Practical solutions to fight for the faith (Jude 17-23)

CMC 2009 Winter Retreat, January 3, 2009

1. To fight for the faith, you need to keep yourselves in God’s love by fixing your eyes on the mercy of Jesus Christ that will sustain you.

Jude says in Jude 21, “Keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life.”

This is the important strategy to fight for your faith. To fight for the faith, you need to always ground yourselves in God’s love for you.

As a preacher, I am always looking for modern parables that illustrate for me the reality of God’s love for us. Well, it came to me few weeks ago when I was watching Fox network’s new reality show promo called “Secret Millionaire.” The first episode was aired on 12/3.  It is a modern-day twist on “The Prince and the Pauper.”  It takes America’s wealthiest individuals away from their luxurious lifestyles with huge mansions, private jets, spending $5,000 easily for a dinner.  It takes them away from their unbelievably rich lifestyles and places them undercover into some of the most impoverished neighborhoods in America. 

Embedded into these impoverished neighborhoods, they are to live on minimum wages.  Their goal is to befriend those in need and decide to give their own $100,000 to one of them in need.

The one I watched featured a businessman/entrepreneur Greg Haerr, who’s got a small fleet of airplanes, a helicopter, Ferrari 512 TR, two yellow Porsche Cabriolets, Rolls-Royses, lives in a mansion 7500 square feet.  And, he said in the beginning of the show, “If any body deserves to live like a king, it would be me… If you can treat yourself, uh, to the good life, you know who’s gonna do it for you?”  You get the idea.  I was quite irritated by this self absorbed snob say the least.

Well, he leaves it all behind for a short time and gets embedded into North Las Vegas where the crime rate is the double the national average with over 12,000 people living in the streets; he gets to live in the North side of Las Vegas where not only him, but most of the people who travel to Vegas never even know exists in such a poor condition.

He finds a place to stay at a cockroach infested motel; he doesn’t have enough money to stay so he works there to stay, cleaning, taking out trashes… He finds three individuals to help; a lady who runs a community center to give foods and other goods to those in need, a boy named “Wheels” with Spina Bifida who rides his wheelchairs like it is a skateboard and a lady who runs a placed called “Street Teens,” a homeless shelter for teens.  He gave $30,000, $20,000 and $100,000 to these three individuals.  The most moving parts of the whole episode were about how these three individuals responded when they were given these unexpected gifts.  I was especially moved by Lisa who runs Street Teens. The building they were renting to run the shelter was foreclosed and they were on 60 days notice to vacate the property.  As of Greg’s visit, they were dangerously close to having to shut down the program; you can see in Lisa’s face.  She was cheerfully working, yet you could see her thinking, “What if, nothing comes through…”   To hope without knowing how it is going to work out is not easy.  When Greg revealed his true identity Lisa was stunned, shocked; she was deeply grateful to receive this totally unexpected gift of money to find a new place to continue their program from this guy who she thought was doing a documentary on poverty.

I have to admit though that I felt very cynical about this multi-millionaire who at the end of the show riding on a limo and saying, “This experience has changed me forever.”  I keep thinking what is $150,000 to a guy who has about fifty million dollars?  Later I calculated and it is about 0.003% of his wealth.  How does giving away 0.003% of your wealth really change your life? If you earned $40,000 last year, it would be equivalent to giving away precisely $120. Can anyone of us having earned $40,000 and giving away 0.003% last year in the amount of $120 make this millionaire’s claim, “This experience has changed me forever.” None of us in the right frame of mind would make this claim. $150,000 sounds a lot, but as giving away $120 from your $40,000 doesn’t hurt you at all, it makes virtually no difference to a millionaire. It is no sacrifice at all!

Now, consider Jesus Christ Sovereign and Lord. Jesus wouldn’t make silly statement like this millionaire, “This experience has changed me forever,” after giving away his 0.003 5 of his wealth. But, the statement Jesus would make is “My giving will change you forever.” He gave it all. He gave his blood, he gave his body, he gave it all for you and me. Now, that’s sacrificial love to brag about.

2. To fight for the faith you need to do life together

Jude 20 gives us another command, “But you, dear friends, build yourselves up in your most holy faith…”

This command is really subordinated to Jude 21 of keeping yourselves in God’s love. The logic would be to keep yourselves in God’s love you work on building yourselves up in your most holy faith.

It is important to notice that Jude doesn’t call us individually to build our faith. Instead, Jude’s emphasized the corporate nature of building together. The idea here is that we cannot build faith apart from the body of Christ. 1 Peter 2:5 says, “you… like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house…” When you build, you build it together.

In a corporate setting like this, as we have fellowship with each other, talking about how God is moving you and me, listen to the word of God and express our appreciation, our passion, our love to God in songs, we can grow together.

Just to verify if this rings truth for us, would you raise your right hand high if you feel built up this weekend?

And, as you feel built up, do you also feel closer to God? And, as you feel built up and feel closer to God, do you feel like you can run harder, faster?

This is why doing life together is so important. You do life together in Christ! That is how you are going build yourselves upon in your most holy faith.

3. To fight for the faith you got to pray in the Holy Spirit

This is a call to pray according to the Spirit’s will to accomplish God’s work by God’s power.

How do you know the Spirit’s will? 1) by the word of God prompted for specific situation, 2) by the situation prompting by the Holy Spirit.  Obedience to the word of God makes it possible for us to obey the Holy Spirit when he prompts us in situations.

4. To fight for the faith, practice mercy for those who doubt

Fight for the faith won’t happen unless we are captivated by God’s mercy and express God’s mercy. 

When I visited House of Prayer, a church serving homeless people and homeless people serving in Chicago, I witnessed how people who have so little expressed their joy in Jesus Christ in their worship, in their testimonies and in their prayers.  They have been deeply touched by God of mercy and it showed! 

To possess the guts to fight for the faith, Jude calls us to show mercy to those who doubt.  In order to show mercy, we must have the firsthand experience of God's mercy. 

5. To fight for the faith is to look for those who need to be snatched from the fire and be saved.

Jude's call for us to snatch others from the fire and save them reminds me of Zechariah 3:1-10.  In this passage, you find a high priest named Joshua who was snatched from the fire.  Before the angel of the Lord, stood Joshua, the high priest, but standing at his right side was Satan who heaped accusations against Joshua.  And, the Lord said to Satan, "LORD rebuke you, Satan!  The LORD, who has chosen Jerusalem, rebuke you!  Is not this man a burning stick snatched from the fire?"  And, along with the Lord's defense against Satan's accusations and his rescue, he also ordered Joshua's filthy clothes be taken off, to take away his sin and to put rich garments on him.  This is a beautiful picture of how God delivers people out of the power of Satan and establishes their righteousness in him. 

To fight for the faith means we as Christians look for opportunities to be used by God to deliver those who are being tormented by Satan's accusations and his power. 

6. To fight for the faith, you got to learn to hate sin.

Hating even the clothing stained (filthy with excrement) by corrupted flesh (sinful flesh)... how we need this holy hatred against sin.  To fight for the faith, we need to be brutally honest before God who searches us and knows everything about us, even better than we know ourselves.  Sin of unbelief, sin of lust, sin of laziness, sin of all shapes and sizes must be dealt with brutal honest before God.

And, to genuinely hate sin, our love for Jesus Christ needs to be real and grow deeper. 

1 Samuel 15, The Lord is my Banner!

During the American Civil War, General Robert E. Lee was most idolized and famous commander of all Confederate commanders. Next to him was General Thomas J. Jackson. He was a professor from Virginia Military Institute; he trained and led the famous Stone Brigade of the Confederate Army. He implemented a severe and vigorous training program and turned untrained recruits into an effective military organization.

General Jackson earned his famous nick name, “Stonewall” from the First Battle of Bull Run in 1861. He advanced his troops to a place called Manassas. When they arrived, they saw other Confederates retreating from the battle. General Jackson prevented the retreat. Jackson had his men lined up at the top of a hill and had them for action. They didn’t budge; they stood like a stonewall. General Barnard Bee another Confederate general tried to rally his retreating troops back to line up and fight. So, he shouted to his troops, “See, there is Jackson, standing like a stone wall. Rally behind the Virginians.” This is how he earned his nickname as General “Stonewall” winning the First Battle of Bull Run.

A similar theme runs through the Bible. When God freed the Israelites from the oppressive rule under Egypt through his demonstration of miraculous power, the ultimate destiny for the Israelites’ journey was to get to the Promised Land. In their journey to the Promised Land, one nation stood out like a sore thumb, the Amalekites. In Exodus 17, the Amalekites although unprovoked fought came and attacked the Israelites at Raphidim. Moses sent out Joshua along with other men to fight the Amalekites. While the Israelites fought, Moses went to the top of the hill and held up his hands high. As long as he held his hands up high, the Israelites were winning; when he bought them down, the Amalekites were winning. When his muscles froze and he could no longer raised his hands up, Aaron and Hur held his hands up-one on one side, one on the other- so that his hands remained steady until sunset. So Joshua overcame the Amalekite army with the sword.

There at Raphidim where the Israelites won against the Amalekites, Moses built an altar and called it The LORD is my Banner. And Moses said, “For hands were lifted up to the throne of the LORD. The LORD will be at war against the Amalekites from generation to generation. In the ancient wars, the troops fought under their banners and their banners represented who they were fighting for. In the case of Israel, their Banner was the LORD. They were fighting for the LORD’s battles.

The story of Exodus 17 portrays Christian spiritual journey well. We are called out of darkness into the light of Jesus Christ. And, we journey under the Banner of our Lord Jesus Christ and we are called to fight for God’s kingdom. In this kingdom journey, we face the giant, the Amalekites. Apostle Paul puts it this way in Ephesians 6:12, “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. And, we are called to “stand our ground” to “stand firm” under the Banner of our Lord Jesus against these forces of evil.

Now going back to Exodus 17, if you fast forward about four hundred years from the time of Moses, you arrived at the period of 1 Samuel, specifically the time of Saul. Today’s passage, 1 Samuel 15 continues to tell the story of Saul. As Moses and Joshua were called to come under the Banner of the LORD and fight against the Amalekites, the Lord the Banner over him called Saul to fight his battle!

1. The Lord the Banner over you calls you to fight and eliminate any element in your life that frustrates God’s kingdom purpose.

The Lord of the Banner what we saw in Exodus 17 now comes to Saul and tells him in 1 Samuel 15:2-3, “I will punish the Amalekites for what they did to Israel when they waylaid them as they came up from Egypt” and the Lord tells him specifically, “Now go, attack the Amalekites and totally destroy everything that belongs to them. Do not spare them; put to death men and women, children and infants, cattle and sheep, camels and donkeys.”

We got to understand this chilling command to annihilate the Amalekites in the broader context. In the supreme knowledge of God, everyone one of the Amalekites were doomed to destruction. They sealed their own destruction when they were bent on attacking the Israelites, to hall the Israelites from reaching to the Promised Land. Deuteronomy 25:18 says

“they had no fear of God.” When they attacked the Israelites, they were really attacking God who was advancing his kingdom agenda to bless the Israelites. God was going to put a stop to the Amalekites’ attack on Israel and to God. This is what was behind God’s command for Saul to completely destroy and annihilate the Amalekites. It was about eliminating the element that tried to frustrate God’s kingdom plan and purpose. God’s purpose would not be thwarted.

Remember, God’s call to Saul was for complete destruction, elimination of the Amalekites in order to stop them from frustrating God’s kingdom purpose of the Israelites. And, this command was to be taken very seriously.

2. God takes our sins personally.

When the Lord gives his command, he gives us the power to do his will. So, since the Lord gave Saul the charge to destroy the Amalekites, it is not surprising to see Saul successfully raising two-hundred ten thousand foot soldiers.

Verse 7 describes the widespread extent of successful attack; Saul and the army was able to capture Agag the king of the Amalekites alive and destroy all his people.

Then, there is the very important word in the Bible, “But” in verse 9. It says, “But, Saul and the army spared Agag and the best of the sheep and cattle, the fat calves, and lambs-everything that was good. These they were unwilling to destroy completely, but everything that was despised and weak they totally destroyed.

It seemed everything was going well. They successfully cease the Amalekites since the Lord helped them. All they had to do now was to carry through the Lord’s command to destroy completely. But, they didn’t. There was no ambiguity in what God told Saul to do; God called for the complete destruction of the Amalekites. But, only thing that they destroyed was what they deemed as repulsive and useless. What looked good to them, they saved them.

Verse 10, God said to Samuel, “I am grieved that I have made Saul the king, because he turned away from me and has not carried my instructions.” Ephesians 4:30 says, “And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.”

Our God is person, not a cosmic or good force. Our sins, our unwillingness to carry out his kingdom purpose grieves him; our sins always personally offend God.

And, we also see what an awesome leader Samuel was. The fact that God was grieved over Saul’s disobedience troubled him and it says he cried out to the LORD all that night. Samuel was a leader whose heart beat after God’s heart beats; Samuel was a man of prayer.

3. The anatomy of disobedience.

From verse 12-33 where Samuel confronts Saul, we see clearer picture emerging the motivation behind Saul and his men’s flagrant disobedience.

a. We disobey God because we honor ourselves more than we honor God.

Verse 12 says that Saul set up a monument in his own honor. When God called for completely destruction of the Amalekites, it was because God took personally their attack on his people. It was because the Amalekites were trying to frustrate the will of God. But, Saul by his action of not carrying out God’s wish, his will, it showed he didn’t care what mattered to God. And, the fact he built a monument to commemorate the victory as though he made it happened tells the depth of his pride, arrogance. Saul honored himself more than he honored God because he gave into the pride.

b. We disobey God because we love the pleasure of sin more than pleasing God.

The reason that they were unwilling to destroy completely in verse 9 was because they delighted in the good stuff more than delighting in pleasing God. Think of the things that you do that you know as sins. Why do you do them although you know they are not good? It is because your delight, your love for sin outweighs love for God.

c. We disobey God because we deceive ourselves.

Verse 12, we see Saul greeting Samuel as though nothing was wrong. “Hi, Samuel. What’s going on?” When Samuel confronted him about the noises of the animals spared, Saul rationalized in verse 15, “they spared the best of the sheep and cattle to sacrifice to the LORD your God, but we totally destroyed the rest.” Well, the problem with this is it was not what God told them to do. And, they rationalized, justified their wrong doing by sugar coating as though it was a good thing. We disobey God because we deceive ourselves.

The rationalization and the blame shifting instead of taking the responsibility for sin is nothing new. This was a pattern set from the very beginning of mankind. When God confronted Adam, “Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?” Adam shifted the blame on Eve and on God; “The woman you put here with me- she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it” Genesis 3:11-12.

When Moses confronted Aaron, “What did these people to do you, that you led them into such great sin?” in Exodus 32:21. Aaron responded, “You know how prone these people are to evil. They said to me, ‘Make us gods who will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who brought us up out of Egypt, we don’t know what has happened to him.’ So, I told them, ‘Whoever has any gold jewelry, take it off.’ Then they gave me the gold, and I threw it into the fire, and out came this calf!”

d. We disobey God because we fear men more than fear God.

Saul confessed after trying to rationalize his sin away in verse 24, “I was afraid of the people and so I gave in to them.” When he feared his men more than fearing God he listened to them and obeyed them instead of listening and obeying God.

e. We disobey God because we think we know what’s good for us.

Verse 23 says, “rebellion is like the sin of divination.” Divination is any attempt to find God’s will by bypassing God. It is an attempt to find what’s good for us without trusting what God says about us. When we give in to this, disobedience follows.

f. We disobey God because we set ourselves as our own king.

Verse 23 again says, “arrogance like the evil of idolatry.” Pride is to think that we know what’s good for us. And, when we give into the arrogance, we set out to please ourselves, our will, thereby we make ourselves king.

g. We cannot serve God out of partial disobedience.

Psalm 50:16-17, “But to the wicked, God says: ‘What right have you to recite my laws or take my covenant on your lips? You hate my instruction and cast my words behind you.”

Psalm 119:139, “My zeal wears me out, for my enemies ignore your words.”

Saul asking for forgiveness was not genuine as it was not in the case of Pharaoh. Exodus 10:16-17, “Pharaoh quickly summoned Moses and Aaron and said, ‘I have sinned against the LORD your God and against you. Now forgive my sin once more and pray to the LORD your God to take this deadly plague away from me.” Asking for forgiveness was really about his attempt to get off easy from all the deadly plague.

Partial obedience is not obedience at all. And, without complete obedience, we cannot serve God.

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[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stonewall_Brigade

Sunday Sermon, Ruth 1:1-6, In the midst of emptiness, do you hear that God is on the move?

Today, we are going to consider the book of Ruth, 1:1-6. The story of Ruth took place in the period of Judges according 1:1. This makes Judges an induction to Ruth.

As an introduction to Ruth, let me quickly summarize what we’ve seen and learned from Judges.

Having journeyed through the book of Judges, what we have learned is a spiritual downward pattern in all aspects of people’s lives. It began with Judges 2:10-12. After that whole generation had been gathered to their fathers, another generation grew up, who knew neither the Lord nor what he had done for Israel. Then the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the LORD, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of Egypt. They followed and worshiped various gods of the peoples around them.”

And, we saw how God raised up different judges to in order to deliver the Israelites out of the oppression and moral decays. And, we learned about Othniel an outstanding Judge; we also learned about Deborah, an outstanding woman of God. But, we learned that things got worse quickly as we considered the remaining judges.

Gideon was skeptical and distrusting of God. He sought to manipulate God’s assurance to compensate his lack of faith asking signs from God numerous times. And, he ended up making an ephod against God’s prescribed law. Gideon told the Israelites that he wasn’t going to be their king since God was their King. But, he betrayed his own confession by living lavishly like a king. He ended up leading the whole generation of the Israelites into the path of apostasy. Judges 9:33-34 described the effect of his sinful choice; “No sooner had Gideon died than the Israelites again prostituted themselves to the Baals. They set up Baal Berith as their god and did not remember the LORD their God, who had rescued them from the hands of all their enemies on every side.”

And, we saw Abimelech, Gideon’s son, blinded by his own ambition to become a king, how he killed all his brothers with one stone, all seventy of them.

Then, we learned the story of Jephthah who was out to manipulate God. He paid for it when he rashly made the vow to sacrifice whatever came out to greet him, only to find out that it was his own daughter. Instead of seeking God’s mercy and forgiveness for making the rash vow, we saw he went ahead and killed her as though God would be pleased. How wrong he was.

Then, last few weeks we considered the story of Samson. Contrary to what’s commonly believed about Samson, we learned from chapter 13-16 that Samson was a man who squandered away God’s great blessings and calling upon him. He couldn’t control the lustful impulse. He lived by his physical sight, not by faith. At the end of his life, he lost his eyes that led him astray; he was shacked to his angles, preventing him from going where he wanted to go. And, he was given dehumanizing task of grinding grains like a donkey.

And, through all these years, it was the LORD who raised the enemies against Israel in order to discipline them, desiring that they would turn to God.

Now in Ruth, we see that there was a famine in the land. We might be tempted to explain the famine as a nature’s fluke.

But, we see in many places in the Bible how God warned the Israelites that he would send famine along with many other curses if they would forsake him and live by the sight to feed their fleshly desire. Deuteronomy 28:24 says, “The LORD will turn the rain of your country into dust and powder; it will come down from the skies until you are destroyed; verse 48 says, “therefore in hunger and thirst, in nakedness and dire poverty, you will serve the enemies the LORD sends against you.” And, Leviticus 26:20 says, “Your strength will be spent in vain, because your soil will not yield its crops, nor will the trees of the land yield their fruit.”

1. There in the foreign land, tragedies after tragedies…

It is not always wise to assume all natural phenomena as God’s means to curse disobedience. But, in the case of the famine that is described in Ruth 1:1, it is highly likely that it was brought upon the land of Israel because they had forsaken God and did whatever their flash desired… doing evil against God.

The man named Elimelech, his wife Naomi, and their two sons left their home in Bethlehem in Judah to the foreign land, the country of Moab. Bethlehem means “house of bread.” But, there was hardly any bread left in the “house of bread” for the famine was severe. Leaving their home country, they went to a place in Moab, a strange and foreign land, perhaps thinking that would be better off in foreign country than in their home.

Verse 3 tells us that Elimelech died leaving Naomi alone with her two sons. It doesn’t say when he died, but the way it is phrased, it gives an impression that he died not too long after they moved to Moab. The two sons Mahlon and Kilion married the Moabites, Orpah and Ruth. But, only after ten years living in Moab, both of the sons died; Naomi was left only with her two daughters-in-law. Tragedies upon tragedies…

Adding to Naomi’s insult, in those ten some years, both of Naomi’s sons died without any children. As in the case of the famine, God also listed childlessness among the curses to deal with disobedience. Deuteronomy 28:18, “The fruit of your womb will be curse, and the crops of your land, and the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks.” Again, it is not wise to automatically assume childlessness as God’s curse. Hannah was a godly woman; Elizabeth was godly woman; yet they were childless for long, long time before God opened their wombs to have children. Yet, in this story of Naomi and her two daughters-in-law, considering the level of apostasy in Israel, one must ponder if childlessness of Ruth and Orpah was the effect of the apostasy.

Verse 5 says, “Naomi was left without her two sons and her husband.” We can draw from this verse how Naomi must felt. It was hard enough that her husband died prematurely. But, her two sons died leaving no children behind them. Now in old age, she was left with two foreign daughters-in-law. She was a widow in her old age; and her daughters-in-law were also now widows in young age; they lived in the time when a husband provided and protected his family. Now, all three of them were widows without provision or protection from their men. Who would look after Naomi and two daughters-in-law?

2. God takes note of you and he is on the move to be your sole provider.

The great thing about the Bible stories is that when we think that there simply is no hope whatsoever, when we think that God’s hand is heavy upon us, when we think we cannot go on any more, somehow we find that God is on the move!

Until verse 6, all we witnessed was tragic deaths of all men in a household; no children in the family; living in the foreign, strange land; no hope for provision or protection. What were they to do?

But, we see that in verse 6 God was on the move. “She heard in Moab that the LORD had come to the aid of his people by providing food for them.” God’s hand of discipline was heavy on disobedient Israel. But, his promise was, is and will always be his swift move to deliver his people when they turn to him, when they return to him. But, God knows that left to us alone, we would be hopeless to turn to him. Left to us alone, we would be without protection or provision against the ties of the devil prowling to destroy us, against the tides of harsh reality of living in this world, against our own selfish, prideful flesh. Naomi certainly was in that predicament. Left to her alone, she would have no hope, no future, no motivation, no meaning, no purpose in life.

It is in this moment of hopeless, somehow our eyes are unveiled to see God who is on the move. In Naomi’s case, she heard that the LORD came to the aid of his people. This phrase, came to the aid translates a Hebrew verb, paqad; it is also translated as visited in other translations. God had come to his people; he took note of his people. He attended them kindly. And, not only was he taking note of his people, he was acting, moving on behalf of his people. He was providing them. Once again God was on the move to be their provider, to be the one who meets their psychological, emotional, spiritual, physical needs.

3. Naomi heard the good news that God was on the move.

I want you to take a good note on how Naomi responded when she heard that God was on the move; God took note of his people and was looking out for them.

It says in verse 6, Naomi and her daughters-in-law prepared to return home from Moab. The journey is reversed. In verse 1, she left Bethlehem, “house of bread,” because there was no bread provision. She left Bethlehem and went to Moab. But, now in verse 6, we see her packing after ten years in Moab. She had Orpah and Ruth packing too. She was going home, finally. She was going home to Bethlehem, “house of bread.”

She thought the life in Moab would be much better; her late husband was convinced that they would fair much better in Moab than Bethlehem. But, in hindsight we see it clearly that the journey from Bethlehem to Moab didn’t fair better as they expected. Away from home in the land of Moab where God was not honored nor worshiped, nor adored and loved, their lives were shambled by the tragedies.

4. Consider this… you might be experiencing the spiritual famine because of your sin.

Like Naomi, we are on the journey. Galatians 6:7-10 says, “God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life...

Let us not become weary in doing good, for the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunities, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.”

Naomi and her husband got tired, they got weary living in Bethlehem… they gave up living in Bethlehem when the famine was severe. None of us are impervious to the seasonal famines. Often famines in life are caused by our own sins as it was the case for the Israelites. The droughts came to Israel; the enemies were strong and they easily defeated Israel. Why? They had forsaken their God who took note of them, who came down to them when they were no bodies, just slaves in Egypt, living aimlessly, hopelessly, feeling so weary and dead tired. He took note of them; he came to them; he delivered them mightily. Yet, how could they have so easily abandoned their God, their King, who freed them from the false kings Pharaohs, to live no longer as slaves to Pharaoh, but as children of the Living God?

Well, we do the same thing, don’t we? John 1:14 says, “The Word came flesh and made his dwelling among us.” Do you know where God has chosen to have his Son Jesus Christ be born in order to dwell among us? Matthew 2:1 says, “Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea.” Jesus was born in Bethlehem, “house of bread.” You’ve heard how Jesus described himself in John 6:35, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty.”

We also experience spiritual famines because we leave Bethlehem, ‘house of bread,’ where Jesus was born. We leave Bethlehem and go to Moab, thinking that the life there would be much better. We confidently journey on thinking that life away from Jesus isn’t so bad. We convince ourselves that we can make our lives successful, meaningful, fulfilling apart from Jesus. With our two hands, with our brains, with our skills, we feel that we could do anything.

But, the life in Moab will never turn out better than the life in Bethlehem. You may convince that money is your bread; good living is your bread; good clothes are your bread; good education is your bread. But, do you remember in Luke 12 what Jesus told the rich man who decided to build bigger and better barns to hold all his wealth? Jesus told him in Luke 12:20-21, “You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself? This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God."

Conclusions

Do you know where you are? Which way are you moving towards? Have you been disappointed at God like Naomi and her husband was? Have you decided that this living in Bethlehem, living in Jesus thing is really not for you? So, you are journeying towards Moab?

Perhaps, you’ve been living in Moab for good number of years. You were once fully convinced that life journey without Jesus was just fine; you were convinced that your life would be better without Jesus. You’ve been in Moab for a while. Now, how is it going? Has it been ten years yet? Are you still hopeful that your life will turn out just fine without Jesus? Is there any fear in you what might happen to you if you continue to live in Moab where God is not? We need to take a good note of what happened to Naomi and her family. Perhaps, we will learn to fear…

But, God’s greatest weapon in dealing with our sick wondering, perverted, ungrateful heart is his kindness. He is on the move. Have you heard? Have you heard that he is drawing near you? What God wants you to know is that he is on the move; he notices you; he moves to provide for you. And, he wants you to pack up and get ready to leave Moab and come to Bethlehem, ‘house of bread.’ God wants you to come and draw near to Jesus and live with him, in him. He is the bread of life. He is the only one who can completely satisfy your hunger, your thirst. You are made for God. You are made to find your sole satisfaction in Jesus. He can change you, to be transformed from sowing to please yourself to sowing to please the Spirit in doing good, in loving others.

Do you hear? God is on the move! Are you ready to journey back to Bethlehem?

Sunday Sermon, Judges 16, Are you on the path that leads you to worship God or make you fall away from him?

This past week, I was riveted to what happened to the family of James Kim. He was a senior editor for CNET.com. He and his wife Kati along with their two daughters Penelope and Sabine, 4 years old and 7 month old were stranded in a minor logging road in Southwest Oregon. The road was supposed to be locked to prevent people from taking it. But apparently a vandal had caught the lock, allowing the family to drive into this impassable road. They were reported missing on November 30^th. The wife and the two children were found alive on December 2^nd, but James Kim was found dead on December 6^th. He tried to find help on foot until he was overcome by hypothermia.[1]

When the family decided to go down that logging road, they had no idea that the road was impassable. Had they known about it, I doubt they would have taken that path. It was supposed be a short cut, but only led them to the heartbreaking tragic outcome.

Samson’s life was like that. He kept on taking the paths that led him astray from God and ultimately destroyed his promising life.

This morning we will consider Samson’s life from Judges 16. As we go through this chapter I would like you to make a mental note on what happened when Samson went down the wrong paths.

1. What happened when Samson took the wrong path?

We read in 16:1, “One day Samson went to Gaza, where he saw a prostitute.” Just like we saw Samson going from his hometown Zorah to Timnah about five miles away in chapter 14, this time we see him going from Zorah to Gaza. Timnah was located on the outskirt of Philistia, but Gaza was in the heart of Philistia. We are talking about over 30 some miles of traveling through the heart of Philistia to get to Gaza. What was Samson doing in Gaza? Verse 1-2 says that he saw a prostitute and he went into spend the night with her.

As we saw in chapter 14, this was Samson’s fundamental flaw; taking the wrong path! Instead of taking the paths that would lead him to worship God, he kept on walking down the paths where he would be tempted to abandon his faith in God, where he would ultimately be destroyed.

Somehow the people of Gaza knew that Samson was in their town. So, they waited till the dawn to kill him thinking that he would be sound asleep then. But, Samson got up in the middle of the night and ripped the doors of the whole city gate along its two posts out of the ground and the wall. The doors were made of iron or bronze. It must weigh tons. He carried the whole thing for about 38 some miles in elevation of some 2000 feet towards Hebron, a city in Judah.

What Samson did was a national humiliation for the Philistines. They were outrage; all they wanted to do with Samson was to tie him up, to subdue him and to humiliate him.

Some time had passed since this last feat of taking the city gate from Gaza. Verse 4 states that Samson fell in love with woman in the Valley of Sorek; her name was Delilah. Most likely she was not an Israelite, but a Philistine, just like all the women he had fall for.

Last time the Philistines threatened Samson’s wife from Timnah to act on behalf of them. But, this time around instead of using threats, they bribed Delilah to work for them.

They asked her 16:5, “See if you can lure him into showing you the secret of his great strength and how we can overcome him so we may tie him up and subdue him. Each one of us will give you eleven hundred shekels of silver.” Later in chapter 17:10, we find that 10 shekels of silver was offered as a year’s wage. Let say someone earns 30,000 dollars a year; 30,000 dollars time 110 is 3.3 million dollars. Wow, for 3.3 million dollars, do you think Delilah would betray her lover?

Timnah was motivated to betray Samson because she feared for her life and her family; Delilah too was highly motivated to betray Samson; she aggressively pressured Samson to spill the beans. For Delilah, it was all for money.

Talking about dysfunctional relationship! Why would he get into relationship with a woman who would betray him for money? Why did he get into relationship with her when he didn’t even trust her?

Can Delilah be any more obvious with her intention when she demanded Samson in verse 6? “Tell me the secret of your great strength and how you can be tied up and subdued.” At this point, Samson must have remembered how his Philistine wife from Timnah deceived and betrayed him when she prodded him for the answer to the riddle.

Well, this time around Samson was determined and confident that he wasn’t going to tell her the secret of his strength; instead of telling her straight up that he wasn’t going to tell her, he played a game with her.

He told a made up story about how being tied up by seven fresh and moist thongs used for bowstring or tent cord would make him powerless. Delilah herself bound him with the seven fresh and moist thongs given by the Philistine rulers. Then, she put on her act, “Samson, the Philistines are upon you!” He snapped them like strings near flame.

In verse 10, Delilah accused him of making a fool of her and lying to her. And, she pressured him again, “Come now, tell me how you can be tied.” Samson made up a story about using new robes to bind him. She tied him with the new robes that had never been used, but this didn’t make him weak.

For the third time, she repeated her complain and demanded an answer from him in verse 13, “Until now, you have been making a fool of me and lying to me. Tell me how you can be tied.” Samson again resisted Delilah’s prodding, but came very close to disclosing the secret of his strength. He made up a story that if his seven braids of his head were to be woven into the fabric and pin down, he would lose his strength. Again, this didn’t work.

Just like Samson’s Philistine wife of Timnah did, Delilah questioned Samson’s love for her in verse 15. “How can you say, ‘I love you,” when you won’t confide in me?” Samson kept his secret from Delilah, but Delilah didn’t give up. 3.3 million dollars was at stake for her. Verse 16 says “With such nagging she prodded him day after day until he was tired to death.”

Samson had overcome any number of Philistines or wild beasts, but he couldn’t overcome Delilah’s nagging. He could have broken off the relationship with Delilah, but instead he allowed himself be broken by her.

He said to her in Verse 17, “No razor has ever been used on my head… because I have been a Nazirite set apart to God since birth. If my head were shaved, my strength would leave me, and I would become as week as any other man.”

Now if you remember, Samson broke thus far two of his Nazirite rules. He broke one rule, not to touch anything or anyone dead. And, he broke the second rule, not to consume any wine even grapes. He didn’t break the third rule, not to cut his hair.

God was ever patient with Samson. Even though Samson broke two of his vows, God didn’t take away the strength from Samson. So, as long as Samson was to honor this last vow, God was going to work with him patiently. But, Samson jeopardized this.

She called in the rulers of the Philistines one more time ensuring them Samson had finally spilled the truth. She got him to sleep on her lap. Then, she called a man to shave off the seven braids of his hair.

Just like the first three times, she woke Samson up from his sleep as though she was alarming him from harm, “Samson, the Philistines are upon you!”

Now, here is truly a sad moment. Verse 20 tells us that when Samson woke from his sleep, he thought to himself, “I’ll go as before and shake myself free...” but he did not know that the LORD had left him.”

Samson, a man of high calling, a man of destiny to be a deliverer for Israel from the Philistines, did not know when the LORD had left him. He got up to face the Philistines just like other times feeling confident in his strength to overcome them. But, he couldn’t overcome them. The Lord was not with him. And, God’s strength was not available to him any more. God took his hand of protection off from Samson. Finally, his sinful way of life caught up with him.

The result was tragic. Verse 21 described what happened to powerless Samson. The Philistines quickly seized him, gouged out his eyes and took him down to Gaza. There, binding him with bronze shackles, they set him to grinding in the prison.

Samson lived his life careless; he went after whatever pleased his eyes regardless of what God’s will was for him. Samson used his feet to travel far in order to please his desire inflamed by his sight. He was now blinded. His feet that led him to the wrong paths were now shackled by a heavy metal. To Gaza, a place where he took out the city gate with mighty force, he now returned not as a deliverer for Israel, but as a prisoner. There, he was hooked on to the grinding stone like a donkey, going around and around grinding with no purpose and future.

The story doesn’t end here. Verse 22 says, “But the hair on his head began to grow again after it had been shaved.” This gives us the readers a clue that the story of Samson was not finished yet.

From verse 23-30, we learn what happened to Samson after being blinded, shackled, and forced into a meaningless labor. Verse 23 tells us that the Philistines assembled to honor their god Dagon. Dagon was a god of grain. They gloried in having captured Samson, “Our god had delivered Samson, our enemy, into our hands.” They praise their god Dagon, “Our god has delivered our enemy into our hands, the one who laid waste our land and multiplied our slain.” Samson, once thought to have defeated Dagon when he torched the harvest fields, was brought into their temple for their entertainment.

Having gotten used to living now without sight but hearing, he figured out that he was about in the middle of the temple. He asked the servant who held his hand to put him where he could touch the main supporting pillars so he could rest. There, he prayed to the LORD in verse 28, “O Sovereign LORD, remember me, O God, please strengthen me just once more, and let me with one blow get revenge on the Philistines for my two eyes.” Samson referred God as Sovereign LORD. This title affirms God as having the universal authority. To this God who has the universal authority, Samson prayed; he asked him to remember him and to give him the last strength to have his revenge on the Philistines. Even at this moment, Samson was still out for himself. He asked God to remember him and to give him strength in order to revenge for his two eyes instead of desiring to glorify God or to deliver Israel. In spite of Samson’s self-absorbed prayer, God granted him the power to break apart two of the supporting pillars. The result was in his single act, he killed all the rulers and three thousand Philistines gathered to honor their pagan god Dagon.

With this single act granted to Samson by God, God asserted that there is no other God besides him.

2. Does the path you are on lead you to worship God or abandon God for substitutes?

Now, I will spend the rest of our time together to see how the story of Samson from chapter 16 applies to us.

Proverbs 5:21 says, “For a man’s ways are in full view of the LORD, and he examines all his paths.” It is critical to evaluate the paths we are on.

When God examines all your paths, where do your paths lead you to? There are paths that lead us to closer intimacy to God. Then, there are paths that lead us away from God. Are you on the path that leads to God or away from God?

Proverbs 5:8 says, “Keep to a path far from her, do not go near the door of her house, lest you give your strength to others and your years to one who is cruel.” This verse is talking about the need for a young man to keep his life pure from sexual immorality. How can he make sure his walk is pure? He does it by not directing his foot steps towards a path that would lead him to a house of adulteress.

For Samson, he lost the battle way before he got to Gaza where the prostitutes abound. He lost the spiritual battle when he left his home town of Zorah to take the path led to Gaza. He lost his battle when he left his home and took the path that led him to the Valley of Sorek where Delilah lived.

Proverbs 7 also captures this picture of young man going to the wrong direction. 7:6-9 says, “At the window of my house I looked out through the lattice. I saw among the simple, I noticed among the young men, a youth who lacked judgment. He was going down the street near her corner, walking along in the direction of her house at twilight, as the day was fading, as the dark of night set in. Then out came a woman to meet him, dressed like a prostitute and with crafty intent.” And, verse 22-23 comments about the fate of this young man who lacked judgment. “All at once he followed her like an ox going to the slaughter, like a deer stepping into a noose till an arrow pierces his liver, like a bird darting into a snare, little knowing it will cost him his life.”

And, verse 27 says, “Her house is a highway to the grave, leading down to the chambers of death.”

This Proverb 7 opens with an admonishment with a fatherly advice for his child. Proverbs 7:1-5 reads, “My son, keep my words and store up my commands within you. Keep my commands and you will live; guard my teachings as the apple of your eye. Bind them on your fingers; write them on the tablet of your heart. Say to wisdom, ‘You are my sister,’ and call understanding your kinsman; they will keep you from the adulteress, from the wayward wife with her seductive words.”

Here is another similar passage. Psalm 119:9 asks this question. “How can a young man keep his way pure? And, it answers, “By living according to your word.”

In our time, men or women, young or old, single or married, laypeople or ministers, we are all vulnerable to sexual temptations. 1 Peter 5:8 says, “Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.” Samson took the wrong path and he paid with his eyes, with shackles on his ankles, and with meaningless labor.

3. Will this person help me to worship God or distract me from worshiping God?

Another thing we can learn from Samson’s life is this. How do you avoid getting married to a spouse who would betray you without thinking twice? Well, the key is you look for a person of noble character. Proverbs 12:4 says, “A wife of noble character is her husband’s crown, but a disgraceful wife is like decay in his bones.” Although this is about a wife of noble character, it applies to men as well.

Now, how do you know someone possesses noble character? You see someone’s character when you see how they conduct their relationship with others, foremost with God and with people.

You look at the paths they are on. Are they on the paths that lead them to worship God or fall away from God? If you see a person consistently taking the path to worship God, you know that person honors God and his Word. A person who takes the path to worship God opens self to character transformation. Another word, a person who walks closely with Jesus becomes like Jesus. There is no one of greater noble character than Jesus. You want someone who is becoming more like Jesus everyday in their character. People like this walk the paths that lead them to worship God.

Well, if finding a person of noble character is contingent upon someone taking the path that leads them to worship God, doesn’t it make sense for you to take the path to worship God as well?

When the Lord brings you into a season to look for a future mate, you ask two questions.

First, Am I becoming a man or a woman of noble character? Am I choosing the path that leads me to worship God?

Second, is this person a man or a woman of noble character? Does this person have the history of choosing the right path to walk?

May God help you become a man and a woman of noble character who consistently take the paths to worship God!

May God help you never marry someone who would betray you like Delilah, but leads you to a person of noble character!

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[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Kim