We sing hallelujah. We sing hallelujah. We sing
hallelujah. The Lamb has overcome. We sing hallelujah.
We sing hallelujah. We sing hallelujah. The Lamb
has overcome We sing hallelujah We sing hallelujah
We sing hallelujah The Lamb has overcome We sing
hallelujah We sing hallelujah We sing hallelujah
sometime last year, it occurred to me that some
of the stories that we read about in the Bible
are sort of what the world would say is unfair.
An example that just at that time came to mind
was the story of David and Goliath. A lot of
times we think about the story of David and Goliath,
we think about David being a very young man,
probably still a boy, really, in a lot of people's
eyes, too small to fit in Saul's armor, too small
to wield Saul's sword. or his shield or his helmet,
and going into battle against Goliath with a
sling and a stone. And we think, man, that's
a real underdog story. And so we think about
like one football team that's full of second
stringers beating, you know, the national champs
or something. That's a real underdog story. That's
incredible. And we try to liken that to life
circumstances where we're facing something that
the odds are really against us. And then we...
uh have great victory and we think about the
david and goliath story as an example there's
a great movie um facing the giants uses that
theme and it was one of the first christian movies
purely truly produced by a church and christian
movie that really took the nation and almost
the world by storm and part of that was a big
part of why because it was a it was a new david
and goliath story right except actually when
you take a look at the david and goliath story
the underdog in that story is not david It's
Goliath. From the very beginning, Goliath was
doomed, right? The moment that he stood up and
mocked God and talked about how the Israelite
God was no one and nothing and how he had destroyed
many gods before and he would do the same to
the Israelite God and to the worship of the Israelite
God. From that moment on, his fate was sealed.
I submit to you that David could have been a
four -year -old preschooler with a slingshot
or a... three -year -old little boy with a pea
shooter who just believed and trusted in what
God was going to do. And Goliath was doomed.
That was settled because he was standing not
against an underdog boy with a sling, but against
the God of the universe. And so at that time,
I did a study through scripture of all the places
that we see that happening. And it's pretty clear
that God is showing us that the mercy of God
also equates to the untimely destruction of anyone
who would stand against God. And that is exactly
what we see happening in the story of Samson
today. This message is going to go by fairly
quickly today. And so I'll ask you to be fully
engaged despite any warmth you may be feeling.
And if you start to feel tired, stand up. Don't
miss a drop of what God is saying through these
passages. Starting with a little hoot or holler,
amen, as we go to Judges chapter 16. Thank you
so much. This will finish, essentially, the story,
the publicly known story of Samson today as we're
in Judges 16, finishing out. And you know how
the story ends with his demise. You've probably
heard that already, read it yourself maybe at
some time. Samson in Judges 16, verse 21, it
says this, The Philistines seized him. and gouged
out his eyes. Well, that's pretty much the end
of him roving the country and seeing women that
he's pretty attracted to, right? It's also pretty
much the end of his trickiness, his craftiness,
and finding ways to defeat the Philistines, and
to some extent, maybe the end of his fighting
the Philistines altogether, because he can no
longer see them, right? They brought him down
to Gaza. He's been there before. Trouble in Gaza.
They brought him down to Gaza. and bound him
with bronze shackles, and he was forced to grind
grain in the prison. No time before this would
the bronze shackles have been sufficient to bind
him, but he is bound and forced to grind grain
in the prison. Now, he still has quite a bit
of human strength, but no amount of human strength
breaks bronze shackles, but quite a bit of human
strength can be used then to produce grain into
wheat. 22. But his hair began to grow back. after
it had been shaved. And so there is a reminder
that the worst things that people do, sometimes
if they manage to survive them, there is a hope
built into people, right? Not just that God is
going to miraculously make his hair grow back.
People, your hair just grows back, right? There
is a hope built into people, not just that...
that God might pull you out of that circumstance
and then turn you into something awesome and
great again. But there is a hope built into you
because people have inherent ability to heal
from their experiences, inherent ability to overcome,
to figure things out. It might take you 10 years
to realize, oh, this is something stupid that
I'm doing. But the moment you realize that this
is something stupid that you're doing, there
is hope for you to grow beyond the course that
you are on just by virtue of your being a human,
but also because God at any point in time, could
pour in just a little bit of his power and turn
that human ability into something amazing. That's
what's about to happen in Samson's life, verse
23. Now, the Philistine leaders gathered together
to offer a great sacrifice to their god, Dagon.
Now, notice that his hair is beginning to grow
back, so this is not immediately the next day.
Some time has passed, and they are still celebrating
the victory of their false god over God. They're
still worshiping a false god. In 20 years of
Samson doing victory after victory, possibly
because Samson was doing a lot of dumb things
in there, right? Going after women, going after
things that he enjoyed in life. So it wasn't
that he was very clearly representing God, but
they were still worshiping Dagon. And they rejoiced
and said, our God has handed over our enemy Samson
to us. A very clear message that Dagon had victory
over the God of the universe and turned Samson
over. When the people saw him, they praised their
God and said, so now as people saw Samson being
forced to grind out grain and his eyes ripped
out of his head, they praised their God and said,
our God has handed over to us our enemy who destroyed
our land and who multiplied our dead. When they
were in good spirits, they said, bring Samson
here to entertain us. So they brought Samson
from prison and he entertained them. And they
had him stand between the pillars. So there he
stood as a sign of the victory of Dagon over
the victory possible of Samson through Yahweh.
Samson said to the young man who was leading
him by the hands, he got led everywhere because
his eyes were gone, lead me where I can feel
the pillars supporting the temple so I can lean
against them. The temple was full of men and
women. All the leaders of the Philistines were
there. And about 3 ,000 men and women were on
the roof watching Samson entertain them. So all
these people up high looking down on the courtyard
seeing Samson there, his eyes gouged out. Samson
called out to the Lord, Lord God, please remember
me. Strengthen me, God, just once more. With
one last act of vengeance, let me pay back the
Philistines for my two eyes. Samson took hold
of the two middle pillars supporting. the temple
and leaned against them, one on his right hand
and the other on his left. Samson said, let me
die with the Philistines. He pushed with all
his might and the temple fell on the leaders
and all the people in it. And those he killed
at his death were more than those he had killed
in his life. Then his brothers and his father's
whole family came down. They carried him back
and buried him between Zerah and Eshtoel in the
tomb of his father, Manoah. So he judged Israel.
20 years. This is the end of the public ministry,
if you will, of Samson. Now, maybe it ended actually
when he was laying his head on Delilah's lap.
Maybe it ended actually when he looked and saw
what he shouldn't have taken for himself. But
it's the end of his public ministry in that his
life is given to bring about the vengeance of
the Lord on the people who worship Dagon instead
of God, who professed to have destroyed God's
hero. I want you to see then that God's mercy
to those who seek him. When Samson cries out,
does he deserve it? No. No, he's pretty much
getting what he deserves. When he cries out for
mercy to God and God visits his mercy on Samson,
that God's mercy to Samson becomes God's judgment
upon. the Philistines. And it is like that throughout
the scripture from the beginning to the end.
God's mercy on Adam and Eve becomes God's judgment
on the serpent. And it goes all the way through
everything that we see. Every time that God visits
his mercy upon people, we often think that mercy
looks gentle and that God is somehow a merciful
God to all people and is required to give his
mercy by some unseen rule or law. Yet throughout
scripture, God's mercy has another side. When
God opened the Red Sea for Israel, he drowned
Pharaoh's army. When Noah entered the ark and
God shut the door, not Noah, when God shut the
door, the flood came and destroyed every living
human, except for those who were inside the ark.
When Christ rose from the grave, believers received
life, while those who reject Jesus remained under
condemnation, not for a moment or for a little
while or until their death, but forever. for
eternity. And so if they do not at some point
in time accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior,
they will be condemned forever. Sometimes God's
mercy arrives at the worst possible moment for
those who oppose him. I think about a number
of people who don't believe in Christ that I've
been at their bedside crying out in agony, even
calling out to God with no hope. and slipping
off into eternity, refusing Christ, but crying
out to God for mercy. And the moment Jesus rose
again, he sealed that condemnation. There's no
going back. Those who oppose him will be taken
in their sin and wickedness. God's mercy is never
late. For those who accept Jesus Christ as Lord
and Savior, there is mercy. For those who do
right, there is mercy. But that mercy is often
untimely from the world's perspective. In Exodus
14, we see the Israelites. coming out of Egypt,
and they're standing at the Red Sea. And this
looks like this is it for them, you know. They
fled Egypt, and there they stand at the Red Sea.
And Pharaoh's army, chariots of steel and blade,
men of experience with firsthand face -to -face
warfare, conquering foreign nations, are chasing
down men and women and children and old people.
And they have them up against the sea, and it
looks like destruction is coming. And in Exodus
14, 13, this is what we see. It says, but Moses
said to the people, don't be afraid. Stand firm
and see the Lord's salvation that he will accomplish
what he will. I'm sorry that he will accomplish
for you today. For the Egyptians you see today,
you will never see again. The Lord will fight
to you and you must be quiet. The Lord said to
Moses, why are you crying out to me? Tell the
Israelites to break camp. As for you, lift up
your staff, stretch out your hand over the sea
and divide it so that the Israelites can go through
the sea on dry ground. As for me, I am going
to harden the hearts of the Egyptians so that
they will go in after them and I will receive
glory by means of Pharaoh, all his army and his
chariots and his horsemen. The Egyptians will
know that I am the Lord when I receive glory
through Pharaoh, his chariots and his horsemen.
And the angel of God who was going in front of
the Israelite forces moved and went behind them.
The pillar of cloud moved from in front of them
and stood behind them. It came between the Egyptian
and the Israelite forces. There was clouds and
darkness. It lit up the night and neither group
came near the other all night long. Moses stretched
out his hand over the sea and the Lord drove
the sea back. With a powerful east wind and all
that night and turned the sea and dry land. So
the waters were divided and the Israelites went
through the sea on dry ground with the waters
like a wall to them on their right and their
left. Egyptians set out and pursued all the Pharaoh's
horses, his chariots and his horsemen. went into
the sea after them. And during the morning watch,
the Lord looked down at the Egyptian forces from
the pillar of fire and cloud and threw the Egyptian
forces into confusion. He caused their chariot
wheels to swerve and made them drive with difficulty.
Let's get away from Israel, the Egyptian said.
because the Lord is fighting for them against
Egypt. And the Lord said to Moses, Stretch out
your hand over the sea, so that the water may
come back on the Egyptians on their chariots
and horsemen. So Moses stretched out his hand
over the sea, and at daybreak the sea returned
to its normal depth, nothing unusual. While the
Egyptians were trying to escape from it, the
Lord threw them into the sea. The water came
back and covered the chariots and horsemen, plus
the entire army of Pharaoh that had gone after
them into the sea, not. Even one of them survived.
You see, when the Lord pours out his mercy, the
others who do not receive his mercy receive his
judgment. In Romans 9, it says that God chooses
on whom he will have mercy. And you may plead
with God for mercy and not receive it. But God
did give a pathway by which we may receive mercy.
and know for sure that we will always receive
mercy, and that is calling upon the name of the
Lord in the name of Jesus Christ. So there may
be those out there who do not know Jesus, and
they may cry out to God for mercy, believing
that God is real, hoping in a way that God would
make, and they may receive mercy. But God is
not required to deliver mercy. He delivers mercy
on those He chooses to deliver mercy. John chapter
3. In verse 36, those of you who are following
along or taking notes can write that down or
look it up. John chapter 3, verse 36. We know
that this is right after the visit of Nicodemus
to Jesus. He's asking some of the hard questions.
John chapter 3, verse 36 says as follows. The
one who believes in the Son has eternal life.
And that is the message of the church, is it
not? We are to take that message to the world.
If you will believe in the Son, you will have
eternal life. If you are here today and you believe
in the Son, you have eternal life. And if you
have eternal life, then you ought to be doing
something with it. But the message does not stop
there. The message of Jesus is this. The one
who believes in the Son has eternal life, but
the one who rejects the Son will not see life.
Instead, the wrath of God remains on him. That's
pretty tough stuff. I submit to you that when
the mercy of the Lord comes upon some, the judgment
of the Lord automatically comes upon others.
But in this verse, then, we see a three -point
lesson. Are you with me, Curtis? Are you with
me? Here's a three -point lesson. For those of
you who do not want to receive the mercy of the
Lord by calling upon Jesus' name, and therefore
then follow the Lord faithfully the remainder
of your life, if you don't want to do that, There
is a three -step action plan by which you can
live a pretty great life here on earth until
God says no more. The first part of it is you
can spend the spoils of victory. When you have
success, you can spend the spoils of that victory
on worthless pursuits. You can overfeed yourself
and oversleep yourself and overpay for things.
You can buy the rich, colorful things. You can
enjoy this life. By spending the spoils of victory,
your hard work will produce fruit. That's what
we are as humans. Just as Samson's hair could
grow back, you can get up tomorrow morning, you
can go on ChatGPT or into Google and get yourself
a 20 -point action plan on how to start a successful
business. And then if you will get up and work
16 to 18 hours a day, I will guarantee you that
you will become wealthy. on the earth because
that is the equation of creation. Will you face
difficulty? Will you fall down? Will you experience
poverty at times? Yes. In fact, to experience
poverty at length is one of the fastest roads
to becoming rich. Ask the wealthy how they got
wealthy. I'll guarantee you they didn't get it
by buying McDonald's food. Ask Elon Musk how
he became a successful owner of billions of dollars
worth of real estate and corporate America. You
know how many hours a week he works? 135 hours
a week. There's 168 hours in a week. And Elon
Musk's work week is 135 hours long. You think
you're going to get rich working 40? No, but
you can be successful working 40. Fairly successful.
You get a good degree or tradesman certificate
or something. You can be fairly successful working
40 hours a week. And then you can be successful
in man's eyes by spending the spoils of that
victory on worthless pursuits. In the story,
the Philistines are celebrating as though Dagon
had won. They used God's blessing to finance
idolatry. They celebrated before the battle was
actually over. In fact, they are celebrating
the greatness of Dagon. At their own funeral.
And many people will go into hell in a very expensive
casket for their leftover body. People line the
roads, right? For men who spoke greatly, spent
greatly, changed the world a lot. And they will
show up in the thousands or tens of thousands.
There have been funerals. where hundreds of thousands
of people have come to say their goodbyes to
the body of a person who has already fallen into
the pits of hell and from which they will not
rise. God makes object lessons out of things
all the time that we may see. Lottery winners
who win $10, $20, or $100 million and then file
bankruptcy and have nothing. Wait, who? Years
later. How do you even spend $100 million in
two years? How is that even possible? But it
is. Temporary victory often produces permanent
foolishness. This is why Jesus said it is difficult
for a rich man to come into the kingdom of God.
And before you point at somebody else and say
it's going to be hard for that person to come
into the kingdom of God because they're rich,
you might want to think about that everyone in
this room Do you not understand that in the world,
in the grand scheme of the world, the whole world,
that everybody in America, even people who are
living on disability, are in the 96th percentile
for income. 95 .99 % of people outside the United
States of America live making less money than
people in America get on disability or social
security. And we think we're not rich, so it's
going to be pretty easy for us to come into the
kingdom of God, right? Wrong. You're going to
have to divorce yourself of your hobbies, of
your recreation, of your family. You have to
think like, my wife cannot come before God if
I want to go to heaven. I'm sorry, but that's
true. My husband cannot come before God if I
want to go to heaven. God's got to be first.
But there is an action plan. You can live a really
great life spending the spoils of victory on
worthless pursuits. Just expect an end to your
life a little bit like what the Philistines got.
Because that's what's probably in the offering.
Proverbs 10 .2 says it this way. Proverbs 10
.2, for those of you who are keeping notes or
following along. I didn't mark any of these.
So you can, every time, pick a little game out
and race me to the text. You probably beat me
most of the time. Proverbs 10 .2 says, ill -gotten
gains. That means gain that is gotten by some
means that does not glorify God. Ill -gotten
gains do not profit anyone. Ill -gotten gains
do not profit anyone, but righteousness rescues
from death. You see, the equation has always
been the same. This is not a promise. When you
look at Proverbs, don't look at Proverbs as a
promise, like God said this is the way it's going
to be. Solomon wrote the Proverbs observing the
way the world works. The wisest man to ever live
looked at the way the world works and he said,
well, you know, this is what I see. Ill -gotten
gains, gains gotten in any way that does not
glorify God yields no profit. There's no benefit
in it. Even if for a moment I take a taste and
I feel good about it, there's no benefit in anything
that I would get in this lifetime that does not
honor the Lord by the method by which I got it.
But righteousness, being right by God, doing
what God would have you do on a daily basis,
that rescues from death. That's what he observed.
And he was observant. And it ought to be the
same way for us. We ought to realize this is
just the way it works. And if you want it to
work some other way, well, then you'd have to
have another world. And since that's probably
not going to happen, you might want to realize
that every opportunity, everything that you capitalize
on, everything that you get that's an advantage
in this life, you go like, well, I saw my kid
do this. I got to be at their special moments,
right? I saw my girlfriend dressed up so pretty
and I proposed. I was there when my child was
born. Man, that's awesome. If you achieve any
of that without God being first, without Jesus
being Lord, The profit of it is negligible. You
know what? If you're not saved by the time you
go to hell, being present at the birth of your
child, which is like, I'm using that as an illustration
because it is one of the most awesome things
that ever happened to me in my lifetime as a
personal experience. After salvation, after God's
grace and the experiences that I've had with
the Lord, human experiences that I have had,
that is one of the most incredible things that
I have ever had, right? Ever seen. And that...
will burden you in hell if you're not a follower
of Jesus. Think about it. I was alive. I saw
things that I could not explain that were so
incredible. I had an opportunity there and there
and there and there. An opportunity to believe
in the truth, to live rightly by God, to experience
the Lord firsthand. And I chose not to. That
experience of being present at my child's birth,
if I were not saved. would be a source of weeping
and gnashing of teeth in the outer darkness for
eternity. The same as a sunset. And we're living
for the Lord and we're blowing out. You know
that the sun comes up every day. And if you go
to the place where there's not buildings in,
you can see an amazing creation of God every
day. And I submit to you that not one of us were
up at sunrise this morning. And not one of us
probably saw it. Were you up? Okay, I take it
back. We had one. He gets up very early. Okay,
and I knew that about you. Two. We had two. Two
people. Did you see the sunrise? Was it amazing?
All right, take their testimony. You know what
I'm saying? But you know what? At 11 tonight,
which by that time you got to be in bed sleeping
if you want to see the sunrise and not be tired
tomorrow, right? At 11 tonight, some of us will
be watching TV. And you might watch a program.
And it might be pretty cool. Man can make that.
Pretty cool stuff. We got a program we're watching
now that we really like. But you miss the sunset
and the sunrise. And it'll burn in you. If you
don't have Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, someday
you're going to go, what was I doing? When you're
laying on your deathbed, even as a Christian,
you might go, boy, I wish I could just see one
more sunrise. Maybe tomorrow ought to be the
day. Maybe I wish I could read a few more verses
of the Bible before I go. I wish I could walk
into the presence of the Lord saying, I wish
I hadn't, knowing that I hadn't spent all the
trappings and spoils of the good things of this
life on temporal things. I wish I had spent them
on kingdom things. Matthew 6, verse 19, it says
this. Don't store up for yourself treasures on
earth where moth and rust destroy. I mean, you've
heard this, right? I hope. I preached it not
that long ago. and where thieves break in and
steal. But store up for yourself treasures in
heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys,
and where thieves don't break in and steal. And
then this is the point that we're getting at
right this second. For where your treasure is,
there your heart will be also. And that means
if your treasure is in heaven, your heart will
be in heaven. One day you'll be in heaven, and
it'll be awesome, right? But it also means if
your treasure's in a box in your closet, then
your heart will be in a box in your closet, and
one day you'll be in hell, and that will not
be awesome. This is the reality of it. Jesus
said that. Jesus said, what are you doing with
your efforts in this lifetime? It's an action
plan. You want to have a great life? You want
to have a life that the world will think is good?
Spend the spoils of victory on worthless pursuits.
You'll be at parties. You'll probably celebrate
when you finally have your heart attack and die
or whatever. It'll be great, but it won't be
kingdom break. Anything invested apart from God's
kingdom eventually burns away and we have to
answer for how we spent it. The second thing
to see in here then, that action point of how
we can have a great life outside God, is to take
from God. We can take things from God. You can
do that. You were created intelligent. You were
created capable. You know that in yourselves,
in the center of yourselves, God has written
in his own hands the writing of how your body
is going to function in such intricate detail
that it governs how one cell turns into two and
so on. And it is a writing that you could not
contain in a book like this. It's only been just
recently, in the last 10 years or so, that they
were actually able to map or write out. And to
do so, memory, computer memory, had to continue
to shrink in size so that they could get enough
computer memory connected to one system so that
they could write out what DNA says. Now, they
don't fully understand it. They're getting there.
But they have mapped it. They can see it, sort
of. Because you can't see it on a screen. You
can't read it with your human eyes. You need
a computer to do it for you, right? But the point
is, God has written inside you as a person the
map to creation. In the cells that make up your
pinky fingernail. Just one. You are incredible.
Beyond what you can fathom. So when you have
a thought about yourself that I'm no good, I
screwed up, oh whatever, that's a lie. You are
awesome. Yes, we have sin in the world and there's
evil and wickedness and there's bad choices and
stuff and repentance and all that's a real thing.
But the bottom line is God has made you awesome.
And when you take a thing that is awesome and
you use it for purposes other... than what the
person who owns that thing, that is stealing
from that person. If you go to my house tonight
while I am sleeping, go in my garage while I
am sleeping, and take out my car without my permission,
and drive it around the block a few times, and
then put it back, and I don't know about it,
you stole my car. I'm not giving you permission
to do that right now. Or ever, right? I like
to know where my car is. It's fair, right? If
you ask me nine times out of 10, I'll probably
let you borrow it. But if you take it without
asking, that's called stealing. And people are
stealing from God every day. And the Philistines
stole from God. They took God's champion. They
took God's name. They were taking wealth and
drink. They took sexuality. They lived immoral
lives, which means they perverted the laws and
rules that God laid out in everyone's heart,
not just his own. So you can take from God. They
gouged out Samson's eyes. They chained him. They
forced him into slavery. They mocked God's servant.
But in verse 22, something quietly changes. That's
where it said, you remember it, how be it the
hair on his head began to grow again. You see,
this is the funny thing about God. Generation
after generation after generation, people have
stole from God. People are doing it now. I submit
to you that there are people in this room who
are doing it now. I don't know who you are. Not
my place. But if you're right now going, eh,
not really. Doesn't matter. That whole thing
about the sunset, he really stretched that out
a lot. Oh, the DNA, not that big of a deal. If
you're thinking about what you're going to eat
for lunch, rather than right now focused on the
Lord, you might be stealing from God right now
because that mind that you're using to think
about other things, right? If you're fighting
sleep right now because you know you stayed up
too late yesterday, whether playing games or
watching TV or something like that, and you're
fighting sleep right now, you're stealing from
God. Because God deserves your alertness when
we're talking about the word of God. And so the
bottom line is this. God has set up a system.
And while every generation has been stealing
from the Lord, God has persisted. God didn't
need Samson's strength. God had not lost control
of the situation in this story. The Philistines
thought that they had taken something from God,
that they had defeated him and stolen his glory
and stopped his advance. But the truth is you
cannot rob the owner of everything. Many throughout
history, for example, have attempted to destroy
the Bible. Do you know that the Bible is the
single book that more people have tried to eradicate
than any other, right? So yeah, these things
going on in America right now, people say, well,
we're going to take this out of the libraries.
We don't want little women in there. You know,
it's got things that people, kids will learn
stuff about stuff that we don't want them to
learn about. So we're going to try to take them
out of the library, right? And then at the same
time, we're going to put in all kinds of books
about... alternative lifestyle so kids will have
their minds open to the possibility that someone
else's alternative lifestyle might be just as
legitimate as the correct lifestyle that a person's
actually supposed to live. But the bottom line
is, there have been lots of books throughout
history behind the Iron Curtain in Russia. Book
burning after book burning after book burning
after any book that could possibly say anything
about true history or whatever. But the Bible
stands highest amongst them all as having been
fought Generation after generation after generation.
The Roman emperors burned it and burned anyone
who would dare to own it. French revolutionaries
outlawed it. You always thought, well, oh, French
revolutionaries, that's not democracy, right?
They were fighting for democracy and putting
down the monarchy. They outlawed the Bible. No
one was allowed to have a Bible. And they did
that because they said that it pointed to a king
who was God. And so they outlawed the Bible and
burned it and killed anyone who owned one. communist
governments confiscated it, burned them in the
streets by the tens of thousands or hundreds
of thousands, and threw people in jail who would
dare to memorize it. So much so that when one
of my professors was a missionary over there,
right after the Iron Curtain went down, and you
were allowed to have a Bible, he went to a church
there to preach a house church. He walked down
the hallway, and on the hall there were pictures
of men. There was only about 20 people meeting
in the church, in the house, and there was like
100 pictures of men. And they asked the pastor,
who was a pastor, he said, Who are all these
pictures? Are they like founders of your church
or pastors of other churches? He said, no, these
are the martyrs. These are the men in our church
who died that the government killed them for
professing the name of Christ. They had 20 people
in their church and over 100 men's faces on the
wall killed for professing the name of Jesus
Christ. The Bible and the church have been pursued
to eradication, except guess what? Here we are.
Can't touch it. The God of heaven has ordained.
that the hair of the kingdom will begin to grow
again. Go ahead. Try to steal from God. It always
ends the same way. But if you steal from God,
you can have what you might not otherwise have.
The Bible remains the best -selling and most
translated book in history after everyone, all
those generations tried to eradicate it. Samson's
hair began to grow back. Jesus is still on the
throne, and there is still only one name under
heaven by which someone must be saved, but there
are rich men rising to fame. And tonight there
will be parties, and last night there were parties.
Kegs were cracked open, bottles of vodka tossed
in the garbage can empty. Partying continues,
using the resources that have been stolen from
the Lord. Psalm 2 speaks to the topic. Going
back to the book of Psalms. Psalm 2 beginning
in verse 1 says, Why do the nations rage and
the people plot in vain? The kings of the earth
take their stand and the rulers conspire together
against the Lord and his anointed one. Let's
tear off their chains and throw their ropes off
of us. God will rule, does rule, and wins in
the end. You want to win for a while? You want
to have victory for a while in this lifetime?
All you got to do is steal from God. Well, watch
out, because in the long run, God wins. And the
truth is, you may think you're stealing from
the Lord, but you really can't steal from the
one who owns everything. In the book of Job,
Job is challenged. In fact, his life is dismantled
systematically. The only thing he's got left
is his wife. And then in the midst, while he's
in ashes, scraping his sword with a pot shard,
she says, Job, just curse God and die. And we
see now why the devil won't let... Won't take
her, right? Because she's going to be the bad
influence that potentially ruins him. But he
doesn't. Hurts God and die. But then he does
face God eventually. And God challenges him and
says, who do you think you are? And Job realizes
he was not there and did not name the animals.
He was not there and did not create it. I submit
to you that whatever your situation is, come
and throw yourself upon the mercy of the Lord.
Rather than trying to do real well in this life,
you ought to be submitting this life to the Lord.
You may think you've taken from God. but you
cannot diminish the one who owns the universe.
The third and final point of the action plan
then is to victimize the eventual victors. There
are people in this life that you can overcome.
I've had people come and tell me a story of why
they need this or that or the other thing that
I own or that I have or whatever, and I say,
sure, I'll help you. Give them a little money,
give them a little time, we serve them, whatever.
And they've pulled the wool over my eyes. Actually,
they've gotten something from me that they didn't
deserve, that God didn't want to give them. They've
stolen, essentially, from me. They've victimized
me. I've had people say things to me that hurt
me and would shut me down if it weren't for God's
amazing sustenance. I've had people in my own
family who have heard from me how they should
live, choose to live otherwise, right in front
of me, to mock me and say, you can say whatever
you want, but I'm going to do whatever I want.
If you're a young man or a young woman in this
room, you don't understand that your parents
want what's best for you. When they tell you
how to live, you need to listen. If you're a
grown person in this room and you happen to have
a dad or a mom who's still alive, who loves the
Lord and is living that way, or a brother or
a sister or somebody in the church will take
the time to show you, realize that by mocking
them, you are stealing from the eventual victors.
You can victimize the eventual victors and have
great success. The Philistines mocked Samson.
They laughed. They humiliated him. They believed
that... Now Samson belonged to them, but then
everything changed. The man they mocked became
God's instrument one last time. The people they
thought were defeated became the people God vindicated.
This is what the cross looked like. The cross
looked like Satan's great victory. Three days
later, it became his greatest defeat. Romans
8 .28 says, God turns all things out for the
good for those who love God are called according
to his purpose. If you're stealing from a Christian,
watch out, because God's going to turn that out
for your good. Joseph was thrown in prison after
having been sold into slavery, after having been
lied on, whatever. All of that process started
by his brothers who betrayed him. And then when
his brothers stood before him, he said, listen,
what you meant to harm me, God meant to use for
my good and to save many lives. He realized that
God is a God of mercy. And Christians realize
that God is a God of mercy. And you might put
one over on us. You might pretend to be a Christian
for a while. You might pretend to follow Jesus,
pretend to be faithful. And you might put one
over on us for a while. And we'll love on you.
But here's the funny thing about that. We might
love on you even if you were lost. I don't think
you're really gaining anything in our love because
we love you anyway. But if you're stealing from
God, you're stealing from Christians, understand
that Christians do eventually win. And if you're
not on the side of Christians, you eventually
lose. That's the reality of it. Colossians 2.
This is a tough one to turn to and I didn't mark
it. So we'll see how we do here. Colossians 2
is kind of small, but look, I got close right
off. Pretty close. All right. Colossians 2 says
it this way. beginning in verse 13. Colossians
2, beginning in verse 13. And we're almost in
the conclusion. It is this. And when you were
dead in trespasses and in the uncircumcision
of your flesh, he made you alive with him and
forgave us all our trespasses. He erased the
certificate of debt with its obligations that
was against us and opposed to us. And he has
taken it away, nailing it to the cross. Wait
for it. Here we go. He, that is God, disarmed
the rulers and authorities and disgraced them
publicly. He triumphed over them in him, and
the him is Jesus. The bottom line is, never celebrate
the downfall of God's people too soon. And every
day is too soon. Because we are not subject to
downfall. We will rise, those of us who claim
the name of Jesus. And we will do great things
in eternity. That brings us to our conclusion
then. But real quick, I just want to, in case
you're here and you're not really a follower
of Jesus and you need a good life, here's the
action plan. Spend the spoils of victory, that
is work hard, and then spend the spoils of victory
on worthless pursuits. Steal from God. Victimize
God's people. You can do amazing things. There
are televangelists that go on TV talking about
how they're all for Jesus and they're praying
and miracles will happen or whatever. And there
are... Christians, deluded, not faithful Christians
in churches necessarily, but millions of Christians
that send them money. If they'll pray for me,
I'll send them money. Send them money every month
so that they'll pray for them every month because
their prayers mean something. And you believe
that televangelist who's gotten rich and is flying
around in a $50 million jet all over the world
and preaching to tens of thousands of people
and getting money and more money and more money.
Or you believe that the pastor of a church who's
put 30 best -selling books out about how you
can have a successful life, right? You believe
that that person is not going to answer before
God? And all those people are being victimized
by that person. You better believe it. They're
going to answer before God. You can steal from
God's people. If you do one of those three things
or all of those three things successfully, you
will have what the world will call a very successful
life and probably be partying at your funeral.
That brings us then to our conclusion. Mercy,
listen to this carefully. Mercy destroys the
wicked. Now, that doesn't sound like that, right?
Remember at the beginning we said how mercy,
mercy is so gentle. We're not giving them what
they deserve. You're not getting the punishment
that you're due. Mercy sounds like a very gentle
thing, but the truth is that mercy destroys the
wicked while saving God's people. Samson finally
prays. Maybe it's you. Maybe you need to finally
pray. Finally pray and say, okay, God, whatever's
left of me, I don't have to have my eyes put
out to be your faithful servant. I don't have
to be sold into slavery, even though sometimes
I feel like I am, to be your faithful servant.
Samson finally prays. He's not bargaining with
God anymore. God, you'll do this, I'll do that.
He's not doing that anymore. He no longer boasts.
Remember I told you about hubris. Samson had
hubris. He said, I'll be like ordinary men. No
more of that. He no longer boasts. He simply
asks God to remember him. When the Israelites
were standing at the sea, I read that to you.
Remember, what did God tell them to do in order
that God would intervene and destroy Pharaoh
and his army, part the sea, and let them go through
on dry land? What did God tell them to do? He
told them to stand still. Well, that's a pretty
big task. Sounds easy, right? I'm just going
to stand still. I'm going to do nothing. God's
going to do everything. Except that in our human
nature, because we are creators and destroyers,
and because we have capabilities, and because
we want to live well, and we thirst, we desire.
We're always scrambling, trying to do something.
Stop it. You're not going to do it. If you create
for yourself a good life outside God, you will
be taking the things of God or taking the things
from Christians or victimizing those who will
eventually be victorious. Step into the Lord
and say, I take upon you that yoke which is truly
light. It does mean I have to do what it is that
you would have me to do. It does mean I have
to be the man or woman, the kind of man or woman
that you want me to be. But I'll be doing it
in your strength, in your capabilities. Are you
scrambling, trying to make something of yourself
and of the people around you? Stop it. Let the
Lord deliver his mercy into your life. You need
mercy. If he doesn't deliver mercy, you will
receive punishment. And if you receive punishment
for your sins, that's eternal. That doesn't stop.
It lasts forever. Lay your head on the lap, not
of Delilah, the betrayer. and enjoying his time
with her, but on the head of the very God of
the universe, who will more than stroke your
hair. He'll grow your hair. He'll make you able
to rise again anew after every challenge, every
difficulty, every fall, every failure, every
stupidity, every bad choice. He'll make you able
to rise again anew. This is the pattern throughout
scripture. The flood saved Noah, destroyed the
world. The Red Sea saved Israel, drowned Egypt.
Jericho's walls fell for Israel. And when they
fell, They fell upon Canaan, and many died when
the walls fell, and everyone died right after
that, while they stood inside their walls, which
were a couple dozen feet across, wagons on the
walls, siege engines, mocking and laughing at
those who were outside the walls. And the walls
fell so that Israel could enter, and Canaan was
destroyed, at least Jericho. The cross saved
believers but condemns unbelief. Christ's return
rescues his church and judges the nation. When
Jesus comes again, there will not be any more
time. Don't think that the trumpet will sound
and you'll say, okay, me, yeah, me. Unless you're
saying, okay, me, yeah, me now. And you get in
the habit of it. Christ's return rescues his
church and judges the nations. God's mercy and
God's judgment arrive together in a massive flood
and the waters are rising. And people are hanging
out on the roofs of their house hoping for a
boat or a helicopter. When the helicopter comes
by and drops them a rope ladder to save them
from the flood, the helicopter didn't create
the flood. For those who grabbed that ladder,
it is salvation. For those who refused that ladder,
the approaching flood remains. The helicopter
did not create the flood. It simply revealed
who trusted the rescuer. And that's what life
is like. We will face suffering and difficulty.
Leading up to the tale of Noah. You see, the
ark is being built. And he built this ark day
after day after day in the mocking of people.
He built it on an earth whereupon no raindrop
had ever fallen. It had never rained. And he
was telling me, listen, it's going to rain. It's
going to rain. And God told me to build the ark.
You can't keep living like that. Yeah, but we're
doing what we're doing. And God's not stopping
it. We're having a great life. Look at all the
stuff we've got. Look at all we're doing. We
sleep with whoever, right? It's great. We're
enjoying it. And I was like, no. You slave away
every day from sunup to sundown. You swing and
hammer. Look at those calluses on your hand.
Look at the muscles of your back. Look how tired
you are. Your family ain't even got time to procreate.
They're too busy. How can that be right? And
then, and then, it began to rain. And when God
shut the door of the ark, every man, woman, or
child whom Noah had warned for generations died
in the flood. And it'll be like that when Jesus
comes again. It'll be about who accepted it.
Who was willing? John 3, 16, we kind of know
that verse a little bit. For God so loved the
world, He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever
believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting
life. Our memory fades a little bit when we get
on to verse 17. It says, For God did not send
His Son into the world to condemn the world,
but to save the world through Him. Anyone who
believes in Him is not condemned, but anyone
who does not believe is already condemned, because
he has not believed in the name of the one and
only Son of God. You see, mercy has a flip side.
And sometimes people look at God's judgment and
they can't quite see the mercy. And sometimes
people look at God's mercy and they can't quite
see the judgment. But when you look at a king
of hearts, you know that the back of that card
is printed and it looks just like every other
card in the deck. Otherwise, you can't really
play with it right. When you look at the mercy
of God, understand it is also the judgment. You
receive mercy. If you have accepted Jesus Christ,
your Lord and Savior, you are receiving mercy.
But while you are receiving mercy, some are receiving
judgment. What are you going to do about that?
You okay with that? Are you okay with the fact
that while you are receiving heaven, other people
are going to hell basically because you are going
to heaven? See, this is why we become the reconcilers
that we're supposed to be. This is why we search
out any audience who will listen to the gospel.
This is why we don't want to let any one of us
go to hell. If your family members are going
to hell, tell them about Jesus. And say, well,
I don't know. They say they follow Jesus. And
tell them about Jesus anyway. Tell them about
Jesus every day. Talk about Jesus every day.
You're receiving the mercy of God. God's mercy
always creates a dividing line. Those who receive
Christ find life. Those who reject Christ eventually
discover that the mercy they despised became
the judgment they could not escape. The Philistines
believed that they were celebrating victory while
standing inside their own funeral. Samson looked
weaker than ever, yet God was preparing the greatest
work through Samson. The greatest example is
Jesus Christ. His enemies mocked him, they nailed
him to a cross, they thought they had won, but
his death became our salvation and his resurrection
guaranteed the defeat of sin, death, and Satan.
The question is not whether God will win. God
will win. Can you think that with me at least?
God will win. Can you think it? Just right now
in your mind, think God will win. Can you say
it? God will win. The next time you're talking
to somebody who has not accepted Jesus Christ
as your Lord and Savior, can you at least say
God will win? The question is whether his victory
will become your salvation or your judgment.
God's untimely mercy may interrupt the plans
of the wicked. But it always arrives precisely
in time for those who call upon him in the name
of Jesus. Today, if you hear his voice, do not
harden your heart. Receive his mercy before his
justice arrives. I ask the priest team to come
forward then at this time and lead us in a closing
hymn. If you're in the room, it doesn't matter
what people think. If you're in the room and
you have not accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord
and Savior, do that today. Call upon the Lord
for mercy. Just as Samson called one last time,
you're receiving the benefits of being human.
You can hear, you can think, you can choose.
Exercise those benefits to call upon the name
of the Lord and be saved in earnest. Say, God,
use me. Fortunately, his motivation, our motivation
is not vengeance. It is to deliver that same
mercy to anyone else. So if you're here today
and you say, look, I missed the opportunity to
tell people about Jesus. and I need the mercy
of God on my life, and I realize I left the judgment
of God on theirs, some of them may have had mercy,
you just don't know unless you talk to them about
it, then you commit yourself today to share that
mercy that you receive so freely with anyone
you possibly can. Stand with me and sing this
song. If you're responding in some way, accepting
Jesus, or committing your life, or saying yes,
Lord, to some request he has made, then you just
do that today. Do your business with the Lord.
What we need is what we were created for. I got
two feet, I can stand. I was meant to stand with
Jesus. Not on my own. Some people, well, they
got to meet their stand with Jesus. People with
two feet that aren't standing at all. Choose
him over all. Help me find the way. Bring me
back.