(Men God Made) Samson — Willie Mullan

550 please, 550, hold down my hand, so weak I am and helpless, I dare not take one step without thy aid, hold down my hand, for then, O loving Saviour, no dread of hell shall make my soul afraid, 550 please.

Samson’s Birth and Divine Calling

Our subject this evening, homage, and we're looking at the training techniques of the great teacher, and we have a mighty character on our hands this evening. We're looking at Samson, and I want to look at his birth, because that's very important when we're getting the whole history of any man, I want to look at his birth, and then I want to look at his blessings, and I'm thinking about his godly father and his godly mother, and I must take a moment or two with his boyhood, because it's put him here for us in this history of his, and then we'll come to his blunders, and take a little more time there, and his battles, and his blindness, and strange enough his bouquet, because when you see some of the blunders that Samson made, you'd wonder how his men ever got into this wonderful picture gallery of men of faith, in Hebrews 11, but it's there all right, and make no mistakes, there were times when he walked by flesh, oh, but there were many times when he walked by faith.

And so this is the character that we're going to look at very carefully this evening, and we're in Judges chapter 13 here, book of Judges chapter 13 here, and commencing to read at verse 1, Judges chapter 13 verse 1, and the children of Israel did evil again in the fight of the law, and I think I ought to underline the word again, they did evil again in the fight of the law, and this brings us to the period into which Samson was born.

He was born in that period when the children of Israel, the nation, the people of God had got away from their God by doing evil again in the fight of the law, and the Lord had to teach them, and this is what happened, and the children of Israel did evil again in the fight of the Lord, and the Lord delivered them into the hand of the Philistines for the years.

And you know these all circumcised Philistines, when God allowed them to be the masters of Israel, they were very cruel to the people of God. Now it was into that period that Samson was born, when the people of God were under the hand of a cruel, uncircumcised foe, in days when they were being chastened by the Lord.

Verse 2, and there was a certain man of Zorah, of the family of the Danites, and I think it's good for us to sort of get it into our minds, the geography of the place. I think you know all about the map of Palestine, and how the Jordan runs down the centre, and if you could visualise something of the portion that belonged to the tribes, you will find that the bottom part of the country, right down south, it belonged to the tribe of Judah, and just a little portion above it belonged to Dan, and that's where Zorah was.

It was almost on the border between Judah and the tribe of Dan, just a little bit over the border, but it really belonged to the Danites. And there was a certain man of Zorah, of the family of the Danites, whose name was Manoah, and his wife was Baran, and Behanot, and the angel of the Lord appeared unto the woman and said unto her, Behold now thou art Baran, and Behanot, but thou shalt conceive and bear a son.

And you know Daniel has this unique distinction, that his birth was foretold just the way that John the Baptist's birth was foretold by the angel. And here's the angel coming to this Baran woman and saying, Thou shalt conceive and bear a son.

And you remember that the angel Gabriel came to the blessed Virgin Mary and said the same words, Thou shalt conceive in thy womb and bring forth a son. Only there is a difference, of course. You see, the conception that the blessed Virgin Mary had was a miraculous conception.

There was no man there at all, there was a wonderful miracle took place, she conceived while she was still a virgin. It was the work of the Holy Ghost. But this conception, while it is foretold, and while Samson has the unique distinction of his birth being divinely foretold, yet it was perfectly straightforward, and he is what it says, Therefore, now therefore beware, the angel is talking to this woman, I pray thee, and drink not wine, nor strong drink, nor eat any unclean things.

For thou shalt conceive and bear a son, and no razor shall come on his head, for the child shall be an adversary unto God from the womb, and he shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines.

So you can see the period when he was born, and you can see this unique distinction that he had of his birth being foretold, and you can see that the angel was laying down the rules, he was to be an adversary from his mother's womb, right to the day of his death of course, and of course he declared to be the deliverer of Israel, and he shall deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines.

Samson’s Godly Parents and the Discipline of Faith

So I think that's all we need to underline as far as his birth is concerned. Now I want to take a moment or two just to talk about his blessings. He blesses them just like that, just immediately, no hesitating, no questioning, no debating, no doubting.

Then the woman came and told her husband saying, a man of God came unto me, and his countenance was like the countenance of an angel of God, very terrible. And I asked him not whence he was, neither told me his name, but he said unto me, behold thou shalt conceive and bear a son, and now drink no wine nor strong drink, neither eat any unclean thing, for the child shall be another like to God from the womb to the day of his death.

And I think that you can get the hold of this, can't you? You can see the simplicity of this woman, can't you, to get her simplicity. And I think you can see her honesty. You know she came to her husband and she told the whole story so honestly, so clearly, so simply, I think you can see the sincerity.

This is the bit I'm trying to get the hold of. Now this woman was a sincere and simple but godly woman. Now this is the bit I want you to watch. She just came to her husband immediately and simply, very sincerely and told him everything that had been told to her and all that had taken place.

Verse 8 says,. Then, then Manoa entreated the Lord. See the first thing this man did? I'll tell you what he did. He didn't question the woman and he didn't ask her what the angel was like and he didn't say maybe you were dreaming or he didn't argue and he didn't put any doubts in her mind.

This man began to pray immediately. Let's get the word entreated. Then Manoa entreated the Lord. Which tells me something that I need to know. I can see that Samson's mother was a godly woman. And I can see that Samson's father was a godly man.

I can get that just while you wait. Sometimes we read so fast that we miss it. You can see this. It's the mark of a godly man to get down immediately before the Lord and pray. And watch closely from there.

Then Manoa entreated the Lord and said, Oh my Lord, let the man of God which thou didst send come again unto us and teach us what we shall do unto the child that shall be born. He wasn't questioning the truth.

He was accepting that this barren wife of his was indeed going to bear a son and I just want to know exactly what you want done. So I think you can see this. You see both of them have faith. And both of them have obedience.

Verse 9. And God hearkened to the voice of Manoa. Because God does hear, you know, dancers' prayers. It's a great thing when it can be recorded that God hearkened to the voice. The effectual, fervent prayer of a righteous man always avails, you know.

And God hearkened to the voice of Manoa. And the angel of God came again unto the woman as she sat in the field. But Manoa, her husband, was not with her. And the woman made haste and ran and showed her husband and said unto him, Behold, a man hath repaid unto me that came unto me the other day.

And Manoa arose and went after his wife and came to the man and said unto him, Hath not thou the man that speakest unto the woman? And he said, I am. And Manoa said, Now let thy words come to pass. How shall we order the child and how shall we do unto him?

And the angel of the Lord said unto Manoa, Of all that I have said unto the woman, let her be well. She may not eat of any thing that cometh of the vine, neither let her drink wine, nor strong drink, nor eat any unclean thing.

All that I commanded her, let her observe. And Manoa said unto the angel of the Lord, I pray thee, let us detain thee until we have made ready a kid for thee. And the angel of the Lord said unto Manoa, Though thou detain me, I will not eat of thy bread.

But if thou wilt offer a burnt offering, thou must offer it unto the Lord. For Manoa knew not that he was an angel of the Lord. And Manoa said unto the angel of the Lord, What is thy name? And when thy sayings come to pass, we may do thee honour.

The angel of the Lord said unto him, Why askest thou after my name, seeing it a secret? So Manoa took a kid and a meat offering, and offered it upon a rock unto the Lord. And the angel did wondrously.

And Manoa and his wife looked on, and it came to pass, when the flame went up toward heaven, from off the altar, that the angel of the Lord ascended in the flame of the altar. And Manoa and his wife looked on, and sailed on their faces to the ground.

They're worshipping now. And such a gathered that they're godly, that both of them have faith. And they're prepared to obey the Lord, no matter what it costs. And now you can see them on their faces before the Lord worshipping.

I'm just trying to establish that Samson had a pretty good start in life. That's all I'm working for. He had a godly father and a godly mother. Now I know this a little bit as he is. Verse 22. And Manoa said unto his wife, we shall surely die, because we have seen God.

But his wife said unto him, if the Lord were pleased to kill us, he would not have received the burnt offering and the meat offering at our hands. Neither would he have sued us all these things, nor would us at this time have told us such things as these.

You know, I must say for the woman she had more sense than the man. Oh, I know he was a godly man. I know she was a godly woman. I know they both had faith, and I know they were prepared to obey the Lord and are on their faces worshipping.

But the woman had the more sense of the two. I don't know how we would react, you know, if an angel appeared and went up in a flame of fire from before us. We might be frightened a little bit. And the man was frightened and thought he must surely die.

And the woman said, now, if he's talking about giving us a child and what we're to do and how we're to bring him up, we're not going to die. And I think that's the way you treat the promises of God, you know.

Because when God comes and talks to you about this and that and the other, I don't think you should worry about anything. Yes, it's almost 26 years ago since I came here. And the promise that I came with was God said to me, Behold three men secretly.

Arise and go with them. Here's the bit. Doubting nothing. I've never doubted. I've never doubted once in my life. There's been many problems. Many storms. Many battles. But if God said to me, doubt nothing.

Then I don't doubt anything. I'll be here as long as God wants me. And I shall finish the journey just whatever way God wants it finished. I think you've got to have common sense with faith. So I think we've got to establish, and maybe took too long in doing it, that Samson had a good start.

Samson’s Boyhood and the Spirit’s Empowerment

Yes, he had a godly father and a godly mother. Now, I want you to look at his boyhood days. It'll not take just quite as long. Verse 24. And the woman bare a son and calls his name Samson. Now, the word means distinguished.

That's what the word Samson means. It means distinguished. And I think recorders mean Samson because they believed he was going to distinguish himself of the deliverer of Israel. Yes, I think he was going to be a distinguished soldier of the Lord.

But it worked out two ways. He was not only a distinguished soldier of the Lord, but he was a distinguished slave of the flesh. And we'd better see it two ways, too. Because it worked out two ways. Oh, he was a mighty warrior.

And the mighty things he did. And his name is in, of course, Hebrews 11. Of course, he was not only a mighty soldier of the Lord, distinguished such. He was a distinguished slave of the flesh. But that's his name.

And you can see the woman bare a son and called his name Samson under trial groove. That's what you call physical blessing. Because the Lord blessed the child physically. But I don't think, you know, some of the children's storybooks try to get over to us.

I think he was a big muscled man or anything like that. I don't think his strength lay in physical muscle power. I don't think they would have been searching for the secret of his power if it had been such.

The secret of his power was the power of the Holy Ghost. I think we've got to get the hold of that bit. He's a very ordinary looking look, but the Holy Ghost came upon him at times mightily. But what we're looking at now is just how he grew.

And that's what you call physical blessing. Great when God blesses your wee child physically. And you see his legs and arms and eyes and knees developing in that physical blessing. It goes further than that, doesn't it?

It says, and the child grew. And the Lord blessed him with that spiritual blessing. Oh yes. You know, he got to know the Lord in his early days. The Lord blessed him. And then it goes a bit further. And the Spirit, let's keep capital S in here.

And the Spirit of the Lord began to move him. That's a mighty little phrase, isn't it? Began to move him at times in the camp of Dan. Between Thora and Estriol. And if you get that inheritance of Dan on the map sometime, you'll find that Dora is almost on the border.

And Estriol is only a few miles away. And in between them lay the camp of Dan. Because that's where the young men of the tribe went to do military training. And so he had gone there. And it was there, at the military camp, that the Spirit of God began to move him.

It's a mighty thing, you know. Great thing to be saved. We must remember the dispensations as we study this. Because we're living in the dispensation of grace. And the moment you believe, at that very moment, you're indwelt by the Spirit of God.

But in the old dispensation, the Spirit of God came upon whom he would, when he would, for what he would. And he's beginning to come upon this young man in military training in the camp. Because he's going to be the deliverer of Estriol.

And it must have been a mighty time when he began to move him at first. You see, I was saved. Poor old drunkard. Saved one evening with no shoes on my feet, no shirt on my back. And was quite content just with that.

Happy to know the Lord and I wasn't bruising anymore. And I'm okay for heaven. And I was happy and I had peace. And I got a job in Dixon's nursery. The Rolf people. Nine and fourpence a week in those days.

Eightpence off for the stamp. Ten bob a week, nine and fourpence. Starting at seven in the morning to six at night. Ten hour day. I don't know where the unions were then, but they weren't doing very well anyway.

Never mind. But I can remember weeding roses once. Remember this, I could take you to the spot. And I must confess this, many times I've gone back to the spot. And as I was weeding these roses, the Lord began to talk to me about a message in the gospel for the very first time.

Frightened me. And I began to say the things to myself. Weeding away with my eyes sort of shut and pulling these old henweeds and all the rest of it. And the Lord was moving. And the Spirit of God had given me a gift and I knew nothing about it.

It was just the beginning of the thing. Oh, He has moved me a thousand times since. But this was what was happening. And here were the boyhood days, the young manhood days too, of Samson. And you can see this.

The Spirit of the Lord was moving him. And we knew from his birth and his blessings and his boyhood through his blunders. You see chapter 13 ends with the Spirit of God moving him. Chapter 14 begins. And Samson went down to Timnath.

Samson’s Lust and the Conflict Between Flesh and Spirit

And if you find the map tonight when you go home, find the great portion of the land that was given to Judah and you find the border and you find the portion that was given to Dan and you find Zorah, then you'll find if you come over the border, just a couple of miles over the border, you'll find Timnath.

Because I can tell you that if God sets out to bless you, the devil will set out to upset the blessing. And there was a woman not very far away across the border. You work it out and you'll see. And every man that's going to be used of God, the devil has some sort of horrible temptation to place before him.

And so Samson went down to Timnath and saw a woman in Timnath of the daughters of the Philistines. And you know he's just going to have her no matter about anything. And he came up and told his father and mother.

He said, I've seen a woman in Timnath of the daughters of the Philistines. Now therefore get her for me. The wife. Then his father and mother said unto him, Is there never a woman among the daughters of thy brethren or among all my people that thou goest to take a wife of the uncircumcised Philistines?

And Samson said unto his father, Get her for me. For she pleaseth me well. Now I want you to get this. Maybe I should go a little bit further. Let's skip a chapter and go over a little bit. See 16 and 1.

Then went Samson to Gaza. I think it's a little bit further over the border. Timnath is just a mile or two but Gaza is quite a little bit. And this time it's a hermit that he gets his eye upon. A prostitute if you like.

They went then on to her. Now do you see verse 4. And it came to pass afterward that he loved a woman. Let's get this phrase correctly. He loved a woman in the valley of Zorak. Now we saw that Zorak was just over the border in Dan.

And Esther was not far away. And the valley of Zorak is in between the two. Went down to see this once upon a time. Just to make sure of my facts. Now I want you to get the hold of this. I don't need to go into all that's happened you know.

All that I want you to get the hold of. Is you know there were times when the spirit of God was moving him. And there were times when the lust of the flesh was moving him. But I want to get this bit over to everybody.

That while he was conscious of the spirits moving. He was never conscious about what the flesh was doing to him. Just like his father-in-law. Look you just get her for me. I want her. I need her. He can go in openly to the harlot.

He doesn't seem to get the hold of this. And you know the danger for all of us is this. That if you're being moved by the flesh. And you don't even know it. That's when you're in danger. Let me say this to this meeting.

Shall I go over to Galatians first of all. Let's go to Galatians chapter 5. We're at the fifth chapter. Now this goes for all of us who are saved in this meeting. Verse 17 just to save time. Verse 17.

Galatians 5 .17. For the flesh lusteth against the spirit. And the spirit against the flesh. And these are contrary the one to the other. So that you cannot do the things that you would. You know that battle goes on in every breast.

I think you remember Paul talking about this in Romans chapter 7. Let's look at Romans 7 just beside that now. And we're at Romans 7. When you get saved you know. You get a new nature. You're born again.

You become a new creature. But remember there's an old nature there still. And the flesh which is the old nature lusteth against the spirit. And the spirit lusteth against the flesh. And these are contrary the one to the other.

And Paul writing in Romans chapter 7 said this. Verse 19. For the good that I would I do not. Did you ever have that sort of experience? Somehow you know there's something you should do. Somehow you know it's right to do it.

And the good that I would I do not. But the evil that I would not that I do. And you find this striving going on. And you find this battle raging. And Paul had this battle raging. Until in verse 24 of chapter 7 he said this.

Oh wretched man that I am. There's this striving and lusting that's going on. Who shall deliver me from the body of this death? And then he gets the answer quite clearly. I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Because He's the great deliverer. And He's the distinguished deliverer. When I was at the meetings in the iron hall. Gentleman came to see me said. You know there's something that bothers me. I said what bothers you?

Cigarettes he said. I feel that they're even against the temple of the Holy Ghost. I believe that they're doing me harm. And I don't think it's right for a Christian at all. And I must believe in God.

And I try and try and try. And I do well for a day or two. And then I'm overcome. You ever had anything like this? Well I'll tell you. I said no I'll tell you what's wrong with you. You see you've got two niches now.

You've got a new nature and you're a new creature. There's no question at all about it. Or you wouldn't be worried about this. But you have an old nature. And the old nature doesn't only crave cigarettes.

You know that's a small item. It craves a whole lot of things. And I'll tell you this. You're going feeling along with Christ like the disciples in the bush. And all of a sudden the storm comes. That's the temptation.

Your particular one. And before you know your boat's filled with water. And what you're doing you're trying to row it. You're trying your best. But the more you try the more you'll be defeated. You can't do it.

Because the things that you would you do not. You see you need to go to the Lord because only the Lord can deliver you. I used to row the boat but it's no good. Don't bother rowing the boat now. I just turn round to the Lord and say Lord.

Lord you see this old thing. It's back again. And you see I found this out. That if I go to the Lord on the very spot. At the very moment when the temptation reaches. When the storm comes. If the devil drives me to the Lord.

He'll soon suck it up won't he. He will. And the old hymn writer got this. He says the devil doesn't know that the very winds that blow. Only drives me nearer to the other shore. And if I go to the Lord.

And talk to the Lord. He's in a bit of a fix. He's only driving me to the Lord. Surely the Lord is the distinguished deliverer. Oh yes you can see this. But you see you're in danger. Let me not mix this now.

Fleshly Religion and the Loss of the Lord’s Presence

You're in danger when the flesh starts moving. And you don't even know it. You see the flesh can start moving in the prayer meeting. You can stand up for Jesus said. He said to his own disciples. And thou when thou prest.

Be not as the herpetics who stand at the corners of the streets and in the synagogues. To be seen of men. See you can stand up in the prayer meeting. And close your eyes and shout the half of the night.

And get all the phrases right. And the whole thing is baloney. It's flesh that's at work. You can enter into the prayer meeting. You see diatrophies. Who was in one of the meetings. And this is what it said.

I wrote on to the church. But diatrophies. Who loved to have the preeminence among them. Receiveth thus not. Wherefore if I come I will remember his deeds. Which he doeth pricking against us with malicious words.

Here is somebody who wants preeminence. It's not spiritual. It's flesh. And it's in the meeting. It says. If he make up and advise you. Walking into the temple. Oh. There's strange fires there. Oh. There's supposed to be priests.

I'll tell you this. It's all flesh. I'll tell you this. You know. We're going to learn in a moment. That Samson. His great danger was that. He didn't know about his flesh. The way he ought to have known.

And what was more. He didn't know when the Lord had left him in. And that's worse. That doubled. That's the blunder of the sea. You see. I want you to get this. Let's go back again. And we're at sixteen.

You know he went out at other times. And it says. It says in verse twenty. And this is Delilah talking. Saying to him. She said. The Philistines be upon thee Samson. He woke out of his sleep and said.

I will go out at other times before and shake myself. And he wished not. That the Lord was departed from. Oh. What a blunder. You see. He had played with sin for a while. And that's how he lost his eyes.

Samson’s Battles and the Consequences of Sin

I don't need to go into the battles tonight. He took the lion and he tore it asunder the way you would tear a kid. He went up to the mountain and threw thirty men all on his own. And then with the jawbone of an ass one day he flew a thousand Philistines.

Oh. That's the time the Lord had him. Just the way the Lord wanted him. And when the Lord was moving mightily upon him. All the battles were fought for the glory of God's name. But I want you to see his blindness before we stop this evening.

You see. It says in verse twenty one of chapter sixteen. But the Philistines took him. And put out his eyes. Brought him down to Gaza. Barned him with fetters of brass. And he did grind in the prison house.

What a sight this is. You know he has played around with sin. And he has been unconscious of his own fleshly lusts. And he has been doubly unconscious when the Lord has left him. Because that can happen in that particular dispensation.

And here he is. This mighty deliverer. Eyes are up. And I want you to get the hold of this. It says one word in this story that I love above another. It's in verse twenty two of chapter sixteen of Judges.

It says how be it. Ah, that's the bit I like. How be it the hair of his head began to grow again after he was shaven. You see friends. God is wonderful. And the grace of God is wonderful. And you see God is prepared to have mercy.

And to reconcile. And to restore. Oh men that have let flesh take control and upset the upper carton. Have done despite and so all the rest. You know that it's restoration. And Samson was restored again.

Restoration, Mercy, and Samson’s Final Victory

And you know the end of the story. Just how many he flew at his death. There were more than he flew in his life. And when it comes to Hebrews. Isn't it wonderful that the writers of the Hebrews said. Time would fail me to tell of Samson.

Oh he did exploits for God you know. Can we learn? Did God put him in the school that we might learn? Can we learn to judge our own flesh? Can we learn that we can grieve the Holy Ghost? Can we learn from this mighty story?

As we look at the blackboards of life. Yes. See the blindness. Oh I'll tell you this. There's nothing so sad in this world as to see a child of God. Who through the lusts of his flesh. Is at the swine's rock or the broken cisterns.

Or blinded by the enemy or bound in fetters. Or grinding in the prison house. Can we look at the blackboard of Samson's life tonight. See what flesh can do. Can we stand there and see what the spirit can do.

Can we take another moment there and learn the arithmetic of life. And see what the Lord can do. Yea the Lord can make any one of us in this meeting more than conquerors. If we give him his rightful place.

Because he's the distinguished deliverer. It's never I. It's always him. It's always Christ. May God bring us to that place. Next week we're looking at Caleb. He was an old man. Who was always young. Great cancer.

Let's bow together before the Lord. Not sing anymore. Just let's bow before the Lord. Lord we bow at thy feet. We thank thee that we're thine. So many of us in this place tonight. We know we're thine.

We're brought with the price. We're not our own. And yet we learn Lord that the old flesh is still there. And that the flesh lusteth against the spirit. And the spirit against the flesh. And the things that we know we should do.

We just don't get round the times. Oh Lord help us to turn our eyes upon thee. Who shall deliver us? Only thee Lord. Thou art the distinguished deliverer. Oh may we look to thee for grace. And look to thee for wisdom.

And look to thee for guidance. And look to thee for help and courage. Lord everything we need is in thee. Help us to be more than conquerors. Through him that loved us. Haunt us in thy fear. And with thy blessing for my men's sake.

Amen. Thank you.