WEBVTT

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I will trust in you, Lord. So I confess, I spent

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some hours this week trying to write what I called

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the 10th anniversary sermon. And then about midweek,

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I came to the conclusion that I was clearly off

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track. I was doing something wrong. kind of corrected

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me and said, that's not your focus. And then

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as it got to yesterday afternoon, I thought,

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but it's a 10th anniversary sermon. There's got

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to be something. And then I realized we had talked

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about on Tuesday night about how in our church,

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the pastor doesn't really write the sermon, but

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God writes the sermon. And then he is writing

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the sermon in all of our lives. And so I started

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thinking about what God had done. And so the

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best parts of the sermon may have already passed.

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We have experienced them together today, but

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maybe not because the Lord did give me some pretty

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cool things that I think that we are going to

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see today. So you know that we've been working

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through the book of Judges. I talked to you briefly

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about how the book of Judges is in form kind

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of a big sandwich. So there's a part that leads

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up to the first big piece. which we begin today.

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And then there's a sort of a little part in the

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middle, and then there's the next big piece,

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and then there's a sort of an ending, if you

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will, that tails off. And that means it's a chiastic

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structure, so it goes, if you graft it, it starts

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and it kind of goes like this, and then it hangs

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there for a second, and then it makes a little

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dip, and it hangs back up here for a second,

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and then it makes a slow gradual down to the

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end of the book, if you kind of graft it. And

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the book is largely about strength. And so I

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would ask you, what is your perception of strength?

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I think we probably would all have a different

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opinion of what that is or how it feels to us.

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So I want you to think about what you consider

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strength to be. Then I want you to ask yourself,

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where does strength come from? What do you think?

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Where does strength come from? And where does

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it go? Because you realize that strength does

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not last by its very intonation, right? Even

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if there's a strong man, even in strength of

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character, If you think strength is just in character,

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then maybe in the last seconds of a man's life

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he has character, but in transition into presence

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of the Lord we realize that our character by

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comparison would be minimal. So the story of

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Samson is largely one of strength. In fact, so

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many people who don't know Jesus at all or don't

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know anything about the Bible at all would call

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Samson the strongest man to ever live. So we're

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going to read a part of Samson's story today.

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and keep it in context of the Bible, of the book

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of Judges, and then also in the fact that we

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are celebrating our 10th anniversary and look

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at it from that perspective. So grab your Bibles,

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if you would, and go with me. A little who to

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holler amen as we go to Judges chapter 14. Thank

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you very much. Somebody said Yahtzee. I like

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that. It's been a while since I heard that. All

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right, that's cool. So we're beginning reading

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in verse 4 of chapter 14. We actually read verse

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4 to end last week, so it's a transition from

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last week to this week. Chapter 14, the book

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of Judges, verse 4, talking about Samson. It

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says, that it was of the Lord, for he was seeking,

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that he is capitalized, that's God, God the Lord,

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the creator of all creation, was seeking an occasion

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against the Philistines. Remember that the people

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had become comfortable being ruled by the Philistines.

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They really weren't resisting anymore. They had

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found a kind of a peace, if you will, at being

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their subjects rather than being God's people.

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Now, at that time, the Philistines were ruling

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over Israel. That ends verse 4, brings us into

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verse 5 for today. Then Samson went down to Timnah

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with his father and mother and came as far as

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the vineyards of Timnah. And behold, a young

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lion came roaring toward him. And the Spirit

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of the Lord came upon him mightily. So Samson

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feels the Spirit of the Lord stir in him, comes

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upon him. You could say boosting his strength,

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if you would. So that he tore him, that is to

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say that Samson tore the lion as one. tears a

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kid, which is a baby goat, though he had nothing

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in his hand. So he didn't have a sword or a spear

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or even a heavy stick. He tore that lion as one

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might tear a baby goat. But he did not tell his

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father or mother what he had done. So he went

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down and talked to the woman and she looked good.

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To Samson. When he returned later to take her,

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he turned aside to look at the carcass of the

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lion. And behold, a swarm of bees and honey were

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in the body of the lion. So he scraped the honey

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into his hands and went on eating as he went.

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And when he came to his father and mother, he

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gave some to them and they ate it. But he did

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not tell them that he had scraped the honey out

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of the body of the lion. Verse 10. Then his father

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went down to the woman and Samson made a feast

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there. For the young men. customarily did this.

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So it was pretty common in the culture, and you

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could even say most of the religions of their

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day, because remember they had a lot of synergistic

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religion going on, to have a feast and to bring

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in a whole bunch of young men and to celebrate

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the end of bachelordom, if you will, and to transition,

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kind of like a bachelor party, maybe where that

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tradition comes from. And it came about when

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they saw him that they brought 30 companions

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to be with him. And so this is not 30 of Samson's

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friends, but 30 sort of recruited individuals,

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right? 30 Philistines recruited to take part

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in his party. Have you ever had a bachelor party?

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You're far from home. You don't have anybody.

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You might have some locals. It might be somebody,

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well, one of your friends works there and he

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gets about five or 10 others to come to your

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bachelor party or something like that. So you

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could kind of see that happening. In any case,

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so he's got 30. You could call them hired, if

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you will. They're hired for the fruits of the

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party. Companions to be with them. Verse 12 says,

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then Samson said to them, let me now propound

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the riddle to you. If you will indeed tell it

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to me. Within the seven days of the feast, there

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would be a seven day long feast after which the

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marriage would be consummated. And he says to

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these 30 men who are essentially hired companions,

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he says, if you figure out this drill by the

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time the seven days are over, he says, then I

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will give you 30 linen wraps and 30 changes of

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clothes. But if you are unable to tell me, then

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you shall give me 30 linen wraps and 30 changes

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of clothes. So this is a lot, right? It's a lot

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of wealth that could potentially change hands.

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There's a lot of stakes here, but they're in.

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And they'd probably been drinking, so whatever.

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And it says, and they said to him, propound your

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riddle that we may hear it. So he said to them,

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out of the eater came something to eat and out

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of the strong came something sweet. But they

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could not tell the riddle in the first three

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days of his having told it. So basically three

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days goes by after he tells the riddle, which

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was out of the eater came something to eat and

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out of the strong came something sweet. Now we

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know he's talking about the lion and because

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we heard the story of killing the lion as one

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might kill a baby kid or baby goat. We kind of

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get it, right? He's talking about the lion. But

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they wouldn't have any reason. Why would they

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even think lion? This is a pretty tough riddle

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for them, right? So probably through research

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or figuring it out, maybe if somebody saw him

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eating the honey, they might think, well, honey,

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where did the honey come from? Trace it back.

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They might figure it out, but they don't have

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much time left. They're three days in. They don't

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have an answer. So they're going to use research,

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but they're going to do it in a certain way.

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Verse 15 says, then it came about on the fourth

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day that they said to Samson's wife. Now, she's

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technically not his wife, but remember being

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betrothed was the same as being married back

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then. They haven't consummated the marriage,

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but they're in the middle of the wedding feast

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at the end of which the marriage will be consummated.

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So that's effectively his wife. It said, entice

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your husband that he may tell us the riddle,

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lest we burn you and your father's house with

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fire. Okay, now this is rough. If she doesn't

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tell them the answer to the riddle, they're going

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to burn her and her father's house. That's pretty

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bad. So she doesn't necessarily have a lot of...

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options there there's 30 of them or probably

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more because they probably got all their friends

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involved whatever like that but never is there

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a thought of going to samson right who is strong

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probably the strongest man to ever live instead

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she decides to side with them he says Have you

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invited us to impoverish us? Remember, it was

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her family that invited the 30 men to spend the

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time with Samson. Is this not so? In other words,

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they're saying, you betrayed us. Now you get

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Samson's answer to the riddle so we don't lose

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all this wealth. Samson's wife wept before him.

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So she goes to Samson. She's bawling on him,

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bawling at his feet, whatever. And she said,

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you only hate me and you do not love me. You

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have propounded a riddle to the sons of my people

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and have not told it to me. And he said to her,

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behold, I've not told it to my father or mother.

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So should I tell it to you? Verse 17. However,

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she wept before him seven days while the feast

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lasted. So the remainder of the time, probably

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even before they came and asked her, she was

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seeking out the riddle. And certainly by the

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end of the seventh day. She desires to have the

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riddle to hand it over to the men so they won't

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have to give up the wealth. And it came about

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on the seventh day that he told her because she

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pressed him so hard. She then told the riddle

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to the sons of her people. So she got what she

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wanted, which was out from underneath their wrath,

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right? They got what they wanted. Now they don't

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have to pay, which means now Samson has to pay.

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18. So the men of the city said to him on the

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seventh day before the sun went down, what is

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sweeter than honey and what is stronger than

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a lion? And he said to them. If you had not plowed

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with my heifer, you would not have found out

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my riddle. Now, there's been a little debate

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throughout time as to whether that was meant

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to be an insult to his wife, calling her a heifer.

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I submit to you, it was not probably meant to

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be an insult. There's lots of places in the Bible

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where people are referred to with animal names

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and stuff like that, and it's very rarely an

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insult, especially not when it's talking about

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somebody who's near and dear to you, which she

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was to him. He just simply meant that he knew

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where they had gotten the answer, and that she

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was meant to be his wife. She was meant to be

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his heifer, right? If he's the bull, she's the

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heifer. And that's the way it should have been.

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But now they have been messing around with her

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and got the riddle answer from her. Verse 19,

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the spirit of the Lord came upon him mightily.

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There it is again. Uh -oh, somebody's in trouble.

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And he went down to Ashkelon and he killed 30

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of them, that is to say Philistines, and took

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their spoil and gave the changes of clothes to

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those who told the riddle. And his anger burned.

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And he went up to his father's house, but then

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when he leaves, Samson's wife was given to his

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companion, or that word there that's translated

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companion could be first, like, best man, the

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guy who stood up with him at his wedding. Anyway,

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Samson's wife was given to his companion, who

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had been his friend. So there's a few things

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I want you to see in the text here. If you're

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a person who likes to kind of skip ahead a little

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bit, the points are on the screen. The first

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one is, Samson looked strong. And so if you have

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an idea of what strength is, it's clear that

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God poured strength into Samson, no doubt about

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it. We heard his origin story and how God said

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that he would be strong and that he would begin

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God's wrath against the Philistines and that

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no razor would be on his head and that she was

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supposed to refrain from drinking while she was

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pregnant like that. And a lot of people think

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that that means that Samson has a Nazirite vow.

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But nowhere in the story of Samson does it say

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anything about a Nazirite vow. It makes a reference

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to him possibly being a Nazirite. But there are

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two ways that people become a Nazirite. One way

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is because they make a vow. They decide, I decide

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I'm going to do this for God. I'm going to be

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like this for God. And the other way is they're

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called before their birth. And in Samson's case,

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he was called before his birth. His mother was

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told before he was ever born that he would be

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essentially a Nazirite. He was born into it.

00:11:14.679 --> 00:11:18.700
He came into it truthfully. Strength. Without

00:11:18.700 --> 00:11:21.759
God leads to pride, self -reliance, and worse.

00:11:21.940 --> 00:11:23.620
We've been seeing that in the life of the Israelites

00:11:23.620 --> 00:11:25.379
all throughout the book of Judges. Every time

00:11:25.379 --> 00:11:27.279
they have that success and the judge sort of

00:11:27.279 --> 00:11:29.639
disappears from the main limelight, if you will,

00:11:29.700 --> 00:11:32.100
they then drift back into things that are arising

00:11:32.100 --> 00:11:35.600
out of pride and self -reliance and sinful desires.

00:11:36.080 --> 00:11:39.159
What happens is a person begins a lack of wanting

00:11:39.159 --> 00:11:42.440
the one thing that is needed more than breath.

00:11:42.679 --> 00:11:45.320
And we talked about that. Last week, it was the

00:11:45.320 --> 00:11:48.120
presence of the Lord. It would be nice to look

00:11:48.120 --> 00:11:50.580
strong. I've had a lot of times in my life where

00:11:50.580 --> 00:11:53.100
I wished I looked strong. Bullies came down on

00:11:53.100 --> 00:11:56.720
me or on one of my friends or somebody accosted

00:11:56.720 --> 00:11:59.440
me on the street were times where I thought it

00:11:59.440 --> 00:12:02.159
would really be nice to look strong. But listen,

00:12:02.299 --> 00:12:04.639
God looks not at the appearance of men. So you

00:12:04.639 --> 00:12:07.139
can look strong. I've known a lot of men who

00:12:07.139 --> 00:12:10.000
were strong, but were weak in character, weak

00:12:10.000 --> 00:12:12.409
in their mind or in their spirit. God is looking

00:12:12.409 --> 00:12:15.710
for an inner situation, if you will. Victory

00:12:15.710 --> 00:12:19.250
is in God's way, which is Jesus alone. And so

00:12:19.250 --> 00:12:21.149
those who have strength, like we thought about

00:12:21.149 --> 00:12:22.470
what is strength? Well, it could be this. It

00:12:22.470 --> 00:12:24.149
could be that. It could be that. Those who have

00:12:24.149 --> 00:12:26.110
strength, that's not going to get them to heaven

00:12:26.110 --> 00:12:29.929
unless that strength is clearly connected to

00:12:29.929 --> 00:12:32.490
a Savior who will carry them through in the meantime.

00:12:32.610 --> 00:12:34.929
So then I ask you again, what does strength look

00:12:34.929 --> 00:12:37.649
like? Does strength look to you like a man on

00:12:37.649 --> 00:12:41.159
a cross? Does it look to you like a man suffering

00:12:41.159 --> 00:12:43.679
so much that others might be saved? Suffering

00:12:43.679 --> 00:12:45.899
even death on a cross, a sinner's death, where

00:12:45.899 --> 00:12:48.379
everyone would think he was cursed so that others

00:12:48.379 --> 00:12:50.600
might be saved? For the joy that's set before

00:12:50.600 --> 00:12:53.220
him, does strength look like that? Sure it does.

00:12:53.440 --> 00:12:56.360
Can you or I model that strength without God?

00:12:56.559 --> 00:12:59.200
No, it's absolutely not going to happen. It's

00:12:59.200 --> 00:13:02.120
wonderful to know going into a problem that you

00:13:02.120 --> 00:13:03.820
have a greater chance of victory than someone

00:13:03.820 --> 00:13:05.460
else might have or than you might have had in

00:13:05.460 --> 00:13:07.950
the past, right? It's kind of... I can't think

00:13:07.950 --> 00:13:10.049
of the number of times that I've been in a situation

00:13:10.049 --> 00:13:11.789
and people start to get a little flipped out.

00:13:11.850 --> 00:13:13.190
This is not working. This is not good. This is

00:13:13.190 --> 00:13:16.470
and it goes crazy. And in that situation, God

00:13:16.470 --> 00:13:19.309
bestows upon me some confidence or some courage

00:13:19.309 --> 00:13:22.730
or some perseverance. And I go, I don't know

00:13:22.730 --> 00:13:25.169
how, but this is going to be OK. I can't imagine

00:13:25.169 --> 00:13:27.049
that what's going to happen, but it's going to

00:13:27.049 --> 00:13:30.769
be OK. God has blessed my wife to be in a career

00:13:30.769 --> 00:13:32.509
that normally you have to have a master's degree

00:13:32.509 --> 00:13:34.529
to work in that career. And she doesn't have

00:13:34.529 --> 00:13:36.610
a day of college. And a couple of months ago

00:13:36.610 --> 00:13:38.669
on one of their properties, they had a horrible

00:13:38.669 --> 00:13:42.769
situation. What happened was the power went out.

00:13:42.789 --> 00:13:45.220
When the power went out. The pipes froze. And

00:13:45.220 --> 00:13:47.299
when the pipes froze, water went everywhere.

00:13:47.519 --> 00:13:51.240
And bottom line is the property was a high -rise

00:13:51.240 --> 00:13:52.960
property. And when the pipes froze and water

00:13:52.960 --> 00:13:55.179
was going everywhere, they had to evacuate everybody.

00:13:55.519 --> 00:13:57.519
So in the midst of that, they had several people

00:13:57.519 --> 00:14:00.200
there who had master's degrees. The fire chief

00:14:00.200 --> 00:14:03.399
was there. The mayor was there. The police were

00:14:03.399 --> 00:14:05.620
there, right? And so at 1 o 'clock in the morning,

00:14:05.840 --> 00:14:08.299
was it that late? No. It was a Tuesday night.

00:14:08.419 --> 00:14:10.500
So it was about 9, 3, 10 o 'clock at night. Sherry's

00:14:10.500 --> 00:14:12.730
getting ready. And she's jumping in the car and

00:14:12.730 --> 00:14:15.950
she's driving up to Michigan where this property

00:14:15.950 --> 00:14:18.450
is. And she walks in the room. No master's degree.

00:14:18.750 --> 00:14:21.529
Right. No, no emergency training. No first aid

00:14:21.529 --> 00:14:23.769
training. No CPR training. Doesn't know how to

00:14:23.769 --> 00:14:25.950
fight a fire or raise a ladder or drive a fire

00:14:25.950 --> 00:14:28.269
truck. And she walks in the room with the mayor

00:14:28.269 --> 00:14:31.409
and the police chief and the fire chief. And

00:14:31.409 --> 00:14:33.909
a couple of city councilmen there and like 400

00:14:33.909 --> 00:14:36.889
people there, including her manager and people

00:14:36.889 --> 00:14:39.029
who own the property owners. And they're all

00:14:39.029 --> 00:14:41.289
like scrambling around trying to solve the problem

00:14:41.289 --> 00:14:42.669
and figure out how to what do we do next? How

00:14:42.669 --> 00:14:44.610
do we handle this? How do we get 300 people to

00:14:44.610 --> 00:14:46.870
hotels and all this kind of thing? It took her

00:14:46.870 --> 00:14:49.570
two hours and eventually. And I'm not saying

00:14:49.570 --> 00:14:51.289
this to be prideful of my wife because she would

00:14:51.289 --> 00:14:53.250
give all glory to God, but eventually she managed

00:14:53.250 --> 00:14:54.990
to get all those people in check. She got the

00:14:54.990 --> 00:14:56.789
mayor under control. She got the fire chief under

00:14:56.789 --> 00:14:58.629
control. She got the police chief under control.

00:14:58.710 --> 00:15:00.429
She got the policemen and the firemen and the

00:15:00.429 --> 00:15:02.649
managers and all the property and all the regionals,

00:15:02.649 --> 00:15:04.669
all the people that had come. She got everybody

00:15:04.669 --> 00:15:06.730
under control. She got 300 people in a hotel.

00:15:07.009 --> 00:15:09.049
She came home at 1 .30 in the morning and collapsed

00:15:09.049 --> 00:15:11.269
on her pillow, right? But the point is when she

00:15:11.269 --> 00:15:13.769
walked in the room, she knew there was a chance

00:15:13.769 --> 00:15:17.360
that she was the one. that God was going to use

00:15:17.360 --> 00:15:20.740
to resolve that issue, to get everybody under

00:15:20.740 --> 00:15:22.580
control. Now, maybe you've been that person,

00:15:22.600 --> 00:15:23.899
and maybe you've been one of the other people,

00:15:24.000 --> 00:15:26.360
right? But wouldn't it be a wonderful feeling

00:15:26.360 --> 00:15:29.179
to just go into any given situation and think

00:15:29.179 --> 00:15:31.379
that defeat is not very likely because you know

00:15:31.379 --> 00:15:32.799
what side you're on, you know what you're capable

00:15:32.799 --> 00:15:34.539
of, you've overcome more difficult things than

00:15:34.539 --> 00:15:36.440
this in the past? That's a form of strength.

00:15:36.460 --> 00:15:39.000
It's confidence and courage to try. And we hatch

00:15:39.000 --> 00:15:40.779
plans, and we carry out the plan, and then the

00:15:40.779 --> 00:15:42.480
plan falls apart after the first step. We make

00:15:42.480 --> 00:15:44.480
a new plan, and we hatch that one, and you start

00:15:44.480 --> 00:15:46.139
doing it, and two, three steps in, it falls apart.

00:15:46.200 --> 00:15:47.740
You make a new plan, but you have confidence

00:15:47.740 --> 00:15:50.320
and strength to try. Boy, it would be great to

00:15:50.320 --> 00:15:52.559
be like that all day long, every day. Everything

00:15:52.559 --> 00:15:54.460
that comes my way, I can say, look, I've got

00:15:54.460 --> 00:15:56.700
this. I've handled worse than this before. I'm

00:15:56.700 --> 00:15:58.399
not going to be anxious. I'm not going to be

00:15:58.399 --> 00:15:59.480
worried. I'm not going to be stressed. I'm just

00:15:59.480 --> 00:16:01.799
going to deal with it because I am the man. The

00:16:01.799 --> 00:16:04.929
problem is, I'm not the man. Jesus is the man.

00:16:05.090 --> 00:16:07.409
And if I should ever develop a confidence or

00:16:07.409 --> 00:16:09.289
a courage like that, if I should have Samson

00:16:09.289 --> 00:16:11.590
-like strength and live my life not thinking

00:16:11.590 --> 00:16:13.690
Jesus was the man, then I would go to hell. And

00:16:13.690 --> 00:16:16.169
since that's an outcome I seek to avoid, I recognize

00:16:16.169 --> 00:16:19.820
that Jesus Christ is the man. Jesus tells a parable.

00:16:19.840 --> 00:16:21.039
We won't go there and read it, but I'm going

00:16:21.039 --> 00:16:22.740
to very briefly summarize it for you about a

00:16:22.740 --> 00:16:24.320
man who did very well. He was very successful,

00:16:24.419 --> 00:16:26.720
very prosperous. It's not the parable of Lazarus

00:16:26.720 --> 00:16:28.320
and the rich man, which isn't really even a parable,

00:16:28.320 --> 00:16:30.139
right? That's a story of actual events that took

00:16:30.139 --> 00:16:31.919
place. This is a parable about a man, a farmer,

00:16:31.980 --> 00:16:33.679
who did very, very well. He did well for himself

00:16:33.679 --> 00:16:35.120
and started to become prosperous. He had a lot

00:16:35.120 --> 00:16:36.840
of stuff, and he said, well, you know, I'm doing

00:16:36.840 --> 00:16:38.740
so well here that I don't have anywhere to store

00:16:38.740 --> 00:16:40.370
all my stuff. He said, so here's what I'm going

00:16:40.370 --> 00:16:41.750
to do. I'm going to tear down my barns and build

00:16:41.750 --> 00:16:43.750
new barns. And I'll store all my stuff in my

00:16:43.750 --> 00:16:45.750
new barns. And then I'll take my ease. I'll have

00:16:45.750 --> 00:16:47.769
everything I need to be sure to retire. I'll

00:16:47.769 --> 00:16:49.409
have it all lined up. I won't have to work all

00:16:49.409 --> 00:16:51.169
like I've all done all my life and all that.

00:16:51.590 --> 00:16:54.159
I'll take my ease. And he said. An angel come

00:16:54.159 --> 00:16:55.840
upon him and said, you don't understand. The

00:16:55.840 --> 00:16:57.779
Lord said to him, you don't understand. Your

00:16:57.779 --> 00:16:59.419
life will be demanded from you this very night.

00:16:59.580 --> 00:17:01.679
So we can do that. We can hatch our plans. We

00:17:01.679 --> 00:17:03.519
can find our strength, our confidence. We can

00:17:03.519 --> 00:17:05.960
step up. We can overcome. But if we step up,

00:17:05.960 --> 00:17:07.920
overcome, hatch our plans, or find our confidence

00:17:07.920 --> 00:17:09.880
outside the Lord, the Lord is going to bring

00:17:09.880 --> 00:17:11.759
us up short at one point. Just think that those

00:17:11.759 --> 00:17:13.759
people will cry out to him, Lord, Lord, enter

00:17:13.759 --> 00:17:15.180
into his presence. And they've done miracles,

00:17:15.319 --> 00:17:17.079
cast out demons, done healings. And they say

00:17:17.079 --> 00:17:19.380
to Jesus, here we are. If he says, get away from

00:17:19.380 --> 00:17:20.660
me, I never knew you, they're going to be like,

00:17:20.740 --> 00:17:23.039
but we were confident. We had strength. We had

00:17:23.039 --> 00:17:25.299
courage. We could solve problems. We healed people.

00:17:25.700 --> 00:17:28.099
People were throwing money at us because we healed

00:17:28.099 --> 00:17:29.700
that guy who couldn't walk, and they're throwing

00:17:29.700 --> 00:17:31.880
money at us because we cast that demon out of

00:17:31.880 --> 00:17:34.420
that woman. We just had it all going on, and

00:17:34.420 --> 00:17:36.680
now you're saying you never knew us? That confidence,

00:17:36.799 --> 00:17:39.039
that ability to plan, to always have it all together,

00:17:39.220 --> 00:17:42.299
that won't serve. It does feel good to be victorious

00:17:42.299 --> 00:17:47.079
and to win. To win at a game, to win at a challenge,

00:17:47.240 --> 00:17:50.420
to finally get the part to fit, to fix what broke.

00:17:50.740 --> 00:17:53.140
Those things feel good. And even at that moment,

00:17:53.200 --> 00:17:55.740
it's like an arrival. You're like, yeah, I did

00:17:55.740 --> 00:17:58.380
it. I just worked on that for four hours and

00:17:58.380 --> 00:18:00.200
might have taken somebody else 30 minutes, but

00:18:00.200 --> 00:18:03.079
I overcame. Yeah. And that's a pretty good feeling.

00:18:03.220 --> 00:18:06.460
It's intoxicating. And so we find a problem and

00:18:06.460 --> 00:18:09.539
we beat our heads against it. Until we finally

00:18:09.539 --> 00:18:12.420
overcome it and then we feel pretty good. It's

00:18:12.420 --> 00:18:15.579
even so much so that thrill seekers create those

00:18:15.579 --> 00:18:18.039
kind of situations for themselves. They go bungee

00:18:18.039 --> 00:18:20.140
jumping and jump out of airplanes and they deep

00:18:20.140 --> 00:18:23.599
sea dive with only a snorkel. And the list goes

00:18:23.599 --> 00:18:26.220
on. They jump their skateboard over 40 foot tall

00:18:26.220 --> 00:18:28.839
ramps and do flips. And I saw a guy do a BMX.

00:18:28.859 --> 00:18:30.359
He went off a bike. He went off a 40 foot tall

00:18:30.359 --> 00:18:31.400
ramp. And in the middle of the air, somebody

00:18:31.400 --> 00:18:33.039
threw a bike at him and he jumped from one bike

00:18:33.039 --> 00:18:34.759
to the other and came down on the second bike.

00:18:34.940 --> 00:18:37.359
And I'm going like. If that dude falls, he's

00:18:37.359 --> 00:18:39.539
never going to walk again, probably. But they're

00:18:39.539 --> 00:18:41.599
creating these situations, the difficulties,

00:18:41.819 --> 00:18:44.839
pushing limits. And then they live to do it again

00:18:44.839 --> 00:18:46.440
and think, well, see, it's okay. So they live

00:18:46.440 --> 00:18:47.859
to do it again. And they go after yet another

00:18:47.859 --> 00:18:50.420
thrill. But meanwhile, all the while, there are

00:18:50.420 --> 00:18:54.019
15 % of the people who suffer fatality. And they're

00:18:54.019 --> 00:18:57.099
just, oh, it's too bad for them, right? But this

00:18:57.099 --> 00:18:59.579
exhilaration at problem solving, this feeling

00:18:59.579 --> 00:19:01.740
of confidence, this feeling of strength, of courage,

00:19:01.839 --> 00:19:04.180
whatever, it's all mimicking the rejoicing that

00:19:04.180 --> 00:19:06.799
we are called to in the Lord. It is in the smallest

00:19:06.799 --> 00:19:10.559
way looking like God's purpose was being fulfilled

00:19:10.559 --> 00:19:13.460
when in actuality it wasn't that at all. Listen,

00:19:13.579 --> 00:19:16.059
I'm going to tell you a couple things. You are

00:19:16.059 --> 00:19:19.180
awesome. You're awesome. You've got a mind and

00:19:19.180 --> 00:19:21.400
a spirit and a body. This is what's crazy. They're

00:19:21.400 --> 00:19:23.660
not even all always going in the same direction

00:19:23.660 --> 00:19:27.069
at the same time, right? Am I right? We are awesome.

00:19:27.230 --> 00:19:29.849
We are awesome creations of God. This church,

00:19:29.890 --> 00:19:32.250
meaning the people, not the building. This building

00:19:32.250 --> 00:19:36.509
is pretty cool, but this people is awesome. And

00:19:36.509 --> 00:19:38.750
we overcome. You overcome. We overcome difficulties.

00:19:38.950 --> 00:19:41.670
It's true. We have seen and done things. We're

00:19:41.670 --> 00:19:43.369
like, man, I wish that had never happened, but

00:19:43.369 --> 00:19:46.029
wow. Did God really show up? That's awesome.

00:19:46.250 --> 00:19:48.509
You are awesome. And if you're waiting around

00:19:48.509 --> 00:19:50.869
for a victory, a success, or some strength, or

00:19:50.869 --> 00:19:53.269
courage, or some moment where you don't feel

00:19:53.269 --> 00:19:55.349
anxious, where you usually feel anxious or something

00:19:55.349 --> 00:19:57.569
like that, to tell you that you're awesome, you

00:19:57.569 --> 00:20:00.250
are wasting your time. The fact is already there.

00:20:00.289 --> 00:20:03.329
The handwriting is already on the wall. You are

00:20:03.329 --> 00:20:06.670
an incredible creation of God. You can stop trying

00:20:06.670 --> 00:20:08.900
to prove it. You are an incredible creation of

00:20:08.900 --> 00:20:11.119
God. You can stop trying to overcome, to prove

00:20:11.119 --> 00:20:13.279
to yourself that you are something special. You

00:20:13.279 --> 00:20:16.099
are already something special. The problem is

00:20:16.099 --> 00:20:18.200
not whether or not you are an awesome creation

00:20:18.200 --> 00:20:20.799
of God. The problem is whether or not you have

00:20:20.799 --> 00:20:24.700
a false concept of what strength is, of what

00:20:24.700 --> 00:20:27.200
confidence is, of what courage is. I've talked

00:20:27.200 --> 00:20:29.319
with little kids. I cannot tell you. All the

00:20:29.319 --> 00:20:31.160
time, they'll say to me, I'm not courageous.

00:20:31.480 --> 00:20:33.349
I say, what do you mean? I'm afraid of all kinds

00:20:33.349 --> 00:20:35.069
of things. Okay, do you see the contradiction?

00:20:35.549 --> 00:20:38.009
Courage is not a lack of fear. Courage is doing

00:20:38.009 --> 00:20:40.029
what you're still supposed to do when you have

00:20:40.029 --> 00:20:42.369
fear. In fact, if you have no fear, you cannot

00:20:42.369 --> 00:20:44.789
be courageous. It's not possible. Just as if

00:20:44.789 --> 00:20:47.109
you have no trials, you could not be shown to

00:20:47.109 --> 00:20:49.910
be strong. But we say, oh, I have trials. I must

00:20:49.910 --> 00:20:52.390
not be special. I must not be strong. I must

00:20:52.390 --> 00:20:55.230
not be able. And we begin to believe the lies

00:20:55.230 --> 00:20:58.670
of the world. Samson looked strong. He ripped

00:20:58.670 --> 00:21:02.549
a lion open with his bear. hands. A lion is one

00:21:02.549 --> 00:21:04.130
of the strongest people on the face. I imagine

00:21:04.130 --> 00:21:06.869
he probably like grabbed his jaws and pulled

00:21:06.869 --> 00:21:09.529
until his jaw dislocated and then ripped it right

00:21:09.529 --> 00:21:11.950
down the middle. Guts spewing everywhere. First

00:21:11.950 --> 00:21:13.730
of all, I don't want to do that. Even if I could

00:21:13.730 --> 00:21:15.009
do that, I don't want to do that. It's messy.

00:21:15.190 --> 00:21:17.170
It's not good. I don't want to do that. And I

00:21:17.170 --> 00:21:18.670
don't want to face a lion. That's the truth.

00:21:18.769 --> 00:21:20.750
But I've faced demons and I don't want to do

00:21:20.750 --> 00:21:22.769
that either. But I didn't do that alone. And

00:21:22.769 --> 00:21:24.730
if I had needed to do it alone, I couldn't have.

00:21:25.180 --> 00:21:27.140
Because I'm weak. By your own admission of what

00:21:27.140 --> 00:21:29.240
you think strength is, most of us, the listing

00:21:29.240 --> 00:21:31.180
that we made, we're weak. But in our weakness,

00:21:31.559 --> 00:21:34.000
his strength is perfected. So here's how to be

00:21:34.000 --> 00:21:36.480
strong based on that then. Stop looking like

00:21:36.480 --> 00:21:38.819
it and let the Lord be strong through you. Walk

00:21:38.819 --> 00:21:41.200
with him. We're commanded in scripture to rejoice.

00:21:41.519 --> 00:21:43.519
Over and over again, we should be rejoicing.

00:21:43.660 --> 00:21:45.500
If nothing else, if you have nothing else, tomorrow

00:21:45.500 --> 00:21:47.380
morning when you wake up, you can think to yourself,

00:21:47.460 --> 00:21:51.039
look, I am one heck of a machine. I've got a

00:21:51.039 --> 00:21:54.029
programming code. That scientists, after thousands

00:21:54.029 --> 00:21:55.849
of years or only now, just beginning to understand

00:21:55.849 --> 00:21:57.750
a little bit. And it's pretty incredible what

00:21:57.750 --> 00:21:59.809
they can do. But the truth is, my cells are written

00:21:59.809 --> 00:22:02.869
in such a way to replicate themselves with more

00:22:02.869 --> 00:22:06.470
information contained inside the one millionth

00:22:06.470 --> 00:22:09.390
spot of the head of a pin. One millionth fraction

00:22:09.390 --> 00:22:10.950
of the head of a pin. More information contained

00:22:10.950 --> 00:22:12.890
inside there than all the encyclopedias ever

00:22:12.890 --> 00:22:16.269
written. I am incredible. Start there. And then

00:22:16.269 --> 00:22:20.890
appear weak. Let God appear strong. Samson looked

00:22:20.890 --> 00:22:24.660
strong. But strength without God leads to pride,

00:22:24.859 --> 00:22:29.019
self -reliance, or self -pity, and worse. You

00:22:29.019 --> 00:22:30.900
think you can look at yourself and tell yourself

00:22:30.900 --> 00:22:33.480
you're worthless? Who are you? God? You think

00:22:33.480 --> 00:22:35.559
you can look at yourself and say, I can't do

00:22:35.559 --> 00:22:37.200
this. I'm not strong enough. Who are you? God?

00:22:37.359 --> 00:22:40.579
So you're so strong in your weakness. You are

00:22:40.579 --> 00:22:42.259
so strong in your weakness that you can say that

00:22:42.259 --> 00:22:44.119
God is wrong about you. I know where that road

00:22:44.119 --> 00:22:45.720
ends, and I don't want to be there. God's not

00:22:45.720 --> 00:22:48.180
wrong about you. You are an incredible creation

00:22:48.180 --> 00:22:50.920
of God. You are stronger than you could ever

00:22:50.920 --> 00:22:53.640
know. And the fact that you look weak is to your

00:22:53.640 --> 00:22:56.019
advantage. Because that is the channel that allows

00:22:56.019 --> 00:22:59.019
God to do what God desires to do. And our response

00:22:59.019 --> 00:23:01.160
is to simply rejoice. Isaiah writes it this way

00:23:01.160 --> 00:23:04.660
in 61 .10. I will rejoice greatly in the Lord.

00:23:04.779 --> 00:23:08.259
My soul will exalt in my God. For he has clothed

00:23:08.259 --> 00:23:11.119
me with garments of salvation. He has wrapped

00:23:11.119 --> 00:23:14.380
me with a robe of righteousness. As a bridegroom

00:23:14.380 --> 00:23:16.720
decks himself with a garland and a bride adorns

00:23:16.720 --> 00:23:20.140
herself with jewels. You didn't do that. So rejoice.

00:23:20.440 --> 00:23:24.099
Psalm 32, 11 says, Be glad in the Lord and rejoice,

00:23:24.339 --> 00:23:26.779
you righteous ones, and shout for joy, all you

00:23:26.779 --> 00:23:29.339
who are upright in heart. It doesn't say all

00:23:29.339 --> 00:23:31.259
you who are actively overcoming your problems,

00:23:31.420 --> 00:23:33.579
all you who are stronger than your neighbor,

00:23:33.720 --> 00:23:36.599
all of you who passed the IQ test with a really

00:23:36.599 --> 00:23:38.700
high number. Are you filled in better dots than

00:23:38.700 --> 00:23:41.519
others did? It says all you who are upright in

00:23:41.519 --> 00:23:44.650
heart. Psalm 73, 26 says, My flesh and my heart

00:23:44.650 --> 00:23:48.349
may fail, but God is the strength of my heart

00:23:48.349 --> 00:23:51.529
and my portion forever. Some people think the

00:23:51.529 --> 00:23:53.930
greatest victory in life is to love. If you have

00:23:53.930 --> 00:23:56.250
someone to love and you're loved by someone,

00:23:56.329 --> 00:23:58.329
you win. You win the game of life. Well, in a

00:23:58.329 --> 00:23:59.970
sense, that may be true because it's kind of

00:23:59.970 --> 00:24:02.069
what we're created for, but not in the way that

00:24:02.069 --> 00:24:03.950
the world represents it. Notice in our second

00:24:03.950 --> 00:24:07.130
point, then, that Samson looked in love. He picked

00:24:07.130 --> 00:24:09.569
out a pretty good looking woman and him and his

00:24:09.569 --> 00:24:12.210
parents had the ability to get. her for him,

00:24:12.289 --> 00:24:14.490
and they did. He looked in love. He was in the

00:24:14.490 --> 00:24:16.869
middle of a seven -day love feast, preparing

00:24:16.869 --> 00:24:18.930
to consummate his marriage with this hot chick

00:24:18.930 --> 00:24:21.170
from Timnok, who probably later would have a

00:24:21.170 --> 00:24:23.250
million -dollar social media account, if it was

00:24:23.250 --> 00:24:25.569
today. She's pretty something. He looked in love.

00:24:25.769 --> 00:24:28.589
But love without wisdom, without a biblical understanding

00:24:28.589 --> 00:24:32.029
of what love is, leads to compromise at best.

00:24:32.910 --> 00:24:35.569
Let's look at a few of the places where Samson

00:24:35.569 --> 00:24:37.910
went wrong in picking his supposed love. First

00:24:37.910 --> 00:24:40.109
of all, he judged with his eyes. Let me tell

00:24:40.109 --> 00:24:43.059
you right now. The person that you look at and

00:24:43.059 --> 00:24:46.119
you go in my eyes, I see you and what I see I

00:24:46.119 --> 00:24:48.299
want. I like. Yeah, that's pretty good stuff.

00:24:48.359 --> 00:24:51.160
That person has just as much chance to be the

00:24:51.160 --> 00:24:53.279
wrong person for you as the person that you look

00:24:53.279 --> 00:24:54.740
at with your eyes and say, I don't really like

00:24:54.740 --> 00:24:56.859
what I see. He judged with his eyes. He saw a

00:24:56.859 --> 00:24:58.579
good looking woman and he went after it. She

00:24:58.579 --> 00:25:00.819
was outside what the Bible commanded. The Bible

00:25:00.819 --> 00:25:03.079
commanded them not to take people outside the

00:25:03.079 --> 00:25:05.980
people of God as wives. And yet. He said, she's

00:25:05.980 --> 00:25:07.740
pretty good looking. Who cares what that says?

00:25:07.799 --> 00:25:10.380
Or maybe he wasn't even ever taught what it said.

00:25:10.559 --> 00:25:12.640
Notice that he pursued what he wanted. I can

00:25:12.640 --> 00:25:14.279
tell you for sure in scripture, the one thing

00:25:14.279 --> 00:25:16.880
you can't add is whatever you want. And I would

00:25:16.880 --> 00:25:18.420
include the whatever and the want, keep them

00:25:18.420 --> 00:25:20.630
together, right? It's not whatever you want.

00:25:20.710 --> 00:25:22.890
There's one thing that you want. It's the presence

00:25:22.890 --> 00:25:24.589
of God. It's what God wants for you. It's the

00:25:24.589 --> 00:25:27.210
great future. It's eternity in heaven. That is

00:25:27.210 --> 00:25:30.170
salvation through the Lord Jesus Christ. That's

00:25:30.170 --> 00:25:32.549
what you want. So a piece of cake will look good.

00:25:32.650 --> 00:25:34.450
A paycheck will look good. A raise will look

00:25:34.450 --> 00:25:36.390
good. A schedule adjustment will look good. A

00:25:36.390 --> 00:25:38.890
victory in some problem that you're having will

00:25:38.890 --> 00:25:41.150
look good. Overcoming some difficulty that you're

00:25:41.150 --> 00:25:43.859
facing will look good. But you may or may not

00:25:43.859 --> 00:25:45.859
be allowed to have that. It depends on whether

00:25:45.859 --> 00:25:48.059
or not it leads you to the one thing that you

00:25:48.059 --> 00:25:50.380
really are supposed to be wanting, which is more

00:25:50.380 --> 00:25:52.779
of the presence of the Lord and eternity with

00:25:52.779 --> 00:25:55.339
him. God wants what's good for you. And anytime

00:25:55.339 --> 00:25:57.819
what you want isn't what's good for you, then

00:25:57.819 --> 00:26:00.529
he does not want that for you. Yet it may look

00:26:00.529 --> 00:26:02.970
like exactly what you want. Your eyes may settle

00:26:02.970 --> 00:26:05.269
on it. You may say, yeah, that's me. Boy, that's

00:26:05.269 --> 00:26:07.190
going on when you're watching TV, when you're

00:26:07.190 --> 00:26:10.009
on social media, when you're thinking about springing

00:26:10.009 --> 00:26:12.109
for a little bit more expensive electronic thing,

00:26:12.269 --> 00:26:15.329
right? It's going on in areas of education and

00:26:15.329 --> 00:26:18.349
certification and promotion, etc. And they say

00:26:18.349 --> 00:26:20.190
to you, boy, you can have the promotion, make

00:26:20.190 --> 00:26:21.970
some extra money if you'll just work and do this

00:26:21.970 --> 00:26:24.009
and this and this. And the carrot is dangled

00:26:24.009 --> 00:26:25.589
and people, that's what I want. And they go after

00:26:25.589 --> 00:26:28.329
it. And none of that is necessarily in God's

00:26:28.329 --> 00:26:31.240
plan at all. Samson pursued what he wanted. Also,

00:26:31.380 --> 00:26:33.980
he moved quickly. Marriages that last for eternity,

00:26:34.160 --> 00:26:36.420
well, last for this entire lifetime, we don't

00:26:36.420 --> 00:26:38.579
take wives and husbands in heaven the same way

00:26:38.579 --> 00:26:40.819
we do on earth, but marriages that last until

00:26:40.819 --> 00:26:43.480
Jesus comes again or until we die are not built

00:26:43.480 --> 00:26:46.039
in the blink of an eye. You might have love at

00:26:46.039 --> 00:26:47.480
first sight, but you better make sure it's the

00:26:47.480 --> 00:26:49.220
kind of love that God's talking about, right?

00:26:49.420 --> 00:26:51.759
So you move too quickly into marriage, and then

00:26:51.759 --> 00:26:53.619
pretty soon you're mopping up the messes that

00:26:53.619 --> 00:26:55.519
you forgot to mop up. And by the way, everybody

00:26:55.519 --> 00:26:57.680
knows if you open the refrigerator and the grape

00:26:57.680 --> 00:26:59.339
juice falls over and it's pouring out on the

00:26:59.339 --> 00:27:01.900
floor, if you say, well, I got to go pause my

00:27:01.900 --> 00:27:03.440
show first. I'm going to come back and clean

00:27:03.440 --> 00:27:05.259
that up. By the time you get back to clean it

00:27:05.259 --> 00:27:07.769
up. It's quite the mess. It's not a few feet

00:27:07.769 --> 00:27:10.130
or a few drops. It's the whole kitchen floor,

00:27:10.289 --> 00:27:12.309
right? And it's like that. If you don't take

00:27:12.309 --> 00:27:14.490
care of your business and make sure that you're

00:27:14.490 --> 00:27:16.170
doing the right thing when you move forward in

00:27:16.170 --> 00:27:17.809
the Lord, not just in the area of marriage, but

00:27:17.809 --> 00:27:20.589
anything, then it's going to be a real mess by

00:27:20.589 --> 00:27:22.230
the time you get to cleaning it up. And you might

00:27:22.230 --> 00:27:24.029
spend your whole life. He moved too quickly.

00:27:24.210 --> 00:27:26.609
He just needed some, not time, time to figure

00:27:26.609 --> 00:27:28.829
out that this was not the person that God was

00:27:28.829 --> 00:27:31.609
pointing him to. He drew from outside the allowable

00:27:31.609 --> 00:27:34.029
body of candidates. There were laws, right? The

00:27:34.029 --> 00:27:36.019
laws of God's people said that, He could not

00:27:36.019 --> 00:27:38.019
take a Philistine wife, and yet he did it because

00:27:38.019 --> 00:27:39.900
she looked good, he wanted her, he pursued her,

00:27:39.940 --> 00:27:41.579
and he moved too quickly. And he never concluded

00:27:41.579 --> 00:27:43.720
that that was not the right candidate. He wasn't

00:27:43.720 --> 00:27:46.420
supposed to. This list goes on. Today, a candidate

00:27:46.420 --> 00:27:48.890
for marriage should be... fully informed and

00:27:48.890 --> 00:27:51.170
prepared to pay the ultimate cost to be devoted

00:27:51.170 --> 00:27:53.269
to their marriage, which is literally everything

00:27:53.269 --> 00:27:55.769
short of loyalty to God. The only thing that

00:27:55.769 --> 00:27:57.710
you withhold that you'll never give up for your

00:27:57.710 --> 00:28:00.309
spouse is your loyalty to the God of the universe.

00:28:00.589 --> 00:28:02.650
Everything else is on the chopping block. And

00:28:02.650 --> 00:28:04.250
if you're not ready to make that kind of a commitment,

00:28:04.390 --> 00:28:05.750
then you're not ready to be married. And if you're

00:28:05.750 --> 00:28:07.269
married already, you're not ready to make that

00:28:07.269 --> 00:28:08.549
kind of commitment, then you need to repent and

00:28:08.549 --> 00:28:10.190
turn to the Lord so God can actually do something.

00:28:10.390 --> 00:28:11.990
But if you're finding your strength in your own

00:28:11.990 --> 00:28:13.509
choice, you say, I'm going to make my spouse

00:28:13.509 --> 00:28:16.109
into somebody that I really can, you know. enjoy

00:28:16.109 --> 00:28:17.690
being with, and we're going to have our victories

00:28:17.690 --> 00:28:20.789
in us or something. So I'll get him to be the

00:28:20.789 --> 00:28:22.390
way I want him to be, or I'll get her to be the

00:28:22.390 --> 00:28:24.950
way I want her to be. That is not God, and it's

00:28:24.950 --> 00:28:27.089
not a godly marriage. You say, but I can make

00:28:27.089 --> 00:28:29.589
them follow God better. I can show them God better

00:28:29.589 --> 00:28:31.349
than they can find God by themselves. And that

00:28:31.349 --> 00:28:33.269
just isn't true, because you ain't Jesus. And

00:28:33.269 --> 00:28:34.910
no man comes unto the Father except he who comes

00:28:34.910 --> 00:28:37.589
by Jesus. And so I would say to you, if you have

00:28:37.589 --> 00:28:40.269
a question about whether that's at stake, whether

00:28:40.269 --> 00:28:42.650
or not you might lose your loyalty to God by

00:28:42.650 --> 00:28:44.250
choosing this person, then you don't choose this

00:28:44.250 --> 00:28:46.849
person. Candidates for marriage should be considering

00:28:46.849 --> 00:28:49.690
the union in light of Scripture, God's leadership,

00:28:49.809 --> 00:28:52.849
prompting of the Holy Spirit, spiritual disciplines.

00:28:53.150 --> 00:28:54.950
In other words, you ask the Bible, you go to

00:28:54.950 --> 00:28:56.490
the Bible and ask what does it say about that.

00:28:56.609 --> 00:28:58.910
You pray, you spend time with God, you fast,

00:28:59.109 --> 00:29:02.470
you think about those things and whether or not

00:29:02.470 --> 00:29:04.450
the other person is living for God. Listen to

00:29:04.450 --> 00:29:06.650
how key this is. 2 Corinthians 6 .14 says this.

00:29:06.730 --> 00:29:09.269
It says, Do not be bound together with unbelievers

00:29:09.269 --> 00:29:12.599
for what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness

00:29:12.599 --> 00:29:15.380
or what fellowship has light with darkness see

00:29:15.380 --> 00:29:17.720
how important it is how important it is that

00:29:17.720 --> 00:29:19.740
we are bound together with a person who equally

00:29:19.740 --> 00:29:22.740
loves the lord because where in scripture it

00:29:22.740 --> 00:29:25.440
says that you cannot judge whether another person

00:29:25.440 --> 00:29:27.680
is a believer or not right judge not lest you

00:29:27.680 --> 00:29:29.059
be judged that's what it's actually talking about

00:29:29.059 --> 00:29:30.960
not talking about judging the behavior of others

00:29:30.960 --> 00:29:32.720
because sin is sin no matter what you can judge

00:29:32.720 --> 00:29:34.759
sin right it's talking about judging another

00:29:34.759 --> 00:29:36.619
person i don't think that person's saved but

00:29:36.619 --> 00:29:38.819
where scripture says you cannot judge another

00:29:38.819 --> 00:29:41.250
person's salvation Here in scripture, it says,

00:29:41.329 --> 00:29:43.430
if you're thinking about marrying them, you better

00:29:43.430 --> 00:29:45.549
first judge their salvation. See how important

00:29:45.549 --> 00:29:48.549
it is? More wisely, probably, we should trust

00:29:48.549 --> 00:29:51.829
the Lord to make an unbeliever off limits. 1

00:29:51.829 --> 00:29:53.890
Corinthians 13, the love chapter, talks about

00:29:53.890 --> 00:29:55.769
all kinds of things that love is and love isn't.

00:29:55.769 --> 00:29:57.410
And there's a lot of things that it doesn't,

00:29:57.410 --> 00:30:00.009
it's not unseemly, right? It's patient, it's

00:30:00.009 --> 00:30:02.029
kind. You can go there and read the chapter for

00:30:02.029 --> 00:30:03.309
yourself and look at all the things that love

00:30:03.309 --> 00:30:05.390
is. There are volumes that can be spoken about

00:30:05.390 --> 00:30:07.869
love, but this one thing must be said today.

00:30:08.109 --> 00:30:11.900
You can't. fake love you can't look in love if

00:30:11.900 --> 00:30:15.200
you can't do it you don't know god and you need

00:30:15.200 --> 00:30:17.880
to get right with god and if you can do it you're

00:30:17.880 --> 00:30:20.799
called to it and not wastefully and not intermittently

00:30:20.799 --> 00:30:24.240
and never for show but in actuality you're called

00:30:24.240 --> 00:30:27.920
to love and so if we love as god has called us

00:30:27.920 --> 00:30:29.559
to love then we could be walking in the lord

00:30:29.559 --> 00:30:31.660
if we do not we can't be that's just the bottom

00:30:31.660 --> 00:30:34.319
line for he is love but if we look like we love

00:30:34.319 --> 00:30:37.339
and we're not actually loving, then we're again

00:30:37.339 --> 00:30:39.339
brought ourselves to that worst possible place.

00:30:39.480 --> 00:30:42.180
Because the one goal to be God's love on earth,

00:30:42.359 --> 00:30:44.400
to be in love with God, know he is in love with

00:30:44.400 --> 00:30:46.519
us and to be his love on earth, to be like that,

00:30:46.539 --> 00:30:49.240
that one goal now is in jeopardy because we think

00:30:49.240 --> 00:30:51.559
we are loving, but actually we are not. And you'll

00:30:51.559 --> 00:30:53.420
never fix it. You'll never get around to understanding

00:30:53.420 --> 00:30:55.519
it because you keep faking it. Samson looked

00:30:55.519 --> 00:30:59.410
like he was in love. But love without the wisdom

00:30:59.410 --> 00:31:02.170
of the Lord leads to compromise at best. Last,

00:31:02.470 --> 00:31:04.549
he looked like a winner. Probably his greatest

00:31:04.549 --> 00:31:06.670
trait in this part of the story. The riddle,

00:31:06.690 --> 00:31:10.109
the lion taking his wife. But victory without

00:31:10.109 --> 00:31:13.339
God leads to a trap. I'm going to read you now

00:31:13.339 --> 00:31:15.579
from the book of Revelation. So in the book of

00:31:15.579 --> 00:31:17.019
Revelation, there's a part, it's kind of toward

00:31:17.019 --> 00:31:19.440
the beginning, where Jesus is speaking and says

00:31:19.440 --> 00:31:21.880
he is with the lampstand. So he's the governor

00:31:21.880 --> 00:31:23.480
of what is a church and what is not a church,

00:31:23.539 --> 00:31:24.859
essentially, if you will. And he could put a

00:31:24.859 --> 00:31:26.519
lampstand out just the same as he can start a

00:31:26.519 --> 00:31:28.480
church, he can end a church. And I'm going to

00:31:28.480 --> 00:31:31.119
read from chapter 2 first, and I'll read verse

00:31:31.119 --> 00:31:33.940
1, 3, 10, 23, and 25, 26. And then I'm going

00:31:33.940 --> 00:31:36.039
to read from chapter 3, and I'll read verse 5,

00:31:36.180 --> 00:31:39.539
8, 10 to 12, 15 to 17, 19, and 21. Now, you don't

00:31:39.539 --> 00:31:40.700
have to remember all those. You don't have to

00:31:40.700 --> 00:31:42.220
note them down. If you want them, I can give

00:31:42.220 --> 00:31:44.460
them to you. But I want you to see a theme that

00:31:44.460 --> 00:31:45.980
is running through everything that he's telling

00:31:45.980 --> 00:31:47.819
the church to be. Listen to this. He says, To

00:31:47.819 --> 00:31:50.319
the angel of the church in Ephesus write, The

00:31:50.319 --> 00:31:52.480
one who holds the seven stars in his right hand,

00:31:52.559 --> 00:31:54.880
the one who walks among the seven gold lampstands,

00:31:54.880 --> 00:31:56.740
by the way, who is that? It's Jesus Christ, says

00:31:56.740 --> 00:31:59.759
this. Now verse three, and you have perseverance

00:31:59.759 --> 00:32:02.440
and have endured for my name's sake and have

00:32:02.440 --> 00:32:05.140
not grown weary. Then 10, do not fear what you

00:32:05.140 --> 00:32:07.019
are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about

00:32:07.019 --> 00:32:08.920
to cast some of you into prison so that you will

00:32:08.920 --> 00:32:11.200
be tested and you will have tribulation for 10

00:32:11.200 --> 00:32:13.759
days. Be faithful unto death and I will give

00:32:13.759 --> 00:32:16.680
you the crown of life. He says in verse 23, and

00:32:16.680 --> 00:32:18.880
I will kill her children with pestilence and

00:32:18.880 --> 00:32:21.539
all the churches will know that I am he who searches

00:32:21.539 --> 00:32:23.839
the minds and hearts and I will give to each

00:32:23.839 --> 00:32:26.720
one of you according to your deeds. 25. Nevertheless,

00:32:27.099 --> 00:32:30.059
what you have, hold fast until I come. He who

00:32:30.059 --> 00:32:33.019
overcomes and he who keeps my deeds until the

00:32:33.019 --> 00:32:36.359
end, to him I will give authority over the nations.

00:32:36.640 --> 00:32:39.259
Now into chapter 3, verse 5. He who overcomes

00:32:39.259 --> 00:32:41.920
will thus be clothed in white garments, and I

00:32:41.920 --> 00:32:43.920
will not erase his name from the book of life,

00:32:44.019 --> 00:32:45.900
and I will confess his name before my father

00:32:45.900 --> 00:32:48.500
and before his angels. Verse 8. I know your deeds.

00:32:48.720 --> 00:32:51.440
Behold, I have put before you an open door, which

00:32:51.440 --> 00:32:53.680
no one can shut, because you have a little power

00:32:53.680 --> 00:32:56.539
and have kept my word. and have not denied my

00:32:56.539 --> 00:32:59.019
name. Verse 10, because you have kept the word

00:32:59.019 --> 00:33:03.160
of my presence, I also will keep you from the

00:33:03.160 --> 00:33:05.720
hour of testing, the hour which is about to come

00:33:05.720 --> 00:33:08.160
upon the whole world to test those who dwell

00:33:08.160 --> 00:33:10.859
on the earth. I am coming quickly. Hold fast

00:33:10.859 --> 00:33:13.920
what you have so that no one will take your crown.

00:33:14.140 --> 00:33:17.039
He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in

00:33:17.039 --> 00:33:19.480
the temple of my God and he will not go out from

00:33:19.480 --> 00:33:21.799
it anymore. And I will write on him the name

00:33:21.799 --> 00:33:23.779
of my God and the name of the city of my God,

00:33:23.839 --> 00:33:25.680
the new Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven

00:33:25.680 --> 00:33:29.160
from my God and my new name. Verse 15, I know

00:33:29.160 --> 00:33:32.299
your deeds. You are neither hot nor cold. I wish

00:33:32.299 --> 00:33:34.319
that you were hot or cold. So because you are

00:33:34.319 --> 00:33:36.220
lukewarm and neither hot nor cold, I will spit

00:33:36.220 --> 00:33:38.539
you out of my mouth. Because you say I am rich

00:33:38.539 --> 00:33:40.640
and have become wealthy and have need of nothing.

00:33:40.740 --> 00:33:42.779
And you do not know that you are wretched and

00:33:42.779 --> 00:33:45.339
miserable and poor and blind and naked. Those

00:33:45.339 --> 00:33:48.000
whom I love, this is verse 19, those whom I love,

00:33:48.000 --> 00:33:52.140
I reprove and discipline. Be zealous and repent.

00:33:52.779 --> 00:33:55.940
21. He who overcomes, I will grant him to sit

00:33:55.940 --> 00:33:59.039
down with me on my throne. And I also overcame

00:33:59.039 --> 00:34:02.000
and sat down with my father on his throne. The

00:34:02.000 --> 00:34:05.859
theme is this. You need some trouble. Now, the

00:34:05.859 --> 00:34:07.680
truth is you probably shouldn't go and orchestrate

00:34:07.680 --> 00:34:09.719
that trouble for yourself and then overcome it

00:34:09.719 --> 00:34:11.559
because that's really not the way the math of

00:34:11.559 --> 00:34:12.840
it. That's not how it's supposed to work, right?

00:34:13.059 --> 00:34:15.940
You faithfully follow the Lord and do the things

00:34:15.940 --> 00:34:18.320
that the Lord has given you to do. Then you need

00:34:18.320 --> 00:34:20.809
some trouble. You need some difficulty. And then

00:34:20.809 --> 00:34:24.989
facing that difficulty, victory is equally available.

00:34:25.210 --> 00:34:28.730
It is found in simply remaining faithful to Christ

00:34:28.730 --> 00:34:32.170
and doing what we are called to beyond the trouble

00:34:32.170 --> 00:34:34.190
that we have encountered. Have we encountered

00:34:34.190 --> 00:34:36.329
trouble? Have you encountered trouble? Well,

00:34:36.349 --> 00:34:38.690
let me tell you what the Bible says strength

00:34:38.690 --> 00:34:41.670
is. The Bible says strength is when you as a

00:34:41.670 --> 00:34:44.789
faithful believer encounter trouble and in the

00:34:44.789 --> 00:34:47.840
midst of the trouble and after the trouble. However

00:34:47.840 --> 00:34:51.920
it ends, you are still found persevering. And

00:34:51.920 --> 00:34:54.139
he said to the churches over and over again,

00:34:54.179 --> 00:34:57.500
you will get a crown. You will get a robe. I

00:34:57.500 --> 00:34:59.519
will not erase your name from the book of life.

00:34:59.599 --> 00:35:02.559
You will stay the course and be found faithful

00:35:02.559 --> 00:35:06.320
despite the troubles and trials. And I will take

00:35:06.320 --> 00:35:08.619
care of it. Just because you know the name of

00:35:08.619 --> 00:35:11.760
Jesus doesn't mean you can save yourself. Just

00:35:11.760 --> 00:35:14.280
because you know the power of God doesn't mean

00:35:14.280 --> 00:35:18.219
you get to decide. how your life goes. God is

00:35:18.219 --> 00:35:21.619
the God of heaven. God is the creator of everything.

00:35:21.780 --> 00:35:24.900
And Jesus Christ, who is God the Son, came in

00:35:24.900 --> 00:35:27.880
the flesh to live and to die for the joy that

00:35:27.880 --> 00:35:30.480
was set before him. A sinner's death, mind you.

00:35:30.539 --> 00:35:32.760
He came to die for the joy that was set before

00:35:32.760 --> 00:35:35.199
him so that you and I might live in presence

00:35:35.199 --> 00:35:37.679
with him and have some trouble. And then having

00:35:37.679 --> 00:35:40.800
that trouble, persevering until the day in which

00:35:40.800 --> 00:35:43.610
he returns. Understand that the day of that trouble

00:35:43.610 --> 00:35:46.349
then is upon us. It's every day. You go like,

00:35:46.369 --> 00:35:49.449
I got up yesterday, went to bed, and like nothing

00:35:49.449 --> 00:35:51.750
bad happened in between. That just isn't so.

00:35:51.889 --> 00:35:54.409
That's not how it works. We are assailed every

00:35:54.409 --> 00:35:57.789
day by the plans and the schemes of the enemy.

00:35:57.949 --> 00:36:00.289
You had to wrestle with your own pride, arrogance,

00:36:00.570 --> 00:36:03.550
self -reliance, self -pity, anxiousness, fear.

00:36:03.769 --> 00:36:06.340
All day yesterday, it was with you. And the truth

00:36:06.340 --> 00:36:08.260
is, if you've come to peace with it, then you've

00:36:08.260 --> 00:36:10.780
come to peace with it just the same as the Philistines

00:36:10.780 --> 00:36:12.860
had taken over the Israelites and the Israelites

00:36:12.860 --> 00:36:15.079
had come to peace with them. Jesus said, I did

00:36:15.079 --> 00:36:17.579
not come to bring peace, but a sword. It's a

00:36:17.579 --> 00:36:19.360
fight. The days that you think that everything

00:36:19.360 --> 00:36:22.679
went well, those days, they were a fight just

00:36:22.679 --> 00:36:25.480
the same. If you buy your way to a day of peace,

00:36:25.739 --> 00:36:29.739
if you argue your way to a day of peace, if you

00:36:29.739 --> 00:36:32.639
manipulate your way to a day of peace, if you

00:36:32.639 --> 00:36:36.159
isolate, your way to a day of peace. And you

00:36:36.159 --> 00:36:38.500
will become just exactly what the Israelites

00:36:38.500 --> 00:36:40.500
had become in Samson's day. And therefore you

00:36:40.500 --> 00:36:43.960
became just exactly what Samson had become. And

00:36:43.960 --> 00:36:47.820
what had Samson become? Well, Samson looked strong.

00:36:48.159 --> 00:36:50.960
He looked strong. And some of us look strong.

00:36:51.059 --> 00:36:53.960
Our church looks strong. But strength without

00:36:53.960 --> 00:36:57.400
God leads to pride, self -reliance, and worse.

00:36:57.880 --> 00:37:01.710
Samson looked in love. And some of us look in

00:37:01.710 --> 00:37:04.130
love. We're passionate or in love with the things

00:37:04.130 --> 00:37:05.670
that we get to do, the things that we are doing

00:37:05.670 --> 00:37:08.929
with each other. In many cases, we look in love.

00:37:09.050 --> 00:37:12.170
But if you look in love without the wisdom, without

00:37:12.170 --> 00:37:15.690
biblical wisdom, it only leads to compromise

00:37:15.690 --> 00:37:19.130
at best. And Samson looked like a winner. And

00:37:19.130 --> 00:37:21.250
some of us look like winners. And the church

00:37:21.250 --> 00:37:24.150
looks like a winner. But if you look like a winner,

00:37:24.289 --> 00:37:27.690
you find victory without God. It leads to a trap.

00:37:27.789 --> 00:37:30.409
And the trap is the Samson trap. Because while

00:37:30.409 --> 00:37:33.349
the day of evil is upon us for sure, the day

00:37:33.349 --> 00:37:36.489
of rejoicing is also upon us. And you see the

00:37:36.489 --> 00:37:38.789
math of that? While the evil is coming, what

00:37:38.789 --> 00:37:40.590
will you be found doing? Well, if it's the day

00:37:40.590 --> 00:37:42.690
of evil and the day of rejoicing, those are the

00:37:42.690 --> 00:37:44.570
day. And you're not supposed to be doing evil.

00:37:44.630 --> 00:37:46.889
That only leaves rejoicing. And then you hear

00:37:46.889 --> 00:37:48.489
Paul and Silas in the middle of the night in

00:37:48.489 --> 00:37:52.989
a stock soar. beaten, unfed, praising God. You

00:37:52.989 --> 00:37:55.010
hear the church praying and praising God while

00:37:55.010 --> 00:37:57.469
Peter was arrested. Shall I go on? What will

00:37:57.469 --> 00:38:00.170
you be found doing in the midst of your trials?

00:38:00.570 --> 00:38:02.929
Blessed is a man, the brother of Jesus, James

00:38:02.929 --> 00:38:04.769
writes, and then we're in the conclusion. Blessed

00:38:04.769 --> 00:38:08.190
is a man who perseveres under trial, for once

00:38:08.190 --> 00:38:11.070
he has been approved, that means tested and found

00:38:11.070 --> 00:38:13.170
worthy, tested and found faithful, tested and

00:38:13.170 --> 00:38:16.250
persevering, he will receive the crown of life

00:38:16.250 --> 00:38:18.269
which the Lord has promised to those who love

00:38:18.269 --> 00:38:21.380
him. Notice the equation. Blessed is a man who,

00:38:21.440 --> 00:38:26.400
A, perseveres under trial, B, is approved, found

00:38:26.400 --> 00:38:28.739
worthy, continuing, persevering in his faith,

00:38:28.860 --> 00:38:31.739
because ultimately the blessing will come, which

00:38:31.739 --> 00:38:33.599
is a crown of life, which the Lord has promised

00:38:33.599 --> 00:38:35.039
to those who love him. That brings us to our

00:38:35.039 --> 00:38:38.119
conclusion. So when I was younger, so one of

00:38:38.119 --> 00:38:39.960
the blessings of my life has been, and I think

00:38:39.960 --> 00:38:41.840
it's maybe kind of a gift with preaching, is

00:38:41.840 --> 00:38:44.420
I have memories that go all the way back. I have

00:38:44.420 --> 00:38:46.300
memories from when I was about a year and a half

00:38:46.300 --> 00:38:48.719
old. And like I talked to Ariana, it's like,

00:38:48.780 --> 00:38:50.079
I don't remember anything from any year and a

00:38:50.079 --> 00:38:51.079
half old. I talked to Sherry, she doesn't remember

00:38:51.079 --> 00:38:52.000
anything from any year and a half old. But I

00:38:52.000 --> 00:38:54.099
remember things as if I was there from a year

00:38:54.099 --> 00:38:55.639
and a half old. I might forget things from today

00:38:55.639 --> 00:38:57.820
or this week, but I remember things from when

00:38:57.820 --> 00:39:00.099
I was a year and a half old. When I was in kindergarten,

00:39:00.320 --> 00:39:02.280
I was in the Lark School District, which is the

00:39:02.280 --> 00:39:04.079
other side of Northwood. And that school has

00:39:04.079 --> 00:39:06.260
been torn down. That's Brentwood Park, the backyard

00:39:06.260 --> 00:39:07.980
of Lark School District with Brentwood Park.

00:39:08.179 --> 00:39:09.699
That's where we practiced softball. That big

00:39:09.699 --> 00:39:11.179
field over there used to have an elementary school

00:39:11.179 --> 00:39:12.980
in it. And that was my elementary school. And

00:39:12.980 --> 00:39:15.170
Aaron. and Caitlin bought a house on Sheffield

00:39:15.170 --> 00:39:19.090
in the 2100 block, and I came home from Riverside

00:39:19.090 --> 00:39:21.389
Hospital. Hold on. No, I was St. Charles. My

00:39:21.389 --> 00:39:23.230
brother was Riverside. I came home from St. Charles

00:39:23.230 --> 00:39:25.769
Hospital to a house on the corner of Sheffield

00:39:25.769 --> 00:39:28.349
and Brentwood. So that's where I came home, and

00:39:28.349 --> 00:39:31.929
I lived there until I was six years old. While

00:39:31.929 --> 00:39:33.309
I was living there, I had a friend. His name

00:39:33.309 --> 00:39:38.250
was John, and John was born sick. John was born

00:39:38.250 --> 00:39:41.230
having a hard time breathing. His immune system

00:39:41.230 --> 00:39:43.539
was messed up, and he was sick. And then our

00:39:43.539 --> 00:39:45.679
kindergarten year, he missed. He still passed,

00:39:45.760 --> 00:39:48.000
got to go to first grade. But he missed so many

00:39:48.000 --> 00:39:50.199
days of school. I want to say like maybe 50 or

00:39:50.199 --> 00:39:52.780
60 days of school. In fact, my friend John, the

00:39:52.780 --> 00:39:55.840
year that I was to transfer over to the online

00:39:55.840 --> 00:39:57.179
side because we bought the new house, which is

00:39:57.179 --> 00:39:58.219
the house that I now live in because we bought

00:39:58.219 --> 00:40:00.239
it for my parents. John was supposed to be in

00:40:00.239 --> 00:40:02.539
the Christmas musical there. And I had already

00:40:02.539 --> 00:40:05.099
transferred. I was already out. But they let

00:40:05.099 --> 00:40:07.280
me come back for the Christmas program board

00:40:07.280 --> 00:40:10.059
game night. And I brought a board game in with

00:40:10.059 --> 00:40:12.619
me to the board game night. And they said to

00:40:12.619 --> 00:40:15.820
me that John was sick again. But I knew John's

00:40:15.820 --> 00:40:18.539
part. And they asked me to sing in the play that

00:40:18.539 --> 00:40:20.940
night. And I said, I didn't want to. And my mom

00:40:20.940 --> 00:40:22.000
said, well, you can do it. You can do it. And

00:40:22.000 --> 00:40:23.340
she said, well, you're going to do it. And when

00:40:23.340 --> 00:40:24.639
she said, you're going to do it, I threw the

00:40:24.639 --> 00:40:26.780
board game down on the floor. And I think it

00:40:26.780 --> 00:40:28.360
was Clue. And all the pieces went everywhere.

00:40:28.739 --> 00:40:31.300
And I did not do it. But anyway, so my friend

00:40:31.300 --> 00:40:33.039
John missed everything because he was sick all

00:40:33.039 --> 00:40:37.789
the time. So midway through that summer, John's

00:40:37.789 --> 00:40:39.849
mom got an idea. She was going to fix John. She

00:40:39.849 --> 00:40:41.130
was going to help him. She was going to help

00:40:41.130 --> 00:40:43.210
him be healthy. And she put him on supplements,

00:40:43.389 --> 00:40:45.809
vitamins, and so on. And she got him out of bed

00:40:45.809 --> 00:40:47.909
every morning at 7 a .m. Him and his older brother,

00:40:47.969 --> 00:40:49.409
about four years older than him. And they would

00:40:49.409 --> 00:40:51.489
work out every morning. And it started just being,

00:40:51.590 --> 00:40:53.889
you know, 10 reps, 10 this, 10 that, whatever.

00:40:53.989 --> 00:40:56.010
They would work out every morning, seven days

00:40:56.010 --> 00:40:59.010
a week. And he was on supplements. And he never

00:40:59.010 --> 00:41:00.949
ate sugar anymore. He wasn't allowed to eat sugar.

00:41:00.989 --> 00:41:02.469
Sugar is bad for your immune system, by the way,

00:41:02.489 --> 00:41:04.050
especially if you have too much of it. It doesn't

00:41:04.050 --> 00:41:06.960
take much. Um, and so he never ate sugar anymore

00:41:06.960 --> 00:41:10.400
and almost no carbs. And so pretty soon my friend

00:41:10.400 --> 00:41:12.159
John, who at the time was probably about 15,

00:41:12.199 --> 00:41:14.039
20 pounds overweight as a kindergartner, um,

00:41:14.239 --> 00:41:17.139
became buff. That's what happened. So I moved

00:41:17.139 --> 00:41:19.840
away, didn't see him. And then I saw him again

00:41:19.840 --> 00:41:23.000
later and he had become little Hulk Hogan. Like

00:41:23.000 --> 00:41:25.860
he, he got pec muscles and he had an actual set

00:41:25.860 --> 00:41:27.659
of abs. Like I've never actually seen on a human

00:41:27.659 --> 00:41:30.599
being and in real, like in person. Right. And,

00:41:30.739 --> 00:41:33.539
uh, at that time anyway, and maybe not even now.

00:41:33.880 --> 00:41:35.980
And he could go like this and his shirt would

00:41:35.980 --> 00:41:38.119
get really tight right here. I mean, he was strong.

00:41:38.320 --> 00:41:41.460
And when we first moved, he came to my house

00:41:41.460 --> 00:41:45.159
and. We went to a little fair together, and then

00:41:45.159 --> 00:41:46.260
he was going to spend the night at my house,

00:41:46.280 --> 00:41:48.440
but he was sick. He was always sick. And so I

00:41:48.440 --> 00:41:49.780
said, well, it's okay. He'd have to bring his

00:41:49.780 --> 00:41:52.059
breathing machine. He had a CPAP machine. He'd

00:41:52.059 --> 00:41:54.260
have to bring his breathing machine for his asthma,

00:41:54.300 --> 00:41:57.860
for steroids. And he had a rescue inhaler. He

00:41:57.860 --> 00:41:59.420
had three or four medications he had to take

00:41:59.420 --> 00:42:01.199
and all this. And I asked him if he could spend

00:42:01.199 --> 00:42:02.579
the night, but he was sick. So his mom said he

00:42:02.579 --> 00:42:04.300
couldn't spend the night. And he did not push

00:42:04.300 --> 00:42:06.519
back at all. He's like, no, my mom said no. I

00:42:06.519 --> 00:42:08.139
said, come on, beggar. She'll let you stay if

00:42:08.139 --> 00:42:09.480
you push really hard. You know, you're sick.

00:42:09.659 --> 00:42:11.559
She'll give you what you want. And so I'm not

00:42:11.559 --> 00:42:13.840
going to do that. That's my mom. And then over

00:42:13.840 --> 00:42:15.599
that same summer, that was the last time I saw

00:42:15.599 --> 00:42:17.139
him over that same summer, he got buff. And then

00:42:17.139 --> 00:42:18.559
I didn't see him until much later and he was

00:42:18.559 --> 00:42:20.579
all buff. And from the time that he got buff

00:42:20.579 --> 00:42:22.159
to the time that I saw him, he'd never been sick.

00:42:22.260 --> 00:42:24.639
He never got a flu, never got a cold, never had

00:42:24.639 --> 00:42:26.940
an asthma attack, got off all of his breathing

00:42:26.940 --> 00:42:29.300
apparatuses, got off all of his medicines he

00:42:29.300 --> 00:42:31.199
was taking every day. He was not taking any medicine,

00:42:31.280 --> 00:42:32.800
just the supplements and working out seven days

00:42:32.800 --> 00:42:34.480
a week and eating right and being healthy. And

00:42:34.480 --> 00:42:36.980
I thought John was strong. And I was like, wow,

00:42:37.139 --> 00:42:39.320
John's strong. I mean, you'd say that too, wouldn't

00:42:39.320 --> 00:42:42.639
you? Going into junior high, he was bench pressing

00:42:42.639 --> 00:42:45.179
200 pounds. Going into junior high, they were

00:42:45.179 --> 00:42:47.340
begging him to play football, right? But he wouldn't

00:42:47.340 --> 00:42:49.019
play football. He never did play football. You

00:42:49.019 --> 00:42:50.360
know why? Because it's not good for your body.

00:42:50.480 --> 00:42:52.079
He said, I worked so hard to have this body.

00:42:52.119 --> 00:42:53.440
I'm not going to play football. Risk messing

00:42:53.440 --> 00:42:53.780
it up.