From His Heart

Speaker 1

Today on From His Heart with Pastor Jeff Shreve, we continue our study of the Book of Judges from the series Before There Were Kings. The Cost of Compromise.

Speaker 2

Samson is everyone's favorite. He's a childhood favorite. People love to read about Samson. He was a Hebrew he-man with a Philistine she-weakness. That was the issue with Samson. He's a physical giant and a moral midget. He could conquer anything except his own lusts.

Now there are great lessons we can learn from the life of Samson. He can heal every scar with real truth, real love, real from his heart.

Speaker 1

Playing around with sin is like playing around with fire. Eventually, you will get burned. And Samson in the Old Testament book of Judges might have been the greatest of all the Judges had he kept his eyes on the Lord and not played around with sin.

This is From His Heart with Pastor Jeff Shreve. Thank you for joining us today for a message as he shares five lessons from the life of Samson that are incredibly relevant for us today. The message today is called "When You Play With Fire," and it's the 9th out of 10 messages from the series "Before There Were Kings: The Cost of Compromise."

Now, this 10-message series is also our thank you gift for your support this month of any amount. You can get yours online at fromhisheart.org if you can. Now, though, turn in your Bible to the 13th chapter of the Book of Judges, where we'll be reminded and warned about what happens when we play with fire.

Speaker 2

Samson is everyone's favorite. He's a childhood favorite. People love to read about Samson. He was a Hebrew he-man with a Philistine she-weakness. That was the issue with Samson. He is a physical giant and a moral midget. He could conquer anything except his own lusts. Now, there are great lessons we can learn from the life of Samson. His story begins in Judges 13. Samson could have been the greatest of all Judges. He could have been one of the greatest in all of the Old Testament had he kept his eyes on the Lord and stayed focused. But Samson got so distracted.

So let me share with you five lessons from the life of Samson. And the last lesson is filled with hope.

**Lesson number one:** Every Christian has a high calling in Jesus Christ. Samson had a high calling. I mean, his birth was very, very special. So many times in Scripture, the Lord comes to a woman who can't have children, and this special child is born. "And so you're going to give birth to a son. He shall begin to deliver Israel from the hand of the Philistines." He was going to be a Nazarite from the womb, a Nazarite from his bed. Now, a Nazarite was a vow that the Israelites would take periodically. Maybe they'd take it for a few days, or maybe they'd take it for a week, or maybe they'd take it for a month. If you took a Nazarite vow, the word Nazarite means to be consecrated, to be dedicated and devoted. Well, this kid is going to be devoted to the Lord all the days of his life.

In a Nazarite vow, there are three main strands. Number one is you're not going to drink anything from the fruit of the vine. So you're not going to have any wine, you're not going to have any Welches, you're not going to have any Sun-Maid raisins. You stay away from that. You don't hang out at the vineyard, and you don't have anything to do with that. Number two, you don't touch dead things. You don't defile yourself by touching the dead. And number three, you don't cut your hair. That's what people think about when they think of Samson. They think of this long, flowing hair. Well, that was part of his vow as a Nazarite, as one who was separated to God.

Now, how does that relate to us? Well, every Christian has a high calling in the Lord. Ephesians 4:1 says, "I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, entreat you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called." You have a high calling, so walk in that calling as the Lord says. "You shall be holy, for I am holy. Come out from among them and be separate," says the Lord (2 Corinthians 6:17). We have a high calling, and the Bible says, "Thanks be to God who always leads us in his triumphant Christ and manifests through us the sweet aroma of the knowledge of him in every place."

Now, a Christian is not supposed to be weird. Have you ever met some weird Christians who think that being weird means they're godly? No, it just means you're weird. Jesus was God in the flesh; he wasn't weird. But the sweet aroma of the knowledge of the Lord is all over his life as he's filled with the Holy Spirit. That's a Christian. We're supposed to be like a walking pot roast, just filling the room everywhere you go. People just say, "Man, that guy, that lady. There's just something about them. There's a sweet aroma about them." There's the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Against such things, there is no law.

Hey, we have a command from the Lord the moment that we get saved. See, Samson was set apart from birth with this Nazarite vow, and even before birth, because his mother wasn't supposed to eat anything defiled or drink anything from the fruit of the vine. So in the womb, he was set apart. Well, listen, in the womb of the second birth, you and I are set apart. The moment we come to Christ, the Lord says, "Now you are my witnesses." And so I want you to shine and share. I want you to, in the way you live, let your light so shine among men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven. And then open your mouth and tell people about the God who saved you, about the Savior of the world.

So that's the first lesson: Every Christian has a high calling in Jesus Christ.

**Second lesson:** Every Christian must take his calling seriously. Now, this is one of the big downfalls in Samson's life. He never seemed to take seriously what he was called to do: to be a Nazarite and to begin to deliver Israel from the hands of the Philistines. As I said, every kid loves to read about Samson. We love the stories of Samson and his incredible strength. Most children's books depict Samson as Mr. Universe. I mean, his muscles have muscles; he's just rippling with muscles. We think in our minds that this guy has to be a behemoth of a guy.

Well, in chapter 16, when we get down into his life, toward the end of his life, you remember he hooks up with Delilah, and the lords of the Philistines pay her 1,100 pieces of silver apiece to extract the secret of his great strength. "Where does his great strength lie?" Now, if he looks like that, I would say I can tell you where it lies. It lies in the biceps and in his abs and in his pecs. The guy is huge. But if he didn't look like that, if he looked less like Mr. Universe and more like Mr. Rogers, you'd wonder where the source of his great strength is. This guy's just a regular-looking guy, and all of a sudden, he can do incredible things. It's because the Spirit of the Lord was on him. Four times, as it relates to Samson, you read about the Spirit of the Lord coming upon him.

Well, in his escapades, the first thing he does that you might be familiar with is he gets attacked by a lion. He rips the young lion apart. A young lion is probably 200 to 220 pounds. He has nothing in his hands, just his hands. He fights the lion and rips the lion in half. Well, how do you do that? Who can do that? Brock Lesnar can't do that. None of these big guys can do that. He did that. Then he goes and kills 30 Philistines with his bare hands as you read the story about him. Then he fights a bunch of Philistines; it's untold how many he kills. Another time, he goes and kills 3,000 Philistines with the jawbone of a donkey. Can you imagine that? You're one guy going up against a thousand. Unbelievable strength.

They came to get him one time; he's in Gaza, and he realizes that the men are surrounding the city to pounce on him in the morning light. He arises from his bed at midnight, goes to the city gates, which represented the power of the city, the strength of the city. Remember, Jesus said, "Upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." The power of hell. Well, the city gates represented the strength of the city. He just rips them out of the ground, puts them on his shoulders, and walks to a mountain opposite Hebron, dropping them there just to show everybody, "Hey, you don't mess with me. I can mess with you anytime I want to." But you don't have the strength, the power to mess with me.

Now, here's the problem: Samson has these tremendous gifts, and at the end of his life, he pulls a whole house down because God gave him such incredible, unbelievable strength. But he never took it seriously. He was all the time a jokester, a riddler. He was a guy that liked to play the clown. He was a guy who was goofing around like, "Hey, Samson, your job on this earth is to deliver Israel." And what are you doing? You're always fighting your own battles. You don't seem to be fighting the Lord's battles. He didn't take his calling seriously. He didn't take the great gift that God gave him. He didn't take that seriously.

Now, God's gifts for you and me, they're tools. They're not toys. If God has given you a gift, you need to use that gift for his glory. Now, everybody has three things: time, talent, and treasure. You may not have a lot of talent; you may not have a lot of treasure, but you have some. God says, "What are you doing with what I gave you?" That's the big question. At the judgment seat of Christ, when we stand as Christians before the Lord to give an account of our lives, he's going to ask that question, I believe: "What did you do with what I gave you?" Maybe I gave you five talents. Maybe I gave you two talents. Maybe I gave you one talent. What did you do? Did you bury it in the ground, or did you use it?

Now, Samson is not using what God gave him, this incredible, unbelievable strength. He's not using it in the way that he could have used it. It could have been focused to really make a difference. But he's always using it in ways that are for him and not necessarily for the Lord. You know, when you think about the treasure that God has given, for some people, God has given a lot of treasure. He's given a lot of money. Some people hold on to that money, and they don't give that money, and they're not generous with that money. Let me just say you're going to have to give an account one day to God. "I entrusted you with much. To whom much has been given, much shall also be required." What did you do with the much that I entrusted to you?

So we have to take that calling seriously. God's gifts are tools, not toys. And God's commands are not suggestions. It's almost as if Samson just looks at the commands of God almost like when you go to the cafeteria and you kind of pick and choose. "Well, I like that one. Don't like that one. Don't like this. Don't like that. Yeah, I'll take a little bit of that." God gives a command; he doesn't give a suggestion.

Here is what the scripture tells us in chapter 14. "Then Samson went down to Timnah and saw a woman in Timnah, one of the daughters of the Philistines." The Philistines have five cities on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea there. He lives right adjacent to the Philistines. He saw a woman in Timnah, one of the daughters of the Philistines. So he came back and told his father and mother, "I saw a woman in Timnah, one of the daughters of the Philistines. Now, therefore, get her for me as a wife." Then his father and mother said to him, "Is there no woman among the daughters of your relatives or among all our people that you go to take a wife from the uncircumcised Philistines?" But Samson said to his father, "Get her for me, for she looks good to me."

However, his father and mother did not know that it was of the Lord, for he was seeking an occasion against the Philistines. At that time, the Philistines were ruling over Israel. Then Samson went down to Timnah with his father and mother and came as far as the vineyards of Timnah. Behold, a young lion came roaring to meet him. The Spirit of the Lord came upon him mightily so that he tore him as one tears a young goat, though he had nothing in his hand. He did not tell his father or mother what he had done. So he went down and talked to the woman, and she looked good to Samson.

God's commands are to be obeyed. He doesn't give us suggestions; he gives us commands. So what we see in Samson's life, the first thing that he did that we need to beware of is that he dishonored his parents. He was not supposed to marry a pagan girl. The Bible was clear about that in Deuteronomy chapter seven. "Don't do that." I mean, they were supposed to drive all the Canaanites out. They didn't do that, and then they began to intermarry with them. "Don't do that." So he says to his mom and dad, "Hey, I saw this woman in Timnah. Get her for me." Well, don't you have a nice, sweet, young Jewish girl that you could meet and have a date with and marry? "No, I want this one. You get her." He wasn't very honoring to his parents.

Now, that is a key command. It's the fifth command in the Ten Commandments. When a command makes the big ten, you need to take special note of it: "Honor your father and mother," which is the first command with a promise, "that it may go well with you and that you may live long on the earth." Samson didn't live long on the earth. So don't dishonor your parents.

**Number two:** Don't walk in slippery places. It says in verse five, "Now remember, he's a Nazarite." What are the three strands of the Nazarite vow? You don't mess around with grapes. Not wine, not grape juice, not vineyards, not raisins. You just don't have any of that. And then you don't touch anything dead. What do we see in chapter 14, verse 5? "Then Samson went down to Timnah with his father and mother and came as far as the vineyards of Timnah." Don't go to the vineyards. And behold, a young lion came roaring toward him. Isn't it interesting? You're where you're not supposed to be, the vineyards, and a lion comes at you. That should get your attention.

"Hey, wait a minute. Maybe I'm not supposed to be here. Maybe this is too close to the edge." Now, we don't read anywhere; you have to read between the lines to see that Samson broke this part of his Nazarite vow to drink and to partake of the fruit of the vine. But we know that he did because the last strand of his Nazarite vow is cutting his hair, and that's going to happen in chapter 16. But as he's on the edges of sin, just kind of at a slippery place, listen, if you don't want to fall down, don't walk in slippery places.

1 Corinthians 10:12 says, "Therefore, if anyone thinks he stands, take heed lest he fall." Samson never took heed. I think his strength just produced this arrogance about him, that he was bulletproof. Nothing could get him. That caused him to step across a lot of lines, and he walked in slippery places. What does he see? What happens to him at the vineyards? He's probably not supposed to be there because it's too much temptation. He's at the vineyards, and a lion comes to get him. The devil prowls around like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour. But the lion didn't fare too well against Samson because Samson could grab his legs and rip him apart. He could quarter that thing just with the power of his bare hands.

Hey, don't walk in slippery places. Watch yourself.

**And then thirdly:** Don't hang out with fools. What do we see him doing? Well, he's going to have a wedding feast because the girl in Timnah, his parents would arrange that. That's why he said to his mom and dad, "Get that girl for me." So they arranged the marriage. Chapter 14, verse 10 says, "Then his father went down to the woman, and Samson made a feast there for the young men, as customarily did this." When they saw him, they brought 30 companions to be with him.

So here is the deliverer of Israel, and he's marrying a Philistine. They're the ones that are ruling over Israel, and he's having a big celebration, a big wedding feast. What do you have at the wedding feast? You have wine. And he's got 30 Philistine companions that make up this party. He's laughing and joking. You remember what happened with Samson when he kills the lion? When he comes back later on, some bees got into the carcass of the lion, and there was honey there. He scrapes out the honey from the carcass of the lion. You're not supposed to touch anything dead. Well, that thing's dead. And so you're scraping it out. He puts it in his hands, eats it, and gives some to his parents, and they eat it. But he didn't tell them where he got it.

I mean, would you want to eat it if he told you where he got it? "Hey, I dug this out of a dead lion's carcass." Well, I don't want any. No, thanks. You keep it. But he knew because they knew he was a Nazarite, so you don't do that. He didn't tell them where he got it. He comes up with a riddle at the wedding feast based on this experience. Here was his riddle. He says to those guys, "Hey, let's do something fun." Because Samson's all about fun. "Let's do something fun. I'm going to propose a riddle. If you can guess my riddle, then I'll pay you 30 linen shirts and 30 suits of clothes. But if you can't tell the riddle in the seven days of the feast, then you give me 30 linen shirts and 30 suits."

So they said, "Okay, what's the riddle?" He said, "Out of the eater came something to eat, and out of the strong came something sweet." They couldn't figure it out. Well, we know what happened with the lion and with the bees, so we can figure it out. Well, he's hanging out with guys that are lowlifes because they say to his wife-to-be, she's called his wife even though they're just engaged; they haven't consummated the marriage yet. Because in that day, when you were betrothed, when you were engaged, it's like you were married. They say to her, "Hey, get him to tell you what the riddle is, and so we don't have to pay him. If you don't, hey, guess what? We're going to burn you and your father's house with fire. We're going to burn you down to the ground." Those are the guys he's hanging out with.

He ends up telling her the riddle. Remember, they say to him, "What is stronger than a lion? What is sweeter than honey?" He said, "If you hadn't messed with my heifer, plowed with my heifer, you would never have figured out the riddle." I don't recommend that. When you talk to your wife or to your daughters, don't ever call them a heifer. It's not good. But he did that. Samson was kind of crude.

So what does he do? Well, he owes those guys 30 linen wraps and 30 suits of clothes. He goes down to another city at Ashkelon, which is miles away, and he kills 30 men and

Speaker 1

Well, among many things that we've heard today, it's very important that we associate with the right people. Perhaps you have people in your life who you pray for all the time because they're prone to wander and tend to compromise their morals and hang out with the wrong people. Be sure to be with us for the second part of this message next time called "When You Play With Fire" to learn how to sever those relationships that cause you to want to compromise your faith.

Now, speaking of wandering, the famous Christian hymn reminds us that we are prone to wander. "Lord, I feel it, prone to leave the God I love." Indeed, that feeling is not a good feeling, but it happens to all of us. God's people are very prone to wandering into sin, most often through compromise. Such is the case in the Book of Judges as God's people fall into a terrible cycle of sin and servitude to it. And these judges need delivering.

In this series, Pastor Jeff provides powerful insight about the cost of compromise in the time of the Judges—a time in Israel's history before there were kings. The series we're in this month takes us through the book with clarity and conviction for the things of God. This series is called "Before There Were Kings: The Cost of Compromise," and it's our gift of thanks to you this month for your support of any amount. You can request it on a USB flash drive, CDs, DVDs, or MP3 download—you pick. To get yours, call 866-40-BIBLE (866-40-24253) or go online to fromhisheart.org. We know that God can use it to encourage you and give you peace in the storms of this life. God bless you as you also help us continue to reach out each day with the truth.

We close out today with a reassuring word from God: "With my whole heart have I sought thee; O let me not wander from your commandments. Your word have I hidden in mine heart, that I might not sin against you." That's Psalm 119:10-11.

Thanks for joining us today on From His Heart for Part Two of the lesson "When You Play With Fire." Join us on Wednesday as we open God's Word and share real truth, real love, and real hope. From His Heart.

Speaker 2

There is truth There is hope that you always dream love. He can heal every scars.

Speaker 1

From his heart is the listener supported Broadcast Ministry of Dr. Jeff Shreve speaking the truth in love to a lost and a hurting world.

Remember that no matter what, God loves you and he has a wonderful plan for your life.

Find out about that. Go to fromisheart.org.