November 12, 2017

The Unexpected Victory

Anthony Gammage ~ Judges 16

Sermon Quotes

Judges 16:1-6
Samson went to Gaza, and there he saw a prostitute, and he went in to her. The Gazites were told, “Samson has come here.” And they surrounded the place and set an ambush for him all night at the gate of the city. They kept quiet all night, saying, “Let us wait till the light of the morning; then we will kill him.” But Samson lay till midnight, and at midnight he arose and took hold of the doors of the gate of the city and the two posts, and pulled them up, bar and all, and put them on his shoulders and carried them to the top of the hill that is in front of Hebron. After this 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 to her, “Seduce him, and see where his great strength lies, and by what means we may overpower him, that we may bind him to humble him. And we will each give you 1,100 pieces of silver.” So Delilah said to Samson, “Please tell me where your great strength lies, and how you might be bound, that one could subdue you.”

Hosea 7:9
Strangers devour his strength, and he knows it not; gray hairs are sprinkled upon him, and he knows it not.

Revelation 3:17
For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked.

CS Lewis
“You cannot love a fellow creature fully till you love God.” -The Great Divorce

“Lewis is saying that unless you have some experience of God’s love that fulfills your deepest needs, you will tend to use other people to bolster yourself or prove yourself. Unless you have that relationship with God, even the most passionate I love yous will really mean I need you to make myself feel as if I am worth something.” -Tim Keller

Judges 16:23-21
23 Now the lords of the Philistines gathered to offer a great sacrifice to Dagon their god and to rejoice, and they said, “Our god has given Samson our enemy into our hand.”

Hebrews 11:32-34
And what more shall I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets—[33] who through faith conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, [34] quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, were made strong out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight.

Psalm 50:15 
and call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me.”