Romans: Sin, Judgment, and Gospel Foundations: Prepared Hearts

Left Behind

Transcript: AI Transcript

Professor: John Weaver

Subject: New Testament Studies

Genre: Sermon

Dictation Name:

Date: 2012-02-17

Synopsis: Pastor John Weaver preaches from Judges 16:1-21, using Samson's life to illustrate how individuals, families, churches, and nations can be 'left behind' by God when they forsake Him. He highlights three progressive steps in Samson's downfall: conforming to the wicked by marrying a Philistine, consorting with harlots, and confiding his secret to Delilah. The sermon warns that God departs from those who forsake Him, leaving them helpless before their enemies, and calls for repentance and return to God to regain His power and presence.

[John Weaver] Judges chapter 16, and we're going to read the first 21 verses. The title of the message today is Left Behind. Judges 16, verses 1 through 21, Left Behind. Notice if you would, Then went Samson to Gaza, and saw there a harlot, and went in unto her. And it was told the Gazites, saying, Samson has come hither. And they compassed him, laid wait for him all night in the gate of the city, and were quiet all night, saying, in the morning, when it is day, we shall kill him. And Samson lay till midnight, and arose at midnight, and took the doors of the gate of the city, and the two posts, and went away with them, bar and all, and put them upon his shoulders, and carried them up to the top of the hill, that is, Bilhor Hebron.

[John Weaver] And it came to pass afterwards that he loved a woman in the valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah. And the lords of the Philistines came up to her and said unto her, entice him and see wherein is great strength life, and by what means we may prevail against him, that we may bind him to afflict him, and we will give thee, every one of us, 1,100 pieces of silver. And Delilah said to Samson, tell me, I pray thee, wherein thy great strength life? And wherewith thou mightest be bound to afflict thee? And Samson said unto her, if they bind me with seven green wits that were never dried, then I shall be weak and be as another man. Then the lords of the Philistines brought up to her seven green wits which had not been dried, and she bound him therewith.

[John Weaver] And now there were men lying in wait, abiding with her in the chamber. And she said unto him, the Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And he break the wits as a thread of toe was broken when it toucheth the fire, so his strength was not known. And Delilah said unto Samson, Behold, thou hast mocked me and told me lies. Now tell me, I pray thee, wherein thou mightest be bound.

[John Weaver] And he said unto her, If they bind me fast with new ropes that never were occupied, then shall I be weak and be as another man. Delilah therefore took new ropes and bound him therewith and said unto him, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And there were liars in weight abiding in the chamber. And he break them from off his arms like a thread. And Delilah said unto Samson, Hitherto hast thou mocked me and told me lies. Tell me wherewith thou mightest be bound. And he said unto her, If thou weavest the seven locks of my head with the web, and she fastened it with the pin, and said unto him, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And he awaked out of his sleep and went away with the pin of the beam and with the web. And she said unto him, How canst thou say I love thee, when thine heart is not with me? Thou hast mocked me these three times, and hast not told me wherein thy great strength lies.

[John Weaver] And it came to pass when she pressed him daily with her words, and urged him so that his soul was vexed unto death, that he told her all his heart and said unto her, There hath not come a razor upon mine head, for I have been a Nazarite unto God from my mother's womb. If I be shaven, then my strength will go from me, and I shall become weak and be like any other man. And when Delilah saw that he had told her all his heart, she sent and called for the lords of the Philistines, saying, Come up this once, for he has showed me all his heart. Then the lords of the Philistines came up unto her and brought money into their hand. And she made him sleep upon her knees and call for a man. And she caused him to shave off the seven locks of his head. And she began to afflict him and his strength went from him. And she said, the Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And he awoke out of his sleep and said, I will go out as at other times before and shake myself.

[John Weaver] And he wist not that the Lord was departed from him. But the Philistines took him and put out his eyes and brought him down to Gaza and bound him with fetters of brass and he did grind in the prison house. Of course the title of the message is Left Behind. And I hope that you realize the title has absolutely nothing to do with the movie that is titled Left Behind. Moreover it has really nothing to do with eschatology and it certainly is not a sermon on the rapture. The point of the entire message is that often individuals, families, churches and even nations are left behind by God. They forsook God and therefore He justly and righteously forsakes them. He deserts them, He departs from them and withdraws Himself from them and they find themselves left behind and alone.

[John Weaver] When God leaves them, they suddenly discover their impotence, their helplessness, their danger, and their destruction. We read of this in the life of Samson if you look at verse 20 again. And she said, the Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And he woke out of his sleep and said, I will go out as at other times before and shake myself. And he wist not that the Lord was departed from him. Samson was unique in many ways.

[John Weaver] First of all, he was a Nazirite from his birth. I want you to note very carefully, he was not a Nazarene, he was a Nazirite. Our Lord was a Nazarene, he was not a Nazirite. A Nazarene is someone that is from Nazareth. So our Lord was from Nazareth, he was a Nazarene, he was not a Nazirite. Samson was a Nazarite. Now, I want you to turn in your Bibles very quickly to the book of Numbers holding Judges 16. Let's go to Numbers chapter 6 and let me show you from the Bible the law of the Nazarite. And you can see very clearly from this that our Lord certainly was not a Nazarite, but Samson was. Notice if you would Numbers chapter 6 beginning there with verse 1. Numbers chapter 6 verse 1. And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, and say to them, When either man or woman shall separate themselves, to avow the Nazarite, to separate themselves to the Lord. Now watch.

[John Weaver] He shall separate himself from wine and strong drink, and shall drink no vinegar of wine or vinegar of strong drink, neither shall he drink any liquor of grapes, nor eat moist grapes or dried. All the days of his separation shall eat nothing that is made for the vine tree from the kernels, even to the husk. All the days of the vow of his separation, there shall no razor come upon his head until the days be fulfilled in the, which he separated himself into the Lord. He shall be holy and shall let the locks of his hair of his head grow all the days that he separated himself into the Lord. He shall come at no dead body. He shall not make himself unclean for his father, for his mother, for his brother, for his sister, when they die because the consecration of his God is upon his head. And all the days of his separation he is holy to the Lord. And if any man die very suddenly by him, and he has defiled the head of his consecration, then he shall shave his head in the day of his cleansing.

[John Weaver] On the seventh day he shall shave it. On the eighth day shall he bring two turtles or two young pigeons to the priest at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. And the priest shall offer the one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering, and make an atonement for him, for that he sinned by the dead, and shall howl at his head that same day. And he shall consecrate unto the Lord the days of his separation, and shall bring a lamb of the first year for a trespass offering. But the days that were before shall be lost, because his separation was defiled. And this is the law of the Nazarite, when the days of his separations are fulfilled, He shall be brought into the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. He shall offer his offering unto the Lord. One he lamb of the first year without blemish for a burnt offering and one new lamb of the first year without blemish for a sin offering and one ram without blemish for a peace offerings and a basket of unleavened bread, cakes of fine flour mingled with oil and wafers of unleavened bread anointed

[John Weaver] with oil and their meat offerings and their drink offerings. And the priest shall bring them before the Lord. and shall offer his sin offering and his burnt offering." So here you have basically then what you and I would call the law then of the Nazarite. And I want you to note that he could not touch a dead body. He could not eat or drink anything that was made from grapes.

[John Weaver] He had to keep his hair. He could not shave his hair at all. So very obviously God spelled out everything that was to be done.

[John Weaver] Now, I want you to go back, if you would, in your Bibles to the book of Judges, chapter 16. In fact, let's go back even before we get there to... Let me just give you the verse. Because the angel of the Lord said this to Manoah and to his wife, When she had conceived Samson, they had asked, how shall we order the child? And he said, behold, thou shalt conceive and bear a son, and now drink no wine nor strong drink, neither eat any unclean thing. For the child, talking about Samson, shall be a Nazarite to God from the womb to the day of his death. So Samson now is unique, first of all, because he was a Nazarite from the birth. So from his birth, they were not to cut his hair.

[John Weaver] He was not to touch a dead body. Not to eat anything of the grapes or drink any wine or liquor whatsoever. Notice, secondly, Samson was unique in that he violated this vow numerous times in numerous ways. He certainly touched dead bodies. He touched the dead body of the lion that he killed. Moreover, he touched many dead bodies of the Philistines that he killed. And just as we read from Judges chapter 16, we've also found out that Samson lived an immoral life.

[John Weaver] He associated with the harlots. Thirdly, Samson was unique in the sense that, listen carefully, he was a normal man. And when I say that he was a normal man, I simply mean this, that he was not a muscle-bound bodybuilder that could barely walk because of the muscles bulging all over his body. Samson was an ordinary, everyday man, and looking at him, you could not tell of the greatness of his strength.

[John Weaver] In fact, if you look in Judges chapter 16 and verse 5, to demonstrate this truth, And the lords of the Philistines came up unto her, and said unto her, Entice him, and see wherein his great strength lieth. And by what means we may prevail upon him, or against him, and that we may bind him to afflict him, and we will give thee every one of us eleven hundred pieces of silver. Now watch verse 6, And Delilah said to Samson, Tell me, I pray thee, wherein thy great strength lieth, and wherewith thou mightest be bound to afflict thee? And then if you'll skip down to verse 15, And she said, How canst thou say I love thee, when thine heart is not with me? Thou hast mocked me these three times, and hast not told me wherewith in thy great strength lieth. So in other words, just looking at Samson, you would think that he was an ordinary, everyday, normal man.

[John Weaver] He was not necessarily a 90-pound weakling. But on the other hand, he did not look like someone that possessed an awful lot of power and an awful lot of strength. If Samson had been muscle-bound, if Samson had been one of those bulging bodybuilders, very obviously his enemies probably would have associated his strength with all of his muscles. But no, Samson's strength and Samson's power was from the Lord. If you look down in verse 28 of Judges chapter 16, Samson fully and finally realized the source of his great strength because he calls upon God one last time, and he says this, and Samson called unto the Lord and said, O Lord God, remember me, I pray thee, and strengthen me, I pray thee, only this once, O God, that I may be at once avenged of the Philistines from my two eyes. So very obviously, Samson knew, especially in the end, that his strength was indeed from the Lord.

[John Weaver] Now, here's some questions that must be asked. Why did God depart from Samson? What happened so that the Lord left Samson behind? What caused the breach? I can assure you of this, that God does not needlessly or carelessly or causelessly leave us behind. There's always a reason. And God has given warnings, now listen carefully, both individually and nationally, that He would indeed depart from us if we sinned against Him.

[John Weaver] I want you to hold Judges 16, but turn in your Bibles to 2 Chronicles chapter 15. 2 Chronicles chapter 15, and look if you would please at verse 2. 2 Chronicles 15. Verse 2. The Spirit of the Lord comes upon Azariah the prophet, the son of Oded. And he goes out to meet King Asa. And I want you to note what he says to King Asa. 2 Chronicles chapter 15 and verse 2. And he went out to meet Asa and said unto him, Hear ye me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin. The Lord is with you while you be with him.

[John Weaver] And if you seek Him, He will be found of you. But if you forsake Him, He will forsake you. Isn't that interesting? Of course, once again, without me getting into it, this is because of the covenant. 2 Chronicles 15 and verse 2. If you forsake Him, He will forsake you. If you violate the covenant, God is not obligated to uphold His part of the covenant. And so He said, You sin against God, God will forsake you.

[John Weaver] Now, look in your Bibles to the book of Deuteronomy chapter 31. What is true of individuals? What is true of families? What is true of churches? It's also true of nations. In Deuteronomy chapter 31 and verse 17, here's another warning. Deuteronomy 31 verse 17. Look what God says. In fact, it is very plain. Deuteronomy 31 verse 17, God says, Then mine anger shall be kindled against them in that day, and I will forsake them, and I will hide my face from them, watch the result, and they shall be devoured, and many evils and troubles shall befall them, so that they will say in that day, Are not these evils come upon us? Because our God is not among us. God said when they do evil and sin against me, my wrath, my anger, is going to be kindled and I'll forsake them and I'll hide my face and the result is all of these evils are going to come upon them.

[John Weaver] Now, let me just point out that I may be speaking today on the life of Samson and I am. But as I share this with you, I want you to make applications not only to your own personal life, to your own family life, to your church life, but also to our state and to our nation. Because God has given this warning that if we forsake Him, He will forsake us. So let's just ask this question. What caused God to depart from Samson? Why did God leave Samson behind? Why did God leave Samson alone? So, just to get you thinking, Has God departed from Christendom as a whole? Has God departed from most churches? I've said before, and I know the Holy Spirit is omnipresent, He is God. But if the Holy Spirit were taken out of the world tomorrow, most churches would go on as usual because of their programs and their entertainment.

[John Weaver] they have no dependency upon the Lord at all whatsoever. But let me show you three things. First of all, I want you to note that Samson conformed to the wicked. I want you to go back to Judges chapter 14 and let's begin reading there with verse 1. Here's what I mean by conforming to the wicked. Judges 14 verse 1, And Samson went down to Timnath and saw a woman in Timnath of the daughters of the Philistines. And he came up and told his father and his mother, and he said, I've seen a woman in Timnath of the daughters of the Philistines.

[John Weaver] Now therefore, get her for me to wife. Then his father and his mother said unto him, Is there never a woman among the daughters of thy brethren, among all thy 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. But his father and his mother knew not that it was of the Lord, that he the Lord sought an occasion against the Philistines for at that time the Philistines had dominion over Israel. Now I want you to know the Bible says that Samson went down to Timnath and saw a woman of Timnath of the daughters of the Philistines. So here he is wanting to marry a woman that God has forbidden him to marry. And he tells His father and mother, I want you to get her to meet a wife. And the father objects and says, wait a minute, wait a minute. Is there never a woman so beautiful among all of your people? Why do you have to go down to the uncircumcised Philistines?

[John Weaver] Choose one of these good Israelitish women. Get one of your own tribe or get one of the other tribes. You don't have to go to the Philistines. And Samson's attitude was this. Get her for me for she pleases me. Well, now let me give you a verse and y'all know that, you know, the verse, but I want you to think about it in Romans 12 and verse two, the scripture says, and be not conformed to this world. But be you transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. Now you say, Brother Weaver, the only problem with quoting Romans 12 and verse 2 at this point is that Romans 12 and verse 2 was not written when Sapson did this. No, Romans 12 and verse 2 was not written at that particular time. But Sapson was aware of the truth because that truth had been previously stated a number of times in other portions of the Scriptures. Sapson knew that he was going contrary to the law of God.

[John Weaver] He knew that he was going contrary to what his parents desired. Look in your Bibles, if you would, to the book of Exodus chapter 34. Exodus chapter 34. Just to show you that Samson was not in the dark. He was totally and completely aware of the principles that had been taught. Notice Exodus chapter 34. And look what God says. Beginning there in verse 11. Exodus 34, verse 11.

[John Weaver] He said, Observe thou that which I command thee this day. Behold, I drive out before thee the Amorite, the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, the Jebusite. Take heed to thyself, lest thou make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, whether thou goest, lest it be for a snare in the midst of thee. And then God tells them, what they should do. God says you need to take heed.

[John Weaver] You're not to conform to them. You're not to intermarry with them. You're not to make a covenant with them. And then if you will turn over in your Bibles to the book of Deuteronomy chapter 7. God says it even more plainly. Deuteronomy chapter 7. Notice if you would beginning there with verse 1. Deuteronomy 7 verse 1. When the Lord thy God shall bring thee in the land whither thou goest to possess it, and has cast out many nations before thee, the Hittites, and the Girgashites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, and the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, seven nations greater and mightier than thou. And by the way, the Philistines would be under the Canaanites. When the Lord thy God shall deliver them before thee, thou shalt smite them and utterly destroy them. Thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor show mercy unto them. Neither shalt thou make marriages with them. Thy daughter thou shalt not give unto his son, nor his son shalt thou take unto thy daughter. For they will turn away thy son from following me, that they may serve other gods.

[John Weaver] Now watch, so will the anger of the Lord be kindled against you and destroy thee suddenly. But thus shall you deal with them. You shall destroy their altars, and break down their images, and cut down their groves, and burn their graven images with fire. For thou art a holy people unto the Lord thy God. The Lord thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself. Above all the people that are upon the face of the earth, the Lord did not set his love upon you, nor choose you, because you are more in number than any of the people. For you were the fewest of all people. Note, if you would please, God says, very clearly, very plainly, you're not to intermarry with them, you're not to make covenants with them, you're not to have anything to do with them.

[John Weaver] You can't conform the way they live and the way they act. It's absolutely impossible. You see, the truth of the matter is this, when one begins to associate with the wicked, it will not be long until he begins to conform to the wicked. And I've heard so many people say, The reason I'm associating with them is very simple. I want to lift them up. It never works like that. In fact, the scripture says that we don't lift the wicked up, they pull us down. And the scripture says in 1 Corinthians chapter 15 verse 58, Be not deceived, evil communications corrupt good manners. And it's not the wicked that are corrupted, it is the righteous that are corrupted.

[John Weaver] If I were to ask you, Outside of Christ, who does the Bible refer to as one of the most wise or one of the wisest men that ever lived? Solomon. Solomon was one of the wisest men that ever lived. Let me ask you a question. If you consider Solomon, One of the wisest men that ever lived. If Solomon could not conform to the wicked and get by with it, what possibly makes you think that you could conform to the wicked and get by with it?

[John Weaver] Listen, you don't have to turn there. 1 Kings 11 and verse 4. For it came to pass, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned away his heart after other gods And his heart was not perfect with the Lord his God, as was the heart of David his father. So the wisest man who ever lived outside of Christ tried to conform in marrying the wicked, associating with the wicked, and they ended up turning away his heart after other gods. You know what Solomon did? It's strange. Solomon erred. And Solomon sinned because he would not even listen to the counsel of his own father. What? All you have to do is read Psalm 1 in verse 1.

[John Weaver] What does the Bible say? Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful, but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in his law doth he meditate day and night. Let me break this down for you. Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel.

[John Weaver] Let's use the word advice. You'll see why. Blessed is the man that walketh not in the advice of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners. Let's use the word association. Because when you stand around the people, you're associating with them. So he says, blessed is the man that walketh not in the advice of the council, the advice of the ungodly, nor associates with the ungodly, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.

[John Weaver] Sitting down finally means agreement. So here's what he says, if you begin listening to the advice of the wicked, you're going to be associating with the wicked, and shortly you're going to be agreeing with the wicked. But then he said the blessed man, is the man who meditates in God's law day and night.

[John Weaver] Now, let me make a statement that should be exceedingly obvious. God chose us that we might be a different people. You remember all through the Old Testament and even in the New Testament, we're called a peculiar people. We're not to be like the others. We're not to be like the wicked. In fact, the Bible says in Psalm 4 and verse 3, But know that the Lord hath set apart him that is godly for himself. And over and over in Scripture, God tells us that we're to be different. We are not to be like the wicked. We're not to follow them. We're not to associate with them, follow their advice, and agree with them in such a way that we end up conforming to them. You know it's an interesting thing today that God has called us to be totally different and totally peculiar and yet the average professing Christian does not want to be known as and pointed out as a Christian. We don't want to be classified as peculiar. We don't want to be classified as different.

[John Weaver] We want to kind of conform. That's what Samson was doing. Samson was conforming because he was going to marry into the family of the wicked. I've got news for you folks. You marry a pagan, pretty soon that pagan is going to want you to follow along and join in with their pagan practices and pagan worship. It's just standard procedure. We should think differently and we should act differently.

[John Weaver] Let me read a verse to you. Ezekiel chapter 20 and verse 32. Listen to what God says. Ezekiel 20 verse 32. God says, and that which cometh into your mind shall not be at all that you say, we will be as the heathen as the families of the countries who serve wood and stone. God said, that should never come into your mind that we're going to be like them.

[John Weaver] We should be totally different. Samson's downfall began when he was willing to associate with the wicked and marry into their families. God warned them against that.

[John Weaver] Now, if you'll look in your Bibles to Judges chapter 14 again, I can hear an objection. See, Samson's willing to marry. He wants to marry this wicked woman in Timnath. And you say, look, Brother Weaver, I know that's wicked and wrong, but read verse 4. Here it is. But his father and his mother knew not that it, that is the whole situation, was of the Lord that he, the Lord, sought an occasion against the Philistines. For at that time, the Philistines had dominion over Israel. You say, ah, don't you see the hand of the sovereign God in all of this? He was working all of this out to bring an occasion against the Philistines for Samson to kill the enemies of God.

[John Weaver] Well, let me tell you something, folks. It is true that God is absolutely sovereign. And it is true that God controls even sinful disobedience. And this should be pointed out very clearly, very plainly, that God may Just like He did in the case of Samson, God may use our disobedience to His greater glory, but that still does not erase the fact that we have sinned, and we were disobedient, and that we will suffer for our sins.

[John Weaver] All you've got to do is read the rest of the story. Samson lost his wife. Samson lost the prospects of a family. You can read it for yourself and the rest of Judges 14. It is true, God may use our sins for His greater glory, but that does not erase our disobedience, that does not excuse our disobedience, and the Scripture teaches, he that sins shall suffer. And Samson suffered. He tried to conform to the world, and he suffered.

[John Weaver] Secondly, I want you to note that he not only conformed to the wicked, he consorted with the wicked. Go back to Judges chapter 16 again if you would please. After he tried to marry this Philistine woman, look what happens in Judges chapter 16 and verse 1. Then went Samson to Gaza, and saw there a harlot, and went in unto her. Skip down to verse 4. It came to pass afterwards that he loved a woman in the valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah, who also was a harlot.

[John Weaver] Now, when his marriage fell through, he'd lost everything, he still did not learn his lessons. You know, it seems that most people are just gluttons for punishment. He not only continued to try to conform to the wicked. He consorted with the wicked. Now, I want you to know something. I have used the word consorted deliberately. We read of two harlots in Judges chapter 16 that he was associated with. Probably there were others, I don't know. But I want you to understand that these two women that are mentioned in Judges chapter 16 were enemies of God's people. They were God's enemies.

[John Weaver] We're warned in Scripture that a whore is a deep ditch and he that is abhorred of the Lord shall fall therein. And the word abhorred means, hey, all you got to do is read Proverbs 5, 6, and 7. where the Bible warns against harlotry and whoredom.

[John Weaver] Now I told you that I've used the word consorted purposefully. He consorted with the wicked. Why did I choose the word consorted? Because of its use in the Bible. Let me give you an illustration as you turn, and I do want you to turn to Acts chapter 17. I'm going to show it to you in the Bible. Years ago, there was a young man that I had witnessed to innumerable times. He did not want to hear what I had to say. He did not want to be around me. He did not want to be around my family.

[John Weaver] And I have seen him walking down the street. And he would see me coming and he'd walk to the other side of the street just so. He wouldn't have to speak to me and hopefully I wouldn't say anything to him. He did that a number of times. But, you know, After a few months, God saved him. And then instead of him running from me, he would run to me.

[John Weaver] And he would always come to the house for me to teach him. And there would be times, it would be midnight, and I would say, Gary, get up and go home. Let me go to bed. Well, he said, I just want to be around you. I just want to hear this. You know, and I thought of this verse. Now that's consorting, you know. Now I want you to watch this. Look at Acts chapter 17, verse 4.

[John Weaver] Paul is preaching in Thessalonica. And look at it if you would. And the Bible says, And some of them believed and consorted with Paul and Silas, and of the devout Greeks a great multitude, and of the chief women Not a few. They consorted with Paul and Silas. The Greek word for consorted is prosklero. Listen carefully. It means to consort with, to allot, to assign by lot, to cast your lot in with, and to choose for an inheritance.

[John Weaver] You know what these people were doing when they were converted in Acts chapter 17? They were casting their lot in with Paul and Silas. They were casting their lot in with other believers. They were casting their lot in with the Lord Jesus Christ. They were choosing Christ. They were choosing Paul and Silas. They were choosing God's people as their inheritance.

[John Weaver] Go back and ask yourself this question. Why was Samson consorting with the wicked? He was choosing the wicked over the people of God. He was adding his lot in with the wicked by frequent consorting with them and living with them and sinning with them. His actions were a demonstration of rejection of his own people, and that he preferred the company of the wicked, which was an insult and a blasphemy, not only to God, but to his family and to his people. So he not only tried to conform to the wicked, he consorted with the wicked. He chose them. as his lot. Here's the third point.

[John Weaver] And this one to me is absolutely unbelievable. But here it is. He confided in the wicked. He not only conformed, he not only consorted, he confided in the wicked. In Judges chapter 16, Delilah now, Ask him to tell her the secret of his great strength. Here's my question. How could Samson have possibly been so absolutely stupid as to tell Delilah the secret of his strength? Why could he not see what was happening? Do you remember? We'll look at it. We read Judges chapter 16. Look in verse 6. And Delilah said to Samson, Tell me, I pray thee, where in thy great strength lieth? And where would thou mightest be bound to afflict thee? And Samson said unto her, If they bind me with seven green widths that were never dry, then I shall be weak as another man. Guess what she did? She got seven green widths and bound him. And then she said, The Philistines be upon you, Samson. He got up, and of course his secret was not known.

[John Weaver] Oh, you've lied to me. How can you tell me you love me? Come on, Samson. Well, you've got to put new ropes on me. No man's ever been in them. And she does that. And then she says, Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And he breaks the ropes like they're nothing. Oh, come on, Samson. You don't love me. You don't love me. Tell me. Alright, you've got to weave my hair.

[John Weaver] And that's what she did. Wake up, Samson! The Philistines be upon you! And he goes off with the pen and the beam and whatever else is there. Could he not see? Did he not know that whatever he told her, she was doing to destroy him? I mean, I know folks are blind and I know sin blinds the eyes and I know sin is deceitful, but come on! If I wake up three mornings in a row and Alice has a pistol pointed at my temple, I know something is wrong.

[John Weaver] I want you to watch this. This is absolutely amazing to me. This shows you not only his desire to conform to the wicked, but his consorting with them as well. Look at verse 6. Judges chapter 16, verse 6. He said, And Delilah said to Samson, Tell me, I pray thee, wherewith thou great strength lieth, and wherewith thou mightest be bound to afflict thee? Alright. How often did she do this? Skip down to verse 16.

[John Weaver] And it came to pass, when she pressed him daily with her words, and urged him, so that his soul was vexed, unto death. How often did she press him? Daily. He was living with her. Day by day, she's pressing him, saying, I want to know where your great strength is. She did not care for Samson. All she wanted was the secret of his heart, that she might destroy him. She wanted the silver. She had no interest in Samson.

[John Weaver] And all she was interested in doing was betraying Him into the hands of the Philistines. Now I'm going to quote a scripture and I want you to listen. Psalm 25 verse 14. Listen carefully. The secret of the Lord is with them that fear Him. He will show them His covenant. The secret of the Lord is with them that fear Him. There are some things that you don't tell. The secret of the Lord is with them that fear Him.

[John Weaver] God has His secrets and He only gives them to His people. Most of us are like the one woman I heard about. Someone asked her, could she keep a secret? She said, of course I can. It's just the people I tell that can't keep them. Christians have their secrets. The secret of the Lord is with them that fear Him. How could Samson reveal his secret without betraying his people whom God had given him to protect? How could Samson reveal his secret without betraying his family? How could Samson reveal his secret without betraying his Lord? I would think that what Samson has done was very closely akin to that which Hezekiah did when the Babylonians came and he showed them everything in his kingdom, including the temple and the treasures. And God told Hezekiah, everything that you showed the Babylonians, you're going to lose. And they came and destroyed Judah, and they destroyed Jerusalem, and they destroyed the temple, and they stole all the vessels and everything out of the temple. What did Hezekiah do? He revealed the secrets that he should never have revealed.

[John Weaver] And here Samson is, revealing something that he should never have revealed. What happened? Look in verse 20. After she had done his hair, did it in after she shaved it. The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And he awoke out of his sleep and said, I will go out as at other times before and shake myself. It's all I've got to do is just shake myself. And he wished not that the Lord was departed from him.

[John Weaver] He did not even realize. Samson just assumed that the Lord and His power was still upon him. However, God had departed from him. He was totally unaware of the departure and he figured that if he just simply went out and shook himself as before, all would be well. It was not. How often do we assume that the Lord will continue to bless us in spite of our sins and disobedience? How often do we presume that we have the power of God upon us when all we have is our own strength. How often have we traded the blessings and the power of God for temporal pleasure, programs, entertainment.

[John Weaver] Now I want you to listen. Here's where the average church is today. We may jump and shout and have a good old time and think that our rejoicing in the Lord is really spiritual and really powerful when all we have is our flesh and the evidence that God has departed from us as our enemies are still standing. When Samson had the power of God upon him, No enemies could stand before Him. When Samson lost the power of God, His enemies stood. Our enemies today are standing.

[John Weaver] They laugh at our salvation. They laugh at our Savior. They laugh at our Sovereign. As a whole, I know there are exceptions, but as a whole, like Samson, we've been left behind. The Lord's departed from us. We don't even know it. We don't miss it. And the evidence is, our enemies are still standing. In the Song of Solomon, Chapter 6 and verse 10, don't turn there. Solomon is describing the church, and here's what he said.

[John Weaver] Who is she that looketh forth as the morning, fares the moon, clears the sun, and terrible as an army with banners? What? The church is compared to an army with banners? Yes. But most of the Christians have gone AWOL. We've thrown our banners down. And Ichabod has been written over most churches, the glory has departed. And the glory always departs when God departs. And we're left hopeless and helpless in the hands of our enemies. The church says this in the Song of Solomon chapter 5 and verse 6. Listen carefully. The bride says, I opened to my beloved, but my beloved had withdrawn himself and was gone.

[John Weaver] I sought him, but I could not find him. I called him, but he gave me no answer. If you read the context, the bride's beloved, the Lord knocks. And the bride is so concerned with her perfume and the fact that she's already in bed, she doesn't want to get up and open to her bridegroom. When she finally decides to do so, she finds that he had withdrawn himself.

[John Weaver] He was no longer there. She sought him. But she could not find Him. She called, but He did not answer. If you will turn in your Bibles to the book of Hosea, Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Amos. Look in Hosea chapter 5 and verse 6.

[John Weaver] Look what God says. In fact, let's read verse 5. Hosea 5, verse 5. God says, And the pride of Israel doth testify to his face. Therefore shall Israel and Ephraim fall in their iniquity, Judah also shall fall with them. They shall go with their flocks and with their herds to seek the Lord, but they shall not find him. He withdrawn Himself from them. Wow! There's a time when God does leave us behind.

[John Weaver] If we forsake Him, He will forsake us. It may be temporary. but he'll still withdraw himself. Matthew Henry said this, Many have lost the favorable presence of God and are not aware of it. They have provoked God to withdraw from them, but are not sensible of their loss, nor ever complain of it. Their souls languish and grow weak. Their gifts wither. Everything goes cross with them, and yet they impute not this to the right cause. They are not aware that God has departed from them, nor are they in any care to reconcile themselves to Him or to recover His favor.

[John Weaver] Let me try to make some applications and try to draw this together. First of all, the power of God departs from us when God Himself departs from us. And when God departs from us, we are helpless in and of ourselves. If Samson thought for one minute that the mighty power that he possessed was his, he learned instantly that it was not when his head was shaved. You know what our Lord said in John 15 and verse 5, help me out now, without me you can do nothing. Is praying something? Yeah. We can't do it without Him. Is studying something? Yes. We can't do it without Him. Is living wholly something? Yes, we can't do it without Him. We can do nothing without Him. And He said in Zechariah 4 and verse 6, Not by power nor by might, but by My Spirit saith the Lord. And when we do not have the power of God upon us, we're helpless. We're hopeless. Are you listening? The greatest protection that any individual, any family, any church, any nation can have is the blessing and presence and power of God.

[John Weaver] Secondly, I want you to understand that the world, that is Delilah, cares nothing for Christians. And will quickly sell us to the highest bidder. Delilah pretended to love Samson. Until she got what she wanted. And then she betrayed him. That's like all of our politicians. They pretend like they love us and they like us. Until they get our votes. and then they betray us. And the Lord is well. When Delilah got that which she wanted, she led Samson as a sheep to the slaughter. Many individuals like Demas have been rocked to sleep on the knees of Delilah and have made shipwreck of their faith. The world does not care one whit for Christ or for Christianity. The world only cares for itself and what it can get.

[John Weaver] Thirdly, when God departs from us, our enemies not only rejoice, but they take us and abuse us. and make sport of us just like they did Samson. They will quickly take advantage of every situation. I want to give you another quote from Matthew Henry and I want you to listen to this because to me this is so absolutely amazing. Matthew Henry puts together everything that happened to Samson and the opposite. The Philistines took him when God had departed from him. Those that have thrown themselves out of God's protection becomes an easy prey to their enemies. If we sleep in the lap of our lusts, we shall certainly wake in the hands of the Philistines.

[John Weaver] It is probable that they had promised Elijah not to kill him. But they took an effectual course to disable him. The first thing they did when they had him in their hands and found that they could manage him was to put out his eyes by applying fire to them so says the Arabic version they considered that his eyes would never come again as perhaps as air might and that the strongest arms could

[John Weaver] do little without eyes to guide them therefore they blind him and they therefore ever bind him his eyes were the inlets of his sin he saw the harlot at Gaza and went under her. And now his punishment began there.

[John Weaver] Now that the Philistines had blinded him, he had time to remember how his own lust had blinded him. The best preservation of the eyes is to turn them away from beholding vanity. They brought him down to Gaza, that there he might appear in weakness, where he had lately given such proofs of his strength, and to be a jest to those to whom he had been a terror. They bound him with fetters of brass who had before been bound in the cords of his own iniquity.

[John Weaver] And he did grind in the prison, either for their profit or their punishment, or for his punishment, or for both. The devil does thus so by sinners, blinds the minds of those that believe not, and so enslaves them and secures them in his interest. Poor Samson, how hast thou fallen? How has thine honor laid in the dust? How has the glory and defense of Israel become the drudge and triumph of the Philistines? The crown has fallen from his head.

[John Weaver] Woe unto him, for he has sinned, that all take warning by his fall, carefully to preserve the purity and to watch against all temptation and all wickedness and all perversity and all fleshly lust. Our glory has come. and gone. Our defense departed from us when we covenant, when the covenant of our separation to God as spiritual Nazarites is profaned. Like Samson, here's the last one, like Samson, we may be battered and we may be bruised and we may be abused. But like Samson, we must come back to our vows and our faith and call one more time upon our Heavenly Father to strengthen us. Just one last time. To give us grace.

[John Weaver] and power to stand against His enemies and our enemies. And as blind as Samson was, he told that little boy, please, just lead me to the two pillars where unto this house stands. And he prayed, O God, one last time, strengthen me that I may be avenged of mine enemies. And he pulled, and the pillars gave way, and the house came down, and three thousand lords of the Philistines were killed. And the Scripture says that Samson killed more of the Lord's enemies in his death than in his life. If we want the power of God back, We must come back to God in the totality of our lives. If we want to see our enemies fall, it has to be with the power and the blessings of God.

[John Weaver] And they'll never fall until we humble ourselves and repent. and believe and obey. Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, we bow to Thee. We thank You for Your love. Thank You for Your grace. Thank You for Your mercy. And we do pray, Lord, that You would indeed restore our dominion. Restore us, Lord, in repentance and faith and obedience. And Lord, we do not want to be left behind. And if we have been, Lord, give us grace to catch up with Thee and stay with Thee. For Thou, Lord, art our sovereign Lord, our protection, our provision, our power. And without Thee, Lord, we are nothing and can do nothing. Give us grace that we may serve Thee acceptably with reverence and godly fear. In thy name we pray, Amen.

Left Behind

John Weaver | YouTube

Lecture Metadata	Details
Speaker	John Weaver
Source	YouTube
Media ID	KB2C7KY38z0
Subject	New Testament Studies
Course	Romans: Sin, Judgment, and Gospel Foundations: Prepared Hearts
Genre	Sermon
Date	2012-02-17
Dictation Name
Book	Book 137: Romans: Sin, Judgment, and Gospel Foundations - Volume 2 — Chapter 24
Source Timed Segments	77

Formatted Transcript

Opening

Judges chapter 16, and we're going to read the first 21 verses. The title of the message today is "Left Behind." Judges 16, verses 1 through 21, "Left Behind." Notice if you would, "Then went Samson to Gaza, and saw there a harlot, and went in unto her. And it was told the Gazites, saying, Samson has come hither. And they compassed him, laid wait for him all night in the gate of the city, and were quiet all night, saying, in the morning, when it is day, we shall kill him. And Samson lay till midnight, and arose at midnight, and took the doors of the gate of the city, and the two posts, and went away with them, bar and all, and put them upon his shoulders, and carried them up to the top of the hill that is before Hebron."

Scripture Reading — Judges 16:1-21

"And it came to pass afterwards that he loved a woman in the valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah. And the lords of the Philistines came up to her and said unto her, Entice him and see wherein his great strength lieth, and by what means we may prevail against him, that we may bind him to afflict him, and we will give thee, every one of us, eleven hundred pieces of silver. And Delilah said to Samson, Tell me, I pray thee, wherein thy great strength lieth, and wherewith thou mightest be bound to afflict thee? And Samson said unto her, If they bind me with seven green withs that were never dried, then I shall be weak and be as another man. Then the lords of the Philistines brought up to her seven green withs which had not been dried, and she bound him therewith." "And now there were men lying in wait, abiding with her in the chamber. And she said unto him, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And he brake the withs as a thread of tow is broken when it toucheth the fire, so his strength was not known. And Delilah said unto Samson, Behold, thou hast mocked me and told me lies. Now tell me, I pray thee, wherein thou mightest be bound." "And he said unto her, If they bind me fast with new ropes that never were occupied, then shall I be weak and be as another man. Delilah therefore took new ropes and bound him therewith and said unto him, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And there were liers in wait abiding in the chamber. And he brake them from off his arms like a thread. And Delilah said unto Samson, Hitherto thou hast mocked me and told me lies. Tell me wherewith thou mightest be bound. And he said unto her, If thou weavest the seven locks of my head with the web, and she fastened it with the pin, and said unto him, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And he awaked out of his sleep and went away with the pin of the beam and with the web. And she said unto him, How canst thou say I love thee, when thine heart is not with me? Thou hast mocked me these three times, and hast not told me wherein thy great strength lieth." "And it came to pass when she pressed him daily with her words, and urged him so that his soul was vexed unto death, that he told her all his heart and said unto her, There hath not come a razor upon mine head, for I have been a Nazarite unto God from my mother's womb. If I be shaven, then my strength will go from me, and I shall become weak and be like any other man. And when Delilah saw that he had told her all his heart, she sent and called for the lords of the Philistines, saying, Come up this once, for he has showed me all his heart. Then the lords of the Philistines came up unto her and brought money in their hand. And she made him sleep upon her knees and called for a man. And she caused him to shave off the seven locks of his head. And she began to afflict him and his strength went from him. And she said, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And he awoke out of his sleep and said, I will go out as at other times before and shake myself."

Introduction: The Meaning of 'Left Behind'

The title refers not to eschatology but to God forsaking those who forsake Him, as seen in Samson's life.

Scripture Reading — Judges 16:1-21

"And he wist not that the Lord was departed from him. But the Philistines took him and put out his eyes and brought him down to Gaza and bound him with fetters of brass and he did grind in the prison house."

Of course the title of the message is "Left Behind." And I hope that you realize the title has absolutely nothing to do with the movie that is titled "Left Behind." Moreover it has really nothing to do with eschatology and it certainly is not a sermon on the rapture. The point of the entire message is that often individuals, families, churches and even nations are left behind by God. They forsook God and therefore He justly and righteously forsakes them. He deserts them, He departs from them and withdraws Himself from them and they find themselves left behind and alone.

When God leaves them, they suddenly discover their impotence, their helplessness, their danger, and their destruction. We read of this in the life of Samson if you look at verse 20 again. "And she said, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And he woke out of his sleep and said, I will go out as at other times before and shake myself. And he wist not that the Lord was departed from him." Samson was unique in many ways.

Samson's Unique Calling as a Nazirite

Samson was a Nazirite from birth, bound by vows including no razor on his head, no contact with dead bodies, and no grape products.

First of all, he was a Nazirite from his birth. I want you to note very carefully, he was not a Nazarene, he was a Nazirite. Our Lord was a Nazarene, he was not a Nazirite. A Nazarene is someone that is from Nazareth. So our Lord was from Nazareth, he was a Nazarene, he was not a Nazirite. Samson was a Nazarite. Now, I want you to turn in your Bibles very quickly to the book of Numbers holding Judges 16. Let's go to Numbers chapter 6 and let me show you from the Bible the law of the Nazarite. And you can see very clearly from this that our Lord certainly was not a Nazarite, but Samson was. Notice if you would Numbers chapter 6 beginning there with verse 1. Numbers chapter 6 verse 1. "And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, and say to them, When either man or woman shall separate themselves to vow a vow of a Nazarite, to separate themselves unto the Lord." Now watch.

"He shall separate himself from wine and strong drink, and shall drink no vinegar of wine or vinegar of strong drink, neither shall he drink any liquor of grapes, nor eat moist grapes or dried. All the days of his separation shall he eat nothing that is made of the vine tree, from the kernels even to the husk. All the days of the vow of his separation there shall no razor come upon his head: until the days be fulfilled, in the which he separateth himself unto the Lord, he shall be holy, and shall let the locks of the hair of his head grow. All the days that he separateth himself unto the Lord he shall come at no dead body. He shall not make himself unclean for his father, or for his mother, for his brother, or for his sister, when they die: because the consecration of his God is upon his head. And all the days of his separation he is holy unto the Lord. And if any man die very suddenly by him, and he hath defiled the head of his consecration; then he shall shave his head in the day of his cleansing."

"On the seventh day he shall shave it. And on the eighth day he shall bring two turtles, or two young pigeons, to the priest, to the door of the tabernacle of the congregation: And the priest shall offer the one for a sin offering, and the other for a burnt offering, and make an atonement for him, for that he sinned by the dead, and shall hallow his head that same day. And he shall consecrate unto the Lord the days of his separation, and shall bring a lamb of the first year for a trespass offering: but the days that were before shall be lost, because his separation was defiled. And this is the law of the Nazarite, when the days of his separation are fulfilled: he shall be brought unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation: And he shall offer his offering unto the Lord, one he lamb of the first year without blemish for a burnt offering, and one ewe lamb of the first year without blemish for a sin offering, and one ram without blemish for peace offerings, and a basket of unleavened bread, cakes of fine flour mingled with oil, and wafers of unleavened bread anointed

with oil, and their meat offering, and their drink offering. And the priest shall bring them before the Lord, and shall offer his sin offering, and his burnt offering." So here you have basically then what you and I would call the law then of the Nazarite. And I want you to note that he could not touch a dead body. He could not eat or drink anything that was made from grapes. He had to keep his hair. He could not shave his hair at all. So very obviously God spelled out everything that was to be done.

Now, I want you to go back, if you would, in your Bibles to the book of Judges, chapter 16. In fact, let's go back even before we get there to... Let me just give you the verse. Because the angel of the Lord said this to Manoah and to his wife, when she had conceived Samson, they had asked, "How shall we order the child?" And he said, "Behold, thou shalt conceive, and bear a son; and now drink no wine nor strong drink, neither eat any unclean thing: for the child," talking about Samson, "shall be a Nazarite to God from the womb to the day of his death." So Samson now is unique, first of all, because he was a Nazarite from the birth. So from his birth, they were not to cut his hair.

He was not to touch a dead body. Not to eat anything of the grapes or drink any wine or liquor whatsoever. Notice, secondly, Samson was unique in that he violated this vow numerous times in numerous ways. He certainly touched dead bodies. He touched the dead body of the lion that he killed. Moreover, he touched many dead bodies of the Philistines that he killed. And just as we read from Judges chapter 16, we've also found out that Samson lived an immoral life.

Samson's Violations of His Vow

Samson repeatedly broke his Nazirite vow by touching dead bodies and living immorally with harlots.

He associated with the harlots. Thirdly, Samson was unique in the sense that, listen carefully, he was a normal man. And when I say that he was a normal man, I simply mean this, that he was not a muscle-bound bodybuilder that could barely walk because of the muscles bulging all over his body. Samson was an ordinary, everyday man, and looking at him, you could not tell of the greatness of his strength.

The Source of Samson's Strength

Samson's strength was not from his physique but from the Lord, as he finally acknowledged in his final prayer.

In fact, if you look in Judges chapter 16 and verse 5, to demonstrate this truth, "And the lords of the Philistines came up unto her, and said unto her, Entice him, and see wherein his great strength lieth, and by what means we may prevail against him, that we may bind him to afflict him: and we will give thee every one of us eleven hundred pieces of silver." Now watch verse 6, "And Delilah said to Samson, Tell me, I pray thee, wherein thy great strength lieth, and wherewith thou mightest be bound to afflict thee?" And then if you'll skip down to verse 15, "And she said unto him, How canst thou say, I love thee, when thine heart is not with me? Thou hast mocked me these three times, and hast not told me wherein thy great strength lieth." So in other words, just looking at Samson, you would think that he was an ordinary, everyday, normal man.

He was not necessarily a 90-pound weakling. But on the other hand, he did not look like someone that possessed an awful lot of power and an awful lot of strength. If Samson had been muscle-bound, if Samson had been one of those bulging bodybuilders, very obviously his enemies probably would have associated his strength with all of his muscles. But no, Samson's strength and Samson's power was from the Lord. If you look down in verse 28 of Judges chapter 16, Samson fully and finally realized the source of his great strength because he calls upon God one last time, and he says this,

Scripture Reading — Judges 16:28

"And Samson called unto the Lord, and said, O Lord God, remember me, I pray thee, and strengthen me, I pray thee, only this once, O God, that I may be at once avenged of the Philistines for my two eyes."

So very obviously, Samson knew, especially in the end, that his strength was indeed from the Lord.

Biblical Warnings of God's Departure

Scripture warns that God will forsake those who forsake Him, both individually and nationally (2 Chronicles 15:2; Deuteronomy 31:17).

I want you to hold Judges 16, but turn in your Bibles to 2 Chronicles chapter 15. 2 Chronicles chapter 15, and look if you would please at verse 2. 2 Chronicles 15, verse 2. The Spirit of the Lord comes upon Azariah the prophet, the son of Oded. And he goes out to meet King Asa. And I want you to note what he says to King Asa. 2 Chronicles chapter 15 and verse 2.

Scripture Reading — 2 Chronicles 15:2

"And he went out to meet Asa, and said unto him, Hear ye me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin; The Lord is with you, while ye be with him." "And if ye seek him, he will be found of you; but if ye forsake him, he will forsake you."

Isn't that interesting? Of course, once again, without me getting into it, this is because of the covenant. 2 Chronicles 15 and verse 2.

Scripture Reading — 2 Chronicles 15:2

"If ye forsake him, he will forsake you."

If you violate the covenant, God is not obligated to uphold His part of the covenant. And so He said, "You sin against God, God will forsake you."

Now, look in your Bibles to the book of Deuteronomy chapter 31. What is true of individuals? What is true of families? What is true of churches? It's also true of nations. In Deuteronomy chapter 31 and verse 17, here's another warning. Deuteronomy 31 verse 17. Look what God says. In fact, it is very plain. Deuteronomy 31 verse 17, God says,

Scripture Reading — Deuteronomy 31:17

"Then my anger shall be kindled against them in that day, and I will forsake them, and I will hide my face from them,"

watch the result,

Scripture Reading — Deuteronomy 31:17

"and they shall be devoured, and many evils and troubles shall befall them; so that they will say in that day, Are not these evils come upon us, because our God is not among us?"

God said when they do evil and sin against me, my wrath, my anger, is going to be kindled and I'll forsake them and I'll hide my face and the result is all of these evils are going to come upon them.

Now, let me just point out that I may be speaking today on the life of Samson and I am. But as I share this with you, I want you to make applications not only to your own personal life, to your own family life, to your church life, but also to our state and to our nation. Because God has given this warning that if we forsake Him, He will forsake us. So let's just ask this question. What caused God to depart from Samson? Why did God leave Samson behind? Why did God leave Samson alone? So, just to get you thinking, Has God departed from Christendom as a whole? Has God departed from most churches? I've said before, and I know the Holy Spirit is omnipresent, He is God. But if the Holy Spirit were taken out of the world tomorrow, most churches would go on as usual because of their programs and their entertainment.

Step One: Conforming to the Wicked

Samson conformed by seeking a Philistine wife against God's law, ignoring parental counsel and biblical prohibitions against intermarriage.

they have no dependency upon the Lord at all whatsoever. But let me show you three things. First of all, I want you to note that Samson conformed to the wicked. I want you to go back to Judges chapter 14 and let's begin reading there with verse 1. Here's what I mean by conforming to the wicked. Judges 14 verse 1,

Scripture Reading — Judges 14:1-4

"And Samson went down to Timnath, and saw a woman in Timnath of the daughters of the Philistines. And he came up, and told his father and his mother, and said, I have seen a woman in Timnath of the daughters of the Philistines."

"Now therefore get her for me to wife. Then his father and his 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. But his father and his mother knew not that it was of the Lord, that he sought an occasion against the Philistines: for at that time the Philistines had dominion over Israel." Now I want you to know the Bible says that Samson went down to Timnath and saw a woman of Timnath of the daughters of the Philistines. So here he is wanting to marry a woman that God has forbidden him to marry. And he tells his father and mother, "I want you to get her to me to wife." And the father objects and says, "Wait a minute, wait a minute. Is there never a woman so beautiful among all of your people? Why do you have to go down to the uncircumcised Philistines?"

"Choose one of these good Israelitish women. Get one of your own tribe or get one of the other tribes. You don't have to go to the Philistines." And Samson's attitude was this: "Get her for me for she pleases me." Well, now let me give you a verse and y'all know that, you know, the verse, but I want you to think about it in Romans 12 and verse two, the scripture says, "And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God." Now you say, "Brother Weaver, the only problem with quoting Romans 12 and verse 2 at this point is that Romans 12 and verse 2 was not written when Samson did this." No, Romans 12 and verse 2 was not written at that particular time. But Samson was aware of the truth because that truth had been previously stated a number of times in other portions of the Scriptures. Samson knew that he was going contrary to the law of God.

He knew that he was going contrary to what his parents desired. Look in your Bibles, if you would, to the book of Exodus chapter 34. Exodus chapter 34. Just to show you that Samson was not in the dark. He was totally and completely aware of the principles that had been taught. Notice Exodus chapter 34. And look what God says. Beginning there in verse 11. Exodus 34, verse 11.

He said, "Observe thou that which I command thee this day: behold, I drive out before thee the Amorite, and the Canaanite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, and the Hivite, and the Jebusite. Take heed to thyself, lest thou make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land whither thou goest, lest it be for a snare in the midst of thee." And then God tells them what they should do. God says you need to take heed. You're not to conform to them. You're not to intermarry with them. You're not to make a covenant with them. And then if you will turn over in your Bibles to the book of Deuteronomy chapter 7. God says it even more plainly. Deuteronomy chapter 7. Notice if you would beginning there with verse 1. Deuteronomy 7 verse 1. "When the Lord thy God shall bring thee into the land whither thou goest to possess it, and hath cast out many nations before thee, the Hittites, and the Girgashites, and the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, seven nations greater and mightier than thou;" And by the way, the Philistines would be under the Canaanites. "And when the Lord thy God shall deliver them before thee; thou shalt smite them, and utterly destroy them; thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor shew mercy unto them: Neither shalt thou make marriages with them; thy daughter thou shalt not give unto his son, nor his daughter shalt thou take unto thy son. For they will turn away thy son from following me, that they may serve other gods."

Now watch, "so will the anger of the Lord be kindled against you, and destroy thee suddenly. But thus shall ye deal with them; ye shall destroy their altars, and break down their images, and cut down their groves, and burn their graven images with fire. For thou art an holy people unto the Lord thy God: the Lord thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth. The Lord did not set his love upon you, nor choose you, because ye were more in number than any people; for ye were the fewest of all people." Note, if you would please, God says, very clearly, very plainly, you're not to intermarry with them, you're not to make covenants with them, you're not to have anything to do with them.

You can't conform the way they live and the way they act. It's absolutely impossible. You see, the truth of the matter is this, when one begins to associate with the wicked, it will not be long until he begins to conform to the wicked. And I've heard so many people say, "The reason I'm associating with them is very simple. I want to lift them up." It never works like that. In fact, the scripture says that we don't lift the wicked up, they pull us down. And the scripture says in 1 Corinthians chapter 15 verse 33, "Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners." And it's not the wicked that are corrupted, it is the righteous that are corrupted.

Step Two: Consorting with the Wicked

Samson consorted with harlots, choosing the company of God's enemies over God's people, casting his lot with the wicked.

Secondly, I want you to note that he not only conformed to the wicked, he consorted with the wicked. Go back to Judges chapter 16 again if you would please. After he tried to marry this Philistine woman, look what happens in Judges chapter 16 and verse 1. "Then went Samson to Gaza, and saw there a harlot, and went in unto her." Skip down to verse 4. "And it came to pass afterward, that he loved a woman in the valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah," who also was a harlot.

Now, when his marriage fell through, he'd lost everything, he still did not learn his lessons. You know, it seems that most people are just gluttons for punishment. He not only continued to try to conform to the wicked. He consorted with the wicked. Now, I want you to know something. I have used the word consorted deliberately. We read of two harlots in Judges chapter 16 that he was associated with. Probably there were others, I don't know. But I want you to understand that these two women that are mentioned in Judges chapter 16 were enemies of God's people. They were God's enemies.

We're warned in Scripture that a whore is a deep ditch and he that is abhorred of the Lord shall fall therein. And the word abhorred means, hey, all you got to do is read Proverbs 5, 6, and 7, where the Bible warns against harlotry and whoredom. Now I told you that I've used the word consorted purposefully. He consorted with the wicked. Why did I choose the word consorted? Because of its use in the Bible. Let me give you an illustration as you turn, and I do want you to turn to Acts chapter 17. I'm going to show it to you in the Bible. Years ago, there was a young man that I had witnessed to innumerable times. He did not want to hear what I had to say. He did not want to be around me. He did not want to be around my family.

And I have seen him walking down the street. And he would see me coming and he'd walk to the other side of the street just so he wouldn't have to speak to me and hopefully I wouldn't say anything to him. He did that a number of times. But, you know, after a few months, God saved him. And then instead of him running from me, he would run to me. And he would always come to the house for me to teach him. And there would be times, it would be midnight, and I would say, "Gary, get up and go home. Let me go to bed." Well, he said, "I just want to be around you. I just want to hear this." You know, and I thought of this verse. Now that's consorting, you know. Now I want you to watch this. Look at Acts chapter 17, verse 4.

Paul is preaching in Thessalonica. And look at it if you would. And the Bible says,

Scripture Reading — Acts 17:4

"And some of them believed, and consorted with Paul and Silas; and of the devout Greeks a great multitude, and of the chief women not a few."

They consorted with Paul and Silas. The Greek word for consorted is prosklero. Listen carefully. It means to consort with, to allot, to assign by lot, to cast your lot in with, and to choose for an inheritance. You know what these people were doing when they were converted in Acts chapter 17? They were casting their lot in with Paul and Silas. They were casting their lot in with other believers. They were casting their lot in with the Lord Jesus Christ. They were choosing Christ. They were choosing Paul and Silas. They were choosing God's people as their inheritance.

Go back and ask yourself this question. Why was Samson consorting with the wicked? He was choosing the wicked over the people of God. He was adding his lot in with the wicked by frequent consorting with them and living with them and sinning with them. His actions were a demonstration of rejection of his own people, and that he preferred the company of the wicked, which was an insult and a blasphemy, not only to God, but to his family and to his people. So he not only tried to conform to the wicked, he consorted with the wicked. He chose them as his lot. Here's the third point.

Step Three: Confiding in the Wicked

Samson foolishly revealed the secret of his strength to Delilah despite her repeated betrayals, leading to his capture.

And this one to me is absolutely unbelievable. But here it is. He confided in the wicked. He not only conformed, he not only consorted, he confided in the wicked. In Judges chapter 16, Delilah now, ask him to tell her the secret of his great strength. Here's my question. How could Samson have possibly been so absolutely stupid as to tell Delilah the secret of his strength? Why could he not see what was happening? Do you remember? We'll look at it. We read Judges chapter 16. Look in verse 6. "And Delilah said to Samson, Tell me, I pray thee, wherein thy great strength lieth, and wherewith thou mightest be bound to afflict thee? And Samson said unto her, If they bind me with seven green withs that were never dried, then shall I be weak, and be as another man." Guess what she did? She got seven green withs and bound him. And then she said, "The Philistines be upon thee, Samson." He got up, and of course his secret was not known.

"Oh, you've lied to me. How can you tell me you love me? Come on, Samson." "Well, you've got to put new ropes on me. No man's ever been in them." And she does that. And then she says, "Philistines be upon thee, Samson." And he breaks the ropes like they're nothing. "Oh, come on, Samson. You don't love me. You don't love me. Tell me." "Alright, you've got to weave my hair."

And that's what she did. "Wake up, Samson! The Philistines be upon you!" And he goes off with the pin and the beam and whatever else is there. Could he not see? Did he not know that whatever he told her, she was doing to destroy him? I mean, I know folks are blind and I know sin blinds the eyes and I know sin is deceitful, but come on! If I wake up three mornings in a row and Alice has a pistol pointed at my temple, I know something is wrong.

I want you to watch this. This is absolutely amazing to me. This shows you not only his desire to conform to the wicked, but his consorting with them as well. Look at verse 6. Judges chapter 16, verse 6. He said, "And Delilah said to Samson, Tell me, I pray thee, wherein thy great strength lieth, and wherewith thou mightest be bound to afflict thee?" Alright. How often did she do this? Skip down to verse 16.

"And it came to pass, when she pressed him daily with her words, and urged him, so that his soul was vexed unto death." How often did she press him? Daily. He was living with her. Day by day, she's pressing him, saying, "I want to know where your great strength is." She did not care for Samson. All she wanted was the secret of his heart, that she might destroy him. She wanted the silver. She had no interest in Samson.

And all she was interested in doing was betraying Him into the hands of the Philistines. Now I'm going to quote a scripture and I want you to listen. Psalm 25 verse 14. Listen carefully.

Scripture Reading — Psalm 25:14

"The secret of the Lord is with them that fear him; and he will shew them his covenant."

The secret of the Lord is with them that fear Him. There are some things that you don't tell. The secret of the Lord is with them that fear Him.

The Consequences of God's Departure

When God departed, Samson was blinded, bound, and made a mockery by his enemies, illustrating the helplessness of those left behind.

He did not even realize. Samson just assumed that the Lord and His power was still upon him. However, God had departed from him. He was totally unaware of the departure and he figured that if he just simply went out and shook himself as before, all would be well. It was not. How often do we assume that the Lord will continue to bless us in spite of our sins and disobedience? How often do we presume that we have the power of God upon us when all we have is our own strength. How often have we traded the blessings and the power of God for temporal pleasure, programs, entertainment.

Now I want you to listen. Here's where the average church is today. We may jump and shout and have a good old time and think that our rejoicing in the Lord is really spiritual and really powerful when all we have is our flesh and the evidence that God has departed from us as our enemies are still standing. When Samson had the power of God upon him, no enemies could stand before Him. When Samson lost the power of God, His enemies stood. Our enemies today are standing. They laugh at our salvation. They laugh at our Savior. They laugh at our Sovereign. As a whole, I know there are exceptions, but as a whole, like Samson, we've been left behind. The Lord's departed from us. We don't even know it. We don't miss it. And the evidence is, our enemies are still standing. In the Song of Solomon, chapter 6 and verse 10, don't turn there. Solomon is describing the church, and here's what he said.

Applications and Call to Repentance

The church today may be left behind, unaware of God's departure; restoration requires humility, repentance, and renewed faith.

Let me try to make some applications and try to draw this together. First of all, the power of God departs from us when God Himself departs from us. And when God departs from us, we are helpless in and of ourselves. If Samson thought for one minute that the mighty power that he possessed was his, he learned instantly that it was not when his head was shaved. You know what our Lord said in John 15 and verse 5, help me out now, "without me ye can do nothing." Is praying something? Yeah. We can't do it without Him. Is studying something? Yes. We can't do it without Him. Is living wholly something? Yes, we can't do it without Him. We can do nothing without Him. And He said in Zechariah 4 and verse 6, "Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the Lord." And when we do not have the power of God upon us, we're helpless. We're hopeless. Are you listening? The greatest protection that any individual, any family, any church, any nation can have is the blessing and presence and power of God.

Secondly, I want you to understand that the world, that is Delilah, cares nothing for Christians. And will quickly sell us to the highest bidder. Delilah pretended to love Samson. Until she got what she wanted. And then she betrayed him. That's like all of our politicians. They pretend like they love us and they like us. Until they get our votes. and then they betray us. And the Lord is well. When Delilah got that which she wanted, she led Samson as a sheep to the slaughter. Many individuals like Demas have been rocked to sleep on the knees of Delilah and have made shipwreck of their faith. The world does not care one whit for Christ or for Christianity. The world only cares for itself and what it can get.

Thirdly, when God departs from us, our enemies not only rejoice, but they take us and abuse us. and make sport of us just like they did Samson. They will quickly take advantage of every situation. I want to give you another quote from Matthew Henry and I want you to listen to this because to me this is so absolutely amazing. Matthew Henry puts together everything that happened to Samson and the opposite. "The Philistines took him when God had departed from him. Those that have thrown themselves out of God's protection becomes an easy prey to their enemies. If we sleep in the lap of our lusts, we shall certainly wake in the hands of the Philistines."

"It is probable that they had promised Delilah not to kill him. But they took an effectual course to disable him. The first thing they did when they had him in their hands and found that they could manage him was to put out his eyes by applying fire to them so says the Arabic version they considered that his eyes would never come again as perhaps his hair might and that the strongest arms could do little without eyes to guide them therefore they blind him and they therefore ever bind him his eyes were the inlets of his sin he saw the harlot at Gaza and went in unto her. And now his punishment began there." "Now that the Philistines had blinded him, he had time to remember how his own lust had blinded him. The best preservation of the eyes is to turn them away from beholding vanity. They brought him down to Gaza, that there he might appear in weakness, where he had lately given such proofs of his strength, and to be a jest to those to whom he had been a terror. They bound him with fetters of brass who had before been bound in the cords of his own iniquity."

"And he did grind in the prison, either for their profit or their punishment, or for his punishment, or for both. The devil does thus so by sinners, blinds the minds of those that believe not, and so enslaves them and secures them in his interest. Poor Samson, how hast thou fallen? How has thine honor laid in the dust? How has the glory and defense of Israel become the drudge and triumph of the Philistines? The crown has fallen from his head." "Woe unto him, for he has sinned, that all take warning by his fall, carefully to preserve the purity and to watch against all temptation and all wickedness and all perversity and all fleshly lust. Our glory has come and gone. Our defense departed from us when we covenant, when the covenant of our separation to God as spiritual Nazarites is profaned. Like Samson, here's the last one, like Samson, we may be battered and we may be bruised and we may be abused. But like Samson, we must come back to our vows and our faith and call one more time upon our Heavenly Father to strengthen us. Just one last time. To give us grace

and power to stand against His enemies and our enemies. And as blind as Samson was, he told that little boy, "Please, just lead me to the two pillars whereunto the house stands." And he prayed, "O God, one last time, strengthen me that I may be avenged of mine enemies." And he pulled, and the pillars gave way, and the house came down, and three thousand lords of the Philistines were killed. And the Scripture says that Samson killed more of the Lord's enemies in his death than in his life. If we want the power of God back, we must come back to God in the totality of our lives. If we want to see our enemies fall, it has to be with the power and the blessings of God.

Study Guide

Major Themes

God's Conditional Presence

Summary: God promises to be with those who seek Him but will forsake those who forsake Him, as seen in 2 Chronicles 15:2 and Deuteronomy 31:17.

Evidence: The Lord is with you, while ye be with him; and if ye seek him, he will be found of you; but if ye forsake him, he will forsake you.

The Deceitfulness of Sin

Summary: Sin blinds individuals to danger; Samson repeatedly ignored Delilah's betrayals and assumed God's power remained despite his disobedience.

Evidence: And he wist not that the Lord was departed from him.

Separation from the World

Summary: Believers are called to be a peculiar people, not conforming to the world or associating with the wicked, lest they be corrupted.

Evidence: Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners.

The Danger of Unequal Yoking

Summary: Marrying or closely associating with unbelievers leads to spiritual downfall, as seen in Samson and Solomon.

Evidence: For it came to pass, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned away his heart after other gods.

Dependence on God's Power

Summary: Without God's presence and power, believers are helpless; Samson's strength was entirely from the Lord, not his own.

Evidence: without me ye can do nothing.

The World's Hostility to Believers

Summary: The world (like Delilah) feigns love but ultimately betrays and destroys those who trust in it.

Evidence: Delilah pretended to love Samson. Until she got what she wanted. And then she betrayed him.

Key Arguments

Samson's Downfall Was Progressive

Summary: Samson's fall occurred in three stages: conforming to the wicked by marrying a Philistine, consorting with harlots, and confiding his secret to Delilah.

Evidence: He not only conformed to the wicked, he consorted with the wicked... he confided in the wicked.

God's Sovereignty Does Not Excuse Sin

Summary: Though God used Samson's sinful marriage to bring judgment on the Philistines, Samson still suffered consequences for his disobedience.

Evidence: God may use our disobedience to His greater glory, but that still does not erase the fact that we have sinned... and that we will suffer for our sins.

The Church Today May Be Unaware of God's Departure

Summary: Many churches operate on programs and entertainment without God's power, and their enemies still stand as evidence of His absence.

Evidence: If the Holy Spirit were taken out of the world tomorrow, most churches would go on as usual because of their programs and their entertainment.

Restoration Requires Repentance and Faith

Summary: Like Samson's final prayer, believers must return to God in humility and obedience to regain His power and see their enemies fall.

Evidence: If we want the power of God back, we must come back to God in the totality of our lives.

Scripture References

Judges 16:1-21

Context: The primary text of the sermon, detailing Samson's encounters with harlots, Delilah's betrayal, and his capture.

Numbers 6:1-21

Context: The law of the Nazirite, explaining the vows Samson was bound to, including no razor, no wine, and no contact with dead bodies.

Judges 13:5

Context: The angel's announcement that Samson would be a Nazirite from birth to death.

Judges 16:28

Context: Samson's final prayer acknowledging that his strength came from the Lord.

2 Chronicles 15:2

Context: The principle that God is with those who are with Him and will forsake those who forsake Him.

Deuteronomy 31:17

Context: God's warning that He will forsake Israel and hide His face when they sin, leading to evils befalling them.

Judges 14:1-4

Context: Samson's desire to marry a Philistine woman, against his parents' counsel and God's law.

Romans 12:2

Context: The command not to be conformed to this world but transformed by renewing the mind.

Exodus 34:11-16

Context: God's command not to make covenants or intermarry with the inhabitants of Canaan.

Deuteronomy 7:1-7

Context: Prohibition against intermarriage with the nations, warning that they will turn hearts away from God.

1 Corinthians 15:33

Context: Evil communications corrupt good manners, illustrating the danger of associating with the wicked.

1 Kings 11:4

Context: Solomon's wives turned his heart after other gods, showing the danger of conforming to the wicked.

Psalm 1:1-2

Context: The blessed man does not walk in the counsel of the ungodly, stand with sinners, or sit with the scornful.

Psalm 4:3

Context: The Lord has set apart the godly for Himself, emphasizing the call to be different.

Ezekiel 20:32

Context: God rejects the thought of being like the heathen, serving wood and stone.

Acts 17:4

Context: Believers consorted with Paul and Silas, casting their lot with God's people, contrasting Samson's consorting with the wicked.

Psalm 25:14

Context: The secret of the Lord is with those who fear Him, highlighting the folly of confiding in the wicked.

John 15:5

Context: Without Christ, we can do nothing, emphasizing total dependence on God.

Zechariah 4:6

Context: Not by might nor by power but by God's Spirit, reinforcing the source of true strength.

Song of Solomon 5:6

Context: The bride's beloved had withdrawn, illustrating God's departure when His people are indifferent.

Historical References

Matthew Henry's Commentary

Context: Quoted extensively on Samson's blindness, punishment, and the warning to preserve purity.

Hezekiah showing treasures to Babylonians

Context: Compared to Samson revealing his secret; Hezekiah's act led to the loss of Judah's treasures.

Important Quotes

And he wist not that the Lord was departed from him.

Significance: Key verse illustrating Samson's unawareness of God's departure, a central warning of the sermon.

Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners.

Significance: Warns that associating with the wicked corrupts the righteous, not vice versa.

If the Holy Spirit were taken out of the world tomorrow, most churches would go on as usual because of their programs and their entertainment.

Significance: Provocative statement about the church's lack of dependence on God's power.

The secret of the Lord is with them that fear him; and he will shew them his covenant.

Significance: Highlights the folly of sharing spiritual secrets with the wicked.

Many have lost the favorable presence of God and are not aware of it.

Significance: Matthew Henry quote summarizing the danger of spiritual insensitivity.

If we sleep in the lap of our lusts, we shall certainly wake in the hands of the Philistines.

Significance: Matthew Henry's vivid warning about the consequences of sin.

without me ye can do nothing.

Significance: Christ's words emphasizing total dependence on Him for spiritual life and power.

Discussion Questions

In what ways might individuals or churches today be unaware that God has departed from them, like Samson?

Context: Based on the warning that Samson 'wist not' the Lord had left, and the application to modern churches.

How can we guard against the progressive steps of conforming, consorting, and confiding in the world?

Context: The sermon outlines Samson's three-stage downfall as a pattern to avoid.

What does it mean practically to be a 'peculiar people' separate from the world, and why is this difficult?

Context: The call to be different and not conform to the world is emphasized throughout.

How does the example of Solomon's fall warn us about the danger of unequal relationships?

Context: Solomon's wives turned his heart from God, paralleling Samson's compromise.

What evidence might indicate that a church is operating in its own strength rather than God's power?

Context: The sermon suggests that enemies still standing and reliance on programs are signs of God's departure.

How can we cultivate a genuine dependence on God's power rather than our own abilities?

Context: Samson's strength was from the Lord, and without Christ we can do nothing.

What role does repentance play in restoring God's presence and power in our lives?

Context: The conclusion calls for humility, repentance, and faith to regain God's blessing.

Applications

Examine Your Spiritual Condition

Summary: Believers should honestly assess whether they have lost God's presence and power through sin, like Samson who was unaware.

Evidence: And he wist not that the Lord was departed from him.

Avoid Conformity to the World

Summary: Christians must resist the pressure to conform to worldly values, relationships, and practices, as commanded in Romans 12:2.

Evidence: And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind.

Choose Godly Associations

Summary: Deliberately cast your lot with God's people rather than with the wicked, as the Thessalonian believers consorted with Paul and Silas.

Evidence: And some of them believed, and consorted with Paul and Silas.

Guard Spiritual Secrets

Summary: Do not share the deep things of God with those who do not fear Him; the secret of the Lord is for His people.

Evidence: The secret of the Lord is with them that fear him.

Depend on God's Power

Summary: Acknowledge that without Christ we can do nothing, and rely on His Spirit rather than human strength or programs.

Evidence: without me ye can do nothing.

Repent and Return to God

Summary: If we have been left behind, we must humble ourselves, repent, and cry out to God for restoration, as Samson did in his final prayer.

Evidence: If we want the power of God back, we must come back to God in the totality of our lives.

deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | clean_readable_transcript | 2026-06-05T21:49:27Z

deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | weaver_study | 2026-06-06T13:39:01Z

Clean Transcript

Left Behind

Clean readable transcript. This view follows the Commentary.net cleaned segment text while preserving timestamps for audio follow-along.

Judges chapter 16, and we're going to read the first 21 verses. The title of the message today is "Left Behind." Judges 16, verses 1 through 21, "Left Behind." Notice if you would, "Then went Samson to Gaza, and saw there a harlot, and went in unto her. And it was told the Gazites, saying, Samson has come hither. And they compassed him, laid wait for him all night in the gate of the city, and were quiet all night, saying, in the morning, when it is day, we shall kill him. And Samson lay till midnight, and arose at midnight, and took the doors of the gate of the city, and the two posts, and went away with them, bar and all, and put them upon his shoulders, and carried them up to the top of the hill that is before Hebron."
#1 | 0:16 to 1:10 | cleaned
"And it came to pass afterwards that he loved a woman in the valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah. And the lords of the Philistines came up to her and said unto her, Entice him and see wherein his great strength lieth, and by what means we may prevail against him, that we may bind him to afflict him, and we will give thee, every one of us, eleven hundred pieces of silver. And Delilah said to Samson, Tell me, I pray thee, wherein thy great strength lieth, and wherewith thou mightest be bound to afflict thee? And Samson said unto her, If they bind me with seven green withs that were never dried, then I shall be weak and be as another man. Then the lords of the Philistines brought up to her seven green withs which had not been dried, and she bound him therewith."
#2 | 1:11 to 1:55 | cleaned
"And now there were men lying in wait, abiding with her in the chamber. And she said unto him, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And he brake the withs as a thread of tow is broken when it toucheth the fire, so his strength was not known. And Delilah said unto Samson, Behold, thou hast mocked me and told me lies. Now tell me, I pray thee, wherein thou mightest be bound."
#3 | 1:56 to 2:17 | cleaned
"And he said unto her, If they bind me fast with new ropes that never were occupied, then shall I be weak and be as another man. Delilah therefore took new ropes and bound him therewith and said unto him, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And there were liers in wait abiding in the chamber. And he brake them from off his arms like a thread. And Delilah said unto Samson, Hitherto thou hast mocked me and told me lies. Tell me wherewith thou mightest be bound. And he said unto her, If thou weavest the seven locks of my head with the web, and she fastened it with the pin, and said unto him, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And he awaked out of his sleep and went away with the pin of the beam and with the web. And she said unto him, How canst thou say I love thee, when thine heart is not with me? Thou hast mocked me these three times, and hast not told me wherein thy great strength lieth."
#4 | 2:17 to 3:05 | cleaned
"And it came to pass when she pressed him daily with her words, and urged him so that his soul was vexed unto death, that he told her all his heart and said unto her, There hath not come a razor upon mine head, for I have been a Nazarite unto God from my mother's womb. If I be shaven, then my strength will go from me, and I shall become weak and be like any other man. And when Delilah saw that he had told her all his heart, she sent and called for the lords of the Philistines, saying, Come up this once, for he has showed me all his heart. Then the lords of the Philistines came up unto her and brought money in their hand. And she made him sleep upon her knees and called for a man. And she caused him to shave off the seven locks of his head. And she began to afflict him and his strength went from him. And she said, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And he awoke out of his sleep and said, I will go out as at other times before and shake myself."
#5 | 3:05 to 4:01 | cleaned
"And he wist not that the Lord was departed from him. But the Philistines took him and put out his eyes and brought him down to Gaza and bound him with fetters of brass and he did grind in the prison house." Of course the title of the message is "Left Behind." And I hope that you realize the title has absolutely nothing to do with the movie that is titled "Left Behind." Moreover it has really nothing to do with eschatology and it certainly is not a sermon on the rapture. The point of the entire message is that often individuals, families, churches and even nations are left behind by God. They forsook God and therefore He justly and righteously forsakes them. He deserts them, He departs from them and withdraws Himself from them and they find themselves left behind and alone.
#6 | 4:01 to 5:04 | cleaned
When God leaves them, they suddenly discover their impotence, their helplessness, their danger, and their destruction. We read of this in the life of Samson if you look at verse 20 again. "And she said, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And he woke out of his sleep and said, I will go out as at other times before and shake myself. And he wist not that the Lord was departed from him." Samson was unique in many ways.
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First of all, he was a Nazirite from his birth. I want you to note very carefully, he was not a Nazarene, he was a Nazirite. Our Lord was a Nazarene, he was not a Nazirite. A Nazarene is someone that is from Nazareth. So our Lord was from Nazareth, he was a Nazarene, he was not a Nazirite. Samson was a Nazarite. Now, I want you to turn in your Bibles very quickly to the book of Numbers holding Judges 16. Let's go to Numbers chapter 6 and let me show you from the Bible the law of the Nazarite. And you can see very clearly from this that our Lord certainly was not a Nazarite, but Samson was. Notice if you would Numbers chapter 6 beginning there with verse 1. Numbers chapter 6 verse 1. "And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, and say to them, When either man or woman shall separate themselves to vow a vow of a Nazarite, to separate themselves unto the Lord." Now watch.
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"He shall separate himself from wine and strong drink, and shall drink no vinegar of wine or vinegar of strong drink, neither shall he drink any liquor of grapes, nor eat moist grapes or dried. All the days of his separation shall he eat nothing that is made of the vine tree, from the kernels even to the husk. All the days of the vow of his separation there shall no razor come upon his head: until the days be fulfilled, in the which he separateth himself unto the Lord, he shall be holy, and shall let the locks of the hair of his head grow. All the days that he separateth himself unto the Lord he shall come at no dead body. He shall not make himself unclean for his father, or for his mother, for his brother, or for his sister, when they die: because the consecration of his God is upon his head. And all the days of his separation he is holy unto the Lord. And if any man die very suddenly by him, and he hath defiled the head of his consecration; then he shall shave his head in the day of his cleansing."
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"On the seventh day he shall shave it. And on the eighth day he shall bring two turtles, or two young pigeons, to the priest, to the door of the tabernacle of the congregation: And the priest shall offer the one for a sin offering, and the other for a burnt offering, and make an atonement for him, for that he sinned by the dead, and shall hallow his head that same day. And he shall consecrate unto the Lord the days of his separation, and shall bring a lamb of the first year for a trespass offering: but the days that were before shall be lost, because his separation was defiled. And this is the law of the Nazarite, when the days of his separation are fulfilled: he shall be brought unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation: And he shall offer his offering unto the Lord, one he lamb of the first year without blemish for a burnt offering, and one ewe lamb of the first year without blemish for a sin offering, and one ram without blemish for peace offerings, and a basket of unleavened bread, cakes of fine flour mingled with oil, and wafers of unleavened bread anointed
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with oil, and their meat offering, and their drink offering. And the priest shall bring them before the Lord, and shall offer his sin offering, and his burnt offering." So here you have basically then what you and I would call the law then of the Nazarite. And I want you to note that he could not touch a dead body. He could not eat or drink anything that was made from grapes.
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He had to keep his hair. He could not shave his hair at all. So very obviously God spelled out everything that was to be done.
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Now, I want you to go back, if you would, in your Bibles to the book of Judges, chapter 16. In fact, let's go back even before we get there to... Let me just give you the verse. Because the angel of the Lord said this to Manoah and to his wife, when she had conceived Samson, they had asked, "How shall we order the child?" And he said, "Behold, thou shalt conceive, and bear a son; and now drink no wine nor strong drink, neither eat any unclean thing: for the child," talking about Samson, "shall be a Nazarite to God from the womb to the day of his death." So Samson now is unique, first of all, because he was a Nazarite from the birth. So from his birth, they were not to cut his hair.
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He was not to touch a dead body. Not to eat anything of the grapes or drink any wine or liquor whatsoever. Notice, secondly, Samson was unique in that he violated this vow numerous times in numerous ways. He certainly touched dead bodies. He touched the dead body of the lion that he killed. Moreover, he touched many dead bodies of the Philistines that he killed. And just as we read from Judges chapter 16, we've also found out that Samson lived an immoral life.
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He associated with the harlots. Thirdly, Samson was unique in the sense that, listen carefully, he was a normal man. And when I say that he was a normal man, I simply mean this, that he was not a muscle-bound bodybuilder that could barely walk because of the muscles bulging all over his body. Samson was an ordinary, everyday man, and looking at him, you could not tell of the greatness of his strength.
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In fact, if you look in Judges chapter 16 and verse 5, to demonstrate this truth, "And the lords of the Philistines came up unto her, and said unto her, Entice him, and see wherein his great strength lieth, and by what means we may prevail against him, that we may bind him to afflict him: and we will give thee every one of us eleven hundred pieces of silver." Now watch verse 6, "And Delilah said to Samson, Tell me, I pray thee, wherein thy great strength lieth, and wherewith thou mightest be bound to afflict thee?" And then if you'll skip down to verse 15, "And she said unto him, How canst thou say, I love thee, when thine heart is not with me? Thou hast mocked me these three times, and hast not told me wherein thy great strength lieth." So in other words, just looking at Samson, you would think that he was an ordinary, everyday, normal man.
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He was not necessarily a 90-pound weakling. But on the other hand, he did not look like someone that possessed an awful lot of power and an awful lot of strength. If Samson had been muscle-bound, if Samson had been one of those bulging bodybuilders, very obviously his enemies probably would have associated his strength with all of his muscles. But no, Samson's strength and Samson's power was from the Lord. If you look down in verse 28 of Judges chapter 16, Samson fully and finally realized the source of his great strength because he calls upon God one last time, and he says this, "And Samson called unto the Lord, and said, O Lord God, remember me, I pray thee, and strengthen me, I pray thee, only this once, O God, that I may be at once avenged of the Philistines for my two eyes." So very obviously, Samson knew, especially in the end, that his strength was indeed from the Lord.
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Now, here's some questions that must be asked. Why did God depart from Samson? What happened so that the Lord left Samson behind? What caused the breach? I can assure you of this, that God does not needlessly or carelessly or causelessly leave us behind. There's always a reason. And God has given warnings, now listen carefully, both individually and nationally, that He would indeed depart from us if we sinned against Him.
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I want you to hold Judges 16, but turn in your Bibles to 2 Chronicles chapter 15. 2 Chronicles chapter 15, and look if you would please at verse 2. 2 Chronicles 15, verse 2. The Spirit of the Lord comes upon Azariah the prophet, the son of Oded. And he goes out to meet King Asa. And I want you to note what he says to King Asa. 2 Chronicles chapter 15 and verse 2. "And he went out to meet Asa, and said unto him, Hear ye me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin; The Lord is with you, while ye be with him."
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"And if ye seek him, he will be found of you; but if ye forsake him, he will forsake you." Isn't that interesting? Of course, once again, without me getting into it, this is because of the covenant. 2 Chronicles 15 and verse 2. "If ye forsake him, he will forsake you." If you violate the covenant, God is not obligated to uphold His part of the covenant. And so He said, "You sin against God, God will forsake you."
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Now, look in your Bibles to the book of Deuteronomy chapter 31. What is true of individuals? What is true of families? What is true of churches? It's also true of nations. In Deuteronomy chapter 31 and verse 17, here's another warning. Deuteronomy 31 verse 17. Look what God says. In fact, it is very plain. Deuteronomy 31 verse 17, God says, "Then my anger shall be kindled against them in that day, and I will forsake them, and I will hide my face from them," watch the result, "and they shall be devoured, and many evils and troubles shall befall them; so that they will say in that day, Are not these evils come upon us, because our God is not among us?" God said when they do evil and sin against me, my wrath, my anger, is going to be kindled and I'll forsake them and I'll hide my face and the result is all of these evils are going to come upon them.
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Now, let me just point out that I may be speaking today on the life of Samson and I am. But as I share this with you, I want you to make applications not only to your own personal life, to your own family life, to your church life, but also to our state and to our nation. Because God has given this warning that if we forsake Him, He will forsake us. So let's just ask this question. What caused God to depart from Samson? Why did God leave Samson behind? Why did God leave Samson alone? So, just to get you thinking, Has God departed from Christendom as a whole? Has God departed from most churches? I've said before, and I know the Holy Spirit is omnipresent, He is God. But if the Holy Spirit were taken out of the world tomorrow, most churches would go on as usual because of their programs and their entertainment.
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they have no dependency upon the Lord at all whatsoever. But let me show you three things. First of all, I want you to note that Samson conformed to the wicked. I want you to go back to Judges chapter 14 and let's begin reading there with verse 1. Here's what I mean by conforming to the wicked. Judges 14 verse 1, "And Samson went down to Timnath, and saw a woman in Timnath of the daughters of the Philistines. And he came up, and told his father and his mother, and said, I have seen a woman in Timnath of the daughters of the Philistines."
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"Now therefore get her for me to wife. Then his father and his 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. But his father and his mother knew not that it was of the Lord, that he sought an occasion against the Philistines: for at that time the Philistines had dominion over Israel." Now I want you to know the Bible says that Samson went down to Timnath and saw a woman of Timnath of the daughters of the Philistines. So here he is wanting to marry a woman that God has forbidden him to marry. And he tells his father and mother, "I want you to get her to me to wife." And the father objects and says, "Wait a minute, wait a minute. Is there never a woman so beautiful among all of your people? Why do you have to go down to the uncircumcised Philistines?"
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"Choose one of these good Israelitish women. Get one of your own tribe or get one of the other tribes. You don't have to go to the Philistines." And Samson's attitude was this: "Get her for me for she pleases me." Well, now let me give you a verse and y'all know that, you know, the verse, but I want you to think about it in Romans 12 and verse two, the scripture says, "And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God." Now you say, "Brother Weaver, the only problem with quoting Romans 12 and verse 2 at this point is that Romans 12 and verse 2 was not written when Samson did this." No, Romans 12 and verse 2 was not written at that particular time. But Samson was aware of the truth because that truth had been previously stated a number of times in other portions of the Scriptures. Samson knew that he was going contrary to the law of God.
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He knew that he was going contrary to what his parents desired. Look in your Bibles, if you would, to the book of Exodus chapter 34. Exodus chapter 34. Just to show you that Samson was not in the dark. He was totally and completely aware of the principles that had been taught. Notice Exodus chapter 34. And look what God says. Beginning there in verse 11. Exodus 34, verse 11.
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He said, "Observe thou that which I command thee this day: behold, I drive out before thee the Amorite, and the Canaanite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, and the Hivite, and the Jebusite. Take heed to thyself, lest thou make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land whither thou goest, lest it be for a snare in the midst of thee." And then God tells them what they should do. God says you need to take heed.
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You're not to conform to them. You're not to intermarry with them. You're not to make a covenant with them. And then if you will turn over in your Bibles to the book of Deuteronomy chapter 7. God says it even more plainly. Deuteronomy chapter 7. Notice if you would beginning there with verse 1. Deuteronomy 7 verse 1. "When the Lord thy God shall bring thee into the land whither thou goest to possess it, and hath cast out many nations before thee, the Hittites, and the Girgashites, and the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, seven nations greater and mightier than thou;" And by the way, the Philistines would be under the Canaanites. "And when the Lord thy God shall deliver them before thee; thou shalt smite them, and utterly destroy them; thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor shew mercy unto them: Neither shalt thou make marriages with them; thy daughter thou shalt not give unto his son, nor his daughter shalt thou take unto thy son. For they will turn away thy son from following me, that they may serve other gods."
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Now watch, "so will the anger of the Lord be kindled against you, and destroy thee suddenly. But thus shall ye deal with them; ye shall destroy their altars, and break down their images, and cut down their groves, and burn their graven images with fire. For thou art an holy people unto the Lord thy God: the Lord thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth. The Lord did not set his love upon you, nor choose you, because ye were more in number than any people; for ye were the fewest of all people." Note, if you would please, God says, very clearly, very plainly, you're not to intermarry with them, you're not to make covenants with them, you're not to have anything to do with them.
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You can't conform the way they live and the way they act. It's absolutely impossible. You see, the truth of the matter is this, when one begins to associate with the wicked, it will not be long until he begins to conform to the wicked. And I've heard so many people say, "The reason I'm associating with them is very simple. I want to lift them up." It never works like that. In fact, the scripture says that we don't lift the wicked up, they pull us down. And the scripture says in 1 Corinthians chapter 15 verse 33, "Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners." And it's not the wicked that are corrupted, it is the righteous that are corrupted.
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If I were to ask you, outside of Christ, who does the Bible refer to as one of the most wise or one of the wisest men that ever lived? Solomon. Solomon was one of the wisest men that ever lived. Let me ask you a question. If you consider Solomon, one of the wisest men that ever lived. If Solomon could not conform to the wicked and get by with it, what possibly makes you think that you could conform to the wicked and get by with it?
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Listen, you don't have to turn there. 1 Kings 11 and verse 4. "For it came to pass, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned away his heart after other gods: and his heart was not perfect with the Lord his God, as was the heart of David his father." So the wisest man who ever lived outside of Christ tried to conform in marrying the wicked, associating with the wicked, and they ended up turning away his heart after other gods. You know what Solomon did? It's strange. Solomon erred. And Solomon sinned because he would not even listen to the counsel of his own father. What? All you have to do is read Psalm 1 in verse 1.
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What does the Bible say? "Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the Lord; and in his law doth he meditate day and night." Let me break this down for you. "Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel."
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Let's use the word advice. You'll see why. "Blessed is the man that walketh not in the advice of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners." Let's use the word association. Because when you stand around the people, you're associating with them. So he says, "Blessed is the man that walketh not in the advice of the ungodly, nor associates with the ungodly, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful."
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Sitting down finally means agreement. So here's what he says, if you begin listening to the advice of the wicked, you're going to be associating with the wicked, and shortly you're going to be agreeing with the wicked. But then he said the blessed man is the man who meditates in God's law day and night.
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Now, let me make a statement that should be exceedingly obvious. God chose us that we might be a different people. You remember all through the Old Testament and even in the New Testament, we're called a peculiar people. We're not to be like the others. We're not to be like the wicked. In fact, the Bible says in Psalm 4 and verse 3, "But know that the Lord hath set apart him that is godly for himself." And over and over in Scripture, God tells us that we're to be different. We are not to be like the wicked. We're not to follow them. We're not to associate with them, follow their advice, and agree with them in such a way that we end up conforming to them. You know it's an interesting thing today that God has called us to be totally different and totally peculiar and yet the average professing Christian does not want to be known as and pointed out as a Christian. We don't want to be classified as peculiar. We don't want to be classified as different.
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We want to kind of conform. That's what Samson was doing. Samson was conforming because he was going to marry into the family of the wicked. I've got news for you folks. You marry a pagan, pretty soon that pagan is going to want you to follow along and join in with their pagan practices and pagan worship. It's just standard procedure. We should think differently and we should act differently.
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Let me read a verse to you. Ezekiel chapter 20 and verse 32. Listen to what God says. Ezekiel 20 verse 32. God says, "And that which cometh into your mind shall not be at all, that ye say, We will be as the heathen, as the families of the countries, to serve wood and stone." God said, that should never come into your mind that we're going to be like them.
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We should be totally different. Samson's downfall began when he was willing to associate with the wicked and marry into their families. God warned them against that.
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Now, if you'll look in your Bibles to Judges chapter 14 again, I can hear an objection. See, Samson's willing to marry. He wants to marry this wicked woman in Timnath. And you say, "Look, Brother Weaver, I know that's wicked and wrong, but read verse 4." Here it is. "But his father and his mother knew not that it," that is the whole situation, "was of the Lord, that he," the Lord, "sought an occasion against the Philistines: for at that time the Philistines had dominion over Israel." You say, "Ah, don't you see the hand of the sovereign God in all of this? He was working all of this out to bring an occasion against the Philistines for Samson to kill the enemies of God."
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Well, let me tell you something, folks. It is true that God is absolutely sovereign. And it is true that God controls even sinful disobedience. And this should be pointed out very clearly, very plainly, that God may, just like He did in the case of Samson, God may use our disobedience to His greater glory, but that still does not erase the fact that we have sinned, and we were disobedient, and that we will suffer for our sins.
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All you've got to do is read the rest of the story. Samson lost his wife. Samson lost the prospects of a family. You can read it for yourself and the rest of Judges 14. It is true, God may use our sins for His greater glory, but that does not erase our disobedience, that does not excuse our disobedience, and the Scripture teaches, he that sins shall suffer. And Samson suffered. He tried to conform to the world, and he suffered.
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Secondly, I want you to note that he not only conformed to the wicked, he consorted with the wicked. Go back to Judges chapter 16 again if you would please. After he tried to marry this Philistine woman, look what happens in Judges chapter 16 and verse 1. "Then went Samson to Gaza, and saw there a harlot, and went in unto her." Skip down to verse 4. "And it came to pass afterward, that he loved a woman in the valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah," who also was a harlot.
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Now, when his marriage fell through, he'd lost everything, he still did not learn his lessons. You know, it seems that most people are just gluttons for punishment. He not only continued to try to conform to the wicked. He consorted with the wicked. Now, I want you to know something. I have used the word consorted deliberately. We read of two harlots in Judges chapter 16 that he was associated with. Probably there were others, I don't know. But I want you to understand that these two women that are mentioned in Judges chapter 16 were enemies of God's people. They were God's enemies.
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We're warned in Scripture that a whore is a deep ditch and he that is abhorred of the Lord shall fall therein. And the word abhorred means, hey, all you got to do is read Proverbs 5, 6, and 7, where the Bible warns against harlotry and whoredom.
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Now I told you that I've used the word consorted purposefully. He consorted with the wicked. Why did I choose the word consorted? Because of its use in the Bible. Let me give you an illustration as you turn, and I do want you to turn to Acts chapter 17. I'm going to show it to you in the Bible. Years ago, there was a young man that I had witnessed to innumerable times. He did not want to hear what I had to say. He did not want to be around me. He did not want to be around my family.
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And I have seen him walking down the street. And he would see me coming and he'd walk to the other side of the street just so he wouldn't have to speak to me and hopefully I wouldn't say anything to him. He did that a number of times. But, you know, after a few months, God saved him. And then instead of him running from me, he would run to me.
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And he would always come to the house for me to teach him. And there would be times, it would be midnight, and I would say, "Gary, get up and go home. Let me go to bed." Well, he said, "I just want to be around you. I just want to hear this." You know, and I thought of this verse. Now that's consorting, you know. Now I want you to watch this. Look at Acts chapter 17, verse 4.
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Paul is preaching in Thessalonica. And look at it if you would. And the Bible says, "And some of them believed, and consorted with Paul and Silas; and of the devout Greeks a great multitude, and of the chief women not a few." They consorted with Paul and Silas. The Greek word for consorted is prosklero. Listen carefully. It means to consort with, to allot, to assign by lot, to cast your lot in with, and to choose for an inheritance.
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You know what these people were doing when they were converted in Acts chapter 17? They were casting their lot in with Paul and Silas. They were casting their lot in with other believers. They were casting their lot in with the Lord Jesus Christ. They were choosing Christ. They were choosing Paul and Silas. They were choosing God's people as their inheritance.
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Go back and ask yourself this question. Why was Samson consorting with the wicked? He was choosing the wicked over the people of God. He was adding his lot in with the wicked by frequent consorting with them and living with them and sinning with them. His actions were a demonstration of rejection of his own people, and that he preferred the company of the wicked, which was an insult and a blasphemy, not only to God, but to his family and to his people. So he not only tried to conform to the wicked, he consorted with the wicked. He chose them as his lot. Here's the third point.
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And this one to me is absolutely unbelievable. But here it is. He confided in the wicked. He not only conformed, he not only consorted, he confided in the wicked. In Judges chapter 16, Delilah now, ask him to tell her the secret of his great strength. Here's my question. How could Samson have possibly been so absolutely stupid as to tell Delilah the secret of his strength? Why could he not see what was happening? Do you remember? We'll look at it. We read Judges chapter 16. Look in verse 6. "And Delilah said to Samson, Tell me, I pray thee, wherein thy great strength lieth, and wherewith thou mightest be bound to afflict thee? And Samson said unto her, If they bind me with seven green withs that were never dried, then shall I be weak, and be as another man." Guess what she did? She got seven green withs and bound him. And then she said, "The Philistines be upon thee, Samson." He got up, and of course his secret was not known.
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"Oh, you've lied to me. How can you tell me you love me? Come on, Samson." "Well, you've got to put new ropes on me. No man's ever been in them." And she does that. And then she says, "Philistines be upon thee, Samson." And he breaks the ropes like they're nothing. "Oh, come on, Samson. You don't love me. You don't love me. Tell me." "Alright, you've got to weave my hair."
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And that's what she did. "Wake up, Samson! The Philistines be upon you!" And he goes off with the pin and the beam and whatever else is there. Could he not see? Did he not know that whatever he told her, she was doing to destroy him? I mean, I know folks are blind and I know sin blinds the eyes and I know sin is deceitful, but come on! If I wake up three mornings in a row and Alice has a pistol pointed at my temple, I know something is wrong.
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I want you to watch this. This is absolutely amazing to me. This shows you not only his desire to conform to the wicked, but his consorting with them as well. Look at verse 6. Judges chapter 16, verse 6. He said, "And Delilah said to Samson, Tell me, I pray thee, wherein thy great strength lieth, and wherewith thou mightest be bound to afflict thee?" Alright. How often did she do this? Skip down to verse 16.
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"And it came to pass, when she pressed him daily with her words, and urged him, so that his soul was vexed unto death." How often did she press him? Daily. He was living with her. Day by day, she's pressing him, saying, "I want to know where your great strength is." She did not care for Samson. All she wanted was the secret of his heart, that she might destroy him. She wanted the silver. She had no interest in Samson.
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And all she was interested in doing was betraying Him into the hands of the Philistines. Now I'm going to quote a scripture and I want you to listen. Psalm 25 verse 14. Listen carefully. "The secret of the Lord is with them that fear him; and he will shew them his covenant." The secret of the Lord is with them that fear Him. There are some things that you don't tell. The secret of the Lord is with them that fear Him.
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God has His secrets and He only gives them to His people. Most of us are like the one woman I heard about. Someone asked her, could she keep a secret? She said, "Of course I can. It's just the people I tell that can't keep them." Christians have their secrets. The secret of the Lord is with them that fear Him. How could Samson reveal his secret without betraying his people whom God had given him to protect? How could Samson reveal his secret without betraying his family? How could Samson reveal his secret without betraying his Lord? I would think that what Samson has done was very closely akin to that which Hezekiah did when the Babylonians came and he showed them everything in his kingdom, including the temple and the treasures. And God told Hezekiah, "Everything that you showed the Babylonians, you're going to lose." And they came and destroyed Judah, and they destroyed Jerusalem, and they destroyed the temple, and they stole all the vessels and everything out of the temple. What did Hezekiah do? He revealed the secrets that he should never have revealed.
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And here Samson is, revealing something that he should never have revealed. What happened? Look in verse 20. After she had done his hair, did it in after she shaved it. "The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And he awoke out of his sleep and said, I will go out as at other times before, and shake myself." It's all I've got to do is just shake myself. "And he wist not that the Lord was departed from him."
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He did not even realize. Samson just assumed that the Lord and His power was still upon him. However, God had departed from him. He was totally unaware of the departure and he figured that if he just simply went out and shook himself as before, all would be well. It was not. How often do we assume that the Lord will continue to bless us in spite of our sins and disobedience? How often do we presume that we have the power of God upon us when all we have is our own strength. How often have we traded the blessings and the power of God for temporal pleasure, programs, entertainment.
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Now I want you to listen. Here's where the average church is today. We may jump and shout and have a good old time and think that our rejoicing in the Lord is really spiritual and really powerful when all we have is our flesh and the evidence that God has departed from us as our enemies are still standing. When Samson had the power of God upon him, no enemies could stand before Him. When Samson lost the power of God, His enemies stood. Our enemies today are standing.
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They laugh at our salvation. They laugh at our Savior. They laugh at our Sovereign. As a whole, I know there are exceptions, but as a whole, like Samson, we've been left behind. The Lord's departed from us. We don't even know it. We don't miss it. And the evidence is, our enemies are still standing. In the Song of Solomon, chapter 6 and verse 10, don't turn there. Solomon is describing the church, and here's what he said.
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"Who is she that looketh forth as the morning, fair as the moon, clear as the sun, and terrible as an army with banners?" What? The church is compared to an army with banners? Yes. But most of the Christians have gone AWOL. We've thrown our banners down. And Ichabod has been written over most churches, the glory has departed. And the glory always departs when God departs. And we're left hopeless and helpless in the hands of our enemies. The church says this in the Song of Solomon chapter 5 and verse 6. Listen carefully. The bride says, "I opened to my beloved; but my beloved had withdrawn himself, and was gone."
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"I sought him, but I could not find him; I called him, but he gave me no answer." If you read the context, the bride's beloved, the Lord knocks. And the bride is so concerned with her perfume and the fact that she's already in bed, she doesn't want to get up and open to her bridegroom. When she finally decides to do so, she finds that he had withdrawn himself.
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He was no longer there. She sought him. But she could not find Him. She called, but He did not answer. If you will turn in your Bibles to the book of Hosea, Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Amos. Look in Hosea chapter 5 and verse 6.
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Look what God says. In fact, let's read verse 5. Hosea 5, verse 5. God says, "And the pride of Israel doth testify to his face: therefore shall Israel and Ephraim fall in their iniquity; Judah also shall fall with them. They shall go with their flocks and with their herds to seek the Lord; but they shall not find him; he hath withdrawn himself from them." Wow! There's a time when God does leave us behind.
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If we forsake Him, He will forsake us. It may be temporary. but he'll still withdraw himself. Matthew Henry said this, "Many have lost the favorable presence of God and are not aware of it. They have provoked God to withdraw from them, but are not sensible of their loss, nor ever complain of it. Their souls languish and grow weak. Their gifts wither. Everything goes cross with them, and yet they impute not this to the right cause. They are not aware that God has departed from them, nor are they in any care to reconcile themselves to Him or to recover His favor."
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Let me try to make some applications and try to draw this together. First of all, the power of God departs from us when God Himself departs from us. And when God departs from us, we are helpless in and of ourselves. If Samson thought for one minute that the mighty power that he possessed was his, he learned instantly that it was not when his head was shaved. You know what our Lord said in John 15 and verse 5, help me out now, "without me ye can do nothing." Is praying something? Yeah. We can't do it without Him. Is studying something? Yes. We can't do it without Him. Is living wholly something? Yes, we can't do it without Him. We can do nothing without Him. And He said in Zechariah 4 and verse 6, "Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the Lord." And when we do not have the power of God upon us, we're helpless. We're hopeless. Are you listening? The greatest protection that any individual, any family, any church, any nation can have is the blessing and presence and power of God.
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Secondly, I want you to understand that the world, that is Delilah, cares nothing for Christians. And will quickly sell us to the highest bidder. Delilah pretended to love Samson. Until she got what she wanted. And then she betrayed him. That's like all of our politicians. They pretend like they love us and they like us. Until they get our votes. and then they betray us. And the Lord is well. When Delilah got that which she wanted, she led Samson as a sheep to the slaughter. Many individuals like Demas have been rocked to sleep on the knees of Delilah and have made shipwreck of their faith. The world does not care one whit for Christ or for Christianity. The world only cares for itself and what it can get.
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Thirdly, when God departs from us, our enemies not only rejoice, but they take us and abuse us. and make sport of us just like they did Samson. They will quickly take advantage of every situation. I want to give you another quote from Matthew Henry and I want you to listen to this because to me this is so absolutely amazing. Matthew Henry puts together everything that happened to Samson and the opposite. "The Philistines took him when God had departed from him. Those that have thrown themselves out of God's protection becomes an easy prey to their enemies. If we sleep in the lap of our lusts, we shall certainly wake in the hands of the Philistines."
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"It is probable that they had promised Delilah not to kill him. But they took an effectual course to disable him. The first thing they did when they had him in their hands and found that they could manage him was to put out his eyes by applying fire to them so says the Arabic version they considered that his eyes would never come again as perhaps his hair might and that the strongest arms could
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do little without eyes to guide them therefore they blind him and they therefore ever bind him his eyes were the inlets of his sin he saw the harlot at Gaza and went in unto her. And now his punishment began there."
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"Now that the Philistines had blinded him, he had time to remember how his own lust had blinded him. The best preservation of the eyes is to turn them away from beholding vanity. They brought him down to Gaza, that there he might appear in weakness, where he had lately given such proofs of his strength, and to be a jest to those to whom he had been a terror. They bound him with fetters of brass who had before been bound in the cords of his own iniquity."
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"And he did grind in the prison, either for their profit or their punishment, or for his punishment, or for both. The devil does thus so by sinners, blinds the minds of those that believe not, and so enslaves them and secures them in his interest. Poor Samson, how hast thou fallen? How has thine honor laid in the dust? How has the glory and defense of Israel become the drudge and triumph of the Philistines? The crown has fallen from his head."
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"Woe unto him, for he has sinned, that all take warning by his fall, carefully to preserve the purity and to watch against all temptation and all wickedness and all perversity and all fleshly lust. Our glory has come and gone. Our defense departed from us when we covenant, when the covenant of our separation to God as spiritual Nazarites is profaned. Like Samson, here's the last one, like Samson, we may be battered and we may be bruised and we may be abused. But like Samson, we must come back to our vows and our faith and call one more time upon our Heavenly Father to strengthen us. Just one last time. To give us grace
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and power to stand against His enemies and our enemies. And as blind as Samson was, he told that little boy, "Please, just lead me to the two pillars whereunto the house stands." And he prayed, "O God, one last time, strengthen me that I may be avenged of mine enemies." And he pulled, and the pillars gave way, and the house came down, and three thousand lords of the Philistines were killed. And the Scripture says that Samson killed more of the Lord's enemies in his death than in his life. If we want the power of God back, we must come back to God in the totality of our lives. If we want to see our enemies fall, it has to be with the power and the blessings of God.
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And they'll never fall until we humble ourselves and repent and believe and obey. Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, we bow to Thee. We thank You for Your love. Thank You for Your grace. Thank You for Your mercy. And we do pray, Lord, that You would indeed restore our dominion. Restore us, Lord, in repentance and faith and obedience. And Lord, we do not want to be left behind. And if we have been, Lord, give us grace to catch up with Thee and stay with Thee. For Thou, Lord, art our sovereign Lord, our protection, our provision, our power. And without Thee, Lord, we are nothing and can do nothing. Give us grace that we may serve Thee acceptably with reverence and godly fear. In thy name we pray, Amen.
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deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | clean_readable_transcript | 2026-06-05T21:49:27Z

Left Behind

John Weaver | Freedom Ministries

Pastor John Weaver preaches from Judges 16:1-21, using Samson's life to illustrate how individuals, families, churches, and nations can be 'left behind' by God when they forsake Him. He highlights three progressive steps in Samson's downfall: conforming to the wicked by marrying a Philistine, consorting with harlots, and confiding his secret to Delilah. The sermon warns that God departs from those who forsake Him, leaving them helpless before their enemies, and calls for repentance and return to God to regain His power and presence.

Opening

Scripture Reading — Judges 16:1-21

"And it came to pass afterwards that he loved a woman in the valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah. And the lords of the Philistines came up to her and said unto her, Entice him and see wherein his great strength lieth, and by what means we may prevail against him, that we may bind him to afflict him, and we will give thee, every one of us, eleven hundred pieces of silver. And Delilah said to Samson, Tell me, I pray thee, wherein thy great strength lieth, and wherewith thou mightest be bound to afflict thee? And Samson said unto her, If they bind me with seven green withs that were never dried, then I shall be weak and be as another man. Then the lords of the Philistines brought up to her seven green withs which had not been dried, and she bound him therewith." "And now there were men lying in wait, abiding with her in the chamber. And she said unto him, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And he brake the withs as a thread of tow is broken when it toucheth the fire, so his strength was not known. And Delilah said unto Samson, Behold, thou hast mocked me and told me lies. Now tell me, I pray thee, wherein thou mightest be bound." "And he said unto her, If they bind me fast with new ropes that never were occupied, then shall I be weak and be as another man. Delilah therefore took new ropes and bound him therewith and said unto him, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And there were liers in wait abiding in the chamber. And he brake them from off his arms like a thread. And Delilah said unto Samson, Hitherto thou hast mocked me and told me lies. Tell me wherewith thou mightest be bound. And he said unto her, If thou weavest the seven locks of my head with the web, and she fastened it with the pin, and said unto him, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And he awaked out of his sleep and went away with the pin of the beam and with the web. And she said unto him, How canst thou say I love thee, when thine heart is not with me? Thou hast mocked me these three times, and hast not told me wherein thy great strength lieth." "And it came to pass when she pressed him daily with her words, and urged him so that his soul was vexed unto death, that he told her all his heart and said unto her, There hath not come a razor upon mine head, for I have been a Nazarite unto God from my mother's womb. If I be shaven, then my strength will go from me, and I shall become weak and be like any other man. And when Delilah saw that he had told her all his heart, she sent and called for the lords of the Philistines, saying, Come up this once, for he has showed me all his heart. Then the lords of the Philistines came up unto her and brought money in their hand. And she made him sleep upon her knees and called for a man. And she caused him to shave off the seven locks of his head. And she began to afflict him and his strength went from him. And she said, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And he awoke out of his sleep and said, I will go out as at other times before and shake myself."

Introduction: The Meaning of 'Left Behind'

The title refers not to eschatology but to God forsaking those who forsake Him, as seen in Samson's life.

Scripture Reading — Judges 16:1-21

"And he wist not that the Lord was departed from him. But the Philistines took him and put out his eyes and brought him down to Gaza and bound him with fetters of brass and he did grind in the prison house."

Samson's Unique Calling as a Nazirite

Samson was a Nazirite from birth, bound by vows including no razor on his head, no contact with dead bodies, and no grape products.

Samson's Violations of His Vow

Samson repeatedly broke his Nazirite vow by touching dead bodies and living immorally with harlots.

The Source of Samson's Strength

Samson's strength was not from his physique but from the Lord, as he finally acknowledged in his final prayer.

Scripture Reading — Judges 16:28

"And Samson called unto the Lord, and said, O Lord God, remember me, I pray thee, and strengthen me, I pray thee, only this once, O God, that I may be at once avenged of the Philistines for my two eyes."

So very obviously, Samson knew, especially in the end, that his strength was indeed from the Lord.

Biblical Warnings of God's Departure

Scripture warns that God will forsake those who forsake Him, both individually and nationally (2 Chronicles 15:2; Deuteronomy 31:17).

Scripture Reading — 2 Chronicles 15:2

"And he went out to meet Asa, and said unto him, Hear ye me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin; The Lord is with you, while ye be with him." "And if ye seek him, he will be found of you; but if ye forsake him, he will forsake you."

Isn't that interesting? Of course, once again, without me getting into it, this is because of the covenant. 2 Chronicles 15 and verse 2.

Scripture Reading — 2 Chronicles 15:2

"If ye forsake him, he will forsake you."

If you violate the covenant, God is not obligated to uphold His part of the covenant. And so He said, "You sin against God, God will forsake you."

Scripture Reading — Deuteronomy 31:17

"Then my anger shall be kindled against them in that day, and I will forsake them, and I will hide my face from them,"

watch the result,

Scripture Reading — Deuteronomy 31:17

"and they shall be devoured, and many evils and troubles shall befall them; so that they will say in that day, Are not these evils come upon us, because our God is not among us?"

God said when they do evil and sin against me, my wrath, my anger, is going to be kindled and I'll forsake them and I'll hide my face and the result is all of these evils are going to come upon them.

Step One: Conforming to the Wicked

Samson conformed by seeking a Philistine wife against God's law, ignoring parental counsel and biblical prohibitions against intermarriage.

Scripture Reading — Judges 14:1-4

"And Samson went down to Timnath, and saw a woman in Timnath of the daughters of the Philistines. And he came up, and told his father and his mother, and said, I have seen a woman in Timnath of the daughters of the Philistines."

Step Two: Consorting with the Wicked

Samson consorted with harlots, choosing the company of God's enemies over God's people, casting his lot with the wicked.

Paul is preaching in Thessalonica. And look at it if you would. And the Bible says,

Scripture Reading — Acts 17:4

"And some of them believed, and consorted with Paul and Silas; and of the devout Greeks a great multitude, and of the chief women not a few."

Step Three: Confiding in the Wicked

Samson foolishly revealed the secret of his strength to Delilah despite her repeated betrayals, leading to his capture.

And all she was interested in doing was betraying Him into the hands of the Philistines. Now I'm going to quote a scripture and I want you to listen. Psalm 25 verse 14. Listen carefully.

Scripture Reading — Psalm 25:14

"The secret of the Lord is with them that fear him; and he will shew them his covenant."

The secret of the Lord is with them that fear Him. There are some things that you don't tell. The secret of the Lord is with them that fear Him.

The Consequences of God's Departure

When God departed, Samson was blinded, bound, and made a mockery by his enemies, illustrating the helplessness of those left behind.

Applications and Call to Repentance

The church today may be left behind, unaware of God's departure; restoration requires humility, repentance, and renewed faith.

Left Behind

John Weaver | YouTube

Lecture Metadata	Details
Speaker	John Weaver
Source	YouTube
Media ID	KB2C7KY38z0
Subject	New Testament Studies
Course	Romans: Sin, Judgment, and Gospel Foundations: Prepared Hearts
Genre	Sermon
Date	2012-02-17
Dictation Name
Book	Book 137: Romans: Sin, Judgment, and Gospel Foundations - Volume 2 — Chapter 24
Source Timed Segments	77

Lecture Guide

Outline

Introduction: The Meaning of 'Left Behind': The title refers not to eschatology but to God forsaking those who forsake Him, as seen in Samson's life.
Samson's Unique Calling as a Nazirite: Samson was a Nazirite from birth, bound by vows including no razor on his head, no contact with dead bodies, and no grape products.
Samson's Violations of His Vow: Samson repeatedly broke his Nazirite vow by touching dead bodies and living immorally with harlots.
The Source of Samson's Strength: Samson's strength was not from his physique but from the Lord, as he finally acknowledged in his final prayer.
Biblical Warnings of God's Departure: Scripture warns that God will forsake those who forsake Him, both individually and nationally (2 Chronicles 15:2; Deuteronomy 31:17).
Step One: Conforming to the Wicked: Samson conformed by seeking a Philistine wife against God's law, ignoring parental counsel and biblical prohibitions against intermarriage.
Step Two: Consorting with the Wicked: Samson consorted with harlots, choosing the company of God's enemies over God's people, casting his lot with the wicked.
Step Three: Confiding in the Wicked: Samson foolishly revealed the secret of his strength to Delilah despite her repeated betrayals, leading to his capture.
The Consequences of God's Departure: When God departed, Samson was blinded, bound, and made a mockery by his enemies, illustrating the helplessness of those left behind.
Applications and Call to Repentance: The church today may be left behind, unaware of God's departure; restoration requires humility, repentance, and renewed faith.

Major Themes

Key Arguments

Samson's Downfall Was Progressive

Samson's fall occurred in three stages: conforming to the wicked by marrying a Philistine, consorting with harlots, and confiding his secret to Delilah.

He not only conformed to the wicked, he consorted with the wicked... he confided in the wicked.

God's Sovereignty Does Not Excuse Sin

Though God used Samson's sinful marriage to bring judgment on the Philistines, Samson still suffered consequences for his disobedience.

God may use our disobedience to His greater glory, but that still does not erase the fact that we have sinned... and that we will suffer for our sins.

The Church Today May Be Unaware of God's Departure

Many churches operate on programs and entertainment without God's power, and their enemies still stand as evidence of His absence.

If the Holy Spirit were taken out of the world tomorrow, most churches would go on as usual because of their programs and their entertainment.

Restoration Requires Repentance and Faith

Like Samson's final prayer, believers must return to God in humility and obedience to regain His power and see their enemies fall.

If we want the power of God back, we must come back to God in the totality of our lives.

Scripture References

Judges 16:1-21: The primary text of the sermon, detailing Samson's encounters with harlots, Delilah's betrayal, and his capture.
Numbers 6:1-21: The law of the Nazirite, explaining the vows Samson was bound to, including no razor, no wine, and no contact with dead bodies.
Judges 13:5: The angel's announcement that Samson would be a Nazirite from birth to death.
Judges 16:28: Samson's final prayer acknowledging that his strength came from the Lord.
2 Chronicles 15:2: The principle that God is with those who are with Him and will forsake those who forsake Him.
Deuteronomy 31:17: God's warning that He will forsake Israel and hide His face when they sin, leading to evils befalling them.
Judges 14:1-4: Samson's desire to marry a Philistine woman, against his parents' counsel and God's law.
Romans 12:2: The command not to be conformed to this world but transformed by renewing the mind.
Exodus 34:11-16: God's command not to make covenants or intermarry with the inhabitants of Canaan.
Deuteronomy 7:1-7: Prohibition against intermarriage with the nations, warning that they will turn hearts away from God.
1 Corinthians 15:33: Evil communications corrupt good manners, illustrating the danger of associating with the wicked.
1 Kings 11:4: Solomon's wives turned his heart after other gods, showing the danger of conforming to the wicked.
Psalm 1:1-2: The blessed man does not walk in the counsel of the ungodly, stand with sinners, or sit with the scornful.
Psalm 4:3: The Lord has set apart the godly for Himself, emphasizing the call to be different.
Ezekiel 20:32: God rejects the thought of being like the heathen, serving wood and stone.
Acts 17:4: Believers consorted with Paul and Silas, casting their lot with God's people, contrasting Samson's consorting with the wicked.
Psalm 25:14: The secret of the Lord is with those who fear Him, highlighting the folly of confiding in the wicked.
John 15:5: Without Christ, we can do nothing, emphasizing total dependence on God.
Zechariah 4:6: Not by might nor by power but by God's Spirit, reinforcing the source of true strength.
Song of Solomon 5:6: The bride's beloved had withdrawn, illustrating God's departure when His people are indifferent.

Historical References

Matthew Henry's Commentary: Quoted extensively on Samson's blindness, punishment, and the warning to preserve purity.
Hezekiah showing treasures to Babylonians: Compared to Samson revealing his secret; Hezekiah's act led to the loss of Judah's treasures.

Important Quotes

And he wist not that the Lord was departed from him.

Key verse illustrating Samson's unawareness of God's departure, a central warning of the sermon.

Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners.

Warns that associating with the wicked corrupts the righteous, not vice versa.

If the Holy Spirit were taken out of the world tomorrow, most churches would go on as usual because of their programs and their entertainment.

Provocative statement about the church's lack of dependence on God's power.

The secret of the Lord is with them that fear him; and he will shew them his covenant.

Highlights the folly of sharing spiritual secrets with the wicked.

Many have lost the favorable presence of God and are not aware of it.

Matthew Henry quote summarizing the danger of spiritual insensitivity.

If we sleep in the lap of our lusts, we shall certainly wake in the hands of the Philistines.

Matthew Henry's vivid warning about the consequences of sin.

without me ye can do nothing.

Christ's words emphasizing total dependence on Him for spiritual life and power.

Discussion Questions

[Question]

In what ways might individuals or churches today be unaware that God has departed from them, like Samson?

[Context]

Based on the warning that Samson 'wist not' the Lord had left, and the application to modern churches.

[Question]

How can we guard against the progressive steps of conforming, consorting, and confiding in the world?

[Context]

The sermon outlines Samson's three-stage downfall as a pattern to avoid.

[Question]

What does it mean practically to be a 'peculiar people' separate from the world, and why is this difficult?

[Context]

The call to be different and not conform to the world is emphasized throughout.

[Question]

How does the example of Solomon's fall warn us about the danger of unequal relationships?

[Context]

Solomon's wives turned his heart from God, paralleling Samson's compromise.

[Question]

What evidence might indicate that a church is operating in its own strength rather than God's power?

[Context]

The sermon suggests that enemies still standing and reliance on programs are signs of God's departure.

[Question]

How can we cultivate a genuine dependence on God's power rather than our own abilities?

[Context]

Samson's strength was from the Lord, and without Christ we can do nothing.

[Question]

What role does repentance play in restoring God's presence and power in our lives?

[Context]

The conclusion calls for humility, repentance, and faith to regain God's blessing.

Applications

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deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | weaver_study | 2026-06-06T13:39:01Z