"Samson: The Weak Victor"

Sermon Scripture:  Judges 16

Sermon Notes are available for you to follow along below, or for download here.

Sermon Notes:

Samson and Delilah: The Pattern of Sin Continues (16:1-21)

• Samson’s heart used God’s blessings as a reason to forget God.
  
  • In grace, God takes even our weaknesses and failures and uses them ________ us.
    
  • In sin, we take even his gifts and strengths and use them ____________ him.
    
• Samson was unable to see how dependent he was on God’s grace. 
  
  • He had come to see his strength as a right, not a __________.
    
• Notice the trajectory of sin…
  
  • Sin __________.
    
  • Sin __________.
    
  • Sin __________.
    

God’s Grace: Samson’s Hair Grows Back (16:22)

• Samson’s strength had not come from the vows he made, but from the ______ he made them to. 
  
• The God of the Bible is a God of _________, who is faithful to us even when we are unfaithful to him.
  

The Victorious Defeat: Samson Brings the House Down (16:23-31)
What Does the Story of Samson Teach Us?

• We are our own worst enemy.
  
• The world needed someone greater than Samson.
  
  • The high expectations of Samson were finally met in Jesus Christ. 
    
    • Jesus was born miraculously.
      
    • Jesus has incredible strength- over demons, disease, and death.
      
    • Both were betrayed by someone who acted as a friend for pieces of silver and handed over to Gentile oppressors.
      
    • Both were chained and tortured, and put on public display to be mocked. 
      
    • Both were asked to perform (though Jesus, unlike Samson, refused). 
      
    • Like Samson, he died with his arms outstretched. 
      
    • And through that death, when it looked like he was defeated, actually defeated the enemy.
      
  • But unlike Samson…
    
    • Jesus was not put in chains for his sin; he was put in chains for _________. 
      
    • Samson was a strong man made weak through his own sin; Jesus was the mighty God who voluntarily became weak to save us from the chains of our sin.
      
    • With Samson’s burial, his rule was over. But with Jesus’ burial, the story had only just begun. Jesus rules _____________ his grave, not just before it.
      
• It is never too late to cry out to God.