n Part 2 of our study of the record of Samson in Judges 14, Pastor Jim introduces us to what is perhaps the most well known of the Judges. But if Samson is a heroic figure, he is a tragic hero. What can we learn from the story of Samson’s unusual life? What can we learn about the God of the Bible as we look at the impulsive actions and self-indulgence of a person like Samson?
Sermon Notes
1. Giftedness is not the same as godliness.
“In a society in which the thesaurus of metaphor and symbol has been ransacked by cynical advertisers, faithless artists, and indulgent entertainers to condition us to a maniacal but brainless devotion to me and now, how can the imagination be renewed so that we can say, honestly and personally, without necessarily raising our voices, who God is and what eternity means?”
Eugene Peterson
Reversed Thunder
2. Lust is never the same thing as love.
“How desperate is the need in our society for more active dominance of the will over feelings! Human beings do not have to act on the basis of our lusts and skewed desires, our wrongheaded goals and vain ambitions. We can instead construct our conduct on what we know – and for those of us who are Christians, especially on what we know about God and our relationship with him.”
Marva J. Dawn
The Unnecessary Pastor
“Every time we allow our mind to harbour a grudge, nurse a grievance, entertain an impure fantasy, or wallow in self-pity, we are sowing to the flesh. Every time we linger in bad company whose insidious influence we know we cannot resist, every time we lie in bed when we ought to be up and praying, every time we read pornographic literature, every time we take a risk which strains our self-control, we are sowing, sowing, sowing to the flesh. Some Christians sow to the flesh every day and wonder why they do not reap holiness.”
John Stott
3. God can use anything or anyone for His sovereign purposes.
“The Bible (unlike the books on which other religions are based) is not about following moral examples. It is about a God of mercy and longsuffering, who continually works in and through us despite our constant resistance to his purposes.”
Tim Keller
4. It is God’s sight that really matters
“The world, as we live in it, is like a shop window into which some mischievous person has got overnight, and shifted all the price-labels so that the cheap things have the high price-labels on them and the really precious things are priced low. We let ourselves be taken in. Repentance means getting those price labels back in the right place.”
William Temple