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Jack Graham: As you look at the life of Samson now, his spiritual senses are dull. He's going down, down, down, but I'm so thankful that I can tell you, it is never too late for a new beginning.

Guest (Male): On today's PowerPoint, Dr. Graham brings a message about how God can forgive you, no matter what you've done. Now, here's Dr. Graham with his message, "Beyond Failure".

Jack Graham: Take your Bibles and turn to Judges chapter 13. And the message that I have for us today is a message which I believe is a warning, but it's also an encouragement, because we're going to meet a man who went from failure, beyond failure, to spiritual victory. And we're going to learn the wonderful lesson that is clear throughout all of the scripture, that it's never too late for a new beginning.

The man that we're going to meet here in the book of Judges is one of the strongest men in history. He was a champion. He was a deliverer, a judge of Israel, who one day slew 3,000 Philistines with a jawbone of a donkey. He picked up city gates weighing hundreds of pounds and bench pressed them and carried them right out of the city and put them on a hill. This man was a born leader. He was a man with personality plus. His very name means sunshine, and he radiated strength and power and charisma. And of course, he was the strong man of the Old Testament. By now you've figured it out: his name is Samson.

And in so many ways, Samson is a picture of what God can do with a man who is available to him. But on the other hand, he is a picture of wasted potential, a wasted life, because this wayward warrior never achieved what he could have achieved had he truly given his life to follow the Lord God.

Beginning in chapter 13, I want you to see first of all, this man had a very special birth. Chapter 13: An angel of the Lord appeared to the woman, this is the mother of Samson, and said to her, "Indeed now you are barren and you have borne no child, but you shall have a son or conceive and bear a son. Now therefore please be careful not to drink wine or similar drink and not to eat anything unclean. For behold you shall conceive and bear a son and no razor shall come upon his head, for the child shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb. And he shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines."

So the woman came and told her husband, saying, "A man of God (that is an angel) came to me and his countenance was like the countenance of the angel of God, very awesome. But I did not ask him where he was from and he did not tell me his name. And he said to me, 'Behold, you shall conceive and bear a son, nor drink no drink or wine or similar drink, nor anything unclean, for this child shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb to the day of his death.'"

It was a special birth in that an angel announced to his parents the birth of this wonderful child. And from his birth he was dedicated to God and grew up in the home of godly and dedicated parents. But not only did he have a special birth, but he had a special blessing upon his life, for he was chosen of God and called of God from his mother's womb to be a deliverer and a Nazirite unto God.

Now a Nazirite was a person who made a very important vow to God that contained three primary parts. Typically a Nazirite would serve in this fashion for about five years and then make a decision after that if he was to continue in the Nazirite way. But Samson, in his case, he was chosen and called to be a Nazirite from the day of his birth to the day of his death. And with that, he made the commitment that he would never cut his hair, that he would never touch the carcass of a dead animal, and that he would never touch or drink alcoholic beverages. He would never drink any of that.

And so he had a spiritual blessing upon his life. In fact, verse 24 of this same 13th chapter says that the woman bore a son and called his name Samson, and the child grew and the Lord blessed him. And of course we know that the Lord blessed him with supernatural strength. We know him as the strong man of the Bible. He was a champion. But I would suggest to you that he wasn't strong because of mountains of muscle or a powerful physique.

In fact, wouldn't it be funny if when we meet Samson one day, that he's not a big mountainous guy at all, but a little scrawny 5'5", wiry-looking guy? But the secret of his strength was not his physical power, but the fact that the spirit of God would come upon him and empower him to perform these acts of greatness, these feats of strength. And ultimately he became a great warrior and a deliverer of the people of Israel, defeating the hated Philistines. And he was so powerful that he killed Philistines for fun and for sport as well as being a champion of God.

He had a spiritual blessing upon him. He had a significant burden in that he was called to be a judge. He was born into a dark time in Israel's history and in human history. As a matter of fact, the book of Judges tells us that in the time of Samson's life, every man did what was right in his own eyes. And what was true of that generation, wouldn't you say is true of our generation?

Every man did what was right in his own eyes, and in a day of situational ethics where standards of truth and values and beliefs are up for grabs, when moral relativism is the way of the day, every man does what is right in his own eyes. It was a dark time and they were living in the bondage of the Philistine power. Yet God raised up this great judge or deliverer. He was an amazing man. He was courageous and he was powerful.

But Samson had a fatal flaw. His pride brought about his demise and the collapse of his faith. And I want to show you from God's word just how it happened, how this hero went to zero, how the champ ultimately became a chump because he didn't know how to control the passions of his heart. How did his faith collapse? Well, it began with simple disobedience.

Look in Judges chapter 14 and beginning at verse 1. Let's read to verse 4. It says Samson went down to Timnah and saw a woman in Timnah, the daughters of the Philistines. So he went up and told his father and mother saying, "I have seen a woman in Timnah, the daughters of the Philistines. Now therefore, get her for me as a wife." And then his father and mother said to him, "Is there no woman among the daughters of your brethren or among all my people that you must go and get a wife of the uncircumcised Philistines?" And Samson said to his father, "Get her for me, for she pleases me well."

Guest (Female): You're listening to PowerPoint with Jack Graham and the message, "Beyond Failure". Easter is just around the corner and we want to help you prepare your heart for the season. When you sign up, we will send you a video devotional every day beginning February 18th until Easter to remind you of the sacrifice Jesus made so that we can be forgiven of our sins and reconciled to God. Dr. Graham will share a short devotional about the final words that Jesus spoke from the cross and what they mean to us today.

To sign up, just text CROSS to 59789. Again, text CROSS to 59789. Right now, you have the incredible opportunity to help others experience the unshakable hope and abundant life found only in Jesus Christ. Your support of PowerPoint Ministries makes a real and lasting difference, changing lives for eternity as people encounter God's word. And because your partnership matters so deeply, we'd love to send you Dr. Graham's new book, "Living Hope in a Hostile World" as our thanks for your gift of $10 or more. This book explores the bold truths of 1 Peter and offers strength, courage, and hope for whatever you may face. To give your gift, text FEB to 59789. Text FEB to 59789. Now, let's get back to today's message, "Beyond Failure".

Jack Graham: His parents gave him wise counsel. When he saw a woman that he wanted to choose as his wife, she was a Philistine woman and God had specifically and directly commanded the Hebrews never to marry outside the family of their faith. It was a clear commandment of God. His parents gave him wise counsel, but now he is disregarding the counsel of his parents and deliberately disobeying God. He said, "Get this woman for me. I want her. She pleases me."

And so because of his own selfish pursuits and because of sinful pleasures, he broke God's commands. Did you know that the New Testament gives the same command, the same principle when it says, "Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers"? That simply means that a Christian should not marry a non-Christian. Somebody said if a man marries a child of the devil, he'll find he's having trouble with his father-in-law. And it's true.

Now, I know there are exceptions to this. There are always exceptions to the rule. Some of you would say, "Well, I married a person who wasn't a Christian when we got married, but that person has become a Christian and it's just a tremendous thing in our lives." And it is a wonderful thing when that happens. But let me remind you, for every one story I can give you like that, there are hundred stories that go the other way.

When people break God's commandments or the principles of the Bible, thinking they're smarter than God, or that they know better than God, or disregard the commandments of God, or disregard the wise counsel of Christians or even their own Christian parents, they end up hurt and broken simply because they did not go and live God's way. So it began with disobedience. How many times do people drag us down rather than build us up? And that's why God gave us these commands.

But then Samson began desecrating his vows. Look in verses 5 and 6 of chapter 14. Samson went down to Timnah with his father and mother and came to the vineyards of Timnah. And now to his surprise, a young lion came roaring against him. And the spirit of the Lord came mightily upon him and he tore the lion apart as one would have torn apart a young goat. And though he had nothing in his hand, but he did not tell his father or his mother what he had done.

And then he went down and talked with the woman and she pleased Samson well. And sometime when he returned to get her, he turned aside to see the carcass of the lion and behold a swarm of bees and honey were in the carcass of the lion and he took some of it in his hand and went along eating. Now just stop right there. Do you see what's happening? He's beginning to break his promises to God.

He's violating his Nazirite vow to God. And after all, he thinks he's getting away with his sin and his rebellion. Samson in his pride thinks, "Well, God's still blessing me. I still have my great strength. So apparently it doesn't matter." And so he begins to break his promises to God. And then because he's playing fast and loose with his promises and with his passions, we see the next step. He moves from simple disobedience to a steady decline.

And we read about it in the rest of chapter 14. Now, I don't have time to read all of this, but you'll notice when you read this at home that he begins to decline. He begins to fade spiritually. It didn't happen all of a sudden, but it came gradually. Have you ever noticed how sin often starts very small, but ultimately sin can become a spiritual landslide in our lives? And that's what's happening to Samson.

As you look at the life of Samson, his spiritual senses are dulled. He seems to have no relationship with God. A man who started so well, who was so excited, who was sunshine and everybody loved Samson, now he's compromising his convictions. He's making unwise choices and sinful choices and he's going down, down, down, down. No mention of prayer, no mention of the word of God in his life. Just all of these series of choices that brought about his spiritual decline. He was still doing things for God. He was still a Nazirite outwardly, but inwardly he was breaking all the promises.

And so that brought him to another step downward, which is sinful defilement. And look in chapter 16 and notice what happens to him next. Verse 1: Samson went to Gaza and saw a harlot there and he went into her. But when the Gazites were told Samson has come here, they surrounded the place and lay in wait for him all night at the gate of the city. And they were quiet all night saying, "In the morning when it is daylight, we will kill him."

And Samson lay low until midnight and then he arose at midnight, took hold of the doors of the gate of the city of the two gateposts, pulled them up, bar and all, and put them on his shoulders and carried them to the top of the hill that faces Hebron. Just another act of strength. I mean, he just pulls up the gates. They thought they had him. He just jerks the gates from their foundations and then carries them to the top of the hill in Hebron. And once again, he escapes.

And we think he's getting away with it. But he's not getting away with it because now his behavior is out of control. Verse 4 says it happened afterwards that he loved a woman in the valley of Sorek whose name was Delilah. And Delilah, her name literally means delicate, silky. So often the enemy attacks us not with a full assault, but silky smooth seductively he moves against us. And that's what happened with Samson and Delilah. You probably know the story.

As Delilah wanted to know the source, the secret of Samson's strength in order to turn the information over to Philistines. Basically, she was paid off $5,000 to get the information. Samson's kind of enjoying the whole situation. He's making up riddles and lies and he says, "Well, if you get new rope and tie me up, I'll be like any other man." And so she tells them, they tie him up with new rope and they come in, boom, he kills them all.

He's strong. I mean, he's having a big time with this and after he does this several times, on the third time, she said, "If you love me," look down in verse 15, she said to him, "How can you say I love you when your heart is not with me? If you love me, Samson honey, you're going to tell me why you're so strong." Anybody ask you to compromise your convictions, your values, your beliefs, your morals, by saying if you love me you'll let me? Just remember that's not love, that's lust.

She said, "If you love me, you'll tell me, Samson." And finally he had it and he said, "Okay, okay, it's my hair. You cut off my hair, I'll be as any other man." He told her the secret. Now he's telling her the secrets and the promises of God in his heart. And she set him up and lulled him to sleep. Verse 19 says she lulled him to sleep on her knees and called for the man who shaved off the seven locks of his head. And then she began to torment him and his strength left him. The Philistines came in, they captured him, they poked out his eyes and made him a slave.

He was grinding at the mill. They would bring him out every now and then, the Philistines, to mock him so that they could entertain him, to make sport of him. Now the champ is just a clown and he's down on the bottom. He's lost his testimony. He's lost his strength. He's lost his reputation. He's lost his ability to do great things for God. He's lost everything.

It shows us that sin will blind us. The blinding power of sin. They put out his eyes. But long before they put out his eyes physically, he was blind spiritually. I mean when this whole thing is happening with Delilah, you want to say, "Samson, buddy, wake up. Get a clue here." But he just walks right into the trap. He cannot see. He doesn't get it. He is now spiritually insensitive. He's numb to the work of God's spirit in his life.

Every now and then a person comes to me and says, "Pastor, I'm really struggling with a certain area of my life. I'm struggling with this or that and what's wrong with me? Why am I struggling?" And I say, "It's not good that you're having a problem, but it is good that you're still struggling with it. Because even the Apostle Paul struggled with sin. Romans 7, Paul said, 'That which I want to do, I don't do, and that which I don't want to do, I find myself doing.' This great Christian Paul, he struggled with sin. There's the battle between the flesh and the spirit. And as long as you're struggling, as long as you're sensitive to the problem or the issue, you can solve it."

But if you get to the place of Samson where you're just dulled, your senses are dulled and you're no longer struggling, you think you're getting by with it, you think you're okay. I've seen this so many times. And you know there's what I would call four lies about sin. Lie number one: everybody's doing it. Lie number two: I can stop anytime. And yet we know sin is so addictive and intoxicating. Number three: it won't hurt anyone. And yet there's so much broken glass and people always get hurt. And number four: no one will find out. They always find out.

And Jesus said one day those things which are done in secret are going to be shouted from the house top. It's been well said that sin will take you farther than you want to go, it'll keep you longer than you want to stay, and cost you far more than you want to pay. It's the blinding power of sin. But not only will sin blind you, sin will find you.

What does the Bible say? Be sure your sin will find you out. Often we think we're getting away with it if we don't get busted immediately. But sin, no matter how far you run or how well you hide, sin will always catch up with you. It will find you. Do not be deceived. God is not mocked. Whatsoever a man sows, that he shall also reap. Sin will find you. It'll track you down and when it does, it'll chew you up and spit you out because we see Samson grinding at this mill.

Sin will blind you. Sin will find you. And sin will grind you down to dust. Sin made an animal out of this man. He's grinding around like a bull. Now he's just reduced to an animal, living in the darkness of his sin and his defeat. What a terrible story. Such wasted opportunity. A life that could have been so great for God, just thrown away.

But I'm so thankful that I can tell you that one last time, Samson came back to God. And that God is a God of grace, and for his own glory chose to use Samson one last time. Verse 21 says that the Philistines took him, put out his eyes, brought him down to Gaza, bound him with bronze fetters. He became a grinder in the prison. And the scripture says that the lords of the Philistines, they brought him in.

And Samson, verse 26, said to the lad who held him by hand, "Let me feel the pillars which support the temple so I can lean on them." He said, "Lad, I'm feeling a little weak. Can you show me the pillars that hold this joint up so I can just lean on them?" And so he leaned against the pillars. And there were 3,000 according to verse 27 men and women on the roof watching while Samson performed.

Samson called to the Lord saying, "O Lord God, remember me I pray. Strengthen me I pray. Just once, O God. One more time, God. One last time, O God, that I may with one blow take vengeance on the Philistines for my two eyes." And Samson took hold of the two pillars which supported the temple and he braced himself against them, one on his right and the other on his left. And then Samson said, "Let me die with the Philistines."

And he pushed with all of his might and the temple fell on the lords and all the people who were in it. So the dead that he killed at his death were more than he had killed in his life. God granted him his prayer. He heard his cry. And one last time, he strengthened him to perform a great act to the glory of God. Our God is a God of grace. And I can tell you that it is never too late for a new beginning.

Guest (Female): You're listening to PowerPoint with Jack Graham and the message, "Beyond Failure". Your support of PowerPoint Ministries makes a profound impact, helping more people discover the truth and hope of Jesus Christ. And to thank you for your generous gift today, we'd love to send you Dr. Jack Graham's new book, "Living Hope in a Hostile World". It's a timely resource that reminds you how to stand firm in faith, cling to God's grace, and live with courage, even in your most challenging times.

As you grow in your walk with the Lord through this resource, may you be encouraged to know that your generous support is helping others do the same. Text FEB to 59789. Again, text FEB as in February to 59789. Easter is just around the corner and we want to help you prepare your heart for the season. When you sign up, we will send you a video devotional every day beginning February 18th until Easter to remind you of the sacrifice Jesus made so that we can be forgiven of our sins and reconciled to God. Dr. Graham will share a short devotional about the final words that Jesus spoke from the cross and what they mean to us today. To sign up, just text CROSS to 59789. Again, text CROSS to 59789. Pastor, what is your PowerPoint for today?

Jack Graham: Samson's story is a very straightforward one, and it's not an easy message to present and I know for some it's not an easy message to hear, but it is an important one. If you're listening to me right now and you haven't been faithful in your calling to Christ, then I urge you to pay attention to Samson's story as a wake-up call from God.

You see, Samson had been given a spiritual blessing at his birth. His parents dedicated him to God's service as a Nazirite. The scripture tells us that the spirit of God enabled Samson to perform superhuman acts of strength to defend and protect the children of Israel. But as we know, it's the devil's aim to cause God's children to fall and to fail, and he began to appeal to Samson's pride and the lust of his flesh.

And in time, Samson began to take chances outside of the will of God, breaking his promises to God and violating his Nazirite vows. Samson grew increasingly reckless and disobedient to God and he began by taking a pagan woman for his wife, an unbeliever as a partner and in general played fast and loose with his own character. Samson appeared to be a faithful believer on the outside, but in his heart he knew better and certainly God knew better. Unable to see the error of his way, Samson foolishly revealed the secret of his strength to Delilah and ultimately his enemies.

Well, you know the rest of the story. When she cut his hair, Samson lost everything. This hair was the symbol of his dedication to God. So in losing his dedication to God, he lost his strength, his freedom, his calling, his character. Ultimately he lost his sight, both physically and spiritually. You see, sin keeps you from seeing the slippery slope upon which you're walking, and Samson's faith spiraled downward and downward until the compromise became his destruction.

But in his infinite mercy, God gave Samson one last chance to serve him again. Thank God Samson took it and ended well. So if you have failed God, there's still time for a new beginning in Christ. Ask God to renew your faith. Walk away from your past and live in the presence of his grace and love. Be cleansed from all of your unrighteousness and let God use you again for his glory.

Guest (Female): And that is today's PowerPoint. Remember, when you give a gift of $10 or more to PowerPoint, we will send you Dr. Graham's book, "Living Hope in a Hostile World". Just text FEB to 59789. And join us again next time as Dr. Graham brings a message about how you can influence our culture for Christ. That's next time on PowerPoint with Jack Graham. PowerPoint with Jack Graham is sponsored by PowerPoint Ministries.