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Series Code: AFDB
Program Code: AFDB000039S
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00:02 male announcer: This presentation is brought to you
00:04 by the friends of the Amazing Facts Ministry. 00:14 Doug Batchelor: The devil is trying to make a monkey 00:15 out of every one of you. 00:17 If he's got you thinking you can continue in a life of sin 00:19 and everything's gonna end well, you're being a fool. 00:23 Tell me I'm wrong from the Bible. 00:25 It does not end well for the wicked. 00:31 Doug: We're continuing a series that we began a couple 00:34 of weeks ago dealing with the Bible character of Samson. 00:40 And today, in particular, we're gonna be talking about Samson 00:43 who was conquered by compromise. 00:47 Samson's story is something of a paradox, because through 00:50 the story of Samson, we see shadows of Jesus. 00:55 He was one of the judges, a leader, 00:58 a type of Christ in some respects. 01:01 Many failures, but, of course, David failed, 01:04 and Abraham failed, and yet, there were things 01:06 in their life that were clearly types of Christ. 01:09 And so, you'll see, as we conclude, I'm gonna do 01:12 my best to bring out a picture of Jesus in all of this. 01:15 Go to verse 4, Judges 16 verse 4. 01:19 "Afterward it happened that he loved a women 01:22 in the Valley of Sorek whose name was Delilah." 01:26 Sorek was a little bit down the hill, right on the border. 01:30 It was a place that was famous for wonderful grapes. 01:33 Right on the border of the Philistines 01:36 and the people of Israel, the tribe of Dan. 01:39 And maybe Samson was thinking, 01:41 "Well, look, you know, I sure like so many things 01:43 about the Philistines." 01:45 He spent a lot of time with the Philistines, 01:46 I mean, that's how he ended up marrying one of them. 01:49 He thought, "I'm gonna find the halfway ground between the two." 01:53 He was looking for a compromise, and he found a girl that lived 01:57 in Sorek, Delilah, may have been very beautiful, 02:01 it says he loved her, but she sold him out, 02:04 which, again, is another type for Christ. 02:08 And so, when he falls in love with Delilah, 02:11 and by the way, the name Delilah means consumer. 02:15 It means something that is feeble, 02:17 and she made Samson, who was so strong, feeble. 02:21 He was consumed through this relationship. 02:24 So, the lords of the Philistines come down to her, 02:27 they said to her, "Entice him and find out where his great 02:31 strength lies, and by what means we might overpower him, 02:36 that we might bind him to afflict him, and every one 02:39 of us will give you eleven hundred pieces of silver." 02:42 Now, there were five lords of the Philistines that 02:44 we see several other places in the Bible. 02:47 They were like governors, there was a joint kingdom, 02:49 and that means 5,500, if I'm right, pieces of silver. 02:55 Now, a piece of silver would be worth about $20 02:59 in today's currency. 03:02 Jesus was sold for what? 03:04 Thirty pieces of silver. 03:06 The amount of money that they're offering her is approximately 03:08 $110,000, just to see if they could find out 03:13 where the secret was. 03:15 By the way, that's 183 times what was offered for Jesus. 03:20 Again, it was silver. 03:21 Well, now if Samson's strength was because his mother ate 03:25 very carefully, and she had good prenatal care, 03:27 and he was born just super strong, 03:29 and he had big muscles, then it would have been obvious where 03:31 his strength was, but the Spirit of the Lord came on him, 03:35 and he had supernatural strength. 03:37 They wanted to know what is the secret? 03:39 We've gotta fight fire with fire. 03:41 There is a spiritual thing happening here. 03:43 You remember even the king of the Moabites said one time, 03:46 called Balak, he said, "Look, it's obvious God is 03:48 with these people. 03:50 I've gotta find the secret to their strength." 03:51 If you could come and fight fire with fire, 03:52 if you just cursed them, it's a spiritual battle, 03:55 and we're gonna fight in a spiritual way. 03:57 So, they said, "Delilah, there's a secret here. 04:00 There's something spiritual going on here." 04:02 I mean, maybe, you know, the Bible doesn't say, 04:05 Samson could have been five feet five, 04:07 shorter than me. 04:09 He could have worn glasses and looked like a computer nerd, 04:12 and the Spirit of the Lord would come on him, 04:14 and he'd get his donkey jawbone and go out, smite hip and thigh, 04:17 and you can't prove me wrong. 04:19 I mean, I have the glasses, but it doesn't say anywhere 04:23 he was big, do you realize that? 04:24 Nowhere, nowhere does it say he had big muscles. 04:27 Matter of fact, when the Spirit of the Lord left him, 04:29 it says he was like everyone else. 04:32 So, she begins to tease him. 04:34 "So, Delilah says to Samson, 'Please tell me where 04:36 your great strength lies, and with what might you 04:40 be bound and afflicted.'" 04:41 Now, right away, if you're dating a girl 04:43 and she starts asking that question, how could you be 04:45 tied up and tormented? 04:47 I'd say, you know, I'm probably dating the wrong girl. 04:51 But, you know, when you're being governed by your feelings 04:55 instead of the truth, you make a lot of bad decisions. 05:01 How can you be bound? 05:03 And Samson said, "Well, if they bind me with seven 05:05 fresh bowstrings, that have not yet dried," a bowstring, 05:10 now bowstrings were very strong, because it needed to hold 05:16 a strong bow, it needed to maintain the tension 05:18 of a strong bow. 05:20 They'd find the very strongest fibers, like, you know, 05:22 a piano string for us. 05:24 They'd find the strongest fiber they could find, and when dried, 05:28 it could handle a long arrow and not break. 05:31 And he said get fresh new ones, they're not worn. 05:34 And you think, well, nobody's gonna break out of that, 05:36 that's like steel. 05:38 Tie me up with that, and I'll be as weak as other men. 05:41 She thought, "Okay," so, she has him tied up. 05:45 "Now there were men lying in wait with her," and she says, 05:48 "The Philistines are upon you, Samson, wake up." 05:49 And he wakes up, and he's tied up with bowstrings, 05:53 "But he broke the bowstrings as a strand of yarn 05:55 when it touches the fire." 05:57 You remember our illustration last week. 05:59 "So, the secret of his strength was not known. 06:02 Then Delilah said to Samson, 'Look, you've mocked me, 06:06 and you've told me lies. 06:07 Please, tell me now and where in where you may be bound.'" 06:11 Well, I would have been suspicious way before this, 06:13 but it gets worse. 06:15 "So he says to her, 'If they bind me securely 06:18 with new ropes,'" 06:19 well, he had already been bound with new ropes 06:21 by his own people when he was handed to the Philistines, 06:24 but these are new ropes that had never been used. 06:27 There's something spiritual about that. 06:29 "Then I'll become weak and like other men." 06:32 Notice, he even knows that it might be possible for him 06:34 to be weak. 06:36 "Therefore Delilah took new ropes and bound him with them," 06:40 I guess again while he was asleep, 06:42 and then she shouts, "The Philistines are upon you," 06:44 again, they're hiding in the background somewhere, 06:46 and he jumps up, and the Bible says, 06:51 "He broke them off his arm like thread," supernatural strength. 06:56 Then Delilah says to Samson, "Until now, 06:59 you've mocked me and told me lies. 07:01 Tell me with what you may be bound." 07:04 Now, he's getting tired of this, and so, 07:05 you notice what he keeps thinking? 07:08 Samson thinks, "I know, I can't trust Delilah," 07:12 but he was infatuated with her. 07:14 She may have been beautiful, he might have loved a lot of things 07:17 about her character, he just couldn't tear himself away. 07:20 And so, even though she keeps after him about this, 07:25 he keeps making things up, but you know, 07:27 interrogators have found that if you keep asking people 07:30 the same question again, you keep-- 07:32 and say, "Tell me the story," and you say, 07:33 "Well, I already told you," "Tell me again," every time 07:36 it seems like they give up a little bit more information 07:39 and they get closer and closer to the truth. 07:41 And the devil will wear people down, and so, 07:46 he's flirting, he's toying with temptation. 07:51 He thought, "I'm chosen by God, I've got this strength, 07:54 this power of God," and because he sinned, 07:57 and nothing happened, he figured he could just keep on going. 08:00 This is a very important point, friends, 08:03 sometimes we deceive ourselves into thinking because 08:06 the sun shines and it seems like our job is good, 08:09 and the Lord has bless us, that that must mean that 08:11 even though we're living in known rebellion to God, 08:14 "I have the favor of God." 08:18 And because, sometimes we fall, and he gets us out of trouble, 08:21 and he gets us out of trouble, we start thinking, 08:23 "Hey, I guess, you know, this is just the way it's supposed 08:26 to be, is that I just keep doing what I want, 08:28 and God keeps blessing me and giving me his power 08:30 and his Spirit." 08:32 And we don't realize that we're playing Russian roulette 08:36 with eternity. 08:39 The Bible tells us that, if you read in Ecclesiastes chapter 8, 08:45 "Because the sentence against an evil work is not executed 08:50 speedily, therefore the hearts of the sons of men are fully set 08:53 in them to do evil." 08:55 If the first time that Samson had stepped over the line 08:58 began to compromise with the Philistines, 09:00 God had hit him with lightening--you ever seen, 09:02 they got these collars on dogs, you know, 09:04 they walk out of the circle and they get shocked, 09:06 and you can teach the dog, don't go past that point. 09:10 Matter of fact, I understand, I've never done this to a dog, 09:13 but I understand that once a dog finds out where the borders are 09:19 that they're not supposed to go beyond because they get zapped 09:22 every time they go beyond this, you can take the collar off 09:27 and they won't go anymore, because they say, 09:29 "Man, I get shocked." 09:31 God doesn't teach us like that with a shock collar. 09:35 He doesn't zap you every time you disobey, 09:38 have you noticed that? 09:39 Now, if you've got the Holy Spirit, 09:40 your conscience might trouble you, 09:42 but you can quiet that. 09:44 And eventually Samson kind of just felt, you know, 09:47 I'm the exception. 09:49 I've got the Spirit of God, I mean, 09:50 look at how many people I've killed, 09:52 and pride was getting after him. 09:55 He thought, well, I deserve it, you know, 09:57 being a judge is tough. 09:59 And so, little by little, he begins to sacrifice 10:01 his purity and sacrifice his consecration because he thinks, 10:05 "Well, look, God's still blessing me." 10:07 It's like believing once you're saved you can't be lost, 10:10 you ever run into that before? 10:13 And he kept pushing the boundary. 10:17 He said, "Yeah, my hair," so they tie his hair in the loom, 10:22 and she again says, "The Philistines are upon you." 10:27 He woke up from his sleep, he pulled out the batten 10:30 and the web from the loom. 10:32 He just gets up from bed and this whole big loom apparatus 10:35 is clanging and battering behind him. 10:38 And then she says, "How can you say, 10:40 'I love you,' when your heart is not with me?'" 10:43 It says, "It came to pass when she pestered him daily with her 10:47 words and pressed him so that his soul was vexed to death." 10:54 He's at the point of death. 10:57 Do you know the Bible says that Jesus, in the Garden 10:59 of Gethsemane said, "I am pressed even to death?" 11:05 And three times he said, "Not my will, thy will be done." 11:07 And Jesus was willing to die for a bride that did not love him 11:13 back, but he was betrayed by his own people into the hands 11:18 of the enemy, for silver I might add. 11:23 Do you see it, friends? 11:25 He couldn't tear himself away. 11:28 He says, "I've loved you with an everlasting love." 11:31 announcer: Don't forget to request today's 11:33 life-changing free resource. 11:35 Not only can you receive this free gift in the mail, 11:37 you can download a digital copy straight to your 11:39 computer or mobile device. 11:41 To get your copy of today's free gift, 11:43 simply call us and ask for the offer number shown on your 11:46 screen or visit the web address and download a digital copy, 11:50 and be sure to select the Digital Download 11:52 option on the request page. 11:54 It's now easier than ever for you to study God's Word with 11:57 Amazing Facts wherever and whenever you want. 12:01 And most important, to share it with others. 12:05 Doug: Who does Delilah represent in this story? 12:07 Well, I told you she kind of represents a corrupt church, 12:09 but certainly the Lord's not with her, it's the devil, right? 12:14 How does the devil break us down? 12:16 Daily, he tries to undermine your resolve to do 12:20 the right thing. 12:22 And because we stay so close to the devil's territory, 12:27 Sorek was a place of beautiful vines. 12:30 He's surrounded by vines. 12:32 A Nazarite is not supposed to be near a grape, 12:34 he's not supposed to be near a raisin, 12:36 let alone wine, and so he's placed himself on enchanted 12:40 ground where he's not safe, and daily she's after him. 12:45 So, if you and I are living in a world where the devil's after us 12:48 daily, how do you compensate? 12:51 Give us this day our what bread? 12:54 Daily bread, Paul said I die daily. 12:59 Jesus said if you would live forever, 13:01 let every man take up his cross daily and come after me. 13:07 Being a Christian is a daily turning to God, 13:10 because you've got an enemy that will pester you daily. 13:14 Can any of you think of a day where you didn't have 13:16 any temptation? 13:20 If you think you had a day with no temptation, 13:22 you were probably totally sold out and didn't know it, 13:24 'cause you felt no resistance, you were just flowing, 13:26 going with the tide, and you didn't notice it. 13:30 But, if you try to swim against the current, 13:32 you are gonna daily feel temptation, amen? 13:35 You're in a word where you're just surrounded with evil. 13:40 A lady came once to the evangelist Billy Sunday and 13:43 she said, "Pastor Sunday, you're always preaching against sin, 13:46 you just keep rubbing the cats fur the wrong way." 13:49 And he said, "Sister, if the cat would turn around, 13:52 I'd be rubbing the cat's fur the right way." 13:55 So, you need to turn around. 13:58 So, if you're living in this world, 14:00 and you're trying to be a Christian, 14:02 you're just gonna meet with temptation. 14:04 Daily, she's after him. 14:06 Finally, he's vexed to death, "And he told her all his heart." 14:10 Notice the word heart. 14:12 She says, "You haven't told me your heart," and finally 14:13 he gives her his heart. 14:16 And he says to her, "No razor has ever come upon my head." 14:21 I would have moved out at that point. 14:23 I said, "Now she knows, she can't be trusted. 14:25 Every time I wake up, I'm tied up, 14:27 my hair is in a loom, you know. 14:29 Every time I tell her a secret, the Philistines are 14:31 in the house." 14:33 And she goes, "Oh, Samson, the Philistines are here." 14:36 I mean, you gotta be pretty dumb to know that she has 14:40 nothing to do with it. 14:44 Yeah, you ever heard the expression love is blind? 14:46 Some people think they're in love and they got these strong 14:49 feelings for someone, and this person is just tearing 'em down, 14:53 and they don't see it. 14:55 Everyone around them says, "What's wrong with you? 14:58 How come you don't see he's no good, she's no good?" 15:01 "Oh, no, I love him. They would never hurt me." 15:06 Come on, have you heard that before? 15:10 Now, if you're married, you're stuck. 15:13 I'm talking about the ones who are dating the wrong way. 15:20 And so, "She lulled him to sleep," and it said she shaved 15:26 off his locks, or had a barber come shave off his locks, 15:29 and boy, he must have had that razor sharp so that 15:31 he didn't hear it going snip, snip. 15:35 "And she said, 'Sampson, the Philistines are upon you,'" 15:38 and he gets up, and he's still a little groggy, 15:41 he doesn't notice that he's feeling a cool breeze 15:45 on his head that he had not ever felt before. 15:49 He doesn't notice the hair laying on the ground around him. 15:53 He gets up and he thinks I'll go shake myself another time 15:56 and then I'll throw those Philistines out the window 15:58 and out the door, and I'll teach them a lesson, 16:00 and he gets up, and suddenly, he's only five feet five 16:05 and he has no strength. 16:07 And the Bible says, "He did not know that the Lord 16:11 had departed from him." 16:14 You know, it's interesting, it says she woke him up 16:16 and she tormented him. 16:18 She sang him to sleep and woke him up in torment. 16:22 The devil will try to stroke your heads and lull you to 16:26 sleep, he'll get you to sin, and he's the first one to point 16:30 the finger at you, and he'll make the most of your torment. 16:33 He acts like, "You just listen to me, 16:35 you'll really enjoy yourself." 16:38 You just compromise, and you'll really have fun." 16:41 And then, when you do compromise, 16:42 you find out that it doesn't play well. 16:45 He did not know. 16:46 You know, that makes me shutter, I don't know about you, 16:48 just the very idea that you could have the Spirit depart 16:50 and not know it. 16:54 Did King Saul grieve away the Spirit? 16:58 It says the Spirit of the Lord departed and left him 17:00 because of his pride, and his stubbornness, 17:02 and his persistence and rebelling against God. 17:04 God finally said, "Look, you don't really want me to be 17:07 in charge, I'm gonna let you do your own thing," 17:09 and God withdrew the Spirit. 17:12 David, after he sinned with Bathsheba, 17:14 Psalm 51, he prayed and said, "Lord, take not thy Holy Spirit 17:18 from me." 17:20 One of the most frightening things is that there'll be 17:22 people in the last days that will stand before the Lord, 17:25 and they'll say, "Lord, Lord," he'll say, "I don't know you." 17:28 They'll say, "What do you mean? We thought we belonged to you." 17:32 And they didn't have the Spirit of God. 17:34 A lot of people doing religious things and they don't have 17:36 the Spirit of God. 17:38 "Then the Philistines took him and put out his eyes, 17:44 and brought him down to Gaza," remember Gaza 17:47 where he had torn the gates off? 17:49 He thought, "You could never trap me in Gaza, 17:51 I'll just tear the gates off." 17:52 Well, now he's in Gaza, "And they bound him with 17:54 bronze fetters, and he became a grinder in their prison." 17:59 How sad, now Samson, who had been called to be a judge 18:04 of Israel, a representative of God, a leader of God, 18:07 he's been living by the flesh, and he ends up 18:12 living like a beast. 18:14 Instead of being ruled by the Spirit, 18:16 he had been ruled by the flesh, and so, 18:19 now they've got him doing what animals typically did. 18:22 And I'll tell you, it is a pretty pitiful scene. 18:24 I don't know if you've ever seen how they do that, 18:27 but there would be a large room, it might be outside in a yard, 18:31 and there was a big stone circle, 18:34 and on top of the stone circle platform, 18:35 there was a big stone wheel that had a wooden axel going 18:38 through it, and the axel stuck out. 18:41 And they would throw grain in the middle, 18:46 and this oxen or something would go around in a circle like this, 18:50 all day long, making--and then people would be off in the 18:53 middle of the pole, and they'd be shoveling new grain in. 18:55 It would be grinding, and it would slowly spill off. 18:57 It was sloped a little bit, so it would be spilling off, 19:00 and all day long the animal would go like this, 19:02 and there would be a rut. 19:04 Every now and then, some of the grain would fall into the rut, 19:06 and that's why Paul says don't muzzle the ox 19:08 that's grinding out the grain. 19:09 But now, Samson is going round and round, 19:13 and he's in the dark. 19:15 Sometimes the Philistines would come. 19:18 I mean, he'd been a judge for 20 years, 19:19 and this is after he'd killed thousands, 19:22 and he'd done all these exploits. 19:23 And the Philistines said, "Oh, we've conquered him," 19:26 and they'd come and they'd taunt him, and they would spit 19:29 on him, and they would poke him with an ox gourd, 19:33 and I'm sure they treated him very cruelly, like an animal, 19:38 and then he'd be by himself, bound at night. 19:42 What do you think was going through his mind? 19:45 Why have I wasted my life? 19:47 He probably, like Peter, he wept bitterly, day after day, 19:52 because he had been such a fool. 19:54 You and I read his story and we can see what Delilah's up to, 19:57 but it took him until he lost his eyes and he lost 19:59 his strength to realize how could I be so blind? 20:03 Now, he's blind and his eyes are open. 20:06 Before, his eyes were open, but he was blind 20:08 to what the devil was doing to him. 20:10 The devil is trying to make a monkey out of every one of you. 20:13 If he's got you thinking you can continue in a life of sin 20:16 and everything's gonna end well, you're being a fool. 20:21 Tell me I'm wrong from the Bible. 20:23 It does not end well for the wicked. 20:26 I don't know if I read the rest of that verse to you 20:28 in Ecclesiastes. 20:30 "Though a sinner does evil a hundred times and his days 20:32 are prolonged, yet I know that it will be well with those 20:36 who fear God, who fear before him, 20:37 but it will not be well with the wicked." 20:41 It might seem to go okay for a while. 20:42 God was so patient w Samson. 20:44 God is loving, he's merciful, but you can't continue 20:47 to live like that and expect it to end well. 20:50 You know, the amazing thing though is that while he was 20:54 going around, day after day, and he's praying, 21:01 his hair was growing. 21:04 But, it doesn't grow overnight, does it? 21:06 And it's interesting as the people came by and they saw him, 21:08 you know, he's blind, he's in chains, 21:10 they weren't afraid, and it just didn't occur to the Philistines, 21:12 you know, he lost all his strength when his hair was cut, 21:16 but his hair began to grow. 21:17 What do you think that means? 21:19 I don't think the big thing is that his hair began to grow, 21:21 I think that his heart began to grow. 21:24 His consecration began to return. 21:27 He was repenting of his sins, and God was hearing his prayers. 21:32 He was wishing he could do something else. 21:34 The reason he was raised up was to defeat the enemies 21:37 of God's people that had been oppressing them. 21:42 And so, there he is, grinding in the prison. 21:44 It says, "Now the lords of the Philistines gathered together 21:48 to offer"--I'm in verse 23, chapter 16, 21:51 "To offer a great sacrifice to Dagon, 21:54 their god, and to rejoice. 21:58 And they said, 'Our god has delivered into our hands Samson 22:01 our enemy.'" 22:02 I don't think a year had gone by, 22:04 because this is the first kind of national Dagon feast 22:06 their having. 22:07 All the lords of the Philistines, 22:09 they come together to Gaza, this one town, 22:11 they have this big national feast, and, 22:15 "When the people saw him, they praised their god, 22:17 for they said, 'Our god has delivered into our hand 22:19 our enemy, the destroyer of our land, 22:23 the one who multiplied our dead.' 22:25 So it happened, when their hearts were merry, they said, 22:29 'Call for Samson, that he might perform for us.'" 22:32 And so, they've got this great temple of Dagon, 22:36 and in the middle there's these two pillars that probably 22:38 are straddling an altar, or are near an altar, 22:41 and when they bring him in, it's a good chance they were 22:44 getting ready to execute him after they tormented him, 22:48 like someone else we know in the Bible. 22:51 "Then Samson said to the lad who held him by the hand," 22:53 he was blind, he said, "Let me feel the pillars 22:58 which support the temple, that I can lean on them.' 23:00 Then Samson called to the Lord, and said, 23:03 'O Lord God, remember me.'" 23:07 I don't think he's just thinking about his blindness, 23:09 I think he's praying that God will forgive them for the 23:11 Philistines making him blind long before he lost his eyes. 23:16 There's a lot of Christians out there that are blinded 23:18 by the world. 23:20 You may still have 20/20 vision, but the devil's blinded you. 23:24 Samson realized he had been blinded by the beauty 23:26 of the Philistines. 23:29 "I pray thee, strengthen me, just this once, O God, 23:34 that with one blow I might take vengeance on the Philistines 23:37 for my two eyes.' 23:38 Samson took hold of the middle pillars which supported 23:41 the temple, and he braced himself against them." 23:44 Yes, they must have been close enough for him 23:45 to reach them both. 23:48 "One on the right and the other on the left." 23:50 Jesus died between two thieves, on the right 23:52 and the other on the left. 23:55 "And Samson said, 'Let me die with the Philistines.'" 23:59 And before they could sacrifice him, he beat them to it, 24:02 "And he pushed with all of his might, 24:05 and the temple fell, and the people who were in it. 24:09 So the dead that he killed by his death were more than 24:13 he killed by his life." 24:15 The whole story of Samson is summarized right here. 24:17 You know, sometimes at the end of a parable 24:19 you've got the moral? 24:21 Samson is a type of Christ in that Jesus, at the end, 24:24 he stretched out his arms, 24:27 he laid down his life to defeat the enemies of God's people. 24:32 Samson, as I mentioned before, is mentioned 24:34 in the Book of Hebrews as someone of faith. 24:36 I think God honored his faith. 24:39 He was growing in the dark, and God gave him strength. 24:43 You look at the last few words in the story of Samson 24:45 at the end of chapter 16, it says, 24:48 "Then his family, his brother and his father's house, 24:50 came and they took and brought him up. 24:52 They took care of his body and they buried him." 24:54 Did the friends and family of Jesus come and take him 24:58 from the cross and bury him? 25:00 You know, the story of Samson is really the story of Christ. 25:04 It's a story of warning for us of how we can lose strength, 25:08 and it's also a promise. 25:09 You know, the wonderful thing is, 25:12 Samson was saved in the 11th hour because he turned to God, 25:16 even though it looked like he had nothing left to offer God, 25:19 he turned to God, and when Samson surrendered everything, 25:21 and he was willing to die, he received his greatest strength. 25:26 When do we receive our greatest strength? 25:28 When we take up our cross, and we are willing 25:30 to be crucified with Christ. 25:33 You know, I just love these stories in the Bible. 25:35 We don't wanna be blinded by the world, friends, 25:38 like Samson was, we wanna turn our eyes on Jesus now, amen? 25:46 announcer: Don't forget to request today's life-changing 25:48 free resource. 25:49 Not only can you receive this free gift in the mail, you can 25:52 download a digital copy straight to your computer or 25:54 mobile device. 25:55 To get your digital copy of today's free gift, simply text 25:59 the keyword on your screen to 40544, or visit the web address 26:03 shown on your screen and be sure to select that digital download 26:07 option on the request page. 26:09 It's now easier than ever for you to study God's Word with 26:12 Amazing Facts wherever and whenever you want, and most 26:16 important, to share it with others. 26:20 announcer: "Go into all the world 26:21 and preach the gospel to every creature." 26:25 Through radio, television, print, evangelistic events, 26:28 and the internet, Amazing Facts International 26:30 is heeding the call of Jesus to go into all the world. 26:34 Millions of individuals in over 150 countries 26:38 have been blessed by the Word of God. 26:40 Amazing Facts has spawned new spheres of influence 26:43 in India, Africa, China, and Indonesia. 26:46 With each new country come hundreds of translated booklets, 26:49 study guides, and video presentations produced 26:52 in each region for the people of that region. 26:55 Armed with these precious truths, 26:57 gospel workers are empowered to spread bright rays of light 27:00 on every path they travel. 27:02 Please visit, reachtheworld.amazingfacts.org, 27:05 to learn more about Amazing Facts International and 27:08 how you can participate in this exciting soul-winning ministry. 27:12 That website again is reachtheworld.amazingfacts.org. 27:17 Thank you for your support. 27:20 announcer: What if you could know the future? 27:23 What would you do? 27:25 What would you change? 27:27 To see the future, you must understand the past. 27:33 This intriguing documentary, hosted by Pastor Doug Batchelor, 27:37 explores the most striking bible prophecies that have 27:40 been dramatically fulfilled throughout history. 27:43 "Kingdoms in Time." 27:45 For more information visit kingdomsintime.com. 27:49 ♪♪♪ 27:55 announcer: Don't forget to request today's free offer. 27:57 It's sure to be a blessing. 27:59 And thank you for your continued support as we take the gospel 28:02 of Jesus Christ to the world. 28:05 We hope you'll join us next week as we delve deep into the Word 28:08 of God to explore more amazing facts. 28:12 ♪♪♪ 28:24 announcer: This presentation was brought to you 28:26 by the friends of the Amazing Facts Ministry. |
Revised 2021-08-09