This Father’s Day, we want to look at a man from the Old Testament who had the Holy Spirit fall on him resulting in great miracles. We want to learn how God raised up a man to deal with the problems of his generation and how He is still doing that today. Let’s see how we can be the person that God uses by looking at the life of Sampson.
1. Old Testament Example
1 Corinthians 10: 6 These things happened to them as warnings.
What happened in the physical realm in the Old Testament is in the spiritual realm today.
Judges 2: 18 Whenever The Lord raised up a judge over Israel he was with that judge and rescued the people from their enemies throughout the judges’s lifetime.
2. Sampson
Some may be thinking already, we are going to be looking at a failure to see how to be God’s Man?
I do not want to beat you up this morning. Sampson had some failures, but his name is mentioned in the Hall of Faith in Hebrews 11
- He looked normal so people knew nobody could do this in their own power
- Killed 1000 enemies with a jawbone
- Ripped a lion apart
- Took the gates off a city wall and carried them up to a hill.
- Spirit of The Lord came upon Him
- What came upon him is now residing in us.
- So the question is not what does it take to do great things for God, but what is hindering the Holy Spirit from flowing through us to be God’s Man for this Hour?
3. Stirred
Judges 13: 25 the Spirit of The Lord began to stir him.
Gary Wilkerson EXAMPLE: Spark or Torch. People stirred but only a spark. Last a moment but don’t accomplish anything. Spark is made to ignite something.
1 Samuel 16: 13 and the Spirit of The Lord came powerfully upon David from that day on.
When the Spirit came upon him he guarded it and made sure it kept burning.
We can be stirred but slip back into complacency.
EXAMPLE: Jim Carrey in a speech to graduates. Fear disguised as practicality. The impossibility is out of reach so it is ridiculous to expect it.
God’s Love language is risk.
We are not left alone in this area as God will continually put us in situations where we can be used by him.
4. Don’t realize the Lord’s working
Judges 14: 1 – 4 Didn’t realize it was The Lord at work in this.
We hate confrontation, and many times we dance long circles to avoid it. Miss what God is doing in the circumstances around us each day.
Acts
- Phillip angel of Lord told him to go south down a road. 8: 26
- Ananias Vision to go and pray for Saul 9: 10
- Holy Spirit lead church to send out Paul and Barnabas as missionaries. 13: 2
- Spirit stopped them from going north 16: 7
- Apollos not filled with the Spirit when asked about going to Ephesus. I was thinking about it. 18: 27
Cant live without discernment in these days.
5. Turned aside.
Judges 14: 8 – 9 One of the signs of a Nazarite is not to touch any dead thing.
Taste good for a moment but after the moment, we lose out on what God has for us.
EXAMPLE: spend more time researching what car I am going to buy than digging into the Bible to find out what I am suppose to do in this situation.
We may try to compare ourselves and see that we are not like that person.
- Struggle more often
- Make more mistakes
- Not as disciplined as they are.
Doesn’t mean you are loved any less by the Father
How to stay on the path?
We are accepted by Jesus.
Colossians 1: 21 – 23 This includes you who were once far away from God. you were his enemies, separated from him by you evil thoughts and actions. Yet now he has reconciled you to himself through the death of Christ in his physical body. As a result, he has brought you into his own presence and you are holy and blameless as you stand before him without a single fault. But, you must continue to believe this truth and stand firm in it. Don’t drift away.
Sampson
- Ripped a lion open = satan is a roaring lion
- Destroyed overwhelming enemies with just a jawbone. No power in ourselves
- Carried off a gate, Gates of hell will not prevail against his church.
This is who you are because the spirit of The Lord lives in you. God’s man for this hour.