Samson - Broken Promises

turn your Bibles to Hebrews chapter 11 Hebrews chapter 11 we're going to continue our series on broken talking about how God uses broken people and God heals broken people as well and so we're going to be looking today at Hebrews chap 11 and verse number 32 Hebrews chap 11 and verse number 32 Hebrews 11:32 the Bible says and what shall I more say for the time would fail me to tell of Gideon and of baric and of Samson of jeepa and David also and Samuel of Samuel and of the prophets uh he's coming down to the end of the passage he's realizing he's running out of time and so he just kind of throws a bunch of names in here at this point and doesn't even get them all uh because there's many other

Heroes of the faith that we could look at as well uh but as you look at this passage as we go through there we've been looking at each one that's mentioned as a hero of the faith is mentioned in this God's Hall of Fame and uh and and and we find first of all that they're not perfect people in fact many of them are far from perfect and and uh yet God still used them and God healed them in their in their problems that they had to deal with as well but I I'll be honest with you today's message was the one I was least looking forward to today's message was one I was trying to say now what am i g to do with Samson I I I mean all the other people talked about they had their problems and they've

got you know David had his sin and and uh and and Gideon had had his doubts and all the other things but Samson Samson was basically a self-centered uh drunkard a womanizer a bully and and generally not very Godly by his actions I mean there's not a lot of redeeming stuff about Samson that we can say and so I look at this past and I say well God why did you put Samson in the same passage of some of these great men and women some of these uh the these these people that we can really learn something from and and as we looked at it I tried to understand this so I'm going try to share with you what I came up with as I studied for the message today and first of all to understand Samson you got to

understand his vow go back to Judges chapter 13 Judges chapter 13 and you might want to put a marker somewhere in that area because we're going to go back and forth to there a couple times in the message but Judges chapter 13 most of you know the story of Samson from Sunday school again many of these are are in our minds are coloring book characters you know in Sunday school you got these coloring sheets of Noah and the Ark and you got another one of of Daniel and the Lion's Den and and you probably got one of Samson and either uh trying to push the pillars over or something along that line and so they're coloring book characters to us but they're they're real people and they're real people

in the Bible and in Judges chapter 13 uh God comes there verse number five and he says for in for low Thou shalt conceive he's talking to Samson's future mother she was Barren she couldn't have children and he came the angel of the Lord came and said for Lo Thou shalt conceive and bear a son and no razor shall come on his head for the child shall be a Nazarite unto God from the womb and he shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines and so before he was even born before he's even conceived God came to his mother and said you're going to have a child and he's going to be I'm going to use him and so he's going to take the Nazarite vow and if you look at verses 24 and 25

and the woman bear a son and called his name Samson the child grew and the Lord blessed him and the spirit of the Lord began to move him at times in the camp of Dan before uh between Zoar and esel now normally the Nazarite vow was a vow of separation and consecration it was when you took the Nazarite vow you you said I want to separate and just focus concentrate on the Lord and uh so I'm going to main from certain things the word Nazarite means to separate or abstain and they were not to touch dead bodies they were not to touch drink alcohol or even touch any uh even grape juice because it might have fermented uh they were there were certain rules that they had that they were to follow in

the Nazarite vow and normally that would be taken by someone normally you would say I want to do the Nazarite vow and so you would make that decision and when you go back and read about it back in the earlier in the Bible it it will tell you that it's something don't you better take seriously because God takes vows seriously and and uh you would you would say I want to separate myself on to the Lord I want to separate myself from these things in order to serve the Lord and and so it was something that very few people did we only know really of a few in the Bible we know Samson um and then we know John the Baptist and there's one or two others that we believe took the Nazarite vow as well it

was a very strict vow so not many people did it but Samson did not choose to do it God said he is going to be a Nazarite he is going to fulfill these things so Samson is not the one that chose to do it but is but his parents chose that we'll talk about that a little later on as well so the first thing I want to point out here is number one is that God wants us to be separate from the world whether you take the Nazarite vow or not God wants us to be separate from the world in Romans chapter 12: 1- 2 it says I beseech you therefore Brethren by the mercies of God that you present your bodies a Living Sacrifice holy acceptable unto him which is your reasonable service and be not conformed to

this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God and and so God wants every one of us as a Christian to come out from the world to to be transformed be separate from the world and uh and to live for him in 2 Corinthians chapter 6: 17- 18 it says wherefore come out from among them and be separate sayith the Lord and touch not the unclean thing and I'll receive you and will be your a father unto you and you shall be my sons and daughters sayi the the Lord Almighty so God wants us to separate from the things of the world and and he says listen just don't be a part of that don't don't get involved in that uh

and and and we we can become legalistic say you can't even touch that but the idea is is just stay as far away from as you possibly can but here's the thing folks you can be separate from the world and not separate unto the Lord and in in Numbers Chapter 6 if you'll turn over there real quick Numbers Chapter 6 want you to look at verse number two numbers chap 6 and verse number two this is the Nazarite bow and it says speak unto the children of Israel and say unto them when either man or woman shall separate themselves to vow a vow a vow of nazare uh to separate themselves unto the Lord look down at verse number five all the days of the vows of his separation there shall no razor come upon

his head until the days be fulfilled in which he separate himself unto the Lord go down to verse number six all the days that he separate himself on to the Lord then down to verse number eight and all the days of Separation he's holy unto the Lord you see we need to understand it's not enough just to separate yourself from the world but you've got to separate yourself unto God I can separate from the world and not separate unto God but I cannot separate unto God and not separate from the world the Bible tells us in 2 Timothy Chapter 2 and verse 22 he says flee also youthful lust but follow righteousness Faith charity peace with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart sometimes we're

so focused on I I can't do this and I can't do that and we're we're working so hard and the things we cannot do is we realize listen if I would focus on what I can do and that's I can follow the lord if I follow after peace and righteousness and the things of God then it's going to be a simple matter to to not to separate from these other things and and so the problem with with Samson was that he focused on the first part instead of the second part to separate from and not just to separate to we need to separate onto the Lord Samson was basically considered is considered a strongest man that ever lived and uh yet he still struggled did he not now I've got here the weight set up in front and

so uh uh brother Ricky has been help me out with his message Samson for quite a while he's let his hair grow out a little bit so he could be our Samson here and and so he's strong and stuff so he's going to come up here and lift these weights for me right now you want to come up here and do that no I'm not going to make you do that but uh uh you know Samson was a strong EST man that ever lived and yet he struggled with sin in his life he could not defeat sin in Romans chapter 7: 18 and 19 the Bible says for I know that in me that is in my flesh dwelleth no good thing for the will is present with me but how to perform that which is good I find not see there's something that we struggle with

as Christians and I call the Samson syndrome the Samson syndrome and the Samson syndrome is this is that we somehow think that I in the flesh can take control of my spiritual life and I can't the Samson syndrome is number one is the attitude well I can handle it see Samson he was so strong he was a judge and he was called of God so he figured he could handle whatever situation he got himself into some tough situations and he could figure he could handle all of them the Bible says in 1 Corinthians 10:12 wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest you fall and when you get to the point in your life that you think you know what I I can handle it I can go into the bar but I won't

drink I I I can go look at this on the internet but I'm not going to do you know get in problems there I I can you know when you start thinking I can handle it you're in the same place Samson was the second problem that Samson had is he thought I'm Different I I I know this can happen to other people but I'm Different Bible says in 1 Corinthians chap 10:3 there no temptation taken you but is common to man but God is faith who will not suffer you be tempted above that you are able but will with the Temptation also make a way to escape that should be able to Bear it you see folks when you start thinking that I'm different and I can handle it and here's the third one it won't happen to me it

won't happen to me in Luke chapter 22 remember where Jesus told Peter you're going to deny me and Peter said no Lord I'll never deny you and what did he do he denied him when you start thinking I'll never do that that that's when you're in trouble and see folks the Samson syndrome and many of us are struggling with that same syndrome is thinking I'm Different I can handle it it won't happen to me Samson was the strongest man that ever lived he was called of God before he was even born he was a judge of Israel and yet look what a mess his life was because he thought I can handle it I'm Different it won't happen to me I don't care how strong you are you're not strong enough to defeat sin and

the devil in your life you see we can't do it in Proverbs chapter 16 verse 18 says Pride goeth Before Destruction a hotty spirit before a fall and what what what Samson struggled with all his life was this Pride I'm big strong guy I'm called of God I'm a judge of Israel and all that Pride caused a lot of his sin it's the pride that thinks that I'm Different I can handle it it won't happen to me it's that Pride that says to somehow that that I I can do it and we can't let me ask you a riddle what is light as a feather yet the strongest person can't hold it for five minutes anybody know your breath I don't care how strong you are try holding your breath and see how long you can hold it you're

not strong enough you see we get this idea that if I was just strong enough I could defeat to sin if I was just strong enough I could fix my marriage if I was just strong enough I could change my life if I was just strong enough Samson was the strongest man that ever lived and look what he did with his life and that's what God wants us to see that's what God wants us to understand see I'm not strong enough Ephesians chapter 6 and verse number 10 says finally my brethren be strong in the Lord and the power of His might you see you've got to learn to conquer yourself before you can try Conquering the world you've got to let God conquer you you got to let God bring it's not my strength it's not

my flesh it's not what I can do but it's what God can do and it's got to be my strength Lord and that's what Samson didn't do until the end of his life the very last thing he says God I can't do this I need you but up to that point he thought he was doing it he thought he could handle it he thought he was different and that's what got him in trouble his pride Proverbs chapter 25 and verse number 28 the Bible says he ha no rule over his own Spirit it is like a is like a city that is broken down and Without Walls see Samson had no rule over himself he he wanted a woman he wouldn't got her he wanted a party he wouldn't party he wanted something he wouldn't took it he he had no rule over himself

there was no controls he did not let the Holy Spirit he had the spirit of God but he did not let the spirit of God control him and that's what got him in trouble see folks we need the spirit of the Lord look at Judges chapter 13 and look at verse number 25 judges 13:25 it says the spirit of the Lord began to move him at times in the camp of Dan between Zora and Estel and if you go down to chapter 4 14 and verse number six it says and the spirit of the Lord came mightily upon him and then go down to chapter uh verse number 19 of chapter 14 there and it says that uh and the spirit of the Lord came upon him and then you go over to to chapter 15 and look at verse number 14 it says when he came

onto Lehi Lehi the Philistines shouted against him and the spirit of the Lord came mightily upon Him folks we got to understand this is what Samson didn't understand even though the spirit of the Lord was working his life he didn't realize that he begin to think it's me and not God he thought he was doing it we need the power we can't do it in our flesh Zechariah 4:6 is not by might nor by power but by but by my spirit sayith the Lord of hosts it's not how strong you are it's not how how big and and and and how tough you are it it is the strength that we find in God and that's the lesson we can learn from Samson it's the spirit versus the Flesh in Galatians chapter 5:1 17 says for the flesh

lust against the spirit and the spirit against the Flesh and these are the contrary the one to the other so that you cannot do the things you would it's this battle that goes on in our lives all the time and it's a battle between the Flesh and the spirit and which is winning that battle if I'm feeding the flesh it's going to continue to win but if I'm feeding the spirit then the spirit of God is going to take control and I need the spirit of God because I can't do this in the flesh because the flesh is weak in Matthew 26:41 the Bible says watch and pray that you enter not into temptation the spirit indeed is willing but the flesh is weak and folks we need to learn to pray and say God I have

on my prayer list I have a section to pray for myself and one of the things I have in there is pray for Temptation because I know I'm susceptible Temptation I got to pray for that and we got to pray because our flesh is weak you think I'll never do that I'll never you know when you start thinking that you're in trouble because the flesh is weak and because the flesh is weak that's why we need to separate we need to separate onto the Lord and the reason we separate from the world is because that's where we get in trouble that's what got Samson in trouble you know he he he went there the first thing that happened after we read about him being born is the next thing we hear is he went into a a

city where the Philistines were and he saw a girl and he went home to his mom and dad said I want to marry that girl had he even talk to her had even met her yet but he went home and said I want to marry that girl was an unsaved girl it was not a believer and he just saw it and said I want that if he was where he should not be folks one of the problems Samson struggled with was women and and problems with immorality and and you got to realize just don't go there in Proverbs 7: 7 and 8 it says and behold among the simple ones I discerned among the youths a young man void of understanding passing through the street near her corner and when he went to went the way to her house see he was in the

wrong place and when you get in the wrong place on the internet you get in the wrong place on on the TV set or you get wrong place with with other people and you get yourself in the wrong place you're going to get yourself into trouble because the flesh is weak oh but Pastor I would never do anything like that I would never cheat on my wife I can handle it I'm Different it won't happen to me but Pastor I I I I I would never take anything I'm Different I can handle it it won't happen to me that's exactly what Samson's attitude was you are not different you are made of the same flesh the rest of us are and yes maybe you're not tempted in this area as much as somebody else would be but you're

just as susceptible in that area in any other area and that's why God says come out from them be separate don't even go there see God didn't want him to drink but he said don't even drink grape juice Don't Touch The Grapes on the vine why because you want to stay as far away from it as you can can talked about this the other week in the message in 1 Corinthians chapter 6 and veres 15-18 we won't go there for time sake but the Bible's very clear that sexual immorality is something that will destroy you it has a unique consequences to it and and and he says listen just don't even go there it just it'll it'll mess up your life and it did Samson but then another area was alcohol they weren't

supposed to drink and PR chap 23 and: 30-35 and again we don't have time to go there but you can look it up later it says don't even look upon the wine while it move itself a right in the glass if I don't look at it I can't drink it he said don't go there don't go to the bar don't go to that section of the store don't don't go there don't don't say well I'm just drinking one glass of wine don't go down that road because the minute you start down that road the flesh will take over and Samson said but I'm Different I can handle it it won't happen to me I mean I'm called of God one of the things they weren't supposed to do is touch the dead body folks if you don't want to touch the dead body

don't go to the graveyard is that simple and that's what Sam person lost sight of see we got this idea all those rules they're just rules and you can't you know they're not rules they're they're helping us to defeat the Flesh and helping us to be controlled by the spirit of God because here's the thing folks you give the flesh an inch and it will become your ruler you get the flesh an inch and it will become your ruler Romans 6:12 let not sin therefore Reign or rule in your mortal body that you should obey the lust thereof and and we need to realize that if I start giving in a little bit here and a little bit there it's not going to stop it's going to keep going it's going to get worse and

worse and worse and that's what Samson did now go over to Colossians chapter 2 I want make something as clear as I possibly can Colossians chapter 2 and verses 20- 22 Colossians chapter 2 veres 20-22 Colossians 2:20 it says wherefore if you be dead with Christ from the rudiments of the world why as though living in the world are you subject to ordinances touch not taste not handle not which are all to perish with using after the Commandments by the doctrine of men which things have indeed a show of wisdom in will worship in humility and neglecting the body not in any honor to the satisfying of the flesh this is what he saying here is more rules aren't going to fix this Samson had a whole

list of rules that he was supposed to abide by did that keep him out of sin did that keep him out of trouble you know just having more rules is not going to fix this you you need to have rules in your life you there you need to have things that guide you in life and help you to make the right choices in life but if you got this idea I just need another Rule and another Rule and another rule another rule you know men that struggle with pornography get this idea if I could just get those controls on my internet you know where you where make doesn't let you go to certain places it'll fix everything it doesn't because this is a spiritual problem you cannot defeat the flesh unless you do it with

the spirit you can't beat the flesh with the Flesh and so just having a whole list of rules you're going to live by isn't going to do it I've seen a lot of Christians I grew up in a church and and and where it was all about rules and I see a lot of guys had more rules than anybody I knew and they they had all these standards they lived by and yet their lives were a mess because they weren't living by the spirit and that was Samson's problem so what are the lessons we can learn from Samson's life let me start out by saying this again I I struggled with why in the world is Samson in God's Hall of Fame you know there's always a controversy of Who belongs in the Hall of Fame is there not every

year they come out with a new people for the Baseball Hall of Fame and the Football Hall of Fame and every year there's at least one of them people say well he didn't really deserve it and they should have had this guy in there instead yeah you you know what I'm talking about there's always some controversy over that and and so now we're going through God's Hall of Fame these are the great Heroes of the faith and we're looking at Noah yeah he's supposed to be there and we're looking at Daniel yeah I understand him and you go down the line you get all these guys but you get to Samson and say what is he doing here it's like putting OJ Simpson up on the wall you know what what is he doing here

it just doesn't make sense but wait a minute God's the one that put him up there so what is it he wants us to see he wants us to see certain things understand that Samson he's not saying Samson was a good guy and he did everything right he was a failure in a lot of ways but he did have a couple things and the first one is this I do believe that Samson believed in God you read through judges you will you will get that feeling right away that he did believe in God and he did believe in God's promises he grew up being told God called you before you even born and God called you and he believed that and lived on those beliefs so he believed in God and he believed in God's promises he just didn't

live for God the way he should okay so the first lesson I learned here is is a Godly Heritage does not make you Godly a Godly Heritage does not make you Godly go to second Timothy 1 and look at verses 5-7 his parent the Samson came from a Godly mom and dad I mean you read the story and these people are God shows them and said here's a couple that that I can use their child and all the rest of it and first in 2 Timothy 1: 15-7 it says when I call to remembrance the unfeigned faith is in thee which dwelt first thy grandmother loest and thy mother Eunice and I persuaded thee also wherefore I put the remembrance thou stir up the gift of God which is in thee by the putting on of my hands for God

ha not given us a spirit of fear but of power and of love and of sound mind so Timothy had a Godly Heritage but Paul said listen I know your mom I know your grandma but I'm persuaded as in you as well just because your mom and your grandma were saved doesn't mean you're saved just because your mom and your grandma were Godly Christians doesn't make you Godly Christian and a Godly Heritage does not make you a Godly person you got to make the choices his mom and dad made choices for him but they weren't Samson's choices see you need to be saved you're not saved because your mom was saved you're not saved because your dad was saved you're not saved because you grew up in a Christian Christian

home turn over Romans chapter 8 Romans chapter 8 and look at verses 9-2 Romans chapter 8 verses 9-2 it says but ye are not in the flesh but in the spirit so be the spirit of God dwell in you now if any man have not the spirit of Christ he is none of his and if Christ be in you the body is dead because of sin but the spirit is life because of righteousness but the spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also Quicken your mortal bodies by his spirit that dwelleth in you so he we see here that you salvation is having the spirit of God if you have the spirit of God you're saved so how do you get the spirit of God in 1 John 5: 12-

13 the Bible says he that hath the son hath life he that hath not the Son of God hath not life these things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the son of God that you may know that you have eternal life and that you may believe on the name of the son of God so the way we can know that we're saved is we have the son if we have the son we have the spirit of God so how do you have the son how do you have Jesus Christ as your savior the the Bible says in Romans chap 10: 9- 10 that if Thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus and sht believe in thine heart that God has raised the dead Thou shalt be saved for with the heart man believeth unto righteousness and with the

mouth confession is made unto salvation Romans 10:13 for whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved so you're saved by calling upon the Lord I'm married because I said I do and my wife said I do we called on each other and you're saved by calling on the Lord as your savior by asking him to come and your heart and your life and to be your savior and to give you eternal life you know what's clear is Samson was not saved by his good works in Ephesians 28:9 it says for by grace are you saved through faith then not of yourselves it's the gift of God not of works let same man should boast and we are not saved by our good works Samson certainly wasn't we're saved by our

relationship with God through Jesus Christ as our savior that you have the son then you have life go over to Second Timothy chapter 3 second Timothy chapter 3 a Godly Heritage doesn't make you saved and a Godly Heritage doesn't make you Godly 2 Timothy chapter 3 beginning with verse number 14 but continue thou in the things which thou has learned and be assured of knowing of whom thou has learned them and that from a child thou has known the holy scriptures which will make thee wise unto salvation through Faith which is in Christ Jesus all scriptures given by inspiration of God as profitable Doctrine for reprove for correction for instruction righteousness the man of God may be perfect

thoroughly furnished onto all good works Timothy you had a great heritage your parents taught you the word of God from the time you were a little child but you've got to live it you've got to make the choices it cannot be your parents' Faith it's got to be your faith it's got to be your dedication to the Lord it can't be the parents dedicated to the Lord we have a baby dedication when babies are born and and it's really a parent dedication to parents are dedicate themselves to live for the Lord and raise that child for the Lord but you know what you've got as a child you've got to make your own decisions your parents can't do it for you so Godly Heritage does not make you Godly another

problem I see in Samson's life is he had no real friends in Judges chapter 14 turn over there if you would Judges chapter 14 listen to what it says this is where you want to pay attention to sometimes in the verses you read says verse 20 but Samson wife was given to His companion whom he had used as a friend folks you can't use friends you need friends and there's a big difference and I think Samson had nobody in his life that was there to hold him accountable nobody that he could open up with and talk about his struggles nobody was there would tell him Samson what you're doing is wrong he was not transparent and honest with anybody and because of that that led down the road to the path he's

in you've got to have people in your life stop using people as your friends and start finding a friend someone that will love you and care about you and will be there for you and even even tell you when you're doing wrong Proverbs 18:24 a man that ha friends must show himself friendly and there is a friend that scking closer than brother a lot of people tell me no I have no friends well start showing yourself friendly there's not a person that shows himself friendly that won't find friends it just works if you're the last one to show up to church the first one to leave you're not going to find friends at church if you never invite them to go out for a cup of coffee or to come over your home

or go out to eat together or to go out to uh the fair together or whatever else it might be you're not going to find friends you got to show yourself friendly and in Hebrews chapter 10:25 it says not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together as the manner of some is but exhorting one another so much the more as see they approaching you got to get out there and make friends but not friends you're going to use but friends that are going to be true friends going to be there for you go to Judges chapter 16 we'll close with this these thoughts here as we finish up is it sounds like Samson's life ended well I mean he made a mess of everything but remember he he you know Delilah kept pushing

him how what's your strength and you tell her bind my hands with this and you know you you wonder what kind of idiot he was it could should have become pretty obvious what she was doing but he didn't figure it out then finally he tells her that if I my head shaved I lose my strength and and that's what happened then he's captured by the Philistines and they poke out his eyes and they made him a slave and and then he they took him they had a party and they brought him there to kind of you know make the you know the have fun with him and everything and make fun of him and they tied him to two pillars remember he prayed God give me strength look at Jud Judges chapter 16 and look at verses 28-30

and Samson called unto the Lord and said oh Lord God remember me I pray thee and strengthen me I pray thee only this once oh God that I may be once once Avenged of the Philistines for my two eyes and Samson took hold of the two middle pillars upon which the house stood and on which it was born up and of the uh the one with his right hand the other with his left and Samson said let me die with the Philistines and he bowed himself with all his might and the house fell upon the Lords and upon all the people that were therein so the dead which were SLE which he slew in his death were more than they which he slew in his life okay so it it ended well but let me ask you a question did it did you

see why he wanted to bring the house down on the Philistines did anybody catch it look again at verse number verse number uh 28 look again there look at the end of verse what does he say there that I may be Avenged of the Philistines from my two eyes still selfish it's about me it would have been good if he just stopped and said Lord I want you to strengthen me so I can do it for Israel so I can do it for you even in the end still selfish folks you get your age get to your life when you about my age or so you start looking back and say look at all the messes I made but the problem is we just keep making messes instead of fixing it Paul said this in 2 Timothy 4 6-8 for I have now ready to be

offered for the time of my departure is at hand I have fought a good fight I have finished my course I have kept the faith henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness which the Lord the righteous judge shall give me at that day and not to me only but unto all them also that love is appearing whatever Point you're at in light let me challenge you whatever mess you've made of your past whatever all the wrong things that you did you have a chance right now to say you know what I'm going to finish well I may not have done things right as a teenager I may not have done things right I may have messed up and did a bunch of sin and and did all these things wrong and all the rest of it but listen right now you have a chance to change from today forward and to end it well so why not take that opportunity