What Makes Strong Men Weak? Series

What Makes Strong Men Weak?

SAMSON Part 1

If you’re a follower of Christ,

then you have within you

a potential for supernatural greatness.

God wants to raise up some spiritual leaders

from people right in this room

who he can use to make a tremendous difference in this world.

This is so important to talk about on Fathers day,

because historically, there's often been

a shortage of godly men.

In fact, I want to start this morning

with one of the most tragic verses in the Bible,

God said in Ezek 22:30 NIV

"I looked for a man among them who would build up the wall and stand before me in the gap, on behalf of the land, so I would not have to destroy it, but I found none.

God said:

...I looked for a man...

But how many did He find?

Scripture says:

...but I found none.

Zero, zippo, not one;

not one man who would stand in the gap!

Maybe if God were speaking that verse today,

He would say:

I'm looking for a man with integrity;

I'm looking for a man of courage;

I'm looking for a man who will stand up for those who cannot stand up for themselves;

I'm looking for a man who would lay down his life to serve his bride

as Christ laid down His life to serve the church.

I'm looking for a man who would speak and model spiritual truth

to the next generation.

I'm looking for a man who would stand in the gap.

And I believe with all of my heart,

if God looked for such a man at this church,

He wouldn't find none,

He’d find many.

I believe that God would find many people

who are so fully committed to Him,

they’d stand in the gap,

they’d do whatever it takes to serve him.

Years ago there was a guy named Henry Varley, in England,

He was talking to a young man from Chicago,

who was visiting England,

and he said this:

The world has yet to see what God can do through one man whose heart is totally surrendered unto Him.

The young man he was talking to was named D.L. Moody.

And Moody heard those words,

and he let them sink in,

and he thought about them,

and it was like they started burning inside him.

A year later he came back to England,

and he found Henry Varley again,

and said, you remember those words you spoke to me?

Varley couldn’t even remember specifically what he’d said.

But Moody reminded him, You said…

The world has yet to see what God can do through one man whose heart is totally surrendered unto Him.

Then Moody said,

I aim to be that man.

And DL Moody became one of the greatest evangelists

of the last several hundred years:

I aim to be that man!

God is looking for men of

integrity and honor and courage and faithfulness…

I aim to be that man.

Today we're starting a new series

studying the life of Samson.

If you want to read ahead,

you can find the story of Samson in Judges Chapter 13 - 16.

Samson's accomplishments are amazing…

But at the same time,

so are his weaknesses.

In fact, he's like a lot of us.

Samson had so much God-given potential;

and yet, again and again he made bad decisions

and pretty much self-destructed.

God had given him, just like you,

so much potential to make a difference with his life;

and yet, again and again, he made poor decisions.

In fact, if I would summarize his life with one statement,:

Samson was an incredibly strong man, with a dangerously weak will.

And that actually describes many of us here:

We’re strong in many ways,

we have a lot or resources, and education, and connections,

We’re stronger than we realize,

which means we have tremendous spiritual potential,

but at the same time

we have a dangerously weak will,

like Samson did.

Let me give you the background of Samson’s story:

Moses led the people of Israel out of Egypt,

through the desert,

but after 40 years in the desert he died,

so Joshua led the people into the promised land,

the land of Israel.

They conquered the land and lived there,

but eventually Joshua died,

and the people turned away from God,

and because of that,

God stopped protecting them and blessing them.

So various enemies were able to conquer them.

At the time of Samson,

the Philistines were in control of Israel.

After years of slavery to the Philistines,

God said, 'Hopefully you've learned your lesson.

So I'm going to raise up a man, Samson,

to help my people get free from bondage to the Philistines.'

So, God sent an angel to this couple