Address—P. Glading
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I'm going to test your patience this afternoon. I'm going to turn to quite a few scriptures, so I trust you'll bear with me. First one is in Deuteronomy.
The 4th chapter, Deuteronomy chapter 4 and verse 37. And because he loved thy fathers, he chose their seed after them, and brought thee out in his sight, with his mighty power out of Egypt.
To drive out nations from before the greater and mightier than thou art to bring thee in.
To give thee their land for an inheritance as it is this day.
Know therefore this day and consider it in thine heart.
That the Lord He is God in heaven above.
And upon the earth beneath, there is none else.
We find here the Children of Israel were brought out of Egypt.
By the might and power of Jehovah.
They had no power in themselves, no strength whatever to deliver themselves, and so they were dependent upon the strength and power of another. Now you turn to First Samuel 17, First Samuel 17, and verse.
45.
Then said David to the Philistine, Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear and with a shield, but I come to thee in the name of the Lord of Hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied.
This day when the Lord deliver thee into mine hand, and I will smite thee and take thine head from thee.
Give the carcasses of the host of the Philistines this day unto the fowls of the air, and to the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel.
And all this assembly shall know that the Lord saveth not with sword and spear, for the battle is the Lord's, and he will give you into our hands.
Here we find that David Amir Stripling, unused to war, takes a simple sling and five smooth stones.
And he goes forth in simple faith in God, nothing doubting to meet Goliath of Gath, and with one of those stones.
He lays low the one who has for days defied the armies of Israel.
This was not done in his strength either. Now if you turn to Zechariah chapter 4, the 4th chapter of Zechariah and verse 6.
Then he answered, and spake unto me, saying, This is the word of the Lord unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might.
Nor thy power, but by my spirit, saith the Lord of hosts. Who art thou, O great mountain?
Before Zerubbabel thou shalt become a plain, and he shall bring forth.
The headstone thereof, with shoutings, crying grace, grace unto it.
Here we find Zerubbabel, the leader of the captives who returned from Babylon.
Undertakes a gigantic task of building the House of the Lord amidst much opposition from friend and foe.
And he hears these wonderful words from the Lord, not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the Lord of hosts. Now just a verse in Philippians four, 4th chapter. Philippians.
Philippians 4 and verse 13.
Words of the Apostle Paul.
I can do all things through Christ.
Which strengtheneth me.
Now will you please turn?
Through the book of Judges, we would like to look a little at the birth and life of Samson, the book of Judges, and I believe it's the 13th chapter, 13th chapter of Judges. And the children of Israel did evil again in the sight of the Lord, and the Lord delivered them into the hand of the Philistines 40 years. And there is a certain man.
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Zora Zora of the family of the day Knights, whose name was Manoa. And his wife was barren, and bear not. And the Angel of the Lord appeared unto the woman, and said unto her, Behold, now thou art barren, and bearest not, but thou shalt conceive and bear a son.
Now therefore, beware, I pray thee, and drink not wine nor strong drink.
And eat not any unclean thing, 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. Then the woman came and told her husband, saying, A man of God came unto me, and his countenance was like the countenance of an Angel of God, very terrible. But I asked him not whence.
He was neither told he mean his name, but he said unto me, Behold, thou shalt conceive.
And bear a son. And now drink no wine or 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.
And verse 24.
And the woman bear a son and call his name Samson.
And 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 between Sora and Eshtel.
We find here that Samson.
Owed his birth, not to the ordinary course of nature, but to a special intervention of God against all the accepted laws of nature.
This child was promised and the time came when the child was born.
And this child wants to be a Nazarite from the womb to the day of his death.
And it might be very interesting to notice some of the characteristics of the Nazarite in number six chapter of Numbers.
And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them.
When either man or woman shall separate themselves to thou, thou the Nazarite, to separate themselves unto the Lord.
He shall separate himself from wine and strong drink, and shall drink no vinegar of wine or vinegar of strong drink. Neither shall he drink any liquor of grapes, nor eat moist grapes or dried.
All the days of his separation shall eat nothing that is made of the vine tree, from the kernels even to the husk. All the days of the valve, his separation there shall no razor come upon his head.
Until the days be fulfilled, in which he separated himself unto the Lord.
He shall be holy.
And shall let the locks of the hair of his head grow.
All the days that he separated himself under the Lord, he shall come at no dead body.
He shall not make himself unclean for his father or for his mother, for his brother or for his sister when they die.
Because the consecration of his God is upon his head.
All the days of his separation he is holy unto the Lord.
Now we find there are three conditions at least that the Nazarite had to observe and fulfill.
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In the third verse you notice he shall separate himself from wine and strong drink.
And should drink no vinegar, wine or vinegar of strong drink, Neither should he drink any liquor of grapes, nor eat moist grapes or dried.
This sets forth, I believe for the believer, complete separation from the things of Earth. And this is most important for us all, isn't it? Complete separation from the things of Earth.
The blessed Lord is spoken of as a root out of a dry ground.
I believe we might suggest this means that He drew nothing from this earth which contributed to his strength or his joy. It all came from above.
And so we find here then, the Nazarite was to separate himself from these things connected with the vine and the earth.
I wonder if you and I have done that yet?
Are we truly separated ourselves from the things which would tend to defile us?
Or how important it is.
This world is a defiling scene.
And you and I, through God's grace, need to walk in separation from it the things of earth.
The things that we see around and handle every day are soon going to pass away.
And most of the things that we see around us.
Have a defiling influence upon us.
And so as children of God, we do need by the grace of God, to separate ourselves from the things of earth. This was one of the conditions the Nazarite had to observe and fulfill. And then in verse five it says all the days of the vow of his separation. There shall no razor come upon his head.
Until the days be fulfilled.
This, I take it to mean it was a confession of his Nazarite ship. It was a confession of this. He was to wear his hair long. This was something that all could see.
And in the 11Th chapter of First Corinthians we are told that if a man has long hair, it is a shame unto him.
So the long hair the Nazarite would undoubtedly bring reproach upon the one concern.
And so we find here no razor shall come upon his head.
And in the long hair of the Nazarite we see a symbol of subjection and humiliation.
And I believe these are the grace of that you and I must exhibit to those around.
And if we do, they will constitute a testimony more striking than the long haired, the Nazarite.
People will be able to see that we have been with Jesus and have learned of him.
So here's another very important thing, isn't it? A razor was not to come upon his head.
And then we find in verses 6:00 and 7:00.
All the days that he separated himself unto the Lord, he shall come at no dead body. He shall not make himself unclean for his father or mother.
He was not to touch any dead body.
Not even for father or mother, or for the dearest object of his heart.
This scene is stamped with death. Everything is going to pass away.
And so there he was, not to touch anything which was dead.
And this world is under the condemnation of God, and will soon come under His judgment.
But our citizenship is in heaven, from whence we look for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.
So then, here we have three simple, may I say conditions which the Nazarite should observe and fulfill.
And I suppose these three things too should apply to us.
First of all, you and I, beloved, should be separated from the world. Or how important this is because you know as well as I do the world is creeping in in many cases.
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And grieving into many hearts and homes.
All God granted and may not come into your heart or mine, into your home or mine.
Or how we need beloved, to keep the world out. This world, as we have been reminded, is stamped stain with the precious blood of Christ, the Lord Jesus. This world is responsible for the rejection of the Son of God and His truth affection.
I was thinking this morning.
Who had touched my heart to think of it? It's recorded in John 10, where the blessed Lord could say, Therefore doth my Father love me because I lay down my life?
This proves to us that it was of his own voluntary will he lay down his life and sacrifice for sin.
And it was indeed a sacrifice and an offering of a sweet smelling savour.
The burnt offering aspect He yielded himself after God his Father.
In order that you and I might be saved and eternally blessed. But then I thought of that verse in Luke 23 where it says, And they came to the place which is called Calvary, and there they crucified him.
But how precious to realize that Blessed One He was not only crucified by the hands of wicked men.
That he laid down his life.
A sacrifice for sin.
Of his own voluntary will, he says, Therefore doth my father love me.
Because I lay down my life, I have power to lay it down. I have power to take it again.
How precious the following words are. No man taketh it from me.
All beloved waterproof that it was of his own will he laid it down. No man taketh it from me.
Or how it shows thee the wonders of the love of His heart toward His Father, in loving obedience to do the Father's will, and in love to us, that we might be brought to God, but we might be eternally saved and eternally blessed, that we might be with Him up there in the glory for all eternity.
Oh, what a cost to himself in order to affect this for us.
Where we find then here we have these three conditions.
And this type, you know, had its perfect fulfillment in the Lord Jesus Christ himself. That Blessed One affirmed is written. He was holy.
Harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, whole in his nature, harmless in his character, undefiled in his war.
Separate in his association the man Christ Jesus.
And God would say to you and me, Behold, my servant, mine elect, who my soul delighted.
Or how precious to know such a blessed person as the Lord Jesus Christ, to have him as our own Lord and Savior and our Redeemer, the one who loved us and gave himself for us. And now my return back to.
Judges again for a minute.
For more than a minute in the 24 first of the 13th of judges.
On the 25th verse we read there that the the woman bear a son and called his name Samson, and the child grew on. The Lord blessed him, and the Spirit of the Lord began to move him. At times we find in the Old Testament that the Spirit of God moved.
People at times, but they were not indwelt by the Spirit of God as we.
As believers are today.
No, the Spirit of God moved them at times.
And so we find here, it says the Spirit of the Lord began to move him at times in the camp of Dan. Now let us look at a few verses to see what Samson did, to see how this mighty power was manifested in and through him. If you read the fifth verse of chapter 14.
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It says then when Samson down, this was after the Spirit of the Lord began to move him.
And his father and his mother should timnap and came to the vineyards of Timnath.
And behold, a young lion roared against him, and the spirit of the Lord came mightily upon him, and he rent him the lion, as he would have rent a kid, and he had nothing in his hand.
What a wonderful display of power we see here.
But we noticed that in the cases we read before of others.
Children of Israel being delivered and.
David killing the giant and Zerubbabel.
That was not their own power that accomplished these wonderful, amazing feats.
Now is the power of another working in and through them.
And we find, as we read on, that the Samson strength puzzled the Philistines to a great degree.
So much so that they are prepared to pay a great sum of money to find out the secret.
You'll find it in the. I think it's the.
16th chapter. We look at it soon.
And it's quite clear to see that Samson was not a strong man normally.
And yet here he is.
In this vineyard of Timnath, facing a lion, a young lion roared at him. What did he do? Did he run away? No.
It says the spirit of the Lord came mightily upon him, and he rent him the lion, as he would have rent a kid.
He had nothing in his hand. What a mighty display of power, but it was not his. It was the power of another working in and through him.
And the Philistines didn't seem to realize that they thought he was an abnormally strong man and they wanted to find out the secret.
Well, here then, he caught this lion.
And kill it.
I'm a lion, I suppose would speak of the power of the enemy. Fetus speaks of Satan as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.
And it reminds me of two cases in scripture where a lion is mentioned in the 13th chapter of the first book of Kings. It speaks there the man of God.
Mentioned in the chapter I believe 15 times as the man of God.
And we find as we read the chapter that victories were given to him.
Simply because of his obedience to the word of the Lord.
But the time came the latter end of the chapter, we find that he became disobedient to the word of the Lord, and he listened to the voice of a lying prophet. And what happened to him when he left the prophets home? It says a lion met him by the way. And how did he meet the lion? It says, And the lion slew him.
What a sad picture. We do not find that here.
Now the Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon Samson. He was a Nazarite, a separated 1 And so there was a demonstration of the power of the Spirit in and through him. But this man of God in 13th chapter first Kings, he was a disobedient man of God.
And the Lion slew him.
And the sad thing is, it says, and men pass by and saw the carcass. What a sad thing for the world to witness the sad results of disobedience.
But there's another lion mentioned in Second Timothy chapter four. We might just turn to it.
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In connection with the beloved Apostle and chapter 4.
The end of verse 17 and I was delivered.
Out of the mouth of the lion.
Here was one in whom the Spirit of God was working too.
I'm sure the Apostle Paul ever sought to walk in obedience to the Lord and in separation from that which would ruin his testimony and rob him of that spiritual strength which he needed.
And beloved Saints of God, you and I need to be careful too.
That we do not allow things to come into our lives which would rob us of the spiritual strength which we need.
And if you and I are going to enjoy or seek to enjoy the things of the world?
We're going to Safa spiritually, the Lord is going to be dishonored, and your power and mine as witnesses for Christ will fail.
Here we find a beloved parcel Apostle was delivered out of the mouth of the lion.
Good to see the contrast.
I'm not saying it was a literal lion here, but anyway it would speak of the lion character of the devil I believe.
And so we find in this 14th of Judges verse five, that Samson killed this lion he rented as he would have killed. Just imagine. I wonder how we would feel if a young lion warned at us out of a vineyard. I guess we'd pay to our heels. But he didn't. There was a power there working in him.
The power of God by the Spirit.
And he could face even a lion shake it, and rendered with nothing in his hand. How wonderful. Now he turned to verse 19 of the 14th chapter. And the Spirit of the Lord came upon him.
So another occasion and he went down to Ashkelon and slew 30 men of them. Another wonderful exhibition of power.
He slew 30 of them, took their spoil, and gave changes of garments unto them, which expanded the Riddle. Now the 15th chapter, verse four. And Samson went and caught 300 foxes. Have you ever tried to catch a fox?
Find you a job. Wouldn't it be pretty difficult? I never have. I don't think I could run hard enough to catch one. But here was Samson.
How was he able to catch 300 foxes? It says the spirit of the Lord came upon him.
There was a power there outside of himself. He caught 300 boxes. Just imagine.
And now if you turn to the.
The 15th verse, Fourteenth verse rather the same chapter.
And when he came unto Lehigh, the Philistine shouted against him, and the spirit of the Lord came mightily upon him, and the cords that were upon his arms became his flax. It was burnt with fire, and his bands loose from off his hands. And he found a new jawbone of an *** and footballed his hand, and took it, and slew 1000 men therewith. Just imagine.
The jawbone of an athlete. Slew of thousand men. Another wonderful demonstration of.
God's mighty power drew Samson.
And now the 16th chapter in verse 3.
And Samson late till midnight, and arose at midnight, and took the doors of the gate of the city.
And the two posts, and went away with them, bar and all, and put them upon his shoulders, and carried them up to the top of an hill that is before Hebron.
What a wonderful feat this was to take that gate and bars and everything and carry them to the top of a hill.
So we find then that all these.
Characters we have been reading of.
Were delivered from enemies stronger and mightier than themselves.
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And were given victories.
Which would be impossible for them to gain by the.
Ordinary strength of the flesh. And so then it was a demonstration of the work of the Spirit of God.
In and through them, he gave deliverance from enemies greater than themselves.
How wonderful.
And you know, we too have been delivered from enemies greater and more.
More mighty than ourselves, we have been delivered.
From the power of sin, we as believers.
And there we've been delivered from the judgment to come.
What a wonderful deliverance.
And from the ******* of sin, from death and hell.
You and I, as believers, have been delivered from these terrible enemies.
How wonderful how we should thank God for it.
We have not only been saved out of these things.
But we've been brought into a wonderful sphere of blessing, and all these blessings we read are our brother read his son this morning, and there are many more. All these blessings which we have are ours and more too, as a result.
Of the work of another for us. Another power has been working for us at Calvary, the Lord Jesus Christ.
All, beloved, how precious is the sacrifice of Christ? How precious is the Lord Himself? How precious is his work? And it's a perfect work, a work which is glorified his Father, a work which has brought us who believe to God.
Waters into a place of eternal blessing and eternal relationship too. How wonderful our blessings are, and they are all through another.
Not because of who or what we are, but because of who He is and what He has done for us on the cross of Calvary.
At such a tremendous cost to himself.
And now we find that as we read down this 16th chapter.
We'll just look at a few verses.
It says, and it came to pass, verse four, that he, Samson, loved a woman in the valley of Sorek whose name was Delilah.
And the Lords of the Philistines came up unto her, and said unto her, Entice him, entice him.
And see wherein his great strength lieth.
Now the Philistines wanted to know.
Where his strength was.
What constituted this great and mighty strength? And so they said to Delilah.
Entice him. Have you ever been enticed? I'm sure you have. So have I. What am I to do? What are you to do when you are enticed?
1St Chapter Promise we read when if sinners entice thee, consent thou not. This woman was a Sinner.
And she's the Philistine said to her, You and Taisha husband.
Yet out of him where his great strength lies, so that we can afflict him and rob him of that strength.
Dear friends, as Satan enticed you, he may be seeking to entice some of us here right now.
What a solemn thing. How are we going to meet him?
Well, our brother read the verse to us or quoted it yesterday in James 4.
Resist the devil and he will flee from you.
We are not told to flee from him.
There says we'd resist him.
And my brother too, reminded us of what came before that. Submit yourselves.
When I read the verse that I do not misquote at James four and I think it's verse 17, verse seven. I'm sorry. Submit yourselves therefore to God that comes before. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. But I was also struck with what comes after that. The next verse it says draw nigh to God.
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That's the source of strength. Draw nigh to God.
And unless you and I do this, beloved friends and Saints of God, we will not be in a position to resist the devil. We must draw nigh to God. We must.
Submit ourselves to Him, too, for His keeping, care and grace, and His strength. Draw nigh to God. How important.
Before we attempt to resist the devil.
We are safe in His presence.
Or indeed we are. Or how precious it is that we can draw near to Him when we are enticed or tempted or tested, and find that He is ever ready to hear us and to help us, and to deliver too, according to His own.
Will and wisdom.
Where we find then that the Philistines said to her, entice him, and see wherein his great strength life. So then, dear young people, if sinners.
Should entice you.
Consent thou not.
You will be enticed people of the world. You will, perhaps you will have worldly companions, you dear young people.
They will seek to entice you away from the Lord to walk in their palm.
To follow them, to have fellowship with them and their things in their pursuits.
What are you to do? I had to submit to them. No, submit to God.
What does he say about it? He says and are not in the path of the wicked.
Go not in the way of evil men turn promised. If sin is enticed, thee consent, though not so. How precious that we have the word of God for these things. And there is a danger of being enticed, perhaps more so the dear young ones, They have their difficulties, and we realize it, and we feel for you in your difficulties.
But when you are enticed, remember that scripture in the first of Proverbs.
If Sinners and Tyson consent thou not, may we just turn to that because there's another versatile I'd like to mention.
Proverbs one. It's so important.
10 the one we've just quoted and part of verse 11 if they say come with us.
What am I to do? What are you to do if a world then comes up to you and say come with us?
What am I to do well?
Verse 15 My son, walk not thou in the way with them. That's the answer to it. Walk not thou in the way with them.
Refrain thy foot from their path, for their feet run to evil maintains to shed blood. So how good that we have this instruction for the pathway.
When we are enticed either by the whirling or by Satan, we have the remedy. God has provided the remedy. And you know we were just mentioning that in the Old Testament times the Spirit of God moved these different ones at different times.
But now you and I as a believer, we are born of the Spirit, we are sealed with the Spirit, we are indwelt with the Holy Spirit. So then there is the same source of power in us as that which was upon Samson.
How wonderful and precious it is. How good it is.
The strength is not ours, the power is not ours. We are very weak.
About.
You remember what we read about the Apostle Paul. He says I can do all things. He doesn't stop there. There's no boasting, he says through Christ.
Which strengtheneth me.
Well now in verse 6 and Delilah said to Samson, now she comes to her husband.
Tell me, I pray thee, wherein thy great strength mire, and wherewith thou mightest be bound to afflict thee.
And Samson tells of these ridiculous things.
That she should do. They are ridiculous, really, for the man with such power, the power of another operating in and through him. And we find that the things that he suggested, why he was just able to deliver himself from them all when the Philistines came up.
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But she says here later on in verse fifteen, 16th chapter, she finally said unto him, How canst thou say, I love thee?
When thine heart is not with me, thou hast mocked me these three times.
Dear young Believer.
May I take these words and them present them to you as believers?
As the voice of God to you.
How canst thou say I love thee?
I'm just presenting them now as the word of the voice of the Lord to you, to you as a young believer, you dear young believer who sat here this morning and perhaps did not partake of those emblems, perhaps did not remember the Lord in his death.
My present these words to you, how can as if they were from the law to your very heart, How canst thou say, I love thee?
When thine heart is not with me, I do believe that if your heart is with Christ.
You would have that desire in your heart to respond to His loving desire.
To remember him and his death. Dear young believer, think about it, How canst thou say I love thee when thine heart is not with me?
Because if you have not responded to the desire of our blessed Lord as a true child of God, how can you say you love him?
Approve of your love is told out in obedience.
To the Lord, our brother was saying just now, we need to acknowledge the lordship of Christ. Oh, how important that is. Not merely to say Jesus is my Savior, that's precious too, but to acknowledge Him as my Lord, the Lordship of Christ. He has authority over me. He has a right to say this and that to me, and I have a right to listen and to obey Him.
But what did you do this morning, dear child of God, dear young brother, dear young sister, did you respond to the heart of the Lord Jesus Christ? You say I didn't get a chance.
Well, what are you going to do about it in future if the Lord should leave you here?
And I wish to press these words home to your dear young heart. How can as if the Lord is saying to you, how can stand say, I love thee?
When thine heart is not with me.
I'm not saying applying the rest of the verse Thou hast mocked me. That has nothing to do with this.
You have marked the Lord, I'm sure that.
But you've disappointed him. If you haven't responded to his own loving hearts request, you've disappointed him, you've grieved his loving heart, and you've robbed yourself of much joy.
And much blessing. Oh beloved, what a privilege we had this morning.
With a sense of the blessed Lord and our very midst, and the privilege of responding to His desire once more than this may be the last occasion.
And you, dear young believer, who has disappointed him, who has neglected to respond to his desire.
Or what a grief it should be to your heart. It's a sorrow to the Lords heart. You know. It isn't for me to tell you to do that. It's the Lord asking you to do it. The Lord, as we have had before us during the readings, know how precious they have been.
And so it's the Lord's request for you. Well.
Then it says, and it came to pass in verse 16, when she pressed him daily with her words. Have you heard the word of the Lord pressing upon your heart?
As it pressed itself upon your heart, have you turned a deaf ear to it? So that still small voice, that loving voice of the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, when He said this to in remembrance of me.
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How have you felt about it? How have you treated his voice?
His desire, well, 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, Now he gives out the secret.
Samson here shares God's secret with a woman of the world, and it robs him of his strength when he most needed it. What a solemn thing. He shared God's secret, the secret of his strength, with the woman of the world.
He told her all his heart he had no business to.
Beloved Saints of God, you and I cannot.
Share God's secrets with the worldlings, and they cannot contribute to the cost of the Lord's work, neither help us in it without marrying our service and bringing dishonor to the name of the Lord.
Now the world has no place or lot in this.
But just imagine.
Poor Samson, he told her all his heart, the secret of his strength, not his own strength, it was the strength of another. And then he says there have not come a razor upon mine head. So that was a confession of his Nazarite ship.
He hadn't shaved his hair off. No, he was to keep it on. That was a symbol of his Nazarite ship. He was a separated one, and he wants to be served to the day of his death.
Are you and I going to seek, by God's grace, to be separated from the world until the day of our death? If we should die, well, it's a good thing for us if we do.
If we do seek, by God's grace, to walk in separation from the world and its ways.
And its attractions and allurements. Oh, how important it is that we should.
Well, he tells her, I have been a Nazarite unto God, he says, from my mother's womb.
What's going to happen now? If I be shaved, then my strength will go from me.
And I shall become weak and be like any other man. What a sad confession.
He knew it. He knew that if he had his hair shaved off, he would become weak because that was a symbol of his separation.
On the sign of the strength which was in him, operating in him through another.
Well, he tells of this and then it says and when Delilah saw.
That he had told her all his heart. She sent and called for the Lords of the Philistines, saying, come up this once.
For He has showed me all his heart.
Have you opened your heart to a worldly?
What have you told the whirling about your heart? Have you said I have Christ in here and I am satisfied?
Is that what you tell the worldings? Are you satisfied? Am I satisfied?
It should be if I have Christ in my heart. Our brother has been reminding us that's the only source of joy.
So I have Christ in my heart to have Him as my sole object, and I'm sure that's true.
Well, she told them to come along.
And then the Lords of the Philistines came up under her and brought money, brought money in her hand.
And no doubt, she thought, now is my chance. I'm going to be made rich over this deal. I'll tell them all about my husband.
The source of his strength he told me all about, and I'll tell you no doubt she was there ready to take the cash, and there says and she made him sleep upon her knees.
Oh, what a solemn picture this is. She made him sleep upon her knees.
Do you think, beloved child of God?
That all this sorrow which we read off soon, which came to Him, do you think this would have been?
A birthday if he had been on his own knees in the presence of God.
00:50:02
Ah, he was not on his own knees. He was on Delilah's knees.
And let me tell you friends, that the lapse of Delilah is a very numerous today.
The love of pleasure, worldly advancement, the love of ease, and many other things one could mention.
There's a lapse of Delilah.
O God grant that we may not be found asleep in Delilah's lap.
That we might be found upon our knees, that's a place for strength.
To be on our knees before God, to humble ourselves, to judge ourselves.
And to seek His keeping grace when we are enticed by the enemies of our souls. First a whirling.
Or Satan himself.
Or beloved, I do feel my own soul and never was a time when you and I should be more upon our knees than today. We see fairly coming in in our own lives.
In the church, we see worldliness creeping in.
Should this put us upon our knees, or should we sit on Delilah's lap and fall asleep?
All how important it is to be on our knees. Remember, dear brother, our sister Miss Willis knows him well. I won't mention the name that you'll possibly remember. Dear young brother, in China, he very rarely came to the prayer meeting to your brother Christopher Willis said. I'll have to mention his name now, Watson, we don't often see at the prayer meeting.
He said no, brother, I haven't much to pray about.
So he didn't come.
But after a time, he left Shanghai and went down to Hong Kong.
On the way down.
Encountered a storm, but see.
And he and others were on a washed overboard or the ship was wrecked to what? Anyway, he was picked up, as I understand it from his own lips, and he was taken to an island and later brought back to Shanghai.
Dear young brother came to the prayer meeting. After that he said, Brother, I have something to pray about now.
The Lord had to rob him of two things. He lost his possessions.
And he lost the spirit of independence, and he came back to the prayer meeting.
Open lovin. Should we make an effort to be at the prayer meeting? Do we spend any time on our knees seeking grace, keeping from the One who alone can keep us? The God all of all grace, the God of power and strength?
Or how we need to be upon our knees. But here we find.
Thor Samson was asleep.
Upon her knees.
And she called for a man, and she caused him to shave off the seven locks of his head.
May we suggest the perfection of strength? 7 locks of his head. And she began to afflict him. What a solemn picture this is. She began to reflect him, and his strength went from him.
In connection with that, my return back to the Second Timothy, chapter 4.
His strength went from him the same verse, but the other part of the chapter. 4 Second Timothy, verse 17. Notwithstanding, the Lord stood with me.
And strengthened me, strengthen me. Here Samson lost his strength.
But here the apostle Paul, who was a dependent one upon God.
He says the Lord stood with me and he strengthened me. That's what you and I need, beloved.
Not physical strength, but spiritual strength to go on.
Independence upon the Lord in faithfulness to him till he come, and he may come today.
Again, dear young believer, how canst thou say I love thee? Can you say that to the Lord?
When your heart is not with him.
Well, it's good to challenge our hearts, not only the young ones, but every one of us. So we find he then apostle could say, notwithstanding, the Lord stood with me and strengthened me.
00:55:09
Now we find that Samson.
Lost his strength.
And she said, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And he awoke out of his sleep, and said, I will go out as above the times before. He was not conscious of this.
Loss of strength at the moment apparently, and shake myself.
Seems that he was in the habit of doing that when the Philistines came in grab and shake himself.
And he said, and it says, And he wished not that the Lord was departed from him.
Why we were reading it regard the apostle Paul, the Lord stood with him, gave him strength. Here we find that Samson.
Whisked not that the Lord was departed from him, and he lost his strength.
Why? Well, I believe it was he say again. He shared God's secret with a woman of the world.
We cannot let the world links into the secrets of God, and we cannot walk in company with them.
Without being robbed of spiritual strength.
And will I bring in dishonor to the Lord?
Or how important it is then to absorb these three conditions of the Nazarite?
The seat, by God's grace, to walk in separation from the world and its ways.
As our strength dawn and we wist not.
We lose spiritual strength.
And we awaken out of our sleep and found the enemy waiting to complete the victory.
Well, we find here.
You woke out of his sleep. He'd been asleep on Delilah's lap.
They wished not that the Lord was departed from him.
But in what lay the secret of Samson's strength? Again I say it was in the fact that he was a separated one under the Lord.
From the womb to the day of his death, he had nothing to do the things of the earth.
He was not to touch them. Oh, May God grant that you and I may know more what this means.
Not to touch the things of earth, those things which would tend to defile us and rob us of the joys of Christ and spiritual strength too. To go on for Him in the path of obedience and separation.
I wish not that the Lord was departed from him.
But the Philistines took him and put it out his eyes.
What a solemn thing the enemies of the Lord took this man who had been manifesting these amazing feats.
The power now is in the hands of the enemy, not in the Lord's hands. Now in the hands of the enemy, the enemies of the Lord, the Philistine's.
They put out his eyes, I believe. Make a suggestion.
That first of all, he lost his spiritual sight.
Now he's lost his physical sight and we lost our spiritual sight.
Are we aware that the enemy of our souls is standing by, ready to draw a society to trip us up, to lead us into some wrong path?
Or how careful we need to be? How watchful? What is the remedy?
Get upon our knees, not upon Delilah's lap.
And not to fall asleep.
Not to get into his presence.
And seeing He is keeping grace because the lovers, you know, the journey is not a long one. We were on the way toward home. We may be there before this day has closed. How precious. And so then the Lord is looking for obedience.
Faithfulness in you and me, or from you and me. It's what he's looking for.
And I believe we can glorify the Lord in our body and in our spirit, which in God's if we spend much time on our knees.
01:00:04
Yes, independence upon the Lord and in self judgment. Or if for Samson that only got on his knees instead of sitting on Delilah's knees.
What a different picture we would have seen.
About the more it allowed it and there it is.
And so refined. Then the Philistines put out his eyes, brought him down, brought him down to gaze it down a downward farm for her solemn. And what else?
And they bound him with feathers of brass than he did grind in the prison house.
What a place.
For a man of God, what a place in a prison house grinding there.
No eyes, no spiritual sight, no physical sight. What a pathetic figure, what a solemn picture. The result of what disobedience. He allowed the razor to come upon his head. He was not to shave off his hair, but he allowed that to be done through his wicked wife.
Well, they put out his eyes and then we find.
Verse 25 And he came to pass, when their hearts were merry, their hearts were merry. What for are now the enemies of the Lord had gained the victory over poor Samson. Their hearts were merry about it.
You think his heart was merry? Poor Samson in the prison house now.
Lost his eyes grinding there in the prison house.
They were married.
They said call for Samson.
That he may make a sport. Just think of it. But Samson should afford sport for the enemies of the Lord through disobedience. Oh beloved, not solemn pictures. We have in the word of God. What solemn warnings to us all.
Oh, God grant that we may be preserved true to Him.
It said call for Samson that he may make a sport.
And they call the Samson out of the prison house, and he made them sport.
This is indeed a solemn picture, isn't it?
This dear man making sport for the enemies of the Lord.
Without his eyes.
And there they were, enjoying sport. Their hearts were merry. I am sure his heart was pretty sad.
When our brother reminded us in the address this afternoon, our hearts can be merry too. How they can be happy? Not merry in the sense of the world, but how our hearts can be perfectly happy.
By going on with the Lord in faithfulness and obedience, separation. By having him as the sole object.
Oh, God grant that He may be the object of your heart and mind.
But we may seek by grace to go on faithfully till he comes, because he may come today. Make a sport. And they call for Samson out of the prison house and he made them sport and they set him between the pillars. What a scene and it says. And there were about 3000 men and women that beheld while Samson made sport.
A spectacle to the world.
What a signed picture.
Oh God, grant that you and I may not be a spectacle to the world through disobedience or failure, but that we may be preserved from those things which would tend to rob us of that spiritual power, because we are indwelt by the Holy Spirit of God.
That was the source of power undoubtedly in Samson. The Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon him.
And it was manifested in those amazing feats, but he lost it.
Oh God grant that we may not lose ours, but that we may seek to go on with Him.
A little while we left here.
I feel I'm sure you do, beloved Saints of God, that the journey will soon be over.
01:05:02
We're soon done to look right into the face of that blessed Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.
To see him for the first time with our eyes. Samson lost his.
But we do find that he called upon the Lord. That's good to see that in verse 28. And Samson called unto the Lord and said, O Lord God.
Remember Me?
Samson says, Lord, you Remember Me? The Lord said to you, dear young Christian, this morning, now Remember Me. That's what he said to you, didn't he? What did you do about it? Well, it's good to.
Dwell upon these things, Remember Me, I pray Thee, and strengthen me. I pray the only this once.
O God, that I may be at once avenge of the Philistines of my two eyes.
And Samson took hold of the two middle pillars upon which the house stood, and on which it was borne up, the one with his right hand and the other with his left. Samson said, Let me die with a Philistine. And he bowed himself with all his might. And the house fell upon the Lords and upon all the people that were there. In so the dead which he slurred his death were more than they which he slew in his life.
Well, there is a great deal in the chapter we haven't.
Only just touched on the fringe of it, but I do believe there are some very valuable lessons here for us.
Beloved, and again I say, may the Lord keep us, may the Lord preserve us until He comes, that we may not be indulging in the things of this world which would rob us of our spiritual joy, which would rob us of that strength when we most need it.
And which would defile us, and which would rob us of our spiritual eyesight?
So then, may the Lord bless His word to your heart and mind, and may He keep us again, I say.
In faithfulness to himself till he come.