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Amazing Facts

Joe Crews

Samson

Muddered dress of boys and girls has become confusingly alike even though long, long hair on men has become less acceptable and stylish. I'll be back in a moment to talk about a he-man and his hair. Hello, this is Joe Cruz and the Amazing Facts Broadcast, facts which affect you. A ring of admiring teenagers stood around a muscular youth with shoulder-length hair. The young man flexed his rippling muscles and glowed under the adulation of his devoted followers. The year was about 1100 B.C. and the youth was Samson, the most perfect physical specimen since Adam. What does this giant of a strong man have to do with you and me today? Well, let's look into the story for a few moments. I'd like to address myself now especially to the young people, and I have good reason for doing so. You see, this is where the tides of temptation sweep in the strongest. Do you know why? Because young hearts are the battlefield on which Satan is seeking control. If you doubt it, follow the Bible stories from Genesis to Revelation. Read there about the young people God used to influence nations. Oh, we could preach a score of sermons about Joseph, Gideon, Daniel, Esther, and David. Now did these young people meet any problems? Did they have battles to fight? You can be sure they did. But we are going to focus today on one who was raised up for a special purpose. May I point you to a youth who was destined before his birth to be a man of conquest. Who hasn't heard of Samson? Talk about your muscle man. Here he is. But there was a reason for his strength. God had talked to his mother even before Samson's birth. Concerning that one to be born, God said, Behold, thou shalt conceive and bear a son, and now drink no wine, nor strong drink, neither eat any unclean thing. For the child shall be a Nazarite to God from the womb to the day of his death. Judges 13, 7. Now what did all this mean? Well, there were three conditions to being a Nazarite. First, total abstinence from wine and strong drink. Second, no razor was to come on the head. And third, they were not to touch any dead thing, or be defiled with that which typified spiritual death. Samson was destined to save leaderless Israel from the Philistines. Also he was to save Israel from her backsliding. Now remember, they were doing whatever they wanted to do. So no wonder Samson had been set apart for a separated life and a holy life. Every provision had been made to mold him into a great deliverer of his people. His sanctified example was to draw Israel away from their sinful course. And his strength was to be used in throwing off the yoke of the enemy. Now what happened to this young man having such glorious prospects? His story should capture the interest of every youth and adult. Do you know how Satan undermines and destroys a soul? Friend, listen, it never happened suddenly. For many years, Samson was honored among his people and even among the enemy. He was dedicated to the obedience of God's word. He was feared for his great courage in the face of God's call. His name was associated with places where he wrought mightily for God, Gaza, Timnath, Ashkelon, and Hebron. By the way, friends, are there places where your name is remembered because of great victories you won for God? Where you were obedient in the face of some temptation? Where you were willing to submit to some hard task? Now let's ask another crucial question. How could such a consecrated life become desecrated? Doubtless he forgot his vows, but it wasn't easy to do. The first compromise was almost imperceptible, very slight, and easily justified. Future disaster is never seen in the early triflings with God's will. Little disobedience is never thought to be the beginning of some large step of disobedience. Have you made vows to God, friends? In a moment when the Spirit found your heart tender and the will of God seemed very clear, did you vow that God would have His way with you? Did you say, By thy grace from this day on it will be thus and thus? Then what happened? Did the Spirit of God let you down? Did God forsake you? Or did you just find it easy to forget your vow? You know, Samson renounced his vow of separation without knowingly doing it. He never came to a moment when he said, I do here and now renounce this Nazirite vow. The very thought would have shocked him. His renunciation of that vow came gradually, subtly, in a very deceptive manner. I wonder how much pride entered into that picture. Can you visualize that ring of admiring teenagers watching him and those rippling muscles? Is it hard to imagine the effect of all this adulation on the heart of a youth? You see, the town of Zorah was near the country of the Philistines, and Samson came to mingle with them on very friendly terms. He felt no danger in the associations and friendships that he found over there. I suppose he felt like his teenage counterparts today, and he probably said, They are not going to influence me. Yet, friends, those are devil-inspired words. You can't help but be affected by your associates. His godly parents no doubt warned Samson to be careful. They probably told him that he was liable to fall in love with some heathen girl over there. And I can almost hear Samson objecting, Never, never, I'd never do anything like that. But one day he did. His reasoning ability became more and more deadened until his judgment seemed to depart completely. Listen to this demand in Judges 14, 2, And he came up, and told his father and mother, and said, I have seen a woman in Timnath of the daughters of the Philistines. Now therefore get her for me to wife. Ah, you see, there was no reasoning with him at all now. He said, I want this woman, you get her for me. You know, friends, there is an old Puritan saying that goes like this, If you are a child of God, and marry a child of the devil, you can expect trouble from your father-in-law. And for Samson it was bound to come. And did he still seek to justify his course? I am sure he did. Perhaps he reasoned that by associating with them more, he could learn how to defeat the Philistines. And we have all been guilty of justifying our little acts of sin by saying that the motive was good. Samson didn't see himself compromised even as he feasted with the Philistines, and played riddles with them. Yet all the while he was disclosing to them his weakness, not his strength. He actually did stop going into battle with them, unless they stung him with some personal insult, of course. He no longer thought to uphold the glory of God, or to obey the vow he had taken. Remember when he was attacked by that lion? He tore it apart with his bare hands, and left the carcass by the path. Later he passed by, and saw beaves hiving there in that carcass. And despite his Nazarite vow not to touch a dead thing, he didn't hesitate to scoop up that honey. Now he had violated one of the three areas of his vows. Shortly after that, while feasting with the Philistines, he accepted some wine to drink, and broke the second vow. Now both his hands and lips were defiled. And with pity, we see poor Samson striving to serve God, but serving only his own passion and lust, overruled by impulse. Manoah's miserable son was sadly compromised, yet little did he realize it. One lone symbol of his vow remained, and that was the unshorn hair. This symbol, of course, could be seen by everyone, and as far as anybody knew, Samson was completely obedient to his vows. But the inner symbols were no more. Now friends, is this not a common tragedy today? Multitudes retain every outward symbol of consecration, yet every inward sign of separation is gone. Behind the visible appearance of a victorious life, there is often defeat and compromise. Let me remind you that the greatest cause of Samson's downfall was his inclination to philandering and licentiousness. These sins mark the course of destruction for today's teenagers too. Upon this point of powerful emotional appeal, Satan still makes his attacks. No other avenue requires such constant guard and control. In his deadly intent to corrupt the mind and morals, Satan has pulled out all the stops today. He has tried to condition the world to accept promiscuity as perfectly proper. The majority of worldly young people today actually defend fornication as acceptable social conduct. Yes, a mighty inroad has been made into our society, friends, in how dead the conscience can become. Now let's consider how very blinding sin can be. Look at Delilah. Do we have any trouble seeing through her? Absolutely not. But why couldn't Samson see what she was up to? Three times she tricked him and deceived him. But did he take any warning from that? Not at all. Can you understand why? I certainly can't. And finally he yielded to temptation with the very words which spoke of his vile separation. Notice Judges 16, 15-17, And she said unto him, How canst thou say I love thee, when thine heart is not with me? Thou hast mocked me these three times, and hast not told me wherein thy great strength lieth. And it came to pass, when she pressed him daily with her words, and urged him, so that his soul was vexed unto death, that he told her all his heart, and said unto her, There hath not come a razor upon mine head, for I been a Nazarite unto God from my mother's womb. You see, friends, he actually used the same words which had been spoken in taking his vile separation. And, friends, his conscience was absolutely dead. And you know what happened. Immediately they took him, and put out his eyes. Listen, no man is strong against a foe that he secretly admires. Samson was admiring the world of godlessness, and he was taken captive by that world. What is it in the world today, friends, that you secretly admire? Has it already captured your heart? Must you be taken, and play the fool like Samson did? Is it love of the world, perverted reading habits, indulgence of appetite? Oh, friends, and young people especially, let's learn the lesson before it has to be repeated in our own sad experience. God has put us in the world, but the world must not be in us. In not one jot or tittle should we be led to transgress God's law. Now I am confident that Delilah's were not the first unholy hands to toy with Samson's locks. He little realized that one defeat would lead to another, that one compromise would set the stage for the next. A terrible separation occurred, friends, when his consistent consecration had been breached. He was robbed of his strength as he slept on Delilah's knees. Any person is helpless on a compromised position of sin. The secret of strength lies in obedience to God and separation from worldly sins. So Samson was blind. It always happens, of course, when we get away from God. Have you not met persons who were once consistent, careful, and zealous in the things of God, who now sort of smile wistfully and say they don't see the things the way they used to? The Philistines have put out their eyes, friends. After years of being separated, a minister friend and I talked about moral standards. Well, Joe, he said, I don't see it as I did when we were in college together. And I said to myself, no, and I don't see the power in your life and your ministry either. Friends, let me share with you a problem that you may already have faced. It's deciding where maturity ends and compromise begins. How do you know whether you are growing up and getting wiser, or simply leaving behind something you should keep at any cost? My preacher friend looked at me with condescending pity, feeling sorry that I hadn't matured and put some things aside. In his estimation, I wasn't keeping up with the times very well. I don't care what you call this process of compromise, friends, but please don't call it growing up or getting mature. It troubles me that in the name of getting wiser and broad-minded, people so often leave their strength behind, slowly letting in the stain of the world. The day finally comes when almost nothing sacred is left. That's the way it was with Samson. And how dark was the night that closed in around him, whose very name meant sunshine. The lust of his eyes now led to the loss of his eyes, but his blindness led him to something else. He began to see what he didn't see before, the cost of a holy life. He could now gain a freedom that he never knew when he strode into the enemy's territory. How often God must abase us before He can exalt us. As Samson's repentance grew, so did his locks of hair, and with it his strength. We are not told how it happened, but perhaps as he ground away at the mill, his heart turned to God, and with great sobs he confessed his sins. How merciful God is to not let His wandering children have an easy time of it. The way of the transgressor is hard. Well, what a tragic story it was, and the Bible says he didn't know that the Lord had left him. I hope that's not the case with us, friends. I'd like for you to have a copy of today's message because it contains a great warning for all of us. So why don't you write and ask for this message? That's broadcast number 82. And now, this is Joe Cruz saying goodbye for today.

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Samson

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