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You You You You And find your seats welcome to pure words Baptist Church Let's go ahead and pull out our hymnals and we'll open up to our first song for the evening be song number 169 Number 169 Come thou found 169 come thou found You guys find your place there First come thou fount of every blessing to my heart to sing thy grace streams of mercy Never see all four songs of loudest praise teach me some melodious Sung by flaming tongues above praise the mountain fixed up on it mount of thy redeeming love Here I raise mine Ebenezer hither by thy help I'm come and I know By thy good pleasure safely all arrive at home Jesus sought me with a stranger Wandering from the fold of God He to rescue me from danger Interposed his precious blood Oh to grace how great a dead earth Daily I'm constrained to be Let thy goodness like a better bind my wandering heart Prone to wonder Lord I feel it prone to leave the God I love Here's my heart Take it Seal it for thy Love For the Brandon you want to pray for us this evening? You Men all right go ahead and flip to song number 64 I Number 64 shall we gather at the river song number 64? First shall we gather at the river? Where bright angel feet have trod Oh with its crystal tide forever Yes, we'll gather at the river Gather with the saints at the river that flows by the Throne On the bosom of the river Where the Savior came we We shall meet sorrow never meet the glory of the Yes, we'll gather at the river The beautiful the beautiful Gather with the Saints at the river There we reach the shining river lay we every burden And Yes, we'll gather at the river Gather with the Saints at the river Oh Soon we'll reach the shining river soon our pilgrimage will see Soon our happy hearts will quiver with the melody of peace Yes, we'll gather at the river Oh Gather with the Saints at the river that Great singing So at this time we'll go ahead and go over the end announcements this evening So go ahead pull out your bulletins if you didn't receive one there might be some back there If not, just go ahead and look on with Someone next to you or just listen up. We do have our Bible memory passage and chapter on the front Psalms chapter 47 if you could quote the entire chapter all nine verses word perfect You will receive a prize there at the end of that. We are in week three verse three on the inside we have our service times and Beneath that our soul winning times with with respective leaders And we also have our stats listed We had four salvations to report from this morning brother James and then did anybody get any this afternoon? I know we had that one So we'll go ahead and add that to there is an interesting time out there stolen and we're so warning That's an interesting encounters, but a definitely good job So when you keep up the good work We have an expecting lady in the church a sister Crenn Darnell be in prayer for her and the expecting one And our upcoming guest preachers today May 1st. We had brother David Kiefer and his wife come out from faithful word Baptist Church It's been a blessing having him had a great message for us this morning. So definitely shake his hand take his wife's hand Thank them for coming out And then on May 15th, we have brother Ben Naim coming to preach both services for us and then July 7th We have pastor Steven Anderson coming to preach that midweek service on Thursday. So The blessing having all these guys come fill the pulpit for us I just definitely thank them every time they come out and then the upcoming events just right around the corner for Mother's Day May 7th We have that Mother's Day tea from 5 p.m To 6 30 at the four friends tea room in Pearland, Texas, and I believe the RSVP date has already expired But if you do want to go there might be some room just definitely just let them know as soon as possible And I'm sure they could kind of get you in there So just try to get on that if you haven't RSVP'd and then no boys allowed all right, so only nurselings preferred so men watch watch the children and then May 21st is the soul-winning marathon in Austin, Texas So definitely looking forward to that one, you know, I keep hearing people say we need to go make Austin normal So that'll be a good event down there I'm so write that on your calendars and then for our prayer requests if you guys have any prayer requests email that into the church at pure words Baptist at gmail.com No matter what it is something for a job some personal health reasons email that in for a relationship issue We email that in and we'll definitely keep praying for you We have steadfast Baptist Church and pastor Shelley listed of the Goodwin family keep praying for them a brother Edward And specifically his feet he did have a couple toes amputated. So pray for the healing of his feet Miss liberties Family member Catherine is battling cancer Brother Joel pray for him just for favor and blessings and faithful word Baptist Church But again, if you have anything to add email that into the church but that is the announcements For the evening. Let's go ahead and pull our handles back out and we'll open up to our third song It'll be song number 187. I Want all the kids to sing loud Jesus loves me 187 Jesus loves me Jesus Loves me this I know for the Bible Tells me Little ones to him belong They are weak Yes Yes Yes Tells me Jesus loves me who died Skate He will wash away my sin let his little child Yes, Jesus loves me yes Yes, Jesus loves me the Bible tells me Jesus loves me he will stay goes beside me all the way Now has bled and died for me. I will Yes, Jesus loves me Yes Jesus loves me Yes, Jesus Tells me Right, so this time let's go ahead and pull out our Bibles and turn in your Bibles to judges chapter 14 judges chapter 14 Brother Jeff come read for us and we'll go ahead and pass the offering click You Okay, so you're there in judges 14 judges 14 the Bible reads in verse 1 Samson went down to Timna and saw a woman in Timna of the daughters of the Philistines He came up and told his father and his mother and said I have seen a woman in Timna the daughters of the Philistines Now therefore get her for me to wife And his father and his mother said unto him Is there never a woman among the daughters of thy brethren or among all my people thou goest to take a wife of the? uncircumcised Philistines 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 They sought an occasion against the Philistines for at that time the Philistines had dominion over Israel And when Samson down and his father and his mother Timna who came to the vineyards of Timna and behold a young lion roared against him The spirit of the Lord came mightily upon him and he rent him as he would have rent a kid He had nothing in his hand, but he told his not his father father or his mother what he had done He went down and talked with the woman and she pleased Samson well And after a time he returned to take her and he returned aside to see the carcass of the lion and behold There was a swarm of bees and honey in the carcass of the lion He took thereof in his hands and went on eating and came to his father and mother He gave them and they did eat but he told them Not told them that he had taken the honey out of the carcass of the lion His father went down onto the woman and Samson made there a feast for so used the young men to do It came to pass when they saw him that they brought 30 companions to be with him And Samson said unto them I Will now put forth a riddle unto you if you can certainly declare at me within the seven days of the feast and find it Out and I will give you 30 sheets and 30 change of garments But if you cannot declare at me then shall you give me 30 sheets and 30 change of garments They said unto him put forth thy riddle that we may hear it He said unto them out of the eater came forth meat and out of the strong came forth sweetness They could not in three days expound the riddle It came to pass on the seventh day that they said unto Samson's wife Entice thy husband that he may declare unto us the riddle lest we burn thee my father's house with fire Have you called us to take that we have is it not so? Samson's wife wept before him and said thou dost but hate me and love us me Not I was put forth a riddle unto the children of my people That's not told at me and he said unto her behold I have told it not my father nor my mother and shall I tell it thee She wept before him the seven days while their feast lasted came to pass on the seventh day that he told her Because she lay sore upon him and she told a riddle to the children of her people And the men of the city said unto him on the seventh day before the sun went down What is sweeter than honey? And what is stronger than the lion? He said unto him if he had not plowed with my high for he had not found out my riddle The Spirit of the Lord came upon him and he went down to Ashkelon and slew 30 of them And took their spoil and gave change of garments unto them which expound the riddle His anger was kindled and he came up to his father's house Samson's wife was given to his companion whom he had used as his friend. That's all bow our heads for a quick word of prayer Dear Heavenly Father that you fill brother David Keefer with your spirit Welcome to preach a bold sermon for us God Help us to be better Christians better soul winners take this sermon and appliance our day-to-day lives be more serious instead just Do more for for the glory of you Lord in Jesus name. I pray all this. Amen All Right, good afternoon everybody, thanks for having me again this afternoon It's been really nice getting to know everybody here at the congregation and I just want to thank Pastor Shelley for giving me this opportunity to preach for you guys and it's truly a blessing to see like-minded believers in different states and all around the world who Can all realize the importance of the service of God and I hear some of you travel in far distances Just to get to this church and if people had zeal like you then we would take over the world one soul at a time so let's go ahead and look down at the Bible and I'm gonna go ahead and start with the title of this message the title of this message this afternoon is Samson's riddle Samson's riddle is truly that it is a riddle and Samson himself is a character that we look to in the Bible Who is riddling he's puzzling he is unique he is different a lot of people who study the Bible Extensively look at characters like Samson and they're very puzzled by his decision-making What he does his actions his reasoning and all these different things, but understand this we know as you know Bible-believing Christians that nothing in the Word of God is incidental coincidental or accidental And I'm here to show you that there are so many deep layers to the Bible Of symbolic truths that we can find in the Word of God that can illuminate ways to help us in our soul-winning Which is how we apply the Word of God that we learn right because it's not enough just to be a hero of the word But a doer of the word, I mean we I'm up here You know preaching the Bible and your pastor and like-minded brothers and sisters will preach or proclaim deep spiritual truths But it means nothing if we cannot apply them in our day to day life But turn if you would to Hebrews chapter 11 and like I had said Samson himself is a riddle and I'll venture to say this and I'll tell you guys this in my opinion Samson is a good great godly man. Yes. He makes mistakes. Yes. He makes a lot of mistakes Yes, he keeps making mistakes. But raise your hand if that's you today you make mistakes. I make mistakes We all make mistakes But praise God he can use people like us and our fault in our problem and still you be used You know greatly by God because you know other forms of writing whenever you have a character in the Bible I'm sorry in other forms of writing and in books They'll tentatively create hero complexes and the hero can do no wrong never has a mess up never does anything bad But the Bible is the Word of God and shows us Human nature that in us the sinful nature we are going to reflect doing wrong and bad things Yet we find Samson in the Great Hall of Faith chapter found in Hebrews 11 Look down in your Bible if you would at Hebrews 11. This is a very famous passage in the Bible to explain to us these great godly characters in the Old Testament and did you know that Samson is found in that passage look down if you would at Hebrews 11 32 the Bible reads and What shall I more say for the time would fail me to tell of Gideon and of Barak and of who? Samson and of Jephthah of David also and Samuel and of the prophets now I'm gonna pause there really quick. So we just went through a couple of different characters, right one of which was Samson Now we're gonna go into attributes of these men. Why were they great? Why did they show great faith? What were things that we can attribute to those individuals and say these are men of great faith Well, let's see what the Bible says in verse 33 It reads Who through faith subdued kingdoms pause? Everything that is read here applies to all characters, but you'll find most of them apply to Samson Didn't Samson subdue kingdoms He took out the Philistines in that very monumental moment when he pushed the pillars. It says rot righteousness Samson was known as a judge. Not only did he judge his people but judges in the Bible are also known as Deliverers, they will deliver the people from bondage from these things Also, it says right righteousness obtained Promises kind of like the promise made to the nation of Israel that if they would serve the Lord That he would subdue their enemies. It says stop the mouths of lions Samson literally tore apart a lion physically. I'm not saying symbolically I'm not saying metaphorically grabbed what I believe to be the mouth of the lion and ripped him in two I'm not gonna get graphic but the Bible paints that picture very clearly It says right there in 34 Quench the violence of fire Escaped the edge of the sword out of weakness were made strong Waxed valiant and fight turned to flight the armies of the aliens all that applies to Samson One of my favorite part that it says it says out of weakness were made strong Remember when he gets his hair cut right because when he gets his hair cut He loses his strength because he was supposed to be a Nazarene until our Nazarite Until the day of his death that was the only character in the Bible We can point to that was told to be a Nazarite from his birth and in doing so when he got his hair cut He lost his strength, but then it goes to say out of weakness were made strong Waxed valiant and fight turned to flight the armies of the enemy women received their dead raised to life again I didn't apply to Samson, but that's the truth and others were tortured Samson was tortured. They pulled his eye it out They mocked him and scourged him and made fun of him the Philistine leaders They that might obtain a or not accepting deliverance that they might obtain a better resurrection and others had trials of cruel mockings and scourging day Moreover of bonds and imprisonments they were stoned They were saunas under were tempted were slain with the sword They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins being destitute Afflicted tormented of whom the world was not worthy they wandered in deserts and in mountains and in dens and caves of the earth and These all having obtained a good report of what a good report Through faith received not the promise God having provided some better thing for us The day without us should not be made perfect The Bible is showing that Samson and all the mistakes that he made is a good Godly great man that we can look to to have someone who has great faith You're not gonna follow his bad examples. I don't want you to follow Abraham's bad examples. I don't want you to follow lots bad examples I don't want you to follow King David's bad examples God is gonna emphasize the good that they did and Samson it's hard to find the good that he did but it's there and the New Testament tells us in the book of Hebrews that That is a attribute you knew an attribute unique to Samson that he was a man of great faith Turn back if you would to judges 14, I should add you leave something there, but it says in judges 14 We're gonna go on and read some more One of the biggest forms of Bible interpretation actually is in my opinion the most important form of Bible interpretation Has to do with looking for the Lord Jesus Christ We know as Bible believing Christians right that when you're reading the Old Testament if you want to know the right Interpretation of the passage look for Jesus raise your hand if you've ever seen that book. Where's Waldo? And have you guys seen that book? Where's Waldo? I expect a lot of more of these kids to see it Good book. I used to get in trouble a lot when I was a kid They'd stick me in a corner with where's Waldo and say go over there do with that but the book basically is a book of a character named Waldo who's dressed in striped red and white and As the book progresses in the beginning, it's a very easy way to find Waldo It's tentatively and not a elaborate image and he's standing in the center just kind of like hey, I'm right there So they give you low-hanging fruit in the beginning, but as the book progresses the images get more elaborate. There's more people He's kind of tucked behind a wall. He's under a rock Behind someone and all these things and it becomes harder and harder to find Waldo even to the point I don't know if you guys remember but there was a book for the very end It says find Waldo amongst Waldo's and it's just a page full of Imposter Waldo's but you're looking for the one that's missing his sock because that's like what they're saying is the real Waldo So just like where is Waldo? We need to look for the Lord Jesus Christ when we are reading his word because he truly is the word made manifest elsewhere It says in John 1 1 in the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God And just like an artist likes to initial his painting or a chef will put on his flair on his dish The Lord Jesus Christ wants people to see him in his word And this is why we can understand a true deeper meaning of what the Bible is clearly showing us Defining where Jesus is so Samson is that character that we can look to that actually in ways Shows us more examples of the Lord Jesus Christ than any other Old Testament Apostle or I'm sorry prophet or even kings for that matter For instance, I'm going to show you a couple of parallels between Samson and the Lord Jesus Christ for instance of the men in the Bible that had the Holy Spirit bestowed upon them most often It arguably be said that it was Samson some speculated with Saul and it's kind of a toss-up between Saul King Saul and Samson but no doubt for sure Samson of the characters in the Old Testament had the Holy Spirit put on him most often Right here in this passage We see it happening to him twice But the Holy Spirit is put on him to go rip the lion up and also to go take out the men of Ashkelon So that's just one chapter where we see it happening twice Jesus Christ was full of the Holy Ghost above measure He is truly the member of the Godhead the Son of God But in the Son is the Holy Spirit and in the Holy Spirit is the Father and in the Father is the Son These three are one God that make up Everything but there are three separate people and Jesus Christ was full of the Holy Ghost above measure Because he's the Son of God and he had that ability So with that being said Samson had the Holy Spirit bestowed upon him most often Jesus had the Holy Ghost above measure Samson spoke in riddles Jesus Christ spoke in parables Samson was known as a Nazarite Jesus was a Nazarene and you know, the Bible talks about the vow of a Nazarite has a lot to do with being separated for the things of God now Unfortunately, I don't know about you guys but there is a group of people known as Rastas or Rastafarian or Rastafarian or black Hebrew Israelites and there's a group of people that believe that the Nazarite vow of Not cutting your hair is a tradition that you need to adhere to unfortunately, they didn't see that in the New Testament it clearly differentiates between that vow in that time period and Having long hair as a man the Bible clearly says does not even nature itself teach you that if a man have long hair It is a shame unto him. The Nazarite vow was for a small period of time it was inevitably supposed to be done and you were supposed to cut your hair and then go burn it on the altar and Samson was one character who was a Nazarite from his birth So Jesus Christ, you know born in Nazareth was a Nazarene and all those Teachings in the Nazarite vow have a lot to do with being sanctified or separated unto God because you know It is a shameful thing for a man to have long hair, right? and you're not supposed to eat of the vine or drink of the vine because you're trying to live that separate life and Jesus Christ is known as a man of much sorrow Because he wants Samson and Nazarites were supposed to show people how to live a separated life to be pleasing unto God Kind of like when you fast if you think about a fast, right? you're not fasting just to lose some weight you're fasting so that you could be put in prayer with God and have a Deeper communication with God, but those are just some examples of how Samson and the Lord Jesus Christ are very closely related now look down at your Bible if you would at verse 6 Judges 14 verse 6 and the Spirit of the Lord Came mightily upon him right there We see an example of the Spirit of God coming on Samson and he rent him I'm sorry And he rent him as he would have rent a kid in reference to the lion and he had nothing in his hand But he told not his father or his mother what he hath done now in this example in this analogy right here Samson pictures the Lord Jesus Christ the lion Represents Satan. Well, what do you mean by that? Well elsewhere in the Bible in 1st Peter 5 8 it reads be sober be vigilant because your adversary the devil as a Roaring lion walketh about Seeking whom he may devour and in the beginning of this or the ending of verse 5 it says and behold a young lion What roared against them so we can see that the Bible is showing us that that lion right there Represents Satan as a roaring lion seeking who he could devour like Samson The Holy Ghost comes upon Samson and he rips him up like he would rip up a kid The kid is not a child you guys a kid is a baby goat a little goat so a goat is a very meek mild animal that could easily be destroyed and a Lot of people don't understand that devil worshippers people who worship Satan actually worship and serve a goat and a kid is a baby goat so like Samson rips up a goat. He also is ripping up this lion so we can see right there how Jesus Christ pictures or Samson pictures Jesus Christ there because as it says in Genesis 3 Right the very first prophecy of Jesus Christ as it says, you know the seed of the woman shall conquer The the serpent and it'll bruise his heel But you know the Son of Man will bruise his head so we can see that that is a symbolism of Jesus Christ right there let's keep going and he went down and talked with the woman and she pleased Samson well and now notice this part right here and After a time she returned to take her and he returned to take her and he turned aside to see The carcass of the lion and behold there was a swarm of bees and honey in the carcass of the lion Now, let's break this part down right here Now the lion is represented of Jesus Christ Basically, if you just said the lion represented Satan in one scene now you're saying the lion represents the Lord Jesus Christ That doesn't make any sense Well, actually if you look at it what it's saying right when Samson goes back down after a time, right? It doesn't say exactly how long but it just says after some time period when he goes back There's a carcass of a lion. Did you know that Satan is known as the great counterfeiter, right? Meaning that anything that the Lord Jesus Christ does Satan is gonna try to mimic that right? So in this situation right here Jesus Christ is known as the lion of the tribe of Judah and he truly is you know the lion that will destroy everyone so to say and It calls the lion's carcass something where there's a swarm of honey in so Jesus Christ was dead For three days and three nights, right and the Bible says for instance in light of that Matthew 24 28 for Wheresoever the carcass is there will the eagles be gathered together in reference to Jesus Christ's body Is remember in the Last Supper? Jesus said this is my body which is broken for you This is my blood which is the blood of the New Testament So although Satan pictures the lion in one scene now Jesus Christ is pictured of that carcass of that lion and A lot of people hear that and they kind of bristled they're like wait You can't compare Jesus and Satan to that one same character. Well, think of it like this You know the Bible says in John 3 14 and as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness Even so must the Son of Man be lifted up Wait a second. Jesus is symbolic of a snake isn't the snake, you know Satan No Satan he who knew no sin He became sin for us that we may be known as the righteousness of God in him He took on the sins of the world and that's why as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness That is symbolic of Jesus Christ taking on the sins of the world Same way as this lion was slain for us and his carcass is how we can understand Salvation as the body of Christ was buried for three days and three nights and there are other examples of Satan Trying to mimic the Lord Jesus Christ Characters like Nebuchadnezzar are a good example in one scene Nebuchadnezzar will picture the Antichrist, you know when he tells Shadrach Meshach and Abednego to go and you know worship an idol and if not They'll throw him in a fiery furnace and then the next seed, you know Nebuchadnezzar actually pictures the Lord Jesus Christ because he's the head of gold in that statue found in the dream and he is truly Representing authority and he has all power above the earth So this is these are just some examples how You know, if you hear somebody explain that like oh Satan Jesus is represented as a serpent don't bristle understand There's a context to it Well, Satan is known as the lion. Well, the Lord Jesus Christ is known as a lion Context will tell you remember look for Jesus. That's the right interpretation of the passage Samson in the beginning could represent the sole winner when he's you know Going and grabbing the honey out of the lion's carcass and that's the next part I want to go into the honey out of the lion's carcass Turn if you would to Psalms 19 and leave a finger here because we'll come back here Psalms 19 It's a very popular passage in the Bible, right? We've heard and read this passage a lot of times but the honey in the carcass of the lion Represents the word of God the Bible says in Ezekiel 3 1 Moreover he said unto me son a man eat that thou finest eat this roll and go Speak unto the house of Israel. So I opened my mouth and he caused me to what eat that roll He said unto me son a man cause thy belly to eat and fill thy bowels with this roll that I give thee Then did I eat it and it was in my mouth what as honey for sweetness This is the angel telling Ezekiel to eat the roll or the Word of God and it says that he went into his mouth What sweetest honey? It says in Revelation 10 9 of the Apostle John and I went unto the angel and he said unto me Give me the little book and he said unto me take it and eat it up and it shall make thy belly bitter But it shall be in thy mouth sweet as honey and I took the little book out of the angels hand and ate it up and it was in my mouth sweet as honey and As as soon as I ate it my belly was bitter and he said unto me Thus or thou must prophesy again before many peoples and nations and tongues and kings There are two examples of two different men in the Bible that when they are eating or consuming the Word of God Remember earlier kids what we were learning about? Consuming through our mouth if we eat the Word of God and we consume it it should be in our mouth sweet as honey Now some people it's in their belly bitter and I understand that there are things in the Bible that are hard to digest And that's okay. We should realize that our God whom we serve, you know He is the God of love but he also is gonna be just on the unsaved and you know It's hard to preach a message of you know Fire and damnation because we don't want people to die and go to hell But the Lord Jesus Christ gave us a way out and it's hard to bring that message to people sometimes But in Psalm 19 this passage that we all like to read and quote from it says in verse 7 Psalms 19 7 the law of the Lord is perfect Converting the soul the testimony of the Lord is sure Making wise the simple the statutes of the law are right Rejoicing the heart the commandment of the Lord is pure enlightening the eyes The fear of the Lord is clean enduring forever The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether More to be desired are they than gold yea then much fine gold Sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb The Bible is telling us that the law of the Lord the words of God are sweeter than honey And we got to realize that when we read our Bibles, you know, this is a spiritual sweep This is like spiritual candy There is you know meats and potatoes and hard things to understand but I love the Word of God and I don't know about you But when I read the Word of God, I get excited and the Bible says for instance in Matthew 4 man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God and in more and more as You would digest the Word of God You'll become I guess more sweet tooth towards the Word of God and you get more excited about proclaiming his truths But back at Judges 14, we can see an example of how that carcass in representing You know the dead body of Christ Samson pulls something out of that carcass. He pulls out honey This is a symbolic representation of the Word of God because you got to remember Jesus Christ says unless you partake of the Lord's flesh You shall not see everlasting life and then notice what Samson does when he pulls the honey out of the carcass of the lion look at verse 9 and he took thereof in his hands and went on eating and Came to his father and mother and he gave them and they did eat But he told not them that he had taken the honey out of the carcass of the lion I don't recommend you'd pull any honey out of any dead animal and feed it to someone as a matter of fact Don't do it I know we just heard a sermon this morning about it's okay to have a little dirt on your food and eat with unwashed hands Don't eat anything out of a carcass of an animal, but this is symbolic. Remember, where's Jesus? Where's the real interpretation of? this message Samson represents the sole winner you know he pulled out of the carcass the Word of God and he gave it to his parents and they did eat and We need to share the honey of the sweet Word of God to the world and to a dying and lost nation Proclaiming the truth and you know as time moves forward we will find and renew our spirits daily as we read his word and Consume it more and more Let's look at verse 10 So his father went down unto the woman and Samson made there a feast so for so Used the young men to do and it came to pass when they saw him that they brought 30 Champions to be with him. I'm sorry companions to be with him and Samson said unto them I will put forth the riddle because what's the title of this message this evening? Samson's riddle I was all by way of introduction buckle up you guys we had some more time No, I'm just playing but simply and Samson said unto them I will put forth a riddle unto you if ye can certainly declare it to me Within the seven days of the feast and find it out Then I will give you 30 sheets and 30 chart change of garments But if you cannot declare it to me Then shall ye give me 30 sheets and 30 change of garments and they said unto him put forth thy riddle that we may hear Pause really quickly Once again Samson is not necessarily doing a good or right or righteous wholesome thing by gambling This is a form of gambling. He is trying to Sway, the people of the Philistines to get involved in this gamble so that he can get clothing out of it clothing was way more valuable back in the day and Elsewhere in the beginning of the passage it talks about he did this because it was of God to do this now That's not saying God told him to gamble It's saying that he went to go find an occasion with the Philistines to destroy the nation of Philistine Because they were wicked horrible people amongst the Lord and remember he was supposed to be that great deliverer But do it so he utilizes this bad situation to get a good thing out of it like destroying these people So Don't try to you know do wrongs don't make a right but if you do make mistakes in your life like gambling or drug use or alcohol or Fornication or whatever it is you've messed up in your life Understand forsake leave those things which are behind and press them to the mark of the high calling which is in Christ Jesus the Lord Jesus Christ can still use you but you have to be willing to forsake those things which are behind Goes on to read in verse 14 and he said unto them out of the eater came forth meat and out of the strong came forth sweetness and they could not in how many days three days Expound the riddle. That's a unique number three days Wasn't the Lord Jesus Christ dead for three days and three nights as Jonas was in the whale of the belly for three days and three Nights, so shall the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth So here's another example we can see where these guys are trying to bring You know the riddle to him and they couldn't do it in three days. Just a little side note I thought that was interesting and look at verse 15 and it came to pass on the seventh day that they said unto Samson's wife Can't get to Samson. So let's go after his wife Entice thy husband that he may declare unto us the riddle lest we burn thee in thy father's house With fire have ye called us to take that we have is it not so and? Samson's wife wept before him and said thou does but hate me and loves me not loves me not Thou put thou has put forth a riddle unto the children of my people and it's not hold it me and he said unto her Behold, I have not told it my father or my mother and shall I tell it thee about there really quickly You're gonna have some sympathy on Samson's wife in this situation Understand that this is a kind of unique scenario and it's easy for people to look at this and be like She's being she's being soft. She's being weak She should have never like, you know entice Samson, but you know, they're threatening to kill her and her family So you can understand that that's a hard thing to go through But Samson wants her to have faith in him and to trust that what he's doing will help them And once again, we're gonna find some symbolism in this look down at verse 17 and shoot I'm sorry verse 18 and The man of the city said unto him I'm sorry verse 17 and she wept before him the seven days while their feast lasted and it came to pass on the seventh day that he told her because she lay sore upon him and she Told the riddle to the children of her people and the men of the city said unto him on the seventh day Before the Sun went down What is sweeter than honey and what is stronger than a lion and he said unto them If he had not plowed with my heifer, yeah not found out my riddle that seems pretty harsh say about your wife You have not plowed with my heifer then you shouldn't have found out this root riddle That's just a older way of saying if you didn't work with my servant, then you wouldn't have figured this out But you know men don't call your wives heifers if they found your riddles the people that's kind of messed up and you know the answer to the riddle that was proposed is what is sweeter than honey, and what is stronger than a lion and I'm gonna propose to you this afternoon the answer to that riddle because notice there's two question marks there, right? Remember the game jeopardy how like they always answer things with a question. I can't think of a good analogy of there's usually like a board of like different scenarios and it's like sports or You know cars or you know farming and it's like they'll ask you a question You got to answer it in the form of a question You know, how do beets grow or I don't know whatever their answers would be to their questions But it's always ended in a form of a question now I'm gonna Give you what I believe to be the answer of the riddle Because that is the answer from their perspective at that time right then right there Because he went and killed that lion and he pulled honey out of the carcass of that lion. But remember, where's Waldo? Where is the Lord Jesus Christ what is sweeter than honey the word of God what is stronger than a lion The Lord Jesus Christ, what's the answer to Samson's riddle Jesus Christ? That's the answer to the riddle and This is important because there is a group faction of people that God does not want to be saved And we need to acknowledge this truth and this story was supposed to show That there are some people that do not or should not or cannot know these truths Turn if you would to Matthew chapter 10 and let me show you what I mean Matthew chapter 10 is from the Lord Jesus Christ telling us Clearly that there are a group of people that he does not want to know the riddle the truth and it says in Matthew chapter 10 verse 9. I'll let you guys get there Matthew 10 First nine No, unfortunately, I have the wrong passage don't I Well, yeah, I have the wrong passage but in the Bible it talks about and There are a group of people the Pharisees the Sadducees You got to think about Pharaoh right these people who have God is hard in their heart the sons of Belial that When they reject the Lord the Lord rejects them and in doing so he says eyes That you cannot see ears that you cannot hear hear so that you can be converted and I should heal you Jesus Christ does not want everyone to be saved and As soon as you swallow that truth is as hard as it is to imagine You know his ways are not our ways and as his thoughts are not our thoughts. So is the heaven above the earth So his thoughts are above our thoughts and we got to remember that as we go around soul winning There may be some people who are trying to figure out the riddle that God does not want to know or how to be saved And that is truly by faith alone in the Lord Jesus Christ It says in Acts 10 43 to him gave all the prophets witness that through his name Whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins and Samson is that character that we could point to in the Bible? Who in a way looks and acts as a soul winner through pulling out the honey out of the carcass of the lion? feeding it to his parents and then in doing so he goes and does not want to show a certain group of people the Answer to the riddle which was Jesus Christ, so The answer to Samson's riddle simply was Jesus our heads and have a word of prayer Dear Heavenly Father. Thank you so much for this evening. Thank you so much for allowing us to hear your word preached Thank you so much for this church all the brothers and sisters here help fill us with your Word and to help fill us with the Holy Spirit and help us all get home safely and just thank you for this opportunity He's Christ and we pray All right, let's go ahead and pull out our hymnals and let's turn to song number 343 343 revive us again 343 Revive us again Sing nice and loud Oh First we praise thee. Oh God for the son For Jesus died Oh Yeah Oh We revive us We praise thee For thy spirit of light Light who has shown us our Savior and scattered Yeah Revive us Praise to the land that was slain who has born Oh Yeah Revive us Fill each heart with Made so be rekindle with fire Yeah Yeah I Revive us And good singing and with that you are dismissed you have a blessed evening You You