His Untimely Mercy Judges 16

We sing hallelujah. We sing hallelujah. We sing

hallelujah. The Lamb has overcome. We sing hallelujah.

We sing hallelujah. We sing hallelujah. The Lamb

has overcome We sing hallelujah We sing hallelujah

We sing hallelujah The Lamb has overcome We sing

hallelujah We sing hallelujah We sing hallelujah

sometime last year, it occurred to me that some

of the stories that we read about in the Bible

are sort of what the world would say is unfair.

An example that just at that time came to mind

was the story of David and Goliath. A lot of

times we think about the story of David and Goliath,

we think about David being a very young man,

probably still a boy, really, in a lot of people's

eyes, too small to fit in Saul's armor, too small

to wield Saul's sword. or his shield or his helmet,

and going into battle against Goliath with a

sling and a stone. And we think, man, that's

a real underdog story. And so we think about

like one football team that's full of second

stringers beating, you know, the national champs

or something. That's a real underdog story. That's

incredible. And we try to liken that to life

circumstances where we're facing something that

the odds are really against us. And then we...

uh have great victory and we think about the

david and goliath story as an example there's

a great movie um facing the giants uses that

theme and it was one of the first christian movies

purely truly produced by a church and christian

movie that really took the nation and almost

the world by storm and part of that was a big

part of why because it was a it was a new david

and goliath story right except actually when

you take a look at the david and goliath story

the underdog in that story is not david It's

Goliath. From the very beginning, Goliath was

doomed, right? The moment that he stood up and

mocked God and talked about how the Israelite

God was no one and nothing and how he had destroyed

many gods before and he would do the same to

the Israelite God and to the worship of the Israelite

God. From that moment on, his fate was sealed.

I submit to you that David could have been a

four -year -old preschooler with a slingshot

or a... three -year -old little boy with a pea

shooter who just believed and trusted in what

God was going to do. And Goliath was doomed.

That was settled because he was standing not

against an underdog boy with a sling, but against

the God of the universe. And so at that time,

I did a study through scripture of all the places

that we see that happening. And it's pretty clear

that God is showing us that the mercy of God

also equates to the untimely destruction of anyone

who would stand against God. And that is exactly

what we see happening in the story of Samson

today. This message is going to go by fairly

quickly today. And so I'll ask you to be fully

engaged despite any warmth you may be feeling.

And if you start to feel tired, stand up. Don't

miss a drop of what God is saying through these

passages. Starting with a little hoot or holler,

amen, as we go to Judges chapter 16. Thank you

Judges 16 · chapter mention

so much. This will finish, essentially, the story,

the publicly known story of Samson today as we're

in Judges 16, finishing out. And you know how

the story ends with his demise. You've probably

heard that already, read it yourself maybe at

some time. Samson in Judges 16, verse 21, it

Judges 16:21

says this, The Philistines seized him. and gouged

out his eyes. Well, that's pretty much the end

of him roving the country and seeing women that

he's pretty attracted to, right? It's also pretty

much the end of his trickiness, his craftiness,

and finding ways to defeat the Philistines, and

to some extent, maybe the end of his fighting

the Philistines altogether, because he can no

longer see them, right? They brought him down

to Gaza. He's been there before. Trouble in Gaza.

They brought him down to Gaza. and bound him

with bronze shackles, and he was forced to grind

grain in the prison. No time before this would

the bronze shackles have been sufficient to bind

him, but he is bound and forced to grind grain

in the prison. Now, he still has quite a bit

of human strength, but no amount of human strength

breaks bronze shackles, but quite a bit of human

strength can be used then to produce grain into

wheat. 22. But his hair began to grow back. after

it had been shaved. And so there is a reminder

that the worst things that people do, sometimes

if they manage to survive them, there is a hope

built into people, right? Not just that God is

going to miraculously make his hair grow back.

People, your hair just grows back, right? There

is a hope built into people, not just that...

that God might pull you out of that circumstance

and then turn you into something awesome and

great again. But there is a hope built into you

because people have inherent ability to heal

from their experiences, inherent ability to overcome,

to figure things out. It might take you 10 years

to realize, oh, this is something stupid that

I'm doing. But the moment you realize that this

is something stupid that you're doing, there

is hope for you to grow beyond the course that

you are on just by virtue of your being a human,

but also because God at any point in time, could

pour in just a little bit of his power and turn

that human ability into something amazing. That's

what's about to happen in Samson's life, verse

23. Now, the Philistine leaders gathered together

to offer a great sacrifice to their god, Dagon.

Now, notice that his hair is beginning to grow

back, so this is not immediately the next day.

Some time has passed, and they are still celebrating

the victory of their false god over God. They're

still worshiping a false god. In 20 years of

Samson doing victory after victory, possibly

because Samson was doing a lot of dumb things

in there, right? Going after women, going after

things that he enjoyed in life. So it wasn't

that he was very clearly representing God, but

they were still worshiping Dagon. And they rejoiced

and said, our God has handed over our enemy Samson

to us. A very clear message that Dagon had victory

over the God of the universe and turned Samson

over. When the people saw him, they praised their

God and said, so now as people saw Samson being

forced to grind out grain and his eyes ripped

out of his head, they praised their God and said,

our God has handed over to us our enemy who destroyed

our land and who multiplied our dead. When they

were in good spirits, they said, bring Samson

here to entertain us. So they brought Samson

from prison and he entertained them. And they

had him stand between the pillars. So there he

stood as a sign of the victory of Dagon over

the victory possible of Samson through Yahweh.

Samson said to the young man who was leading

him by the hands, he got led everywhere because

his eyes were gone, lead me where I can feel

the pillars supporting the temple so I can lean

against them. The temple was full of men and

women. All the leaders of the Philistines were

there. And about 3 ,000 men and women were on

the roof watching Samson entertain them. So all

these people up high looking down on the courtyard

seeing Samson there, his eyes gouged out. Samson

called out to the Lord, Lord God, please remember

me. Strengthen me, God, just once more. With

one last act of vengeance, let me pay back the

Philistines for my two eyes. Samson took hold

of the two middle pillars supporting. the temple

and leaned against them, one on his right hand

and the other on his left. Samson said, let me

die with the Philistines. He pushed with all

his might and the temple fell on the leaders

and all the people in it. And those he killed

at his death were more than those he had killed

in his life. Then his brothers and his father's

whole family came down. They carried him back

and buried him between Zerah and Eshtoel in the

tomb of his father, Manoah. So he judged Israel.

20 years. This is the end of the public ministry,

if you will, of Samson. Now, maybe it ended actually

when he was laying his head on Delilah's lap.

Maybe it ended actually when he looked and saw

what he shouldn't have taken for himself. But

it's the end of his public ministry in that his

life is given to bring about the vengeance of

the Lord on the people who worship Dagon instead

of God, who professed to have destroyed God's

hero. I want you to see then that God's mercy

to those who seek him. When Samson cries out,

does he deserve it? No. No, he's pretty much

getting what he deserves. When he cries out for

mercy to God and God visits his mercy on Samson,

that God's mercy to Samson becomes God's judgment

upon. the Philistines. And it is like that throughout

the scripture from the beginning to the end.

God's mercy on Adam and Eve becomes God's judgment

on the serpent. And it goes all the way through

everything that we see. Every time that God visits

his mercy upon people, we often think that mercy

looks gentle and that God is somehow a merciful

God to all people and is required to give his

mercy by some unseen rule or law. Yet throughout

scripture, God's mercy has another side. When

God opened the Red Sea for Israel, he drowned

Pharaoh's army. When Noah entered the ark and

God shut the door, not Noah, when God shut the

door, the flood came and destroyed every living

human, except for those who were inside the ark.

When Christ rose from the grave, believers received

life, while those who reject Jesus remained under

condemnation, not for a moment or for a little

while or until their death, but forever. for

eternity. And so if they do not at some point

in time accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior,

they will be condemned forever. Sometimes God's

mercy arrives at the worst possible moment for

those who oppose him. I think about a number

of people who don't believe in Christ that I've

been at their bedside crying out in agony, even

calling out to God with no hope. and slipping

off into eternity, refusing Christ, but crying

out to God for mercy. And the moment Jesus rose

again, he sealed that condemnation. There's no

going back. Those who oppose him will be taken

in their sin and wickedness. God's mercy is never

late. For those who accept Jesus Christ as Lord

and Savior, there is mercy. For those who do

right, there is mercy. But that mercy is often

untimely from the world's perspective. In Exodus

14, we see the Israelites. coming out of Egypt,

and they're standing at the Red Sea. And this

looks like this is it for them, you know. They

fled Egypt, and there they stand at the Red Sea.

And Pharaoh's army, chariots of steel and blade,

men of experience with firsthand face -to -face

warfare, conquering foreign nations, are chasing

down men and women and children and old people.

And they have them up against the sea, and it

looks like destruction is coming. And in Exodus

14, 13, this is what we see. It says, but Moses

said to the people, don't be afraid. Stand firm

and see the Lord's salvation that he will accomplish

what he will. I'm sorry that he will accomplish

for you today. For the Egyptians you see today,

you will never see again. The Lord will fight

to you and you must be quiet. The Lord said to

Moses, why are you crying out to me? Tell the

Israelites to break camp. As for you, lift up

your staff, stretch out your hand over the sea

and divide it so that the Israelites can go through

the sea on dry ground. As for me, I am going

to harden the hearts of the Egyptians so that

they will go in after them and I will receive

glory by means of Pharaoh, all his army and his

chariots and his horsemen. The Egyptians will

know that I am the Lord when I receive glory

through Pharaoh, his chariots and his horsemen.

And the angel of God who was going in front of

the Israelite forces moved and went behind them.

The pillar of cloud moved from in front of them

and stood behind them. It came between the Egyptian

and the Israelite forces. There was clouds and

darkness. It lit up the night and neither group

came near the other all night long. Moses stretched

out his hand over the sea and the Lord drove

the sea back. With a powerful east wind and all

that night and turned the sea and dry land. So

the waters were divided and the Israelites went

through the sea on dry ground with the waters

like a wall to them on their right and their

left. Egyptians set out and pursued all the Pharaoh's

horses, his chariots and his horsemen. went into

the sea after them. And during the morning watch,

the Lord looked down at the Egyptian forces from

the pillar of fire and cloud and threw the Egyptian

forces into confusion. He caused their chariot

wheels to swerve and made them drive with difficulty.

Let's get away from Israel, the Egyptian said.

because the Lord is fighting for them against

Egypt. And the Lord said to Moses, Stretch out

your hand over the sea, so that the water may

come back on the Egyptians on their chariots

and horsemen. So Moses stretched out his hand

over the sea, and at daybreak the sea returned

to its normal depth, nothing unusual. While the

Egyptians were trying to escape from it, the

Lord threw them into the sea. The water came

back and covered the chariots and horsemen, plus

the entire army of Pharaoh that had gone after

them into the sea, not. Even one of them survived.

You see, when the Lord pours out his mercy, the

others who do not receive his mercy receive his

judgment. In Romans 9, it says that God chooses

on whom he will have mercy. And you may plead

with God for mercy and not receive it. But God

did give a pathway by which we may receive mercy.

and know for sure that we will always receive

mercy, and that is calling upon the name of the

Lord in the name of Jesus Christ. So there may

be those out there who do not know Jesus, and

they may cry out to God for mercy, believing

that God is real, hoping in a way that God would

make, and they may receive mercy. But God is

not required to deliver mercy. He delivers mercy

on those He chooses to deliver mercy. John chapter

John 3 · chapter mention

3. In verse 36, those of you who are following

along or taking notes can write that down or

look it up. John chapter 3, verse 36. We know

John 3:36

that this is right after the visit of Nicodemus

to Jesus. He's asking some of the hard questions.

John chapter 3, verse 36 says as follows. The

John 3:36

one who believes in the Son has eternal life.

And that is the message of the church, is it

not? We are to take that message to the world.

If you will believe in the Son, you will have

eternal life. If you are here today and you believe

in the Son, you have eternal life. And if you

have eternal life, then you ought to be doing

something with it. But the message does not stop

there. The message of Jesus is this. The one

who believes in the Son has eternal life, but

the one who rejects the Son will not see life.

Instead, the wrath of God remains on him. That's

pretty tough stuff. I submit to you that when

the mercy of the Lord comes upon some, the judgment

of the Lord automatically comes upon others.

But in this verse, then, we see a three -point

lesson. Are you with me, Curtis? Are you with

me? Here's a three -point lesson. For those of

you who do not want to receive the mercy of the

Lord by calling upon Jesus' name, and therefore

then follow the Lord faithfully the remainder

of your life, if you don't want to do that, There

is a three -step action plan by which you can

live a pretty great life here on earth until

God says no more. The first part of it is you

can spend the spoils of victory. When you have

success, you can spend the spoils of that victory

on worthless pursuits. You can overfeed yourself

and oversleep yourself and overpay for things.

You can buy the rich, colorful things. You can

enjoy this life. By spending the spoils of victory,

your hard work will produce fruit. That's what

we are as humans. Just as Samson's hair could

grow back, you can get up tomorrow morning, you

can go on ChatGPT or into Google and get yourself

a 20 -point action plan on how to start a successful

business. And then if you will get up and work

16 to 18 hours a day, I will guarantee you that

you will become wealthy. on the earth because

that is the equation of creation. Will you face

difficulty? Will you fall down? Will you experience

poverty at times? Yes. In fact, to experience

poverty at length is one of the fastest roads

to becoming rich. Ask the wealthy how they got

wealthy. I'll guarantee you they didn't get it

by buying McDonald's food. Ask Elon Musk how

he became a successful owner of billions of dollars

worth of real estate and corporate America. You

know how many hours a week he works? 135 hours

a week. There's 168 hours in a week. And Elon

Musk's work week is 135 hours long. You think

you're going to get rich working 40? No, but

you can be successful working 40. Fairly successful.

You get a good degree or tradesman certificate

or something. You can be fairly successful working

40 hours a week. And then you can be successful

in man's eyes by spending the spoils of that

victory on worthless pursuits. In the story,

the Philistines are celebrating as though Dagon

had won. They used God's blessing to finance

idolatry. They celebrated before the battle was

actually over. In fact, they are celebrating

the greatness of Dagon. At their own funeral.

And many people will go into hell in a very expensive

casket for their leftover body. People line the

roads, right? For men who spoke greatly, spent

greatly, changed the world a lot. And they will

show up in the thousands or tens of thousands.

There have been funerals. where hundreds of thousands

of people have come to say their goodbyes to

the body of a person who has already fallen into

the pits of hell and from which they will not

rise. God makes object lessons out of things

all the time that we may see. Lottery winners

who win $10, $20, or $100 million and then file

bankruptcy and have nothing. Wait, who? Years

later. How do you even spend $100 million in

two years? How is that even possible? But it

is. Temporary victory often produces permanent

foolishness. This is why Jesus said it is difficult

for a rich man to come into the kingdom of God.

And before you point at somebody else and say

it's going to be hard for that person to come

into the kingdom of God because they're rich,

you might want to think about that everyone in

this room Do you not understand that in the world,

in the grand scheme of the world, the whole world,

that everybody in America, even people who are

living on disability, are in the 96th percentile

for income. 95 .99 % of people outside the United

States of America live making less money than

people in America get on disability or social

security. And we think we're not rich, so it's

going to be pretty easy for us to come into the

kingdom of God, right? Wrong. You're going to

have to divorce yourself of your hobbies, of

your recreation, of your family. You have to

think like, my wife cannot come before God if

I want to go to heaven. I'm sorry, but that's

true. My husband cannot come before God if I

want to go to heaven. God's got to be first.

But there is an action plan. You can live a really

great life spending the spoils of victory on

worthless pursuits. Just expect an end to your

life a little bit like what the Philistines got.

Because that's what's probably in the offering.

Proverbs 10 .2 says it this way. Proverbs 10

.2, for those of you who are keeping notes or

following along. I didn't mark any of these.

So you can, every time, pick a little game out

and race me to the text. You probably beat me

most of the time. Proverbs 10 .2 says, ill -gotten

gains. That means gain that is gotten by some

means that does not glorify God. Ill -gotten

gains do not profit anyone. Ill -gotten gains

do not profit anyone, but righteousness rescues

from death. You see, the equation has always

been the same. This is not a promise. When you

look at Proverbs, don't look at Proverbs as a

promise, like God said this is the way it's going

to be. Solomon wrote the Proverbs observing the

way the world works. The wisest man to ever live

looked at the way the world works and he said,

well, you know, this is what I see. Ill -gotten

gains, gains gotten in any way that does not

glorify God yields no profit. There's no benefit

in it. Even if for a moment I take a taste and

I feel good about it, there's no benefit in anything

that I would get in this lifetime that does not

honor the Lord by the method by which I got it.

But righteousness, being right by God, doing

what God would have you do on a daily basis,

that rescues from death. That's what he observed.

And he was observant. And it ought to be the

same way for us. We ought to realize this is

just the way it works. And if you want it to

work some other way, well, then you'd have to

have another world. And since that's probably

not going to happen, you might want to realize

that every opportunity, everything that you capitalize

on, everything that you get that's an advantage

in this life, you go like, well, I saw my kid

do this. I got to be at their special moments,

right? I saw my girlfriend dressed up so pretty

and I proposed. I was there when my child was

born. Man, that's awesome. If you achieve any

of that without God being first, without Jesus

being Lord, The profit of it is negligible. You

know what? If you're not saved by the time you

go to hell, being present at the birth of your

child, which is like, I'm using that as an illustration

because it is one of the most awesome things

that ever happened to me in my lifetime as a

personal experience. After salvation, after God's

grace and the experiences that I've had with

the Lord, human experiences that I have had,

that is one of the most incredible things that

I have ever had, right? Ever seen. And that...

will burden you in hell if you're not a follower

of Jesus. Think about it. I was alive. I saw

things that I could not explain that were so

incredible. I had an opportunity there and there

and there and there. An opportunity to believe

in the truth, to live rightly by God, to experience

the Lord firsthand. And I chose not to. That

experience of being present at my child's birth,

if I were not saved. would be a source of weeping

and gnashing of teeth in the outer darkness for

eternity. The same as a sunset. And we're living

for the Lord and we're blowing out. You know

that the sun comes up every day. And if you go

to the place where there's not buildings in,

you can see an amazing creation of God every

day. And I submit to you that not one of us were

up at sunrise this morning. And not one of us

probably saw it. Were you up? Okay, I take it

back. We had one. He gets up very early. Okay,

and I knew that about you. Two. We had two. Two

people. Did you see the sunrise? Was it amazing?

All right, take their testimony. You know what

I'm saying? But you know what? At 11 tonight,

which by that time you got to be in bed sleeping

if you want to see the sunrise and not be tired

tomorrow, right? At 11 tonight, some of us will

be watching TV. And you might watch a program.

And it might be pretty cool. Man can make that.

Pretty cool stuff. We got a program we're watching

now that we really like. But you miss the sunset

and the sunrise. And it'll burn in you. If you

don't have Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, someday

you're going to go, what was I doing? When you're

laying on your deathbed, even as a Christian,

you might go, boy, I wish I could just see one

more sunrise. Maybe tomorrow ought to be the

day. Maybe I wish I could read a few more verses

of the Bible before I go. I wish I could walk

into the presence of the Lord saying, I wish

I hadn't, knowing that I hadn't spent all the

trappings and spoils of the good things of this

life on temporal things. I wish I had spent them

on kingdom things. Matthew 6, verse 19, it says

Matthew 6:19

this. Don't store up for yourself treasures on

earth where moth and rust destroy. I mean, you've

heard this, right? I hope. I preached it not

that long ago. and where thieves break in and

steal. But store up for yourself treasures in

heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys,

and where thieves don't break in and steal. And

then this is the point that we're getting at

right this second. For where your treasure is,

there your heart will be also. And that means

if your treasure is in heaven, your heart will

be in heaven. One day you'll be in heaven, and

it'll be awesome, right? But it also means if

your treasure's in a box in your closet, then

your heart will be in a box in your closet, and

one day you'll be in hell, and that will not

be awesome. This is the reality of it. Jesus

said that. Jesus said, what are you doing with

your efforts in this lifetime? It's an action

plan. You want to have a great life? You want

to have a life that the world will think is good?

Spend the spoils of victory on worthless pursuits.

You'll be at parties. You'll probably celebrate

when you finally have your heart attack and die

or whatever. It'll be great, but it won't be

kingdom break. Anything invested apart from God's

kingdom eventually burns away and we have to

answer for how we spent it. The second thing

to see in here then, that action point of how

we can have a great life outside God, is to take

from God. We can take things from God. You can

do that. You were created intelligent. You were

created capable. You know that in yourselves,

in the center of yourselves, God has written

in his own hands the writing of how your body

is going to function in such intricate detail

that it governs how one cell turns into two and

so on. And it is a writing that you could not

contain in a book like this. It's only been just

recently, in the last 10 years or so, that they

were actually able to map or write out. And to

do so, memory, computer memory, had to continue

to shrink in size so that they could get enough

computer memory connected to one system so that

they could write out what DNA says. Now, they

don't fully understand it. They're getting there.

But they have mapped it. They can see it, sort

of. Because you can't see it on a screen. You

can't read it with your human eyes. You need

a computer to do it for you, right? But the point

is, God has written inside you as a person the

map to creation. In the cells that make up your

pinky fingernail. Just one. You are incredible.

Beyond what you can fathom. So when you have

a thought about yourself that I'm no good, I

screwed up, oh whatever, that's a lie. You are

awesome. Yes, we have sin in the world and there's

evil and wickedness and there's bad choices and

stuff and repentance and all that's a real thing.

But the bottom line is God has made you awesome.

And when you take a thing that is awesome and

you use it for purposes other... than what the

person who owns that thing, that is stealing

from that person. If you go to my house tonight

while I am sleeping, go in my garage while I

am sleeping, and take out my car without my permission,

and drive it around the block a few times, and

then put it back, and I don't know about it,

you stole my car. I'm not giving you permission

to do that right now. Or ever, right? I like

to know where my car is. It's fair, right? If

you ask me nine times out of 10, I'll probably

let you borrow it. But if you take it without

asking, that's called stealing. And people are

stealing from God every day. And the Philistines

stole from God. They took God's champion. They

took God's name. They were taking wealth and

drink. They took sexuality. They lived immoral

lives, which means they perverted the laws and

rules that God laid out in everyone's heart,

not just his own. So you can take from God. They

gouged out Samson's eyes. They chained him. They

forced him into slavery. They mocked God's servant.

But in verse 22, something quietly changes. That's

where it said, you remember it, how be it the

hair on his head began to grow again. You see,

this is the funny thing about God. Generation

after generation after generation, people have

stole from God. People are doing it now. I submit

to you that there are people in this room who

are doing it now. I don't know who you are. Not

my place. But if you're right now going, eh,

not really. Doesn't matter. That whole thing

about the sunset, he really stretched that out

a lot. Oh, the DNA, not that big of a deal. If

you're thinking about what you're going to eat

for lunch, rather than right now focused on the

Lord, you might be stealing from God right now

because that mind that you're using to think

about other things, right? If you're fighting

sleep right now because you know you stayed up

too late yesterday, whether playing games or

watching TV or something like that, and you're

fighting sleep right now, you're stealing from

God. Because God deserves your alertness when

we're talking about the word of God. And so the

bottom line is this. God has set up a system.

And while every generation has been stealing

from the Lord, God has persisted. God didn't

need Samson's strength. God had not lost control

of the situation in this story. The Philistines

thought that they had taken something from God,

that they had defeated him and stolen his glory

and stopped his advance. But the truth is you

cannot rob the owner of everything. Many throughout

history, for example, have attempted to destroy

the Bible. Do you know that the Bible is the

single book that more people have tried to eradicate

than any other, right? So yeah, these things

going on in America right now, people say, well,

we're going to take this out of the libraries.

We don't want little women in there. You know,

it's got things that people, kids will learn

stuff about stuff that we don't want them to

learn about. So we're going to try to take them

out of the library, right? And then at the same

time, we're going to put in all kinds of books

about... alternative lifestyle so kids will have

their minds open to the possibility that someone

else's alternative lifestyle might be just as

legitimate as the correct lifestyle that a person's

actually supposed to live. But the bottom line

is, there have been lots of books throughout

history behind the Iron Curtain in Russia. Book

burning after book burning after book burning

after any book that could possibly say anything

about true history or whatever. But the Bible

stands highest amongst them all as having been

fought Generation after generation after generation.

The Roman emperors burned it and burned anyone

who would dare to own it. French revolutionaries

outlawed it. You always thought, well, oh, French

revolutionaries, that's not democracy, right?

They were fighting for democracy and putting

down the monarchy. They outlawed the Bible. No

one was allowed to have a Bible. And they did

that because they said that it pointed to a king

who was God. And so they outlawed the Bible and

burned it and killed anyone who owned one. communist

governments confiscated it, burned them in the

streets by the tens of thousands or hundreds

of thousands, and threw people in jail who would

dare to memorize it. So much so that when one

of my professors was a missionary over there,

right after the Iron Curtain went down, and you

were allowed to have a Bible, he went to a church

there to preach a house church. He walked down

the hallway, and on the hall there were pictures

of men. There was only about 20 people meeting

in the church, in the house, and there was like

100 pictures of men. And they asked the pastor,

who was a pastor, he said, Who are all these

pictures? Are they like founders of your church

or pastors of other churches? He said, no, these

are the martyrs. These are the men in our church

who died that the government killed them for

professing the name of Christ. They had 20 people

in their church and over 100 men's faces on the

wall killed for professing the name of Jesus

Christ. The Bible and the church have been pursued

to eradication, except guess what? Here we are.

Can't touch it. The God of heaven has ordained.

that the hair of the kingdom will begin to grow

again. Go ahead. Try to steal from God. It always

ends the same way. But if you steal from God,

you can have what you might not otherwise have.

The Bible remains the best -selling and most

translated book in history after everyone, all

those generations tried to eradicate it. Samson's

hair began to grow back. Jesus is still on the

throne, and there is still only one name under

heaven by which someone must be saved, but there

are rich men rising to fame. And tonight there

will be parties, and last night there were parties.

Kegs were cracked open, bottles of vodka tossed

in the garbage can empty. Partying continues,

using the resources that have been stolen from

the Lord. Psalm 2 speaks to the topic. Going

back to the book of Psalms. Psalm 2 beginning

in verse 1 says, Why do the nations rage and

the people plot in vain? The kings of the earth

take their stand and the rulers conspire together

against the Lord and his anointed one. Let's

tear off their chains and throw their ropes off

of us. God will rule, does rule, and wins in

the end. You want to win for a while? You want

to have victory for a while in this lifetime?

All you got to do is steal from God. Well, watch

out, because in the long run, God wins. And the

truth is, you may think you're stealing from

the Lord, but you really can't steal from the

one who owns everything. In the book of Job,

Job is challenged. In fact, his life is dismantled

systematically. The only thing he's got left

is his wife. And then in the midst, while he's

in ashes, scraping his sword with a pot shard,

she says, Job, just curse God and die. And we

see now why the devil won't let... Won't take

her, right? Because she's going to be the bad

influence that potentially ruins him. But he

doesn't. Hurts God and die. But then he does

face God eventually. And God challenges him and

says, who do you think you are? And Job realizes

he was not there and did not name the animals.

He was not there and did not create it. I submit

to you that whatever your situation is, come

and throw yourself upon the mercy of the Lord.

Rather than trying to do real well in this life,

you ought to be submitting this life to the Lord.

You may think you've taken from God. but you

cannot diminish the one who owns the universe.

The third and final point of the action plan

then is to victimize the eventual victors. There

are people in this life that you can overcome.

I've had people come and tell me a story of why

they need this or that or the other thing that

I own or that I have or whatever, and I say,

sure, I'll help you. Give them a little money,

give them a little time, we serve them, whatever.

And they've pulled the wool over my eyes. Actually,

they've gotten something from me that they didn't

deserve, that God didn't want to give them. They've

stolen, essentially, from me. They've victimized

me. I've had people say things to me that hurt

me and would shut me down if it weren't for God's

amazing sustenance. I've had people in my own

family who have heard from me how they should

live, choose to live otherwise, right in front

of me, to mock me and say, you can say whatever

you want, but I'm going to do whatever I want.

If you're a young man or a young woman in this

room, you don't understand that your parents

want what's best for you. When they tell you

how to live, you need to listen. If you're a

grown person in this room and you happen to have

a dad or a mom who's still alive, who loves the

Lord and is living that way, or a brother or

a sister or somebody in the church will take

the time to show you, realize that by mocking

them, you are stealing from the eventual victors.

You can victimize the eventual victors and have

great success. The Philistines mocked Samson.

They laughed. They humiliated him. They believed

that... Now Samson belonged to them, but then

everything changed. The man they mocked became

God's instrument one last time. The people they

thought were defeated became the people God vindicated.

This is what the cross looked like. The cross

looked like Satan's great victory. Three days

later, it became his greatest defeat. Romans

8 .28 says, God turns all things out for the

good for those who love God are called according

to his purpose. If you're stealing from a Christian,

watch out, because God's going to turn that out

for your good. Joseph was thrown in prison after

having been sold into slavery, after having been

lied on, whatever. All of that process started

by his brothers who betrayed him. And then when

his brothers stood before him, he said, listen,

what you meant to harm me, God meant to use for

my good and to save many lives. He realized that

God is a God of mercy. And Christians realize

that God is a God of mercy. And you might put

one over on us. You might pretend to be a Christian

for a while. You might pretend to follow Jesus,

pretend to be faithful. And you might put one

over on us for a while. And we'll love on you.

But here's the funny thing about that. We might

love on you even if you were lost. I don't think

you're really gaining anything in our love because

we love you anyway. But if you're stealing from

God, you're stealing from Christians, understand

that Christians do eventually win. And if you're

not on the side of Christians, you eventually

lose. That's the reality of it. Colossians 2.

This is a tough one to turn to and I didn't mark

it. So we'll see how we do here. Colossians 2

is kind of small, but look, I got close right

off. Pretty close. All right. Colossians 2 says

it this way. beginning in verse 13. Colossians

2, beginning in verse 13. And we're almost in

the conclusion. It is this. And when you were

dead in trespasses and in the uncircumcision

of your flesh, he made you alive with him and

forgave us all our trespasses. He erased the

certificate of debt with its obligations that

was against us and opposed to us. And he has

taken it away, nailing it to the cross. Wait

for it. Here we go. He, that is God, disarmed

the rulers and authorities and disgraced them

publicly. He triumphed over them in him, and

the him is Jesus. The bottom line is, never celebrate

the downfall of God's people too soon. And every

day is too soon. Because we are not subject to

downfall. We will rise, those of us who claim

the name of Jesus. And we will do great things

in eternity. That brings us to our conclusion

then. But real quick, I just want to, in case

you're here and you're not really a follower

of Jesus and you need a good life, here's the

action plan. Spend the spoils of victory, that

is work hard, and then spend the spoils of victory

on worthless pursuits. Steal from God. Victimize

God's people. You can do amazing things. There

are televangelists that go on TV talking about

how they're all for Jesus and they're praying

and miracles will happen or whatever. And there

are... Christians, deluded, not faithful Christians

in churches necessarily, but millions of Christians

that send them money. If they'll pray for me,

I'll send them money. Send them money every month

so that they'll pray for them every month because

their prayers mean something. And you believe

that televangelist who's gotten rich and is flying

around in a $50 million jet all over the world

and preaching to tens of thousands of people

and getting money and more money and more money.

Or you believe that the pastor of a church who's

put 30 best -selling books out about how you

can have a successful life, right? You believe

that that person is not going to answer before

God? And all those people are being victimized

by that person. You better believe it. They're

going to answer before God. You can steal from

God's people. If you do one of those three things

or all of those three things successfully, you

will have what the world will call a very successful

life and probably be partying at your funeral.

That brings us then to our conclusion. Mercy,

listen to this carefully. Mercy destroys the

wicked. Now, that doesn't sound like that, right?

Remember at the beginning we said how mercy,

mercy is so gentle. We're not giving them what

they deserve. You're not getting the punishment

that you're due. Mercy sounds like a very gentle

thing, but the truth is that mercy destroys the

wicked while saving God's people. Samson finally

prays. Maybe it's you. Maybe you need to finally

pray. Finally pray and say, okay, God, whatever's

left of me, I don't have to have my eyes put

out to be your faithful servant. I don't have

to be sold into slavery, even though sometimes

I feel like I am, to be your faithful servant.

Samson finally prays. He's not bargaining with

God anymore. God, you'll do this, I'll do that.

He's not doing that anymore. He no longer boasts.

Remember I told you about hubris. Samson had

hubris. He said, I'll be like ordinary men. No

more of that. He no longer boasts. He simply

asks God to remember him. When the Israelites

were standing at the sea, I read that to you.

Remember, what did God tell them to do in order

that God would intervene and destroy Pharaoh

and his army, part the sea, and let them go through

on dry land? What did God tell them to do? He

told them to stand still. Well, that's a pretty

big task. Sounds easy, right? I'm just going

to stand still. I'm going to do nothing. God's

going to do everything. Except that in our human

nature, because we are creators and destroyers,

and because we have capabilities, and because

we want to live well, and we thirst, we desire.

We're always scrambling, trying to do something.

Stop it. You're not going to do it. If you create

for yourself a good life outside God, you will

be taking the things of God or taking the things

from Christians or victimizing those who will

eventually be victorious. Step into the Lord

and say, I take upon you that yoke which is truly

light. It does mean I have to do what it is that

you would have me to do. It does mean I have

to be the man or woman, the kind of man or woman

that you want me to be. But I'll be doing it

in your strength, in your capabilities. Are you

scrambling, trying to make something of yourself

and of the people around you? Stop it. Let the

Lord deliver his mercy into your life. You need

mercy. If he doesn't deliver mercy, you will

receive punishment. And if you receive punishment

for your sins, that's eternal. That doesn't stop.

It lasts forever. Lay your head on the lap, not

of Delilah, the betrayer. and enjoying his time

with her, but on the head of the very God of

the universe, who will more than stroke your

hair. He'll grow your hair. He'll make you able

to rise again anew after every challenge, every

difficulty, every fall, every failure, every

stupidity, every bad choice. He'll make you able

to rise again anew. This is the pattern throughout

scripture. The flood saved Noah, destroyed the

world. The Red Sea saved Israel, drowned Egypt.

Jericho's walls fell for Israel. And when they

fell, They fell upon Canaan, and many died when

the walls fell, and everyone died right after

that, while they stood inside their walls, which

were a couple dozen feet across, wagons on the

walls, siege engines, mocking and laughing at

those who were outside the walls. And the walls

fell so that Israel could enter, and Canaan was

destroyed, at least Jericho. The cross saved

believers but condemns unbelief. Christ's return

rescues his church and judges the nation. When

Jesus comes again, there will not be any more

time. Don't think that the trumpet will sound

and you'll say, okay, me, yeah, me. Unless you're

saying, okay, me, yeah, me now. And you get in

the habit of it. Christ's return rescues his

church and judges the nations. God's mercy and

God's judgment arrive together in a massive flood

and the waters are rising. And people are hanging

out on the roofs of their house hoping for a

boat or a helicopter. When the helicopter comes

by and drops them a rope ladder to save them

from the flood, the helicopter didn't create

the flood. For those who grabbed that ladder,

it is salvation. For those who refused that ladder,

the approaching flood remains. The helicopter

did not create the flood. It simply revealed

who trusted the rescuer. And that's what life

is like. We will face suffering and difficulty.

Leading up to the tale of Noah. You see, the

ark is being built. And he built this ark day

after day after day in the mocking of people.

He built it on an earth whereupon no raindrop

had ever fallen. It had never rained. And he

was telling me, listen, it's going to rain. It's

going to rain. And God told me to build the ark.

You can't keep living like that. Yeah, but we're

doing what we're doing. And God's not stopping

it. We're having a great life. Look at all the

stuff we've got. Look at all we're doing. We

sleep with whoever, right? It's great. We're

enjoying it. And I was like, no. You slave away

every day from sunup to sundown. You swing and

hammer. Look at those calluses on your hand.

Look at the muscles of your back. Look how tired

you are. Your family ain't even got time to procreate.

They're too busy. How can that be right? And

then, and then, it began to rain. And when God

shut the door of the ark, every man, woman, or

child whom Noah had warned for generations died

in the flood. And it'll be like that when Jesus

comes again. It'll be about who accepted it.

Who was willing? John 3, 16, we kind of know

that verse a little bit. For God so loved the

world, He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever

believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting

life. Our memory fades a little bit when we get

on to verse 17. It says, For God did not send

His Son into the world to condemn the world,

but to save the world through Him. Anyone who

believes in Him is not condemned, but anyone

who does not believe is already condemned, because

he has not believed in the name of the one and

only Son of God. You see, mercy has a flip side.

And sometimes people look at God's judgment and

they can't quite see the mercy. And sometimes

people look at God's mercy and they can't quite

see the judgment. But when you look at a king

of hearts, you know that the back of that card

is printed and it looks just like every other

card in the deck. Otherwise, you can't really

play with it right. When you look at the mercy

of God, understand it is also the judgment. You

receive mercy. If you have accepted Jesus Christ,

your Lord and Savior, you are receiving mercy.

But while you are receiving mercy, some are receiving

judgment. What are you going to do about that?

You okay with that? Are you okay with the fact

that while you are receiving heaven, other people

are going to hell basically because you are going

to heaven? See, this is why we become the reconcilers

that we're supposed to be. This is why we search

out any audience who will listen to the gospel.

This is why we don't want to let any one of us

go to hell. If your family members are going

to hell, tell them about Jesus. And say, well,

I don't know. They say they follow Jesus. And

tell them about Jesus anyway. Tell them about

Jesus every day. Talk about Jesus every day.

You're receiving the mercy of God. God's mercy

always creates a dividing line. Those who receive

Christ find life. Those who reject Christ eventually

discover that the mercy they despised became

the judgment they could not escape. The Philistines

believed that they were celebrating victory while

standing inside their own funeral. Samson looked

weaker than ever, yet God was preparing the greatest

work through Samson. The greatest example is

Jesus Christ. His enemies mocked him, they nailed

him to a cross, they thought they had won, but

his death became our salvation and his resurrection

guaranteed the defeat of sin, death, and Satan.

The question is not whether God will win. God

will win. Can you think that with me at least?

God will win. Can you think it? Just right now

in your mind, think God will win. Can you say

it? God will win. The next time you're talking

to somebody who has not accepted Jesus Christ

as your Lord and Savior, can you at least say

God will win? The question is whether his victory

will become your salvation or your judgment.

God's untimely mercy may interrupt the plans

of the wicked. But it always arrives precisely

in time for those who call upon him in the name

of Jesus. Today, if you hear his voice, do not

harden your heart. Receive his mercy before his

justice arrives. I ask the priest team to come

forward then at this time and lead us in a closing

hymn. If you're in the room, it doesn't matter

what people think. If you're in the room and

you have not accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord

and Savior, do that today. Call upon the Lord

for mercy. Just as Samson called one last time,

you're receiving the benefits of being human.

You can hear, you can think, you can choose.

Exercise those benefits to call upon the name

of the Lord and be saved in earnest. Say, God,

use me. Fortunately, his motivation, our motivation

is not vengeance. It is to deliver that same

mercy to anyone else. So if you're here today

and you say, look, I missed the opportunity to

tell people about Jesus. and I need the mercy

of God on my life, and I realize I left the judgment

of God on theirs, some of them may have had mercy,

you just don't know unless you talk to them about

it, then you commit yourself today to share that

mercy that you receive so freely with anyone

you possibly can. Stand with me and sing this

song. If you're responding in some way, accepting

Jesus, or committing your life, or saying yes,

Lord, to some request he has made, then you just

do that today. Do your business with the Lord.

What we need is what we were created for. I got

two feet, I can stand. I was meant to stand with

Jesus. Not on my own. Some people, well, they

got to meet their stand with Jesus. People with

two feet that aren't standing at all. Choose

him over all. Help me find the way. Bring me

back.