Take next few wks & look at what the life of Samson can teach us

As we begin in ch. 13 of Judges, Israel had sinned against God and were defeated in wars against the Philistines & came under their rule

Israel was notorious for getting things right with their lives & God & then slipping back into sin, just as we all are

After they were conquered by the Philistines they began to pray for deliverance

& because God loves his children, he began to move in answering their prayers

At the same time a very Godly man & his wife were not able to have children

they served the Lord faithfully but wanted a child & they had prayed for yrs for the Lord to bless them

Theres an old saying, Be careful for what you pray for, you might just get it!

God had already decided to deliver Israel & he heard the prayers of this godly couple to have a child

God puts a plan together, not only was he going to deliver his people, but he would use give this couple a child & use him to deliver Israel

Jud. 13:1-3

Again the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord, and the Lord delivered them into the hand of the Philistines for 40 yrs.

2. now there was a certain man from Zorah of the family of the Danites whose name was Manoah and his wife was barren & had no children

3. And the Angel of the Lord appeared to the woman & said to her, indeed now, you are barren and have borne no children, but you shall conceive and bear a son

God sends an Angel to deliver the news to this couple

now this isn’t just some ordinary angel, this is Jesus, as I told you last Sunday night

in the OT whenever it says “the angel” = Jesus its a pre-incarnate name for Jesus

when it says “an angel” its just your everyday run of the mill spiritual beings!

2^nd he identifies himself as God in vs:11 he says “I AM” which is Gods name

3^rd he says in vs:18 my name is “secret” in Hebrew is interpreted “wonderful which is another title for Christ

clear that Jesus himself brings – message to this couple of having a child

Manoah & his wife knew their prayers had been answered & that they had been touched by God by receiving this wonderful gift

We sometimes forget that children are a gift, not necessarily the child themselves, but the ability of having children is the real gift

theres allot of confusion when it comes to this subject of Gods gift of a child

theres a belief that every child is placed into the mothers womb by God himself

that would make all of us Jesus, because thats what God did for Mary

I don’t know about you, but I’m a far cry from being Jesus

It also doesn’t fit with Gods character either, why would he place a baby that was going to be murdered before their even born?

Or killed in a car accident, or a drug overdose?

Or after their born, their abused or abandoned?

Another problem is: the bible says that we are conceived in sin, so that would make God the author of sin,

or if we were perfect & then placed into our mothers sinful womb, then God would be a very cruel & uncaring of what happens to his little ones

if we were placed in the womb as perfect babies, then we would be born perfect & then our parents would corrupt us

Gen 1:28

and God blessed them and God said unto them, be fruitful & multiply and replenish the earth

God gives Adam & Eve a commandment, that “THEY” were to conceive & multiply & fill the earth with people

the gift that God gave man & women was the ability to have children

but our bodies aren’t perfect & thats why there are times when a child is born handicapped because these bodies fail at times of producing a healthy child

there was only a few special occasions that God supernaturally opened a womb & allowed her to get pregnant but even then it still took her husband

& in the story of Samson, this was one of those times that God had a plan that involved a husband & wife wanting a child

Jud, 13:7

This godly woman was ecstatic, to have her prayer answered

Do you remember the last time you prayed for something specific & it was answered?

I do, I prayed that God would bless me with a great church with great people, and he did.

You’ll notice that God put some stipulations on what she could eat & drink because this boy wasn’t going to be an ordinary boy, he was going to be a priest

God tells her, if your going to be a mom, your going to have to conduct your life in a certain way to be a great influence on your son

Can you imagine God actually expecting a soon to be mom to conduct her life in a way that she would be a good influence on her child??

outlandish

every mom ought to be able to eat what she wants, drink herself into a drunken stupor, act like a immature baboon

& not discipline her children, afterall they raise themselves right??

& ignore God altogether, right?

Its not right, do you realize what God demanded of Samsons mother is the same thing he expects from every mother today

take care of yourself, raise your child with discipline, & lead them to the knowledge of God

But what if the child turns out rotten & I did what God asked me

Then God will honor you for doing what he asked, the child will answer for his own decisions

Jud, 13:24

Samsons mom did raise him right, as he grew up, he did things that pleased the Lord & the Lord blessed him

Armies trembled at the very sight of him, never in history did one man cause entire armies to shake in fear

he tore the gates off a wall at Gaza, he killed a lion bare handed

he made superman look like Pewee Herman

But theres always been a misconception about Samson, most think he was muscle bound like the incredible hulk & I think he really did look like Pewee Herman

Why? Because no one could figure out why he was so strong, even Delilah who was sleeping with him couldn’t figure it out

But thats exactly what made him so scary, a 90 pound weakling that killed a 1000 soldiers with a jawbone of a donkey

remember God has always used the weak things of this world to confuse the strong

Samson had a good home life, he started out well, God was blessing him, but something went wrong

jud 14:1

need I say more?

Its the same old thing, Adam saw a woman, David saw a woman, Jacob saw a woman

looking at women can get you into a whole lot of trouble!!

Samson invited sin to come into his life & he was filled with lust, disobedience, & disgrace

why would this be considered sin? Every red blooded man needs a good woman right?

Heres the problem, go back to 13:5 bottom half of verse

a Nazarite unto God from the womb and he shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines

First of all he was a Jewish priest who is only suppose to marry another Jew

secondly; he was suppose to deliver Israel from the Philistines, not join up!!

won’t there be a conflict of interest if you tell your wife I’m going to war against your family? Be back in a few hours? Love ya!!

14:3

his parents can’t believe what their hearing & ask him can’t you find someone from our own people?

& he says no, I want her and you better get her

this is Samsons first step into sin & his parents must be taken aback at what their son wants

How many parents have had kids that they never had any trouble with all of a sudden get involved with sin & they watched their lives come unraveled?

Bible says in Ex. 20:12 that if children honor their parents that God will give them a long life

we’ll see later that Samson didn’t honor his parents and he dies at a young age

many people wonder why theres so many things wrong in their lives & all they would have to do is go back & remember how disobedient they were to their parents

When parents begin to have the most trouble with their kids is when their kids discover the opposite sex

up until that time, kids rely on their parents wisdom, after they discover Mr or Mrs right, parents are the dumbest people on earth

jud. 14: 7

there are millions of people who have messed up their lives just because they couldn’t live without them

their parents protested but their child wouldn’t listen, & that decision came back to haunt them the rest of their lives

Samson ignored his parents protest & from that moment, his life began a downward spiral that he will never recoup from

we all know some of –the bad decisions we make as a teenager can last a lifetime

If you were to bring Samson up to today, it would go like this:

Samson who was a Christian saw an unsaved girl, she was beautiful but she didn’t believe the gospel

But Samson said, I want her, & she’ll change after we’re married

they get married

yrs later, Samson is just like her instead of her being like him

Samson should have backed off, but his flesh got ignited by the sight of a hot girl

Some of you might remember an evangelist by the name of Bob Harrington otherwise known as the Chaplain of Bourbon st. in New Orleans

he was right down in the thick of where the Mardi Gras was held ministering to the worst of sinners

He preached to huge crowds using his great sense of humor about the love of God

But Bob took sin too lightly & was continually exposed to the most immoral images & drunkenness

Yrs later, Bob lost his ministry & reputation under accusations of drunkenness & sexual perversion

He disappeared from the public

Yrs later an old friend got thinking of him & wondered what ever happened to him

& he began to search for him, it took a long time but finally found him in a skid row motel

Bob was a wreck and was contemplating suicide, he was at the end of his rope when his friend showed up & extended to him the love of Christ

Sal and I had the privilege of seeing Bob Harrington, at a pastors conference at Liberty University as he spoke for just a few minutes

Jerry Falwell & others reached out to him and gave him the help he needed

The Bible is clear that we cannot take fire into our bosom without being burned

Samson took fire into his bosom, & Samson is about to be burned

Every Christian will get burned when we abandon our promise to be separated from the things of this world

We can all probly remember when we were kids doing things that made our parents mad

I never did because I was always the perfect child (I’ve got a beach in the Sahara Desert too!!)

but for those of you who weren’t remember the hurt that you saw in your moms or dads eyes?

Not only do we have earthly fathers, as Christians, we also have a heavenly father

& just like our earthly father, there are times when we hurt our heavenly father when we sin

There are times when we displease our Lord with our disobedience, our indifference & our worldliness

As much as we all would like to please the Lord everyday of the week, the truth is its impossible

& thats why, God covered us with his forgiving blood

We’re humans, weak & sinful & if it wasn’t for the fact that our Father is a God who is full of grace & mercy

we would be absolutely miserable & without hope

But in Jn. 8:29 we find someone who always pleased his father

in everything he did

8:29

And he who sent me is with me, the Father has not left me alone, for I always do those things that please him

From the moment, Jesus was born, he pleased his Father, Jesus always did, said & thought those things that pleased him

Can always see when a child pleases his parents, they smile at him, & say oh what a good boy

it brings their heart joy when the little sinner does something that pleases them

& they are little sinners, just a fact, we are all born in sin & need a Savior, you never have to teach a kid how to throw a fit, hit their brother, lie or steal, it comes naturally

But there are times when our kids do bring us a great amount of joy

same thing was true when God the Father looked at Jesus, he brought his heart joy, but there was a difference, Jesus wasn’t a little sinner

Although he was in human form, he was still the sinless perfect God

Children should bring us joy most of the time,

if its a nightmare, then those parents better take a look at what their doing wrong & fix it

On occasion I’ve wondered what it must have been like to be around Jesus as he grew up

did he ever get an attitude & roll his eyes, did he talk back, did he ever get a spanking

did he ever get into an argument with his brothers or sisters

Or was he well behaved, respectful & helpful

When Joseph was building something did he have to tell Jesus what length to cut a board or did Jesus just hand him the perfect cut board without him ever asking?

From his birth to the age of 12 we don’t know anything about his growing up,

we don’t hear of anything until he is in the temple teaching when his folks thought he was in the caravan with them

the reason why we don’t know anything about his growing up is because God wanted us to focus on him as the Savior not a child

Luke, 2:46

now so it was that after three days they found him in the temple sitting in the mist of the teachers both listening to them & asking them questions

47; and all who heard him were astonished at his understanding and answers

The teachers were the rabbis, & here Jesus is engaging them in theological discussion

he wasn’t lecturing them or being argumentative but rather picking their brains & beliefs

I don’t know about you but when I was 12, I was picking my nose not the brains of scholars

but even at the age of 12, Jesus knew that God had commissioned him to accomplish certain tasks on this earth & the first one was to find out what the leaders were teaching the people

Why would God care about what they were teaching?

Because how the leadership teaches will determine the direction of a nation

When Joseph & Mary questioned Jesus of his whereabouts, Jesus tells them that he had to be doing his Fathers business

so its clear Jesus was obeying his Father & going to the leaders of Israel to discuss the Word of God

Same is true for our nation, whats been taught in our schools for the past 20 years has changed the direction of our nation

the acceptance of homosexuality, living together, abortion, socialism, global warming, have all been taught in our schools & universities and are being accepted into our beliefs

and it is changing the direction & the very foundation of our nation

& sadly its moving away from God, and our churches are in danger of either change to their beliefs or be closed

Sooner or later & later may be too late, but Christians have to wake up to the fact that there are forces at work with-in our leadership to stop gospel preaching churches and conservatives

This past wk. I heard some very disturbing news about things that our government wants to do & have done

1^st they approved GPS tracking devises that can be put on any U.S. Citizens car to track you without your knowledge & without a warrant

2^nd they want to be able to easedrop on your computer & track every site that you go to

3^rd Federal gov. just bought 500 vans that have a x-ray type of technology that can see through your house & see everything your doing

no one can seem to get any answers not even congressmen of why the Federal government is engaging into spying on its citizens

In a speech given by Obama last weekend, he stated that the tea party movement along with other freedom type organizations such as right wing religious groups

are being funded by secret groups that are nothing more than “enemies of the state”

Tea Party & fundamental Christians are being singled out

in a political ad by Alan Greyson who is running for an office in Florida said that

We have soldiers who are fighting extreme fundamental religious fanatics in Afghanistan who wish enslave its citizens

We are fighting I same extreme fundamental religious fanatics in America also, Women must submit to their husbands

Isn’t this the same extremism that we are fighting in foreign lands for freedom?

I want you to think about something, we have a government that wants to track & spy on the movement of its citizens

we have leadership that is publicly attacking Fundamental Christians in America

I believe all of this is leading to great suffering of Christians

Bible says that in the last days of the church persecution will be poured out on Gods Children

& it will escalate to the point where the entire world will gather its armies and attempt to fight against Christ himself at the battle of Armageddon

Which brings us back to our question: Why does God allow his children to suffer?

Is. 53: 2-10

First of all it tells us in these verses that Jesus suffered for us

Our God didn’t have to suffer at the hands of his creation, but he choose to do so

& if you & I are going to be like Christ, then you & I are going to suffer

I Pet. 2:21

For even hereunto were ye called, because Christ suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps

Jesus was willing to suffer for us because he cared about us

I Cor. 12: 25-26

That there should be no division in the body, but that the members should have the same care one for another

And whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it, or one member be honored all the members rejoice with it

do you understand?

God allows us to suffer so that we will care for Christ and for each other

When people suffer together, it draws them together & strengthens their faith

But Pastor, your out of it, preachers say Jesus only wants you healthy, happy & prosperous

I don’t know what version of a Disney movie their preaching from

but my version which was written by God and Gods Word says that his people will suffer in this world

He says becoming a Christian will invite not only suffering, but hatred & insults

It will bring attacks not only from the world but also from religious people

So why get saved, why join up with a group that expects hardships & suffering?

I’d rather have the T.V. Jesus

Because of what the Jesus of the Bible says he will do for those who will suffer for righteousness sake

Revelation 21: 1-7

Thats the Sovereignty of God, though we suffer in this world, someday when we’re with Jesus, the suffering is over for eternity

suffering for Jesus is worth it

Last Sunday night we had quite the discussion, and it was a good discussion, and I think Carolyn summed it all up very well after the service

She said I think this was needed, a time for people to get some things off their chest

It really did show me how much passion all of you have for our country and how all of us are concerned about our future

Our discussion led me to this weeks message – Sovereignty of God, who’s in control?

easiest explanation is “God is the supreme ruler over all things”

Although we are free moral agents which = we can choose to do anything we like, we are still subject to Gods sovereign will & purposes

everything is subject to his judgment because he is ultimately in control although he often chooses to work indirectly through others

illustration; even Satan cannot oppose the work of God unless God permits it. Before Satan could attack Job, he had to first ask God for permission

this should give every believer comfort in knowing that God is in control of every circumstance that you & I find ourselves in, be it good or bad

But Gods sovereignty has gotten attacked violently lately by man

Every-time some horrific natural disaster occurs, God gets blamed

If nut jobs crash into buildings killing thousands, God gets the blame

If you or a loved one gets news that you have cancer, it never fails some well intentioned person will say

God is sovereign and all of this is for your good

Lets get honest, the last thing you want to hear when someone is perhaps facing death is God is in control and that he’s allowed this to happen to you

Those words cuts you like a knife, I’m suppose to believe this is from God and its for my good?

This week when the doctors office called & said that I’ve got Arthritis in my spine, all kinds of things went through my mind

Horrific pain as I get older, I don’t know about you, but I don’t like pain

it hurts me so!!!

But if God is in control, & I’m facing an unknown future of pain that he gave me

then I must conclude that God is sometimes good & at other times cruel

so I can’t trust him

& if I didn’t know or understand – sovereignty of God, that is exactly what I would believe

& sadly, thats exactly how many people view God

Isaiah. 45

Lets first start out with a foundational truth

Gods sovereignty is scary at times, but only because he is so much “not like us”

What man has attempted to do is reduce God down to our level or to some heavenly pal,

someone just like me but who has the potential of being my magic rabbits foot when I’m in trouble

If I was like some people when I learned that I got arthritis, I would have yelled at God and blame him for doing this to me and then demand a miracle to be healed

But thats not Gods sovereignty, theres no way we can figure out God, he actually directs people, history & events

Did God allow me to get arthritis, did he allow you to get arthritis, perhaps cancer, or a tumor?

Absolutely he did

But he doesn’t ask us for our permission, nor does he explain everything he chooses to do,

but this I do know for a fact, this entire world, my life and yours, is in his control

Do you realize how small our God would be, if he needed to explain himself or if he made mistakes, if God allows good & bad in my life, he is still God

In Vs:1 of Is 45 it says Thus saith the Lord to his anointed, to Cyrus whose right hand I have holden

Cyrus was king of Persia who was probably was an unbeliever but God raised him up to use him for his purposes

it says God holds his hand

God will hold the hand of the unbeliever as well as the believer in order to accomplish his will

Vs;2 I will go before thee

You and I will never go into a time of suffering without God preparing the way

He holds our hand & leads us into our times of trials

Vs;3 I will give thee treasures

When we trust God and walk by faith we will receive Gods care & blessings

Vs:4

I have called thee

God knows who you are, he knows you by your name & it is he who calls you into the good and into the bad times

Vs:5

I am the Lord

Vs;7

I form the light and create darkness, I make peace and create evil, I the Lord do all these things

We serve the Lord who is all powerful, never makes a mistake and has everything in this created universe under control

Word sovereignty = “independent” = he needs no one

that also means: God is ruler of all

God answers to no one

God can accomplish whatever he wants, whenever he wants

We only see things in the here & now, but God sees things from historys beginning to its end

& no obstacle or adversary can hinder his plan from happening

God is afraid of nothing, he is ignorant of nothing, he needs nothing and he always knows whats best

Sovereignty = its all his, & nothing can stop what he has planned

God gets what he wants, his way, in his time, everytime

& thats why we who are his children need to trust him, place our faith completely in him & bend our knee in worship of him

Think about this:

Look at the government that we have today, they say they are so wise & that they know whats best for us

They say we can trust them because they have all the answers

Folks, if God wasn’t in control, the world would have destroyed itself years ago

Go back to vs:1 Thus says the Lord to Cyrus his anointed

When Isaiah wrote this portion of scripture the Babylonian empire covered Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Turkey & a few others

Nebuchadnezzer the king of Babylon, invaded Jerusalem conquering the people & destroying the temple

after him there were 3 more kings, Darius, Belshazzar & Nabonidus who continued to keep the Jews in bondage

But then a new king in 539 BC came into power by the name of Cyrus

Who announced that he was their new king & things were going to be different

he released – captive Jews & they returned to Jerusalem

Is 61:1

The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek, he hath sent me to bind up the broken hearted to proclaim liberty to the captives and the opening of the prison to them that are bound.

If Cyrus had not released the Jews, Israel would not exist today

Fact is, – entrance of Jesus Christ into our world hinged on this pagan king to allow the Jews to re-establish their nation

As far as we know, Cyrus didn’t love God in any way, but God used him for his purpose & thats why God called him his anointed

Do you understand that our God is so sovereign & so entirely in control that he can use someone who hates him or loves him to do his will

I want you to understand something else, When Isaiah wrote about Cyrus, he wouldn’t be born for another 150 yrs

No one except God could have wrote down the very name of the earthly king who he was going to use to release his people

Dan. 10:1

In the third yr of Cyrus king of Persia a thing was revealed unto Daniel

Imagine for a moment that you are Daniel, and you got your coffee & your reading your scroll of Isaiah and it says God is going to use Cyrus to release the Jews

And Cyrus is alive & is your king!?

next week your having your coffee & reading the newspaper & the headlines are Cyrus releases the Jews

you’d spit out your coffee!!!

What was written 150 yrs earlier, you just witnessed it happening

You’ll remember way back in Gen. 32 Jacob was wrestling with an Angel who was Jesus

& after their wrestling match Jesus called him Israel & told him that the nation of Israel would always exist

Look how many have tried to destroy Israel & yet they continue, if God wasn’t sovereign Israel would have been destroyed centuries ago

but God is the one who established Israel

is 45

Newt Gingrich summed up the upcoming elections better than anyone:

If you want food stamps, vote Democrat

If you want a job and provide for yourself, vote Republican

We all know right now the road we’re on is leading to a dead end,

But I say, unless this country comes back to Jesus Christ, his Holy Word and conservatism, our future as a country isn’t very bright regardless of who you vote for.

A Republican vote may slow down our downfall,  and a Democratic vote will speed our demise up like a rocket into a wall, but the ending is still the same.

God told us in Deuteronomy that the only hope for a backslidden nation is to humble itself and call out to God who can heal our land.

But your vote will determine at least for now, slavery to our government or freedom

its our choice