REFORMED CHURCH BELLVILLE: SUNDAY 13 AUGUST 2006: MORNING SERVICE

Sing before:   Hymn 4-1:1

Let us commence this meeting with God by declaring openly to one another and to God:
Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth. Beloved grace and peace be to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, through the mighty working of God the Holy Spirit.
Amen

Psalm of praise: Psalm 19:1+7

Confession of faith: Apostolic

I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth.
And in Jesus Christ, His only begotten Son, our Lord who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead and buried. He descended into Hell, the third day He rose again from the dead, He ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty, from there He shall come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, a holy catholic* Church, the communion of saints; the forgiveness of sins; the resurrection of the body; and the life everlasting.
Amen.

After the reading of the Law we confess our guilt and pray for forgiveness and a new life before God with Psalm 16:1.
Law
Psalm: 16:1

Prayer:

• Doxology
• Worship
• Confession of sins
• Forgiveness
• Gratitude
• Prayer for the need of the congregation for the church, the authorities and the sinful world and appeal to God's promises.
• General prayer
• Enlightenment from the Holy Spirit for the sake of the ministry of the Word.

Amen

Psalm: 86:1

Scripture: Judges 15
Text: Judges 15:16-20

"Then Samson said, "With a donkey's jawbone I have made donkeys of them. With a donkey's jawbone I have killed a thousand men." When he finished speaking, he threw away the jawbone; and the place was called Ramath Lehi. Because he was very thirsty, he cried out to the Lord, "You have given your servant this great victory. Must I now die of thirst and fall into the hands of the uncircumcised?" Then God opened up the hollow place in Lehi, and water came out of it. When Samson drank, his strength returned and he revived. So the spring was called En Hakkore, and it is still there in Lehi. Samson led Israel for twenty years in the days of the Philistines."

We often overestimate ourselves.

• Not that we intend to brag, but at times we do tend to inflate our own capabilities.
• Then a day comes when the Lord has had enough and leaves us to our own ability.
• Matters then quickly change.
• The image of our own power then shatters.
• Bragging then changes to shame and fear.

The passage we have read is about a particular man Samson. A striking feature is that his birth was announced beforehand. In the Bible there are only five people whose birth is announced beforehand.

• Isaac.
• Samson
• The son of the Shunammite woman (2 Kings 4:15)
• John the Baptist.
• Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

Samson is clearly a person whom God favoured. This becomes even clearer when we remember that these five persons were all individuals who take a special place in the history of God's grace.

Samson governed the people alone.

• Even the wars fought by the Israelites then were fought by one man alone. Samson alone fought the Philistines.
• The people appear only as stage décor.

When the people are mentioned only their weakness is mentioned, not their faith or strength. This matter is also important in the passage we have read:

• The people Samson governs as judge hand him over to the enemy, they betray him.
• In this respect Samson's life foreshadows that of the Lord Jesus Christ.
• He too was betrayed by His people.
• He too fought the battle against death alone and obtained victory for His people.

The events that lead up to the passage we read are:

• Samson caught 300 foxes, tied them tail to tail in pairs and fastened a torch to every pair of tail.
• He lit the torches and let the foxes loose in the standing corn of the Philistines.
• The corn and the vineyards and the olive groves of the Philistines were burned up.

Samson thereafter went to stay in a cave in the rock of Etam which was on the boundary of the Land of the Philistines.

• The Philistines made up a strong army and invaded the land of Judah to capture Samson.

Judah was frightened!

• Had they in faith and the practical application of their faith stood up to the Philistines that day they could have rid themselves of their oppression.
• Under the command of Samson they could have defeated the Philistine army.

But in their fear they made up an army:

• They sent 3000 men to capture Samson.
• Their only hope of salvation they deliver into the hands of the enemy.

Samson is not afraid of the Philistines.

• He agrees with his people.
• They promise not to kill him themselves.

In the days of the Old Testament the Almighty God sometimes used certain events to reveal how the Messiah would some day defeat the powers of hell.

• In the days of Samson the Lord showed by this man's conduct how the Son of God would one day defeat the power of hell.
• Samson is tied up with two new ropes.
• He is then taken to the Philistines.
• The Philistine army is waiting – fully armed.

The Lord does not need an army with sophisticated weaponry to execute His will.

• To the Lord one man is sufficient – even the heavy armament of the enemy is unnecessary.
• The Spirit of the Lord came upon Samson.
• He fights the armed enemy with the jawbone of an ass as his weapon.
• The Lord kept Samson human – hence he became very thirsty after the hard fight.

But Samson did not see the Lord in his victory.

• Conceitedly he sings a song telling how he slew the Philistines in heaps.
• There is no mention of the grace of God that gave him the strength to do it.

We see in this man much of ourselves.

• Very conceited.
• Little appreciation of our limitations.
• No understanding of the grace of God.
• No grateful worship for all He gives us.

Only I and my power that tramples all who oppose me radiates from me.

God is not satisfied with this.

• Samson is left to himself.
• If he is so strong then he can take care of his needs himself.
• The Lord lets this terrible thirst come over him.

He was close to death because of thirst. Then he knew how to pray.

• "O Lord, you have given your servant this great victory".
• He pleads that he may live.

It is by grace that we have remorse and that the Holy Spirit moves us to correct our mistakes.

• Samson's song and prayer differ substantially.
• Initially he praises his own show of strength.
• ·                    Then he prays for water and life.

An aspect of Christ is foreshadowed here – the relationship between Christ and the people He dies for.

• Samson is an example of Christ – to the extent that he had to fight alone.
• For the rest he falls far short of being like Christ.

The people for whom the battle is fought by Samson and the Lord Jesus Christ are in both cases:

• Muddled in their faith.
• More on the wrong side of the fence than on the right side.
• In both cases their sins create the situation in which their saviours – Samson and the Lord Jesus – find themselves.
• Their conduct causes the fight to the death they both fight.

Secondly, no power or combination of powers is strong enough to withstand God's ministry of salvation.

• As Samson humiliates the Philistines,
• So hell and all its might were humiliated by Christ's victory.

Let us connect this passage to Holy Communion. The Lord's supper is a celebration of salvation. It celebrates Christ's destruction of the bonds of death holding us.

That is why the attitude with which we come to the Lord's table is important. Here Samson represents us.

• We may come to the Lord's table only with a humble mindset.
• We may not exalt ourselves towards God or our fellowman.
• If we come without humility or with pride God will deliver us to ourselves.

There must be present a humble recognition and acknowledgment before God for all that He lets us do and achieve.

• It will then not be necessary for us to repent again and pray for forgiveness and then confess the truth.

Let us live a life of gratitude because God uses us.

• Live your life in such a way that God receives the glory for all the high water marks in our life.
• Let us prepare ourselves to celebrate the Lord's Supper in all humility with the expectation of salvation and the blessing from God.

Amen

Closing prayer
Closing Psalm: Psalm 141:4

The Lord bless you and keep you.
The Lord make His face shine on you and be merciful to you.
The Lord turn His countenance to you and give you peace.
Amen

Dr MJ du Plessis
Reformed Church Bellville
13 August 2006 (morning)
Scripture NIV