Full sermon outline follows the handout version. (adapted from Serm01x.pco, August 5, 2001)
AN UNDISCIPLINED LIFE
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Judges 16:18-30
I. How strong are you?
II. Samson led a compromised nation.
A. The local Israelites had made peace with the Philistines.
B. The Israelites did not support Samson.
C. Low morality - each did as he saw fit. Judges 17:6
III. Samson was a compromised leader.
A. He was set apart from birth for special spiritual role.
B. He was a strong man marked by weaknesses.
C. He ended his life with a desperate act.
IV. Surpassing Samson.
A. Everyone needs to be strong.
B. God can work around our weaknesses to bring about good.
C. Compromise will catch up with you.
D. God has to come first.
V. Society needs our consistent testimony.
A. Our integrity is absolutely necessary.
B. We can avoid Samson's trap.
C. Are you strong?
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Rev. David Holwick H (adapted from Serm01x.pco, August 5, 2001)
First Baptist Church
Ledgewood, New Jersey
February 27, 2011
Judges 16:18-30
AN UNDISCIPLINED LIFE
I. How strong are you?
A. Someone who is stronger than you.
One of the strongest men of all time was a Canadian named
Louis Cyr.
From the age of 12 he worked in a lumber camp and impressed
his co-workers with his feats of strength.
One of his biographers says his mother decided he should let his
hair grow, just like Samson in the Bible.
She curled it regularly.
At age 18 he lifted a full-grown horse off the ground.
In his prime he lifted a platform that had 20 men sitting on it.
He could lift 1,000 pounds with one finger.
One of his most memorable displays of strength occurred in 1891.
Louis was given the leads to two sets of draft horses and he
resisted their pull even as helpers stood cracking their
whips to get the horses to pull harder in opposite
directions.
But Louis had a weakness for sweets, got chubby, and died of
kidney disease at age 49.
#63434
B. There are different ways to be strong - and weak.
1) One of strongest men in history was the original Samson.
a) He killed lions with his bare hands.
b) He could rip doors off of city gates.
c) He killed literally hundreds of Philistines.
d) Yet he was undone by his weakness for women.
2) How strong a person are you?
a) Do you have strength where it really counts?
b) We must be careful that our strengths are not cancelled
out by compromises.
c) Samson failed in this. Hopefully you will not.
II. Samson led a compromised nation.
A. The local Israelites had made peace with the Philistines.
1) The Philistines were sea people who settled on the coast
of Palestine.
a) They were quite advanced and had mastered the refining
of iron.
b) They used this iron to build a strong army with
superior chariots.
2) Militarily the Jews couldn't defeat them.
a) The Philistine territory was part of the Promised Land
but the Jews couldn't budge them.
b) The tribe of Dan even re-located rather than fight them.
3) Instead of fighting them, the Jews made the best of it.
a) They traded with the Philistines.
b) They intermarried with the Philistines.
c) Some of the Jews even adopted the Philistine idol
worship.
B. The Israelites did not support Samson.
1) Urged him to stop provoking Philistines, don't rock boat.
2) He never had a fellow soldier, much less an army.
C. Low morality - each did as he saw fit. Judges 17:6
1) No standards or leadership.
2) Much like our society today, except we take polls first.
III. Samson was a compromised leader.
A. He was set apart from birth for special spiritual role.
1) Nazirite.
a) (not Nazareth)
b) Someone who is set apart for God's service.
1> Could be a short-term vow.
2> For Samson it was life-long.
c) No contact with dead bodies, no booze, no short hair.
2) Unusual strength when under Spirit's power.
a) Raises interesting theological issues since most
of his spirit-led acts were violent and
self-centered.
b) However, the nation of Israel benefited in the end.
3) Samson broke all three Nazarite vows.
a) Don't go near dead body. (dead lion) 14:8-9
b) Don't drink. (likely did this at wedding ceremony) 14:10
1> Hebrew word for "feast" implies a drinking bout.
c) Don't cut hair. (with the infamous Delilah)
B. He was a strong man marked by weaknesses.
1) His biggest weakness was women.
a) Prostitutes, low-lifes, Philistines.
b) One preacher calls him a He-man with a She-problem.
2) His appetites in general did him in.
C. He ended his life with a desperate act.
1) He was the only judge of Israel who failed to deliver them
from their enemies.
2) He never becomes a spiritual leader.
3) He dies a blind suicide, but takes a thousand Philistines
with him.
IV. Surpassing Samson.
A. Everyone needs to be strong.
1) Samson and others have physical strength.
2) Spiritual and moral strength are even better.
3) With God, we can do anything. Philippians 4:13
"I can do all things through him who gives me strength."
B. God can work around our weaknesses to bring about good.
1) Hebrews 11 lists Samson as a hero of God.
a) (other scoundrels are listed, too)
2) But don't use his example to rationalize your weaknesses.
a) Just because good results, doesn't justify sinfulness.
b) God can use a rock to accomplish his will, or a Hitler.
Isaiah 10:5-13
3) God's work must be done by God's person, God's way.
C. Compromise will catch up with you.
1) How much more could you accomplish if you were obedient?
a) Samson himself ended up destroyed.
2) Watch your relationships.
a) Samson is not only believer to have problems with
the other sex.
b) Do your relationships honor Christ? All of them?
D. God has to come first.
1) As far as we can tell, Samson didn't call upon God until
his last desperate day.
2) Many Christians are like this.
They go through the motions of church attendance and
bedtime prayer, but there is no spiritual power.
They really don't do anything for God.
People at work or school don't think of them as
Christians because they are no different than anyone
else.
Then their day of disaster comes and they pray up
a storm.
Don't fall into this trap.
V. Society needs our consistent testimony.
A. Our integrity is absolutely necessary.
Louisiana pastor Mark Brister says the world's low standards
for ethical living have created a moral abyss.
Truth is made relative to the whims of public opinion.
And unfortunately in too many cases the church has failed to
uphold God's standard for truth.
"We have moved away from virtues to what are called values."
He says values shift from day to day as they have no connection
to any "moral tether."
"The integrity of a life surrendered and committed to the Lord
Jesus Christ is the best weapon that you have --
consistently, faithfully loving the Lord Jesus Christ."
#3532
B. We can avoid Samson's trap.
Josh Hamilton is 29 years old.
All of his life, baseball has been his passion.
In high school, Hamilton was named the country's No. 1 amateur
player of the year by USA Baseball.
In 2010 he was the American League's "Most Valuable Player."
He loves to smash homeruns.
One of his Texas Ranger teammates has said, "Josh Hamilton is
the best baseball player to ever walk the planet."
But it almost didn't happen.
Two years after he began his professional career, he started
hanging around a tattoo parlor and was influenced to turn
to booze and crack cocaine.
The team suspended him -- repeatedly.
For three years Josh did not play baseball at all.
He made several attempts at rehab but always relapsed.
Finally his grandmother confronted him and he made a commitment
to stay clean.
He found he was able to do this through Jesus Christ.
When asked about it, Hamilton says simply: "It's a God thing."
His team tries to support him by celebrating victories with
ginger ale instead of champagne.
But he is never far from failing.
In early 2009 a sports webpage posted photos of Hamilton
shirtless in a bar in Tempe, Arizona, with several women.
According to reports, witnesses saw Hamilton drinking, heard him
asking where he could get cocaine, and heard him say he
planned to go to a strip club later that evening.
Even before the incident became public knowledge, Josh told his
wife, his team and the league the next day.
When the photos surfaced he called a press conference and said:
"It was one those things that reinforce that I can't have
alcohol.
I got away from the one thing that kept me on the straight and
narrow and that was my relationship with the Lord.
That should always come first.
"Hopefully some good will come out of this.
Since that night, I have not had another thought [about having
a drink].
I know it's something I shouldn't do because it leads to other
things."
#63433
C. Are you strong? Spiritually strong?
1) Identify your weaknesses and deal with them.
2) Get stronger in the Lord.
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SOURCES FOR ILLUSTRATIONS USED IN THIS SERMON:
# 3532 “God's Pleasure Must Be Standard,” by Lee Weeks, Online
Christianity Today (America Online), March 27, 1983.
#63433 “A Baseball Hero's Rocky Road,” by David Holwick, adapted from
“Josh Hamilton" in Wikipedia.org, and "Josh Hamilton: Rescued
by Faith," by Ben Brown, BleacherReport, February 28, 2009,
<http://bleacherreport.com/articles/131756-faith-delivered-
josh-hamilton-from-the-control-of-heroin-and-alcohol>
#63434 “Sort of Strong,” by David Holwick, adapted from "Cyprien Noe Cyr
– World’s Strongest Man," by Dennis Mitchell, January 23, 2010,
<http://www.usawa.com/tag/louis-cyr/>
These and 35,000 others are part of the Kerux database that can be
downloaded, absolutely free, at http://www.holwick.com/database.html
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