118: John Thomas Perks - Exhortation: Samson

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1. 0:13

   Welcome to the good Christian talks podcast. I’m Levi. And I’m Chris. Thank you so much for joining us this week. On this podcast, we select one taco week to help each one of us. Get the Bible in our daily news feed. We post at the start of each week for you to listen. With a short intro beforehand to kind of set the stage for the talk here about to here.

2. 0:33

   And now let’s hear more about this week’s talk for this week. We’re listening to a talk that was given by Brother. John Thomas perks from the Ontario Canada achalasia. This is an excitation he gave at the Guyana Ecclesia in South America, and he is taking a look at the struggle that we all face. Going between, what we know that God wants us to do and the pull and the, the distraction of the world. And specifically, he’s looking at the example of Samson and has some interesting insights on the character of Samson and the struggle that he felt throughout his life living as a Nazarite and as a judge.

3. 1:21

   But also, the way he interacted with the Philistines are really interesting expectation. There are a few spots where R. I’m assuming this was done over by Zoom or another video conferencing tool is it but there’s a few spots where you can tell brother Jones connection breaks up a little bit. So there’s a few spots where he sort of cuts off mid statement and then comes back not a bad enough to lose track of the echo of the talk.

4. 1:48

   It happens at opportune moments, but overall was a really good excitation, a good reminder of the struggle that we all face. The temptation of the world and the pull of those in the world to conform to what the world thinks is Right versus what God thinks is, right? So really enjoyed the excitation. It was a recommendation that a sister down in Guyana sent our way and I’m glad she did.

5. 2:17

   It’s a an excellent one and a good reminder especially with everything that’s going on in the world right now. And everyone thinks they have the best solution and they want you to be on board with it. And to convince you of that, it’s a good reminder that. At the plan and what we’re standing for is different than what the world has to offer and is better than anything the world could offer to us.

6. 2:38

   So again, thank you to the sister who sent this excitation in and thank you all for listening. If you have recommendations, please send them in. We can always use them and they’re always appreciated with that. We will turn it over to our brother. John Thomas perks for his extrication on Samson and choosing God over the world this morning. I want to talk about a battle and it’s a battle that I believe at one time or another and all christadelphians lives, we’ve had to fight.

7. 3:11

   When I was a teenager, I would say, I almost lost this battle that we’re going to talk about this morning. And I would say that the enemy still pokes his head, over the distant Hills, once in a while to see if my defenses. Down. I’m at times in our lives and maybe a raging battle one, that we might even be losing.

8. 3:36

   And at times we might enjoy times of peace and this battle I think is really clear. It comes out very clearly in our reading from Thursday in Ezekiel. So if you can just turn real quickly to Ezekiel chapter 20 and just a marvelous After a sad chapter but it just paints everything. So clearly Ezekiel chapter 20 and just read with me, verse 5 and 6, it says, say to them, thus says the Lord God on the day.

9. 4:16

   When I chose Israel, and raised my hand in an oath to the descendants of the House of Jacob and made myself known to them in the land of Egypt. I raised my hand and an oath to them. Say, I am the Lord your God on that day. I raised my hand in an oath to them to bring them out of the land of Egypt into a land that I had searched out for them, flowing with milk and honey, the glory of all lands. So here God is, he’s raising his hand in an oath they saying I chose you and not only did I choose you as my special people, he went out and searched for a land and the glory, the glory of land, that was flowing with milk and honey. And he said, I raise my hand that I would bring you into that land, they were his people and he was their God, you know what, a tremendous thing.

10. 5:17

    This is the creator of all things. Saying, I picked you. It was a great calling and it had tremendous benefit. And it had very serious responsibilities. They were to devote themselves fully to God no more Idols, no more Idols of Egypt. No more Idols of the lands around them. They were to live lives of purpose.

11. 5:44

    God’s purpose and what was their response. If you jump over 20:32, look at their response to this. And God says, what you have in your mind shall never be when you We will be like the Gentiles like the families and other countries serving wood and Stone. That was their response to this wonderful calling of God.

12. 6:14

    It was, we don’t want to be special, we don’t want to be different. They were saying, we don’t want your ways. In fact, when you get right down to it, they were saying to their Heavenly. Father, we don’t want you. That’s astounding, but it’s not such a foreign concept. This isn’t something that Just written a long time ago and you know, these things were written for our learning for our instruction and so we might look at our lives and say, you know what I was, I was born into a Christian delphian family. I was raised with those beliefs.

13. 6:57

    I was taught the gospel. And you make me in the same situation. You’ve always been raised with this or you may have been taught the truth. And now you are you know God has still picked you, you’ve been chosen by God and yet there’s this Relentless pressure from the world, the world is constantly staying with conform, be like us, choose our ways knock-offs. and ultimately at some point in their lives, well that battle might be going on as I mentioned sometimes it might be raging sometimes it might be at peace, we have to decide do I want to be gods or do I want to be the world’s and sometimes people come right out and say it like they did in Ezekiel they say I don’t want God and I don’t want his ways and sometimes people don’t say that with words, but Our actions speak loud and clear.

14. 8:04

    And I was thinking of Malachi, we don’t have to turn there but in Malachi, you know, God, confronts the people, and they’re shocked. They say, in what ways have we defiled your name? And he says, you know, by offering blind and lame in the offerings. So, by their actions they were saying we don’t want you God, Now I want to examine this battle.

15. 8:28

    This Battle of God has chosen us and he’s given us tremendous blessings. That’s a long time. He said. So what after 13 just to set the context, Judges chapter 13? And in the first five verses we read about Samson’s parents and here it says again, the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord and the Lord delivered them into the hand of the Philistines for 40 years and there was a certain man from Zora of the family of the danites whose name was manoah and his wife was Barren and had no children. The means of the Lord appeared to the woman and said to her, indeed, now you are Barren and have for no children but you shall conceive and bear a son now. Therefore, please be careful not to drink wine or similar drink and not to eat anything unclean for behold. You shall conceive and bear a son, and no Reiser shall come upon his head with a child, shall be a Nazarite to God from the womb and he shall begin to deliver. So the wife of Manoa has to commit to a certain lifestyle not only for herself but for her son as we read in those verses Samson was chosen and he was chosen to be separate. He was to be an we first three and four it says from the seed to the skin of the grape they were to have none of it that was rule.

16. 10:16

    Number one rule number two is is no cutting of your hair and rule number three that they were never to touch anything any dead bodies. Now, keep this in mind, this is the life that was chosen for Samson.

17. 10:35

    It was a, it was an understanding that was struck between this Angel and Samson’s, mom seems in had no say in the deal. This is the life that was chosen for him and there was tremendous Just blessings. You know, I think every young christadelphians boy, when they read the stories of Samson pictured themselves with enormous strength and being able to do tremendous things.

18. 11:00

    I mean, this is a super hero in real life. So tremendous blessings that power that he had, but there was tremendous responsibilities, he was to be separated to God, he was to serve his heavenly father. And so what we see is, Mixed with these exploits where he went against the Philistines. Is this dangerous game where he’s flirting with the ways of the Philistines?

19. 11:30

    And we have to ask what’s going on here? You know, this is a man who’s been chosen by God and he has all his power and he has all these blessings. And yet, he’s flirting with the Philistines and accepting sent, you know, sort of enticed by their ways and getting closer and Closer to them in his life. And so as I was thinking about this I thought well what was what was Samson’s greatest challenge in his life? Was it motivation?

20. 12:01

    You know, it seems like the only time he really struck the Philistines was when he had been insulted or when he had been offended, or when he had been provoked and then he would go out and he would, he would go out and the Philistines. So was it motivation are was, is Big Challenge.

21. 12:21

    The eye. Will battles with the Philistines. Was that as big as challenge. Or was it the third option? Which I think? Is that the one that I’ve settled on, I think Samson’s biggest challenge was his internal struggle. I think he was saying, is this really what I want? You, I want what my family has chosen for me.

22. 12:47

    Do I want their beliefs, do I want this calling to be a Nazarite? Do I want to be different? Do I want all these rules in my life? Or do I want this lifestyle? I see around me this Freedom, that the people around me seem to have And so there was this an enticement to those ways and I think that’s a familiar struggle and that’s the battle I was talking about at the beginning that we all have to fight at some time in our lives.

23. 13:18

    Is this really what I want? Or is the world what I want. Now I’m convinced that Samson went back and forth on this his parents like our parents would have taught him about God, they would have taught him about his ways, they would have talked about this, angel coming and speaking to them, they would have talked about their hope. And he would have seen in his own life, the power of God, he would have been shown the benefits and the honor All the Privileges of being chosen by God and then there would be this temptation of leaving, it all behind and just breaking it loose and being like everybody else. And that’s what the people in Ezekiel said, we will be like the Gentiles will serve Stone and wood. And God was saying, no, you’re not going to, but that was their heart.

24. 14:18

    We just want to be like everyone else. So C is this true of Samson’s? Like, if we can know that you definitely didn’t seem to be excited about being an azeri. When you, if you ever get a chance and you do a comparison between Samuel and Samson, you don’t vastly different lives. Both from mothers who couldn’t have children, both promised to have a son Samuels, whole life is dedicated to God.

25. 14:48

    You never see him wavering. You never see him thinking, Maybe you know, maybe I’d like to marry a Philistine woman like his horse is straight and it’s always towards God and Samson’s just all over the place. So let’s looking and Judges chapter. 14, Judges chapter 14 verse 1. It says he’s attracted to a Philistine girl.

26. 15:15

    It says now, Samson went down to timna and saw a woman and timna of the daughters of the Philistines. And despite his parents protest, he’s determined, no, no, this is she makes me happy. This is the girl. I want in Chapter 14, verse 5, it says so Samson. Went down to Timba with his father and mother and came to The Vineyards of timna. Now, some point here, it seems like his parents, he got away from his parents a little bit and he goes into a Vineyard and this is where he kills this young lion. And then he doesn’t tell his parents. I’m the reason he doesn’t tell his parents because the first thing is parents are going to say, is what were you doing in a Vineyard?

27. 15:56

    You know, why would he go to a place of great Temptation, if he’s not supposed to touch from seed to skin? He’s not supposed to eat or drink from seed to skin. What is he doing in a Vineyard? And I think this is the beginning of that game. Where he’s that temptation? Is there in Chapter 14? Verse 10.

28. 16:18

    It says so, as far Their wings down to the woman and Sampson gave us. He’s there for the young for young man, used to do so, so here he is. He’s partying with the Philistines and judges 16, which we read this morning, you know, he’s with a harlot from Gaza, you know, this is not the life that Samuel lived.

29. 16:39

    We see this. This enticement to the world’s ways in Samson and in Judges chapter 16, which Which we had read for us. This is this is a troubling chapter. Rockets Sampson and I’ve always wondered this and I’m sure many of us have could Samson. I’ve been so foolish to let this happen. So, like in verse 7, you know, Delilah’s pestering them, he says, well, you know, if you tie me up with seven fresh bowstrings, you know, then then I’ll become like other men and he wakes up in the morning and he’s tied up with seven fresh bowstrings, okay coincidence. And then in verse 11, you know, she passed through them again, verse 11, he says, if they bind me securely with new ropes that had never been used, He wakes up in the morning and he’s tied up with new ropes that had never been used. And I’m sure he’s beginning to see a pattern and then she pesters them again.

30. 17:48

    I will if you leave he tells me we’ve my hair Seven Locks of my hair in Tulum, then I lose my power in, he wakes up and it’s happening, it’s happening again. Didn’t he know what was going to happen when he told her the truth? Some And I don’t think I think she knew what was going on.

31. 18:10

    He I think he knew and every time he’s getting a little bit closer, to the fact it’s his hair. I think he’s in this, he’s a willing participant in this game where he is toying with being just like everyone else and giving up like they did in Ezekiel, we just want to be like the Gentiles He’s flirting with the idea of not being Sanctified and being just like everyone else.

32. 18:40

    Maybe he was enticed by the idea of no more responsibilities and no more pressure and can you hear? I’m saying, To his parents, I didn’t choose this, I didn’t choose to be a Nazarite, you did write something. We may have heard from our young people or ourselves at some point in time. I think there’s there’s three Universal dangerous things that are happening here.

33. 19:10

    In his battle for Faith. And the first one is in verse 16, it says, and it came to pass when she Pastor Tim Daly with her words. She pestered him daily. That is our world. Our world through social media, and billboards and TV. And radio testers us 24/7. Be like us, follow our ways. Think like we do, It’s little endless and she was relentless. It says he was vexed to death and then a second thing, the second Universal dangerous element is in verse 19. It says, then she lulled him to sleep. And isn’t that our world?

34. 20:01

    We want to be diligent and vibrant and passionate for our God, and our world, our world just loathe To sleep. It makes her. It makes her spiritual senses dull. And the third thing that was dangerous, and I think it’s Universal, we have to be aware of it. Is that his heart was an anchored, he was back and forth used.

35. 20:28

    He was passionate for God, and then he was passionate for Philistine ways. And what does it say over and over one of the great bible study tools that I was taught was look for repeating words, look for repeating phrases and in this chapter is a phrase that comes up a number of times.

36. 20:50

    And it’s at the end of verse 7, it says, when he’s explaining about the, how he will lose his power, he says, then I shall become weak and be like any other man, and it comes up in verse 7. It comes up and burst Lemon in. It comes up in verse 17, and literally in the Hebrew, it means I’ll be as one of mesh, or I’ll be like, mankind, or I won’t be different from other men.

37. 21:22

    I’ll be like other men when you do this, I’ll be like other men, and how is he saying it? Is he saying it with a little sparkling as I little hope, you know, women be great to just be like other men. men, as they said in Ezekiel, we just want to be like the Gentiles, A 17. It says, he told her all his heart. You know what did that involve?

38. 21:48

    Did it involve his frustrations, his struggles with being a Nazarite, the expectations, but in the end, what he did was he had chosen the world and what was the result? And I think this is something we all have to do. If we’re in this battle we have to think beyond the the battle right now and say, okay, what are the consequences of this decision? Look at verse 20, here’s the consequences. This isn’t.

39. 22:21

    She said that it fills the Philistines are upon you since. So we awoke from his sleep and said I will go out as before at other times and shake myself free. But he did not know that the Lord had departed from him and I have a little footnote, it’s my own footnote and I put it in there. And I quote in, he got what he wished he became. Like every other man.

40. 22:50

    So what’s the lesson in Ezekiel and it was Samson God hand-picked them, they were they were special in his eyes. We have been handpicked by our heavenly father, then we have enormous blessings and we have enormous responsibilities in First Peter chapter 2 verses 9 through 10. If I could we could just read that First Peter chapter 2 Think about how we can chosen by God, it says but you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, his own special people that you may proclaim the Praises of him who called you out of Darkness Into His Marvelous Light.

41. 23:42

    Who once were not a people but are now the people of God who had not obtained Mercy, but now have obtained Mercy. Awesome. Hope we have.

42. 23:54

    Here, we’ve been called to be separate to have an act of conscience, and yes, there are responsibilities, but it gives us a purpose to this life and it gives us a purpose. Be honest. Like and we can have all that or we can be like every other man. Samson thought he was freeing himself, he thought he was going to be free, but look at what happened and go back in and verse 21.

43. 24:24

    I’m just 16. And this is so true. This is the freedom of the world. If we choose to be like every other man, here’s what we get. Key becomes verse 21. It says the Philistines took them and put out his eyes. Yes. The first thing we become blind. The people in this world are blind, they have no vision, they’re groping through life, day to day with no hope. What else happens?

44. 24:58

    They took them put out his eyes and brought them down to gas that they bound him with bronze, feathers, he becomes a slave, he thought he was getting Freedom. He became a slave and people are slaves to sin, and they don’t even know it, he became destined to death. And what was, what was his job.

45. 25:19

    Now, they bound him with bronze Fetters, and he became a grinder in the prisons. And I’ve seen pictures where, you know, he’s pushing this this Millstone, he’s pushing this bar around and around and around, and isn’t that life without a hope. We just go around and around and around in circles until we die. That’s what he chose and that’s the only other choice. Other than the blessings of God is a life of slavery of blindness going around and around in circles until we die. That’s what being like any other man will ultimately get you. Why would we ever choose that over the gift of God? let’s just go to a couple passages just to remind us of what we’ve been chosen to be a part of we go to Ephesians, please Ephesians chapter 1,

46. 26:24

    Verses 3 through 6, it says blessed be the God and father of our Lord. Jesus Christ who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing. In the Heavenly places in Christ just as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world that we should be holy. And Without Blame before him in love having predestined us to adoption. action as Sons by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of the glory of his grace by which he made us accepted in the Beloved, In 2:1 of Ephesians and you, he made alive who were dead in trespasses and sins and then just look at verses four through five, but God who is rich in Mercy because of his great love with which he loved us.

47. 27:27

    And even when we were dead in trespasses made us alive together, with Christ by Grace, you have been saved. Think about those blessings adoption as Sons heirs to the kingdom of God. The choice should be so clear and it’s ironic that when Samson was strong and he had his sight, he couldn’t see the truth. And yet when he was blinded and when he was weak, he was finally able to see the value of what he had been given. There are many, many people who have chosen, the path that Samson was choosing and I don’t want to say that Samson won’t be in the Kingdom that end of his life when he turned to, God may speak very loudly.

48. 28:18

    But there are people that choose to walk away from the promises of God and become like every other man, there are way too many people, right at the Finish Line, who are so distracted by the temporary that they’re losing sight of the Eternal. So may, we never choose to be like every other man.

49. 28:41

    And as we turn our attention to the bread and the wine to the son of man who from a very early age, knew that he was to be about his father’s business. It was a calling that would have a tremendous cost, he would go through tremendous suffering, and he would have tremendous Temptations, but he never wavered. And yet he for the joy that was set before him. Endured the cross despising, the shame and has sat down at the right hand of the Throne of God.

50. 29:15

    So as you partake of the bread and the wine, you know, I appreciate that. We’ve been called that we’ve been separated that we have this hope in these blessings that we’ve been called to be by our God to be a part of his family. Thank you. Thank you for listening to the good Christian talks podcast. Please Subscribe for new episodes and leave a review and apple podcast or whatever service you are listening from to help people find the show when they search for it. If you enjoyed this talk, share it on social media so other people can find it to for show notes and links to the talk that you just listen to visit our show page at anchor dot f, m / G.

51. 30:01

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52. 30:25

    Thank you for listening. God bless and talk to you next week.