Well, tonight for our Scripture reading and text, we consider together Judges 16, the first 22 verses. Judges 16, verses 1 through 22. Hear now the Word of our God. One day Samson went to Gaza. There he saw a prostitute. He went in to spend the night with her. The people of Gaza were told, Samson is here. So they surrounded the place and lay in wait for him all night at the city gate. They made no move during the night, saying, At dawn, we'll kill him. But Samson lay there only until the middle of the night. Then he got up and took hold of the doors of the city gate together with the two posts and tore them loose, bar and all. He lifted them to his shoulders and carried them to the top of the hill that faces Hebron. Sometime later, he fell in love with a woman in the valley of Sorek whose name was Delilah. The rulers of the Philistines went to her and said, See if you can lure him into showing you the secret of his great strength and how we can overpower him so we may tie him up and subdue him. Each one of us will give you 1,100 shekels of silver. So Delilah said to Samson, Tell me the secret of your great strength and how you can be tied up and subdued. Samson answered her, If anyone ties me with seven fresh thongs that have not been dried, I'll become as weak as any other man. Then the rulers of the Philistines brought her seven fresh thongs that had not been dried, and she tied him with them. With men hidden in the room, she called him, Samson, the Philistines are upon you. But he snapped the thongs as easily as a piece of string snaps when it comes close to a flame. So the secret of his strength was not discovered. Then Delilah said to Samson, You have made a fool of me. You lied to me. Come now, tell me how you can be tied. He said, If anyone ties me securely with new ropes that have never been used, I'll become as weak as any other man. So Delilah took new ropes and tied them with them. Then with men hidden in the room, she called to him, Samson, the Philistines are upon you. But he snapped the ropes off his arms as if they were threads. Delilah then said to Samson, Until now you have been making a fool of me and lying to me. Tell me how you can be tied. He replied, If you weave the seven braids of my head into the fabric on the loom and tighten it with a pin, I'll become as weak as any other man. So while he was sleeping, Delilah took the seven braids of his head, wove them into the fabric, and tightened it with a pin. Again she called to him, Samson, the Philistines are upon you. He awoke from his sleep and pulled up the pin and the loom with the fabric. And she said to him, how can you say I love you when you won't confide in me? This is the third time you have made a fool of me and haven't told me the secret of your great strength. With such nagging, she prodded him day after day until he was tired to death. So he told her everything. No razor has ever been used on my head, he said. Because I have been a Nazarite set apart to God since birth, if my head were shaved, my strength would leave me and I would become as weak as any other man. When Delilah saw that he had told her everything, she sent word to the rulers of the Philistines, Come back once more, he has told me everything. So the rulers of the Philistines returned with the silver in their hands. Having put him to sleep on her lap, she called a man to shave off the seven braids of his hair and so began to subdue him and his strength left him. Then she called, Samson, the Philistines are upon you. He awoke from his sleep and thought, I'll go out as before and shake myself free. But he did not know that the Lord had left him. Then the Philistines seized him, gouged out his eyes and took him down to Gaza. Binding him with bronze shackles, they set him to grinding in the prison. But the hair on his head began to grow again after it had been shaved. Dear people of God, most of us, and maybe especially the boys and girls, are familiar with that Sunday school song which warns us to keep away from the way of sin. It says, Oh, be careful little eyes what you see. Oh, be careful little hands what you do. Oh, be careful little feet where you go. And we need to admit that most often it is the eyes that lead the hands and feet astray. That is, the eyes that follow the desires of the heart. As we consider this famous Judge Samson, it's clear that his eyes following the desires of his heart cause him many problems. You recall that we have been considering the work of God through Samson. And as we do, indeed, we are amazed, aren't we, at what Samson did. He tore a ferocious lion apart with his bare hands. He killed and stripped 30 Philistines from Ashkelon. He caught 300 foxes and torched the Philistine crops. He snapped ropes as if they were thread. And the last time Samson conquered was when he killed 1,000 Philistines with nothing more than a donkey jawbone. In the power and strength of the Holy Spirit of God, Samson conquered and overcame a number of dangerous obstacles. But when left to himself, there was one obstacle that Samson could not overcome. His sinful desires of the lust of the flesh. We know that Samson's eyes have gotten him into trouble. Beginning with his wife, of whom he said to his parents, She's the right one for me. Or as another translation says, she looks good to me. And then here at the beginning of chapter 16, in verse 1, we read, One day Samson went to Gaza where he saw a prostitute. He went in to spend the night with her. And then just a little bit later, in verse 4, we read, Sometime later he fell in love with a woman in the valley of Sorek whose name was Delilah. Well, how could he fall in love with her if he had never seen her? Samson, as a picture of the apostasy of Israel, was trapped by the world, as John says, by the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. Proverbs 6 speaks of adultery and says in verses 25-28, Do not lust in your heart after her beauty, or let her captivate you with her eyes. For the prostitute reduces you to a loaf of bread, and the adulteress preys upon your very life. Can a man scoop fire into his lap without his clothes being burned? Can a man walk on hot coals without his feet being scorched? Samson found out the answer to these questions. No, he can't. Yes, indeed, when you play with fire, you're going to get burned. Boys and girls, maybe you found that out in the literal sense. If you've ever played with matches or been too close to a campfire, maybe most of us have done that. When you play with it too long, sooner or later, you're going to get burned. When Samson could see, he was actually blinded to the truth. But we know by the grace of God that when he was blind, then as we hope to see next week, the Lord willing, he began to see clearly the things of God. But tonight, in this portion of God's Word, we see that the Lord abandons His compromising Deliverer. So let's notice together, first of all, the final summons. In the second place, the total surrender. And then finally, the sightless subjection. Now, Samson's trip to Gaza marked one of his greatest victories, but it also marked the beginning of the end for him. It's believed that the events recorded in the previous chapter, chapter 15, took place near the beginning of his 20 years of judging, especially since the last verse says in verse 20, Samson led Israel for 20 years in the days of the Philistines. And then, of course, it's thought that the events recorded in chapter 16 were near the end of those 20 years. And the simple fact that he goes to Gaza seems to support this. You see, Gaza was one of the five chief cities of the Philistines. They had five capital cities. And it was not a border town. It wasn't conveniently located on the border. In fact, it was well into Philistine territory. And Samson apparently walks with boldness through the Philistine countryside and he walks with confidence through the streets of this major city. Now that suggests that the Philistines by this time had gained a certain amount of fear and respect for him. Doesn't mean that they liked him. They didn't. They wanted to kill him. But again, we're not told why he went there, but the text is clear that once again his eyes caused him to sin. He decides to spend the night with a prostitute. Beloved, this is the Lord's Deliverer. Did he think that he was above the law of God? We don't know. But he sure acts like it. It's clear, though, that he was a mirror image of those he was to deliver. Israel, God's chosen people, had set the example for God's chosen deliverer by prostituting themselves with the nations around them. As someone once said, Samson was simply a chip off the entire Israelite block. Yet we can't help but to see the grace of God continue to summon, to call Samson in Israel. But not only did Samson sin by laying with the prostitute, but he willfully placed himself in harm's way. That's sin too. Beloved, we are not to willfully place ourselves in harm's way. We're not to do that physically. So many things are done today where people put their physical bodies in danger by performing some sort of stunts or something of that nature. We are not to place ourselves in harm's way so that we are tempted to steal if something is right there for the taking. We are not to place ourselves in harm's way. We're not to place ourselves in harm's way where we find ourselves in a position where we have to lie to get out of it. We are not to place ourselves in harm's way when we are tempted to commit adultery or to lust. Stay away from pornography. Even if it's light core, not hard core. Young people, young couples. Stay away from the dark. Stay away from alone time together. Be careful. Do not put yourselves in positions where you are called upon and tempted to compromise. Samson sinned by willfully placing himself in harm's way. He was surrounded by the men of Gaza who had a plan to kill him in the morning. You see, there's no way that he could leave until the city gates were opened and that wouldn't happen until the morning. So the Philistines figured that they had him right where they wanted him. But Samson, by the providence of God, decides to take a midnight stroll and, well, the locked gate, well, that was simply a minor annoyance to him. We can almost picture him calmly grab the gates along with the gateposts and the bar that locks the gate. And with all of this on his shoulders, he heads for the hills. We need to understand, beloved, that again, what a demonstration of strength because this was not some sort of little white picket fence kind of gate. It was not even like a pasture gate, an iron pasture gate to keep animals in the pasture. It was a massive piece of construction. The gates of a city were usually either thick wood covered with sheets of copper, iron, or other metal, or sometimes they were made of stone and they were secured by strong locks of brass or iron or wood. And the keys, boys and girls, the keys to the city gates were sometimes more than two feet in length. Imagine keeping one of those in your pocket. Two feet in length. And I read that often the city gates were about two stories high in order to accommodate loaded camels and caravans that needed to enter the city. The gateposts were strong and secure and when locked, absolutely no one could get in, no one could get out except for Samson under the influence of the Holy Spirit of God. Now there is some disagreement as to how far Samson carried the gates of Gaza. Some said he carried them just to the top of the hill outside of Gaza. Others say about 20 miles. The text says Hebron. But one thing is clear. these gates resting on the top of the hill were a visible sermon. They preached a sermon. Especially in the morning, as we can imagine the sun glistening off of them, they preached a sermon to Samson, to Israel, and to the Philistines. Samson had sinned greatly, yet God reminds him, through that visible sermon, God reminds him of his call. He reminds him of the strength of the Lord and the blessing for those who are set apart for service to God. This was one final summons for Samson to repent and to be true to his Nazarite vow. But these gates resting on the hill also preached to Israel. You see, the city gates represented security. And God had taken away the enemy's security. The city lay wide open. This was a call for Israel to take up arms in the name of the Lord and fight the enemy because, in a sense, the enemy had already been defeated by the Lord. Gaza, without her gates, was a sign that nothing can withstand the hand of Jehovah and Israel's Deliverer. This gateless city reminds us of the open tomb of which we sing, Death cannot keep its prey. Jesus, my Savior, He tore the bars away. Jesus, my Lord. Well, then the gates on the hilltop also preach to the Philistines that nothing is stronger than the strong arm of God. It preached that God's enemies cannot and will not prevail against Him. You see, for God's people, His patience and long-suffering are seen in that He does not punish them immediately, but instead He calls them to repentance and faith. But for God's enemies, the message is clear that they will be utterly defeated. Well, then, what was the result of this visible sermon? Was it applied to them? Was there surrender? Yes, there was surrender. But notice, not to the Lord. There was total surrender to the enemy. The Philistines no doubt retrieved the gates. They put them back in place. Israel went on living what they thought was comfortably under Philistine peace. And of Samson? Again in verse 4, Sometime later he fell in love with a woman in the valley of Sorek whose name was Delilah. Well, we know that in many respects the name Delilah has become a common name associated with seduction and betrayal. It's obvious that if the price was high enough, if it was right, Delilah's loyalties could be bought and the five rulers, the five lords, the five presidents, you might say, of the Philistines hit the magic number. By now the Philistines knew they could not outpower Samson. They could not outstrength him. So they obviously figured out his weakness for women and they decided to capitalize on Samson's weakness. And for them, no price was too high. And for Delilah, well, she would become a very, very wealthy woman. For her, the here and now was much more attractive than the hereafter as she chooses to lay up treasures on earth where moth and rust destroy and thieves break in and steal. Treasures in heaven meant nothing to her. It's interesting, isn't it, that she accuses Samson of not trusting her when all along she shows that she could not be trusted. But we know the story well, don't we? Samson and Delilah play games with his strength and she finally wins. Samson treats his calling in office and his Nazirite vow as a joke, something to laugh about, and guess who got the last laugh? The Philistines. It only takes Delilah four tries to find the key to undo Samson, yet the very first time she asked should have sent up red flags for him. In verse 6 we read, So Delilah said to Samson, Tell me the secret of your great strength and how you can be tied up and subdued. Tell me the secret. Interesting, isn't it? Samson should have thought of his wife at that point, Trying to get the secret of his riddle out of him. And why would she want to subdue him? Why would he want to be subdued? But Samson must have either been very ignorant or very in love to fall for this. And actually, so often the two go hand in hand when the relationship is in violation of God's will. There's a lot of ignorance involved. But Delilah's question should have reminded Samson of his office and his Nazarite vow and sent him running for the hills. But instead, he decides to fan the flame and play with this seductive fire. First, we read in verse 7, Samson answered her, If anyone ties me with seven fresh thongs that have not been dried, I'll become as weak as any other man. Fresh thongs or cords, or as they're called, bow strings, you see, could be tied the tightest. And they were the hardest to break when they were new and they were moist. Second, verse 11, He says, if anyone ties me securely with new ropes that have never been used, I'll become as weak as any other man. Again, new ropes are stronger than old brittle ropes. And then verse 13, third, he replied, if you weave the seven braids of my head into the fabric on the loom and tighten it with a pin, I'll become as weak as any other man. The weaver's loom was a heavy piece of equipment that was fastened into the ground and would greatly restrict anyone stuck in it. And each time, as we know, Delilah calls out, Samson, the Philistines are upon you. And each time, snap, crackle, and pop. He's up, ready to do some damage. And each time, the deceitful seductress accuses Samson of lies and deceit. And you know what? She's right. She was right. Each time, she tests what he told her and therefore we have to ask, why did he keep going on with this? Well, we know, of course, it was the Lord's will. But each time he plays the game with her and notice that each time there is a grain of truth in what he tells her. He says, use seven thongs or cords. Seven is a biblical number of completeness and holiness or consecration. He hints that he is consecrated, set apart for something. New ropes points to his separation. The ropes were to have never been used for any type of work. Samson as a Nazarite. A Nazarite bound himself not to be used for anything other than the service of the Lord. And then, of course, he makes direct reference to his hair, which was the external sign of his vow. You see, now he's getting dangerously close to the fire. But because, finally, because of her continued nagging and accusation that if he really loved her, then he would open his heart to her. Because of that, He totally surrenders to her. Beloved Samson doesn't share his faith with her as he should have. Instead, he places it in her lap and gives it to her like some cheap possession, as maybe we have done at some point in time. Well, yes, when we're challenged, yes, I'm a Christian, but that doesn't mean. I'm a Christian, but that doesn't mean I can't do this. I'm a Christian, but that doesn't mean I won't do that. He places it in her lap like some cheap possession. Samson tells her everything. And by doing so, he himself betrays the Lord his God. Well, actually, Samson doesn't quite tell her everything. At least not truthfully. You see, he makes it sound as if the strength comes from his long hair. And he also claims it as his strength. As we read in verse 17, the second part, If my head were shaved, my strength would leave me and I would become as weak as any other man. Proverbs 16, verse 18 says, Pride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall. Beloved, the Bible is clear that sin can never, ever, ever lead to true happiness, contentment, or comfort. Again, many of us have tried. And we found out that it doesn't. Sin destroys. And the wages of sin is death. And nowhere in the Bible does God say that you can toy with sin in proportion to your strength. He doesn't say that you can play with sin as long as you can handle it, but as soon as you can't, you better get out of the way. He doesn't say you can walk as close to the line of sin as you want. Just be sure that you don't cross over it. God never says anything like that because He knows that we cannot handle it. We are not stronger than sin in our own strength. Instead, what does He say? He says, resist the devil and he will flee from you. And instead, draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Paul says, therefore, put to death your members which are on the earth, fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. And then in 1 Corinthians 6, Paul says that those who practice these things will not inherit the kingdom of God. Beloved, Samson failed to live according to his Nazarite vow of separation from the world and consecration unto God. And instead of fleeing from sin in the beginning, he got caught in his deadly web. And he found out the truth of Hebrews 12, which says that sin easily ensnares or entangles we must remember beloved that true conversion includes it includes not only the coming to life of the new man but the dying away of the old man which as the catechism says is a heartfelt sorrow that we have provoked God by our sins and more and more to hate them and to flee from them we've talked a lot in this series about compromise Israel you see had compromised away her freedom and was oblivious to Philistine oppression and those who compromise just to keep peace whether at home or school or church or work or in the world will be surprised one day to find out that God is a just God with Him there is no compromise only black and white young people you need to learn that right now there is no compromise with God it's black and white And when you give in to sin's temptations, to sin's compromise, then you reject God. Finally, then the Lord abandons His compromise and deliverer into sightless subjection. Actually, even before Samson's hair was cut off, the battle was over. I think we can see that as we read the account, he's just sliding down and down and down. He had forsaken the Lord. This deliverer who had possessed the gates of the enemy had given up, willingly given up, the gates of his heart to the Philistines. He probably thought that he could quit playing with sin at any time, as many of us do, but before he knew it, it was too late. And again, as proud as ever, the text says in verse 20, he awoke from his sleep and thought, I'll go out as before and shake myself free. And then we read those sobering words, but he did not know that the Lord had left him. Boys and girls, the strength did not come from his hair. But his hair was a symbol of his vow. It was a symbol of the continuing strength of the Lord for one who was set apart for service to the Lord. But when Samson told his secret to Delilah, he forsook the Lord. He wiped out that separation. And therefore, when his hair was cut off, that symbol of separation was also cut off and that was a confirmation of what had already happened. Samson was no longer a Nazarite on the inside or on the outside. And indeed, without the Lord, he was as weak as any other man. And the Philistines take advantage of that. You see, taking out his eyes would ensure that he would be permanently crippled. Never again would he be able to move about freely and independently, roaming around Philistine territory with no worries. God righteously chastises His Deliverer through the revenge of the Philistines. So often, as we said before, Samson sinned with his eyes, and therefore it is with his sightlessness that he must experience the chastening of the Lord. And again, we know that it was in his blindness that the Lord brought him to his senses to see the things of the Lord clearly. Samson is put into the gaze of prison. He had stripped Gaza of her strength by carrying her gates to the hilltop. And now without strength, he becomes a slave in a prison house, grinding grain for their grain god, Dagon. You see, beloved Samson, indeed, was a true picture of Israel who was also imprisoned to the Philistines, shackled by them, serving them instead of serving the Lord. Samson is also a picture that God's people cannot achieve salvation by their own strength. And this deliverer, this type of Christ, also demonstrates that he simply wasn't enough to provide eternal deliverance for God's people. Samson clearly is like a finger that points forward to the need for the ultimate Savior. He points forward to the need for the One who was able to resist the devil and remain consecrated perfectly and completely to the Lord. It's only in Jesus Christ and His saving sacrifice applied to our lives and in the sanctifying power of the Holy Spirit that God's people can even begin to resist the devil. Yes, as God's people, we continue to sin much to our shame. Yet through the law of God, Our God reminds us of our sin. He reminds us of His requirement for holiness. And He gently lifts our eyes to see the empty cross and cause us to hear the words of our Savior, If you love me, you will keep my commandments. You will. You will. But Samson, you see, is also a picture of God's grace for His people. In that for all of our failures, God's people are not forsaken. Did you catch the last verse that we read? Verse 22. But the hair on his head began to grow again after it had been shaved. What a glorious announcement! That symbol, setting God's deliverer apart, was being restored in anticipation of the restoration of God's deliverer. Samson, grinding grain in Dagon's prison, appears to be the servant of Dagon, but as we hope to see, God would use Samson's sin and its result to show forth His strength and His glory. The true God versus false gods. Congregation, those who fail to hear the call of God in Jesus Christ to repentance and faith, but instead continue to play with fire, will burn eternally. One day God's restraining hand will depart from them forever. But for those who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ by grace through faith, He has quenched the fires of hell and He set them apart from the world unto Himself. We cannot begin to fight against sin in our own strength and when we need so desperately the presence of the Holy Spirit of God and we are called to resist the devil with much prayer. But our Savior not only fought the battle with sin, He won the war against sin. You see, it was only for the sake of the coming Messiah that Samson would be graciously restored. And it's only for the sake of the Messiah who has come that we are graciously restored. Jesus Christ was abandoned by heaven and earth when He hung on the cross. The earth did not want Him, and His Father departed from Him for a time, yet He conquered over sin, death, and hell. And therefore, those who believe in Him by true faith will never be abandoned by God. And beloved, may that comfort be yours, may it be mine, and may we be moved to live unashamedly separate unto the Lord. Amen. Shall we pray? Father, we pray that in doubt and temptation we might rest, Lord, in Thee. That we might know that You are strong when we are weak. That Your grace is sufficient for us. That we might desire to walk in Your way and not to compromise with the world. And Father, give us discernment that we might see compromise when it jumps up before our eyes. That we might recognize it. That we might be reminded of your holy word when Jesus says, if you love me, you will keep my commandments. We thank you for your protecting hand. We thank you, Lord, that you will not abandon your people. That we are secure in Jesus Christ forever and ever. In his name alone we pray these things with rejoicing. Amen.