Introduction:
We Have 3 Options When We Fail: (Judges 16:23-31):
- Live in Defeat .
- Live in Denial .
- Live in Discipline .
The Process of Restoration:
- God brings Discipline (Not punishment).
- Discipline brings Heart-change.
- Heart-change brings deeper Commitment.
Psalm 119:67 - Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I keep your word.
- Deeper Commitment brings new Opportunities.
Sermon Notes (PDF): BLANK
Hint: Highlight blanks above for answers!
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00:56-00:58
Judges chapter 16, are you there?
01:00-01:12
We've been talking the last few weeks about Samson, Israel's most famous judge, who was, as we saw last week, driven by lust.
01:12-01:22
Well, the Philistines had paid Delilah big bucks if she could get him to tell her so she could tell them the source of his strength.
01:23-01:29
And after playing around with Delilah, He just told her, right?
01:29-01:31
And his head was shaved.
01:31-01:32
He was captured.
01:33-01:34
They gouged his eyes out.
01:35-01:44
He was shackled and he was forced to do slave labor work, grinding at the mill in prison.
01:44-01:47
He was broken and defeated.
01:47-01:58
But verse 22 says, "But the hair of his head "began to grow again after it had been shaved." foreshadowing there for what is to come.
01:58-01:59
Let's pick up there verse 23.
02:00-02:11
It says, "Now the lords of the Philistines gathered to offer a great sacrifice to dag on their god and to rejoice.
02:12-02:20
And they said, 'Our god has given Samson, our enemy, into our hand.' And when the people saw him, they praised their god.
02:20-02:39
For they said, "Our God has given our enemy into our hand, the ravager of our country, who has killed many of us." And when their hearts were merry, they said, "Call Samson, that he may entertain us." So they called Samson out of the prison, and he entertained them.
02:40-02:42
They made him stand between the pillars.
02:43-02:50
Stop there. You see, the Philistines didn't kill Samson right away because they wanted to torment him.
02:50-02:58
They had this service to, I guess you could call it a worship service, to honor their idol, Dagon.
02:59-03:05
Now, how many people knew that when you say Dagon, you're taking another God's name in vain?
03:05-03:06
How many of you knew that?
03:06-03:06
There it is.
03:07-03:09
Okay, so yeah, Dagon.
03:09-03:14
That was the name of the Philistines' God, Dagon.
03:15-03:22
And their worship center was this covered building that had these pillars on stone bases.
03:23-03:27
And the dignitaries, or the important people, would sit undercover.
03:28-03:31
And the general population would actually sit on top of the roof.
03:31-03:33
And you're going to see that here in just a second.
03:33-03:35
But Samson was brought out.
03:36-03:40
And if you could just imagine for a second how sweet this would have been to the Philistines.
03:41-03:49
Because for years and years and years, This guy was a pain in the neck.
03:49-03:50
He was a thorn in the side.
03:51-03:53
And they couldn't do anything to stop him.
03:53-03:55
And now they got him.
03:55-03:56
He's blind.
03:57-03:57
He's broken.
03:58-03:58
He's defeated.
03:59-04:00
Look at this guy now.
04:00-04:01
He's pathetic.
04:02-04:03
Look at verse 26.
04:04-04:05
OK, so you get the scene.
04:05-04:07
Samson's brought out there for this worship service.
04:07-04:08
Oh, it's a big celebration.
04:09-04:13
Samson, verse 26, Samson said to the young man who held him by the hand.
04:14-04:21
"Let me feel the pillars on which the house rests, that I may lean against them." Now the house was full of men and women.
04:21-04:31
All the lords of the Philistines were there, and on the roof, there were about 3,000 men and women who looked on while Samson entertained.
04:32-05:08
So Samson says, "Take me to the pillar," and they figure, "Okay, he's harmless, and he's blind, so he probably just needs to balance." And verse 28 says, "Then Samson called to the Lord and said, 'O Lord God, please remember me, and please strengthen me only this once, O God, that I may be avenged on the Philistines for my two eyes.' And Samson grasped the two middle pillars on which the house rested, and he leaned his weight against them, his right hand on the one and his left hand on the other.
05:08-05:19
And Samson said, "Let me die with the Philistines." Then he bowed with all his strength, and the house fell upon the Lord and upon all the people who were in it.
05:19-05:25
So the dead whom he killed at his death were more than those whom he had killed during his life.
05:25-05:34
And his brothers and all his family came down and took him and brought him up and buried him between Zorah and Eshter.
05:34-05:43
in the tomb of Manoah his father, he had judged Israel 20 years." So Samson makes this prayer. We're going to talk about the prayer here in a minute.
05:44-05:47
But you see immediate spectacular results.
05:47-05:54
Samson prays, he pushes the pillars over, and now thousands of Philistines.
05:55-05:58
There were 3,000 just on the roof plus those underneath.
05:59-06:03
So they lie dead and Samson lies dead with them.
06:03-06:05
Look at verse 30 again, though, the end of verse 30.
06:06-06:16
This is kind of a sad commentary where it says, "So the dead whom he killed at his death were more than those whom he had killed during his life." Look at it, it's like a sad commentary.
06:16-06:31
It's almost like, you know, if Samson spent his life focused on his mission as much as he was focused on chasing women, think of what he could have done for Israel, but his death was not a defeat because he died as a hero.
06:32-06:33
And this is how his story ends.
06:34-06:44
Samson totally blew it, totally failed with the whole Delilah affair, but he was restored and used by God in the end.
06:45-06:49
And I would say this story is a great encouragement for the rest of us failures.
06:50-06:55
Because failure is a reality for every Christian.
06:56-07:03
Every single one of us, in some way, to some degree, we are going to fail.
07:04-07:04
Okay?
07:05-07:06
And we've all been there.
07:07-07:12
You fail and you say, "Is God done with me now?" I mean, I blew it.
07:12-07:15
I knew what I should have done and I did the opposite.
07:15-07:16
Is God done with me?
07:17-07:22
And we think, you know, God might never want to use me again because He sees what a loser I am.
07:22-07:23
But I want you to hear me.
07:24-07:35
A successful Christian is not one who never fails, but one who learns how to accept God's remedy for failure.
07:35-07:41
The issue is not if we fail. The issue is how we respond.
07:42-07:42
Okay?
07:42-07:46
That was a really good spot for an amen. I'm going to give you another chance.
07:47-07:51
The issue is not if we will fail, but how we will respond.
07:52-07:56
Okay, so we have three options. We have three options when we fail.
07:57-07:58
Jot these down. They're on your outline.
07:59-08:01
When you fail, you have three options here, okay?
08:01-08:04
Number one, we can live in defeat. We can live in defeat.
08:05-08:08
And some people, even some Christians, choose to live this way.
08:08-08:12
We just wallow in remorse and self-pity.
08:12-08:15
We're accusing. We spend the rest of our life accusing.
08:16-08:19
"Well, yeah, I failed, but it was her fault.
08:19-08:30
And if my parents hadn't this, and if my boss hadn't that, and if my wife wasn't such a-- that I wouldn't have-- and we just spend the rest of our life-- that's living in defeat.
08:30-08:34
Or making excuses is another way we can live in defeat.
08:34-08:40
To say, well, you don't understand my situation, and this is why I couldn't really help it.
08:41-08:44
And some people just choose to live in defeat.
08:45-08:48
Or B, live in denial.
08:49-08:51
unaware, oblivious.
08:51-08:54
Like, dude, you are making a shipwreck of your faith.
08:54-08:55
They have no idea.
08:56-08:59
But even worse than that is when we downplay wrongdoing.
08:59-09:00
It's not that bad.
09:00-09:01
It's not that bad.
09:01-09:02
Everybody does it.
09:02-09:03
Everybody does it.
09:03-09:04
OK, so I messed up.
09:05-09:06
But you know, everybody does it.
09:06-09:07
Everybody says this.
09:07-09:08
Everybody does this.
09:08-09:09
This happens in every workplace.
09:09-09:13
Every home's like-- we just-- we downplay it.
09:14-09:18
Like, yeah, it was wrong, but I mean, not that bad.
09:19-09:19
We downplay it.
09:21-09:26
We can't learn from that which we will not or cannot admit.
09:27-09:29
And church, it's really bad to be weak because of sin.
09:30-09:33
It's tragic to not even know that you're sinning.
09:34-09:35
You can live in defeat.
09:36-09:37
I wouldn't recommend that.
09:37-09:37
We can live in denial.
09:38-09:39
I really wouldn't recommend that.
09:39-09:41
Or letter C, we can live in discipleship.
09:42-09:50
When you truly follow Jesus Christ, I mean, if you are a true born again, I have received the gift of eternal life that Jesus Christ has given.
09:50-09:55
If that is you, then this is what Jesus Christ wants for you.
09:55-09:59
First of all, in living in discipleship, He wants you to embrace forgiveness.
10:00-10:13
He has already forgiven you. Realize when you receive Jesus Christ, He forgave all your sins. The ones you've committed in the past, and the ones you haven't even thought of yet. They're all forgiven in Jesus Christ.
10:13-10:15
It's covered under His blood.
10:16-10:18
And you need to embrace that forgiveness.
10:19-10:26
Our biggest mistake, Christians, it's not when we sin, it's when we don't run to the cross for the forgiveness that Jesus has already given.
10:27-10:27
That's our mistake.
10:28-10:30
To live in discipleship, you have to embrace forgiveness.
10:31-10:33
You have to learn from what we did wrong.
10:33-10:34
We're going to talk a little bit more about that.
10:35-10:41
But it does you no good if you completely blow it, and you embrace forgiveness, and you just keep completely blowing it.
10:41-10:43
But you have to learn what we did wrong.
10:44-10:50
Something else you have to do when you live in discipleship is make restitution to other people where it's needed.
10:51-10:59
If you wronged somebody, if you took from someone, whatever, you might have to make restitution to another person.
10:59-11:01
That's part of the process.
11:02-11:08
And when you've done those things, when you embrace forgiveness, when you learn what you did wrong, when you make restitution, do you know what you do next?
11:09-11:09
You know? You know?
11:09-11:10
You know?
11:11-11:12
You move on!
11:13-11:13
Okay?
11:14-11:14
You move on.
11:15-11:18
In humility, under God's grace.
11:18-11:21
It doesn't matter how far you've fallen because you're never beyond forgiveness.
11:22-11:24
Because God's grace is greater than your sin.
11:24-11:25
Do you believe that?
11:26-11:27
Do you believe that His grace outweighs your sin?
11:28-11:31
I had a discussion with someone last week as we were talking about this series.
11:31-11:49
They said, "Samson really doesn't show much fruit of being a believer." and say, "Was Samson really restored? Was Samson really a believer in God?" And the answer is 100% yes. Absolutely for sure he is.
11:50-11:57
Because as I've told you before, Hebrews 11, you know the chapter of the Hall of Fame of Faith?
11:58-12:03
Samson is mentioned in the same sentence as David. Hebrews 11.32.
12:03-12:08
And honestly, you could rename Hebrews 11. You don't need to call it the Hall of Fame of Faith.
12:08-12:11
if you could call it, the Hall of Fame of Restored Failures.
12:12-12:18
Because you can go through that list, like here's how this person blew it, here's how this person blew it, here's how this person blew it.
12:19-12:20
It's not about what you've done.
12:21-12:23
It's about what Jesus Christ has done for you.
12:24-12:26
So forgiveness is instant.
12:27-12:36
When you receive Jesus Christ, you are forgiven and you remain in a state of being forgiven under the blood of the new covenant.
12:36-12:38
Forgiveness is instant, okay?
12:39-12:41
But restoration is gradual.
12:42-12:44
Forgiveness is instant, but restoration is gradual.
12:45-12:52
You're like, "Well, why is that?" Because as we discussed before, failure is not the product of a moment, okay?
12:53-12:56
Failure doesn't just happen in one event.
12:56-12:59
Failure is a chain of events.
12:59-13:10
A wrong choice here, a bad decision here, an inappropriate thing here, A sinful thing, these little choices we make eventually lead to the failure.
13:12-13:18
And since failure is not the product of a moment, restoration cannot be the product of a moment.
13:18-13:20
Forgiveness is instant, restoration is gradual.
13:21-13:26
Because you have to unlearn some old habits and you have to learn some new habits, and that takes time.
13:26-13:28
And that's what God is after.
13:29-13:34
It might be a newsflash for a lot of Christians, but God doesn't just want to forgive you.
13:34-13:39
He does, and He's provided everything so you can be forgiven, but you know God doesn't want to stop there.
13:40-13:50
God's not like, "Here's your ticket to heaven. Everybody get your ticket to heaven." That's not God's endgame. He doesn't just want to forgive you, He wants to change you.
13:50-13:56
And even when you fail, God wants to use you again. And that's a process.
13:57-13:59
So on your outline, let's talk about the process of restoration.
14:00-14:02
This is a chain, okay?
14:03-14:07
Each point is linked to the next point.
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Alright?
14:09-14:11
So this is the process, we see it in the passage here.
14:12-14:15
When you blow it, when you fail, forgiveness is instant.
14:16-14:18
Restoration is gradual.
14:19-14:20
Let's talk about the process of restoration.
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Number one, God brings discipline, not punishment.
14:24-14:26
God brings discipline, not punishment.
14:27-14:29
Samson here was brought as low as a man could get.
14:30-14:34
Truly, can you think of anything else that would add to his misery at this point?
14:35-14:46
He was imprisoned by the enemy, shackled, doing slave work, eyes gouged out, brought out to the worship service of their pagan god, and they're like, "Entertain us, do a little dance for us," or whatever.
14:46-14:49
To understand that even that was part of God's grace.
14:50-15:00
You're like, "That was God's grace?" Yeah, because Sometimes God strips away everything that will keep us from trusting Him.
15:01-15:06
God may allow you to lose your job, and therefore your income. He may allow that.
15:08-15:10
God may allow you to lose that relationship.
15:11-15:17
You know that relationship that you held on to so tightly that was becoming idolatry?
15:18-15:22
That's getting in the way of your walk with Him. He might allow you to lose that.
15:23-15:24
He might allow you to lose your health.
15:26-15:43
Anything in the way of God's discipline, He knows, "Hey, this is keeping her from following me, so I'm going to get rid of it." God whispers to us in love, but if we're not going to listen to that, He's going to shout in discipline.
15:44-15:50
I need to remind you, because I hear this so often as a pastor, I hear Christians say, "Well, I just think God's punishing me.
15:50-15:53
I really feel like God's punishing me." God is not punishing you.
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God does not punish ever a believer in Jesus Christ. Never.
16:00-16:03
Not now, not tomorrow if you blow it, not any time.
16:04-16:10
From the moment that believer received Christ, through all of eternity, God will never punish a believer.
16:10-16:13
God disciplines a believer.
16:13-16:15
And there is a huge difference.
16:16-16:17
Because... huge.
16:18-16:21
Because punishment is to satisfy justice.
16:21-16:22
That's what punishment is.
16:23-16:28
And when Jesus Christ was on the cross, God was punishing Jesus for my sin.
16:29-16:31
And He was punishing Jesus for your sin.
16:32-16:40
To understand, if you're a believer in Christ, God's not going to punish Jesus for your sin, and then turn around and punish you for your sin.
16:40-16:44
Jesus Christ fully took the punishment on Himself.
16:45-16:48
Fully bore God's wrath for sin.
16:48-16:50
God will not punish you, ever.
16:50-16:55
But discipline, discipline is to produce maturity.
16:56-16:59
The purpose of discipline is to make us useful, right?
17:00-17:02
I'm thinking of the difference this way.
17:02-17:04
Prisons punish criminals.
17:05-17:07
Parents discipline children.
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The parents, when your children do wrong, you are to discipline your child so they feel the consequences of the wrong choices and learn to make better ones.
17:18-17:22
As parents, you're not out to destroy your child with punishment.
17:23-17:33
You're like, "Hey, I'm trying to grow a fully functional adult, and that means I'm going to have to teach you some things along the way." That's discipline. It's about maturity.
17:33-17:36
And if you're in Jesus Christ, you're a child of God.
17:36-17:39
You have a heavenly Father who's going to discipline you.
17:40-17:41
Not to destroy you, but to build you up.
17:42-17:44
Okay, so number one, God brings discipline.
17:45-17:48
Number two, discipline brings heart change.
17:49-17:50
Discipline brings heart change.
17:51-18:04
And understand that even though you are forgiven in Christ, and even though God has you on this process of restoration, understand that sometimes the consequences of your sin are not erased.
18:05-18:14
Some people think that's what restoration is, that God just sort of takes His etch-a-sketch, and He just flips it upside down and...
18:14-18:19
"Oh look, everything's back to the way it was before." But it's not always like that.
18:20-18:25
Sometimes we have to live with the consequences of our own sinful choices.
18:26-18:27
You saw it in Samson, right?
18:28-18:31
He got new hair, he didn't get new eyes.
18:32-18:36
When we repent, church, it doesn't mean that God obliterates the consequences.
18:37-18:40
You know that unplanned pregnancy that happened because of the affair?
18:41-18:43
God's not going to just make all of that go away.
18:44-18:50
The divorce that results because of the series of sinful choices, you're divorced.
18:52-19:00
The health issues that came about through sinful lifestyle choices, you may be carrying those health issues for the rest of your life.
19:01-19:10
The job that you lost because of sinful choices, even though you're forgiven, it doesn't mean God's going to say, "I'm going to magically give you your job back." That might be forever gone.
19:11-19:11
You're like, "Well, wait a second.
19:11-19:13
You're talking about heart change.
19:13-19:16
How do we know that Samson had heart change?
19:17-19:20
I don't see a lot of fruit of the Spirit in this guy's life.
19:20-19:21
How do we know Samson had a heart change?
19:21-19:24
I want you to look at his prayer in verse 28.
19:25-19:45
He said, this was his prayer, "Oh Lord God, please remember me and please strengthen me only this once, oh God, that I may be avenged on the Philistines for my two eyes." There's something if you look really, really, really close, you'll see Samson actually used different names for God in that one sentence.
19:46-19:48
That one verse, he used three names for God.
19:49-19:49
You see that?
19:49-19:52
He says, "Oh Lord God." That's two names.
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"Lord" is Adonai.
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You're my superior.
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You're my boss.
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You're the one that I bow to.
19:59-20:00
You're my king.
20:00-20:04
That's "Lord." He says, "Lord God." That's God.
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That is Yahweh.
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That's God's name.
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I am who I am.
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And then later in the verse, he says, "Oh God." It's Elohim. That's more of a description of God than a name per se, but it's the way we would say the Almighty, the Powerful One. You're like, "Well, what's your point in that?" Here's my point. Someone who had very little regard for God through his life, from what we see in the text, now seems to know Him pretty well. The same one who so often seems so distant from God's calling for his life now seems so dialed in.
20:44-20:49
And that's how you know that you're truly on the path to restoration, is when there's heart change.
20:51-20:53
Not change for show.
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I'm going to change some behaviors so my wife stops nagging me.
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That's not heart change.
20:59-21:01
It's not about pleasing people.
21:01-21:04
Like I made my friends really mad with my sinful decisions.
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I'm going to make these changes so they're not mad at me anymore.
21:08-21:09
That's not heart change.
21:09-21:10
Or to get out of trouble.
21:11-21:14
Yeah, my job is on the line.
21:14-21:15
So I'm going to make these changes.
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And hopefully, when I meet with my superiors at work, they're going to see this change of heart.
21:23-21:25
They're going to make sure that-- that's not heart change.
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Heart change is when you get to the point that Samson was here, that he was like, God, I'm all yours.
21:32-21:33
God, all yours!
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This is for you!
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All yours.
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That's heart change.
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Number three, heart change brings deeper commitment.
21:40-21:42
Heart change brings deeper commitment.
21:43-21:51
Samson said an awfully bold prayer in the middle of a mob, and he could have just been resolved to disgrace and remorse.
21:52-21:53
I blew it. It's over.
21:54-21:55
I'm blind. I'm weak.
21:57-22:04
Honestly, I don't think Samson ever had a clearer understanding of his calling than he did when he made this prayer in verse 28.
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We've been looking at the life of Samson these past several weeks.
22:08-22:15
You realize this here, this is the only time that Samson ever prayed before using his strength.
22:16-22:21
So now he has this strength that's disciplined by faith.
22:21-22:24
We have to notice that it took failure to get him to that point.
22:26-22:29
Psalm 119, longest chapter in your Bible.
22:30-22:32
It's all about the Word of God.
22:33-22:34
I want you to look at verse 67.
22:34-22:38
It says, "Before I was afflicted, I went astray.
22:38-22:41
But now I keep your word." See that?
22:41-22:54
He said, "I was gone my own sinful way, and God, you brought affliction into my life, and because of this process of discipline that you walked me through, you see the resolve here?" He goes, "Now, now I keep your word.
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Now I get it, God.
22:56-23:00
I understand like I never have before what it means to follow you.
23:00-23:01
I get it now.
23:01-23:03
I totally get it now.
23:04-23:05
Heart change brings deeper commitment.
23:06-23:07
I learned my lesson.
23:07-23:08
That was wrong.
23:08-23:10
I know what I need to do.
23:10-23:11
I'm doing it.
23:11-23:19
Whatever God calls me to do, whoever I need to apologize to, whatever restitution needs made, whatever, I'm doing it today.
23:20-23:21
Heart change brings deeper commitment.
23:22-23:23
Gotta know the difference.
23:24-23:29
When you sin, when you fail, repentance, true repentance goes all the way.
23:29-23:32
I want to remind you how far repentance goes.
23:33-23:40
When you do something wrong and you're sorry mentally, that's called regret.
23:41-23:41
Okay?
23:42-23:46
You do something wrong and you think to yourself, "Huh, that was not a good choice.
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I understand that.
23:49-23:50
Not a good choice.
23:50-23:52
Yep, I'm rethinking that.
23:52-23:56
Shouldn't have done that." That's called regret when you're sorry mentally.
23:57-24:02
When you're sorry mentally and emotionally, that's called remorse.
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It's like, "Oh, I shouldn't have done that, and I feel horrible about that." And some people think that's all the further it needs to go.
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"Well, he feels bad about it." Biblically, that's not all the way, because repentance is when you're sorry mentally and emotionally and volitionally, meaning you make choices to actively do something different as a result of what you think and what you feel. Oh, that was wrong. Oh, I feel horrible about that. Therefore, I'm doing something different now. That's what repentance is all about. If you truly have heart change, you're going to have that deeper commitment.
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And finally, number four, deeper commitment brings new opportunities. Samson was a great blind and he was never able to do what he did before but God used Samson's blindness to do what Samson never could have done before like what do you mean well if Samson had his sight you realize they never would have let him near those pillars you know that right never in a million years so you could say in a sense that God used the result of Samson's failure.
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Like oh, he's blind, he's harmless.
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Let him balance himself.
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He had to be blind in order for that to happen as it did.
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And you're like, oh, well, then I can just fail, and God's going to keep on using me.
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I've got to tell you, if you've made it to this point in Samson's story, and that's your takeaway, is hey, failure's no big whoop.
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If that's your big takeaway, you're I'm going to have to go back and read this again.
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Restoration doesn't necessarily mean that we're restored to our original usefulness because Samson was.
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But the scars of sin can become instruments of God.
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God can use your scar.
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We've seen it over and over, haven't we?
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The former addict ministers to those who are struggling with substance abuse.
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The prodigal son or daughter who repents, becomes a counselor for other wayward kids, the guy that's saved in prison, later does prison ministry.
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You know what I'm talking about.
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God uses our scars to do things that we never would have or could have done before.
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God might put you on a whole new path to help others who have failed like you or to keep others from failing.
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Church, it's a process.
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It's not really an easy process.
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It's not really a fun process when God disciplines you to restore you, but sin properly dealt with as a giant step forward in our growth to Christlikeness.
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That's the good news for us today.
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God restores even the worst of us failures.
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God restores and it's grace, isn't it?
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It's grace when we realize that we're sinners and we come to the cross for forgiveness.
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And it's grace just as much when we completely blow it to find that in Jesus Christ, we're already forgiven, and God as a loving Father wants to walk us through the process of discipline and restoration.
Small Group Discussion
Read Judges 16:23-31
What was your big “take-away” from this passage / message?
Explain the difference between regret, remorse, and repentance. Why does God call you to repentance instead of just calling you to regret or remorse?
Why do you think some Christians choose to wallow in shame instead of move on in God’s path to restoration?
If we are forgiven in Christ, why is restoration often a long and hard process? Why doesn’t God just “wipe the slate clean”?
Explain punishment vs discipline:
- Why is the believer in Christ not “punished”?
- What is the endgame of discipline?
Breakout
Pray for one another - to handle failure God’s way.