel the pillars
00:24:56.46\00:25:00.73
which support the temple,
that I can lean on them.'
00:25:00.76\00:25:03.47
Then Samson called
to the Lord, and said,
00:25:03.50\00:25:06.17
'O Lord God, remember me.'"
00:25:06.20\00:25:09.74
I don't think he's just
thinking about his blindness,
00:25:09.77\00:25:11.54
I think he's praying that
God will forgive them for the
00:25:11.57\00:25:13.98
Philistines making him blind
long before he lost his eyes.
00:25:14.01\00:25:19.11
There's a lot of Christians
out there that are blinded
00:25:19.15\00:25:21.08
by the world.
00:25:21.12\00:25:22.55
You may still have 20/20 vision,
but the devil's blinded you.
00:25:22.58\00:25:26.55
Samson realized he had
been blinded by the beauty
00:25:26.59\00:25:28.82
of the Philistines.
00:25:28.86\00:25:31.79
"I pray thee, strengthen
me, just this once, O God,
00:25:31.83\00:25:36.60
that with one blow I might take
vengeance on the Philistines
00:25:36.63\00:25:40.07
for my two eyes.'
00:25:40.10\00:25:41.40
Samson took hold of the
middle pillars which supported
00:25:41.44\00:25:44.17
the temple, and he
braced himself against them."
00:25:44.21\00:25:46.74
Yes, they must have
been close enough for him
00:25:46.78\00:25:48.48
to reach them both.
00:25:48.51\00:25:50.55
"One on the right and
the other on the left."
00:25:50.58\00:25:53.21
Jesus died between
two thieves, on the right
00:25:53.25\00:25:55.35
and the other on the left.
00:25:55.38\00:25:58.29
"And Samson said, 'Let me
die with the Philistines.'"
00:25:58.32\00:26:02.09
And before they could sacrifice
him, he beat them to it,
00:26:02.12\00:26:05.16
"And he pushed
with all of his might,
00:26:05.19\00:26:08.13
and the temple fell, and
the people who were in it.
00:26:08.16\00:26:11.83
So the dead that he killed
by his death were more than
00:26:11.87\00:26:15.60
he killed by his life."
00:26:15.64\00:26:18.04
The whole story of
Samson is summarized right here.
00:26:18.07\00:26:20.41
You know, sometimes
at the end of a parable
00:26:20.44\00:26:22.04
you've got the moral?
00:26:22.08\00:26:24.25
Samson is a type of Christ
in that Jesus, at the end,
00:26:24.28\00:26:27.38
he stretched out his arms,
00:26:27.42\00:26:29.62
he laid down his life to defeat
the enemies of God's people.
00:26:29.65\00:26:35.16
Samson, as I
mentioned before, is mentioned
00:26:35.19\00:26:36.73
in the Book of
Hebrews as someone of faith.
00:26:36.76\00:26:39.19
I think God honored his faith.
00:26:39.23\00:26:42.30
He was growing in the
dark, and God gave him strength.
00:26:42.33\00:26:45.87
You look at the last few
words in the story of Samson
00:26:45.90\00:26:48.50
at the end of
chapter 16, it says,
00:26:48.54\00:26:51.04
"Then his family, his
brother and his father's house,
00:26:51.07\00:26:53.41
came and they took
and brought him up.
00:26:53.44\00:26:55.24
They took care of his
body and they buried him."
00:26:55.28\00:26:57.38
Did the friends and family
of Jesus come and take him
00:26:57.41\00:27:00.92
from the cross and bury him?
00:27:00.95\00:27:03.18
You know, the story of Samson
is really the story of Christ.
00:27:03.22\00:27:06.69
It's a story of warning for
us of how we can lose strength,
00:27:06.72\00:27:10.76
and it's also a promise.
00:27:10.79\00:27:12.23
You know, the
wonderful thing is,
00:27:12.26\00:27:14.73
Samson was saved in the 11th
hour because he turned to God,
00:27:14.76\00:27:19.30
even though it looked like he
had nothing left to offer God,
00:27:19.33\00:27:21.54
he turned to God, and when
Samson surrendered everything,
00:27:21.57\00:27:24.47
and he was willing to die, he
received his greatest strength.
00:27:24.51\00:27:28.64
When do we receive
our greatest strength?
00:27:28.68\00:27:31.08
When we take up our
cross, and we are willing
00:27:31.11\00:27:33.05
to be crucified with Christ.
00:27:33.08\00:27:35.85
You know, I just love
these stories in the Bible.
00:27:35.88\00:27:38.39
We don't wanna be
blinded by the world, friends,
00:27:38.42\00:27:40.66
like Samson was, we wanna turn
our eyes on Jesus now, amen?
00:27:40.69\00:27:43.86
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00:27:45.16\00:27:55.14
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00:27:55.47\00:28:05.55
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00:28:05.81\00:28:15.82
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00:28:16.16\00:28:26.13
Doug: The heavens
were parted for him.
00:28:26.47\00:28:27.87
The Holy Spirit came down.
00:28:27.90\00:28:29.20
This is what God
wants you to experience.
00:28:29.24\00:28:31.57
If you come to Christ,
your sins are washed away,
00:28:31.61\00:28:34.51
you become a new creature.
00:28:34.54\00:28:36.01
It's a land of beginning
again, and how many of you wish
00:28:36.04\00:28:38.11
you could get a new start?
00:28:38.15\00:28:39.65
announcer: "For I was hungry,
and you gave me something
00:28:41.72\00:28:44.72
to eat.
00:28:44.75\00:28:46.39
In as much as you do it
to one of the least of these,
00:28:46.42\00:28:49.39
my brethren, you did it to me."
00:28:49.42\00:28:51.59
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00:28:51.99\00:28:59.47
announcer: This
presentation was brought to you
00:29:24.16\00:29:25.46
by the friends of the
Amazing Facts Ministry.
00:29:25.49\00:29:28.46