Samson

This word was first given in 1996; Reprint 2006.

[For a printable version click here.]

Turn to Judges 14, and we will read Verses 5 and 6:

“Then went Samson down and his father and mother to Timnath, and came to the vineyards of Timnath, and behold a young lion roared against him. And the Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon him, and he tore him as he would have torn a kid, and he had nothing in his hand, but he told not his father or his mother what he had done.”

It’s been a long time since I have heard much about Samson. Brother duCille has been very faithful to tell us about Samson from time to time, but something recently came to my attention from a brother. He just mentioned one little thing that really struck me when we were up in the Northwest a couple of weeks ago. I really began to press and look into this thing about Samson again.

A Type of Christ

Now Samson was a man who was called to a specific purpose. He was a man who was sanctified. He was a man who was set aside. He was a man who had a calling. He was a man who was meant to fulfill his calling. He was a man who knew the authority and might of the power of God. In that sense, he is a man who, in type, speaks of Christ. In a spiritual sense, He also speaks of a type of the sons of God (those who walk in the power of Christ).

In the natural, physical, Adam(ic) sense, there is much failure in his life. So we need to be seeing the spiritual man here, and not focus so much on the natural, except to take heed and take warning, that we not follow this man in the natural, but we follow the spiritual thing that God is doing in him.

 Seeking a Bride

Samson saw a woman in Timnath. He went to his father and mother and said, “Get her for me. She pleases me.” In the natural sense, he was wrong. What was he doing, looking for a wife among these Philistines? His mother and father were right in their natural sense in saying, “Are there no daughters of Zion that could please you? Are there no women? Are there no sisters among your brethren?” This is rightly so. Brethren, I believe that when we seek out a companion, we really need to be seeking among our brethren. We really need to be seeking among our own kind.

Eze 34:17 And as for you, O my flock, thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I judge between cattle and cattle, between the rams and the he goats.

20 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD unto them; Behold, I, even I, will judge between the fat cattle and between the lean cattle.

You know, there are different “kinds.” I want you to hear what I am saying. There are different kinds among man. I’m not just saying “world” versus “believers.” There are different kinds among believers. There are some believers who will not rise up, and who just want to play. They want to play religion. They want to play in the streets. They want to call to one another, and have their little games.

Mt 11:16 But whereunto shall I liken this generation? It is like unto children sitting in the markets, and calling unto their fellows

17 And saying, We have piped unto you, and ye have not danced; we have mourned unto you, and ye have not lamented.

There are a lot of young people that are deceived into believing, “Oh, he’s born again.” Or, “She’s born again. She’s a good Christian. She comes from a good home.”

I tell you, there’s a lot of pain that comes from getting into some of these relationships. Brethren, I would hesitate to say, that just because somebody fellowships among our brethren, automatically means that you can just go and marry anybody — because you can’t! God, for reasons that please Him, has made differences in us. Amen! We need to be very, very careful.

Jg 14:4 But his father and his mother knew not that it was of the LORD, that he sought an occasion against the Philistines: for at that time the Philistines had dominion over Israel.

Samson, in the natural, was about to make a big mistake, and yet in verse 4, it says that there’s a spiritual lesson here, and that his parents didn’t know that God had another purpose in mind. God was going to use this to bring an occasion against the Philistines. So, let’s go on to the spiritual man here, now.

Claiming Our Heritage

It says that “Samson went down to Timnath…” Now, don’t make a big deal of the fact that he was going down. He went down, because the elevation was lower than he was. The word Timnath has a very interesting meaning, and this is what caught my whole attention to this passage. Timnath[1] means “assigned portion; heritage.” So, in a spiritual sense here, Samson was going down to claim his heritage. He was going down to claim something that belonged to him. He went down to claim his heritage, and a funny thing happened, you could say, on the way to claim his heritage. The lion rose up against him.

Overcoming the Lion Spirits

Brethren, what has happened to you on the way to claim your heritage? Have you encountered a lion? Did you hear the roar of a lion when you went out to claim the authority and the power that the Lord Jesus said that He gave to you? He said,

Lu 10:19 Behold, I give unto you power (authority[2]) to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power (strength, violence, might)[3] of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you.

How many believers have claimed all this power and all this authority, and walk in it and live in it, and know it intimately on a day by day basis? Not many of us. We need to go down to Timnath and lay claim. I believe that the reason we have not done so is because some of us have met the lion and we have turned back. We heard the roar of the lion.

Now, you see how Samson dealt with this lion. He tore that lion. Can you imagine the might and the power and the Spirit of God that would come upon a man, to be able to tear a full grown lion? This was a young lion. This was not an old lion that was losing teeth and barely able to get up and walk, and who was really on his way to starvation of some sort. No, this is not the kind of lion we are talking about. How much do these grown lions weigh? Five hundred pounds! Amen! I’ll tell you what, brethren; most of us could not take on a three hundred pound man, much less a five hundred pound lion.

Now, we begin to think about this lion. This lion speaks of something other than just a natural animal. There are several things that this lion speaks of. It speaks of the “beast” nature. Amen! Sometimes this beast nature in us is what prevents us from going down to claim our heritage.

Brethren, I believe we need to be hearing something a little bit more militant today. You don’t like to hear the word “complacent,” but if we are not militant, and if we are not rising up, and if we are not moving in the things of God, then we are complacent. If we are not laying claim to that which belongs to us with an assertive and an aggressive manner, then we are complacent. Amen!

By the way, Samson did not go out for the purpose of picking a fight with a lion. That was not his intent. He didn’t say, “Let me go hunting bare-handed now, and see if I can’t encounter a lion somewhere.” Amen! Brethren, you know we are not always looking for a fight with the devil. Do you understand? In this occasion, the devil initiated it.

Now, I believe, brethren that we are going to come to a time when God is going to say, “You go out, and you initiate it!” Am I unscriptural? What did God say to Moses in the days of the Amorites?

De 2:24 Rise ye up, take your journey, and pass over the river Arnon: behold, I have given into thine hand Sihon the Amorite, king of Heshbon, and his land: begin to possess it, and contend with him in battle.

“Go out and contend with them — with Sihon… king of Hebshon and these fellows — go out and contend with them.” In other words, He said, “Go out and pick a fight with them! See if you can’t get them mad. Go ask them something. See if he’ll turn you down,” and that’s exactly what Moses did.

The lion not only speaks of the beast nature, but the lion speaks of the devil. What does Peter say about the devil? He says that he, “…as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.[4] So, there are two things about this lion. There’s a roar, and there’s a devouring capability. Now, the roar is that which comes out of his mouth, and the roar is the word. How many of you have heard the word of the devil that says, “You are unable to go in and possess the land! You are unworthy!” It says that you are guilty of something. It says that you are too weak, and that you are too fearful! Or, it reminds you of something else, and by the roaring of this lion, we tremble and we back down and we say, “Well, maybe not now. Maybe when I’m stronger, maybe when I can get three or four other people to pray with me; maybe then I can press on in.”

Like David

When I see how Samson dealt with this lion, it reminds me of several things. First of all, it reminds me of David. You remember that David did the same thing. David is also a type of the overcomer. He is a type of one who comes into a special place in God.

Now, I find something different about David in his overcoming that even went beyond that of Samson. He overcame a lion and a bear, and we see that David went on to rule and reign in a place that Samson as a natural man never did. David actually went to the throne, and the word of God does not talk about Jesus occupying the throne of Samson, but rather the throne of David. It talks about the restoration of the tabernacle of David. So, there was an area of overcoming in David that I believe even went beyond these exploits of Samson as a man. As the lion speaks of Satan and his kind, so the bear speaks of the human soul. There were desires and lusts in Samson’s soul that he didn’t overcome and that is how Delilah managed to overthrow him for his enemies.

What is the difference between a lion and a bear in the natural? A lion is one that will crouch, one that will hide, one that will stalk you, one that will leap at you. The lion is a beast that will come at you with a roar. I believe there’s something here in the spiritual that will cause us to tremble and fear.

Overcoming the Bear

A bear, however, is a different kind of beast. A bear, for the most part, is interested in pursuing berries and this type of thing. But the thing that I read in the word, particularly about a bear, is of “an old she bear robbed of her whelps.” In other words, for the most part, a bear will try to leave you alone. But get between this bear and her cubs, and you have got one mean creature on your hands. I mean, you can’t run fast enough! You can’t climb far enough to get away from this thing. You go up a tree, and she’ll knock the tree down to try to get at you. It was Hushai[5] who was talking to Absalom about David when they had kicked David out of Jerusalem, and he was on the run again from his own son. He said to Absalom, “Oh, don’t go out against David like that. He and his men are experienced men of war, and David right now is like an old bear that has been robbed of her whelps. You guys are going to get chewed up if you go out there like that.”

So, there is an overcoming here, and I believe that if we are going to come into the fulness of sonship, we are going to overcome the bear (the nature of our own soul) and we are going to overcome the lion (the spirits of Satan’s kingdom). I believe that God is going to give us more wisdom, precisely on what this really means. But I’m just saying that I believe that there are areas of overcoming more than just, “I beat the lion.” You know, David went on to overcome giants! There was even more than just the bear and the lion. He slew Goliath, the Philistine giant, and later it says[6] that David and his men slew Goliath’s brothers who were also giants. In this passage we are given their names. These giants had particular names that spoke of the character that they were of.

One of these giants, for instance, had six fingers on each hand. Can you imagine the grip that this thing would get on you? Think of some of the things that get a grip on our soul… that get a grip on our flesh. Can you really overcome this thing? I know brethren that have been trying for ten, fifteen, twenty years now to overcome nicotine. This thing has a grip! It’s like a six-fingered giant! One of David’s men was able to rise up and slay that thing. Brethren, I believe we are going to have to rise up and slay these things — with the weapons that God has alreadv given us in our hands. Hallelujah!

2Co 10:4 (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;)

 5 Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;

 6 And having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled.

We don’t need to call for submachine guns and tanks and this type of thing. God has given us that which is sufficient to claim our heritage, no matter what stands in our way! Hallelujah!

God is able to shut the mouth of that lion. Daniel was thrown into the den of lions, a whole den of hungry lions that hadn’t eaten for days. Oh, yes! God shut the mouth of these lions, and not a one of them dared to touch him! Hallelujah! Daniel did not have to go and tear these lions one by one. He was able to stand in the midst of them. Amen! You know, David said, “Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of my enemies.”[7]. Daniel could have sat down in that lion’s den and eaten the best steak dinner, and not a lion would dare touch it. Hallelujah! Oh, yes!

So, the other verse that comes to me is Isaiah 49:25.

For, thus saith the Lord, even the captives of the mighty shall be taken away, and the prey of the terrible shall be delivered, for I will contend with him that contendeth with thee and will save thy children.

Here’s another aspect of the lion, brethren. The lion comes and tries to lay claim to our children. The lion comes and tries to lay claim to our grandchildren. The lion comes and tries to lay claim to our heritage! Children are the heritage of the Lord[8]. Amen! The lion is not going to have mine! Amen! Though he may be terrible! Though he has the one in his mouth already! Amen! You can see what David did.[9] The lion had the lamb in his mouth, and David said, “No, you don’t!” Amen! In other words, it wasn’t just David now that this lion had roared against. The lion had roared against one of the lambs, and not only threatened the lamb, but began to carry out his threat of devouring the lamb. This lion had the lamb a captive — this little one from the flock — and David said, “You will not! I am sent here to be a shepherd over this flock. I will lay my life down, but you will not walk away with this lamb!” Amen! Hallelujah! He took it right out of the lion’s mouth.

On to Killing Giants

It is interesting to read that David didn’t tell anybody about this until Saul pressed him, and asked him, “What right do you have to go out against this giant Goliath?” You know, it’s like, today we would write it all out on our resume. “What’s on your resume, son? Oh, here! …killed lion …killed bear …with bare hands. Quite an impressive resume, son! How did you do it?” He said, “Well, the lion took one of my lambs, and I went and took the lamb away from him.” Do you know what else he said? He said, “…and when he arose against me, I had to dispatch him!” In other words, David was saying, “I would have left him alone. I just wanted my lamb back. I wasn’t out looking to kill a lion. But, it made the lion angry! He didn’t like it that I took his lunch away, and he came against me! Can you imagine? He came against me! So, I had to deal with him.” Amen! I think this is great! So I’ve overlooked this business of Samson and this lion here.

The Wrong Kind of Bride

Well, there’s a whole lot more about Samson. Do you know he got in trouble with women? There were three of them. It wasn’t just Delilah. Spiritually, what does “woman” speak of in the bible? It speaks of a church. So there were three churches involved here that gave this son of God trouble. Let’s look at these three. We read of the first one here in Judges 14. She had no name. In fact, two of the three didn’t have a name. But, the first one thought she was going to be the bride. She had plans on being the bride, and yet there was some kind of flaw in her. Now, you remember the parable that Jesus told of the ten virgins in Matthew 25? Do you realize that all of these had intention of attending this wedding (as the bride, I believe). It’s a corporate bride that we are talking about, and yet, we found that some of them were not ready. Some of them had a flaw, and the flaw was that they neglected something very important. They neglected the oil (the action of the fullness of the Holy Spirit) in their vessel (soul).

Loyal to Whom?

Now, when we read the description of this woman friend of Samson, we see that she had some serious flaws in her. For one thing, she would not cast her total loyalty to Samson. She cast her loyalty to the natural clan that she came from. She cast her lot to Adam. When there was a riddle to be solved, and the contest was between Samson and her natural family, she threw her lot with her natural family. She had her loyalty set with the old order, and she would not rise up, and she would not put her allegiance with Samson.

The description is that she wailed and she cried for the whole seven days of this wedding feast. Mourning and plaguing Samson, she begged him to reveal to her the answer to this riddle, so that her people wouldn’t be embarrassed. I mean, can you imagine putting up with this for seven days of a wedding feast with the one that’s supposed to be your bride? Unbelievable! I’m surprised that Samson didn’t leave before the seventh day! He waited until the seventh day and then he left.

So Samson lost the wager and had to get thirty changes of garments to pay off his bet. You know where he got the thirty changes of garments? He took them from thirty Philistines (they wouldn’t need them anymore when he got through with them). So, he paid off. He left town, and the story of this woman is that she was given to Samson’s companion. This is another picture of the church that was supposed to be the bride. The one who was supposed to be the best man, he was not supposed to take her for his own wife. We can say, this minister got in bed with the bride and made her his own wife. This was corruption on the part of both of them (the ministry and the church)! They cut Christ right out of the deal here. Samson here was supposed to be the type of Christ to this bride.

Samson got his revenge, of course, by catching three hundred foxes, tying their tails together, [putting a burning torch in the midst], and letting them loose in the grain fields. That really got the attention of the Philistines! He destroyed thousands of acres of their grain. I mean, three hundred foxes with a torch tied between them could really start a lot of fires! They began to inquire, “Where are all these fires coming from?” Samson, of course, intended that the word would get to them that he was the one that did it.

Now, wouldn’t you think it would be sufficient that the Philistines would be the ones to go after Samson? But, who were the first ones to go after him for raising a ruckus? It was his own people![10] Where do you think the persecution is going to come from to the sons of God for stirring up things? It’s going to come from our own people. What does it say? We read Verse 11,

“Three thousand men of Judah went up to the top of the rock Etam, and said to Samson, Knowest thou not that the Philistines are rulers over us? What is this that thou hast done unto us? And he said unto them, As they did unto me. so have I done unto them.”

Persecution from our Brethren

They said to Samson, “Don’t you know that these Philistines rule over us? Don’t you know that we are to keep our place in some of these matters? Don’t you know that we are not to stir this up? Don’t you know that we don’t get into this spiritual warfare business? We don’t know how to handle that! Leave it be! Don’t you know the devil rules over us? Don’t you know if you start kicking him around, he’s going to start kicking back?”

Samson said, “As he did to me, so I will do to him.” Amen! Brethren, what is your posture going to be in these matters of spiritual warfare? Are you going to lie down and let him kick you around? Do you know what the real intent of this lion is? It is not just to make noise. Lions roar because they’re hungry! They are after blood! They are after flesh!

Brethren, we are going to have to take on the posture of Samson! Samson didn’t say, “Well, I’ve settled the score now. I’m going to run away, and I’m going to hide somewhere, and I don’t want any Philistine to ever find me.” He said, “I did to them as they did to me.” We’re not talking about dealing with natural men, brethren! We are talking about dealing with spiritual warfare… dealing with the enemy! Amen! “As he came and tried to rob me of my son! As he comes, and tries to rob me of my granddaughter! Hallelujah! So will I go after his camp! Amen! I’m going to see the walls come down. Amen! I’m going to see Philistines (spiritual demons) falling from the top and being crushed! The day is going to come! Hallelujah! Give me a chance today, and it will be today!” Amen! Samson was going to take the opportunity he had.

Three thousand of his own men (three thousand ministers) came to him, and said, “Cool it, Samson! You’ve got the devil all riled up now! You’ve got him mad at us! Don’t you know that they rule over us? Don’t you know that we pay tribute to them? Don’t you know that we walk on eggs when we are around this thing? We keep our nose clean…”

I remember one time when someone gave me a little book of cartoons. There was this little cartoon of this old fellow lying in a hospital bed. You know how they lay there with their legs and arms all bandaged up, and ropes, and pulleys, and weights, and everything. This old preacher said to the guy, “Renounce the devil!” The old man said, “I’m in no position to pick a fight with anybody right now!” What makes it a joke is because this is what a lot of Christians believe most of the time. You don’t have to be in a hospital bed in traction and with tubes coming and going from your body to think like this. Most Christians just don’t want to go into warfare!

Do you want to go into warfare, sister? I mean, sister Janet said to me for so many years, “Oh, ladies are not meant to fight!” Oh, come on! Baloney! Ladies know how to fight. In the flesh, I mean. No, what we’re saying here, brethren, is you let someone come and rob you of your whelp, and see if you’re not ready to fight — just like that bear! You’re going to change your whole attitude. Hallelujah!

Well, Samson agreed to be bound. “Oh, do you guys want to bind me? Alright, but on one condition. I’ll let you bind me, but you are not going to kill me. Swear to me, you won’t kill me.” They said, “Fine!”  Now, Samson had to know something about the power of God in order to make an agreement like this with his brethren. “I will agree to be bound for a season, but I know that when the power of God comes on me, and it’s time for my deliverance, I know that I’m coming free!” So, they bound him. The Philistines came and said, “Do you have the prisoner?” “Oh, yes, sirs! We have the prisoner for you. We will be happy to turn him over to you. We’re glad to be rid of him. Do with him whatever you have to do.”

A Thousand Shall Fall…

Jg 15:14 And when he came unto Lehi, the Philistines shouted against him: and the Spirit of the LORD came mightily upon him, and the cords that were upon his arms became as flax that was burnt with fire, and his bands loosed from off his hands.

 15 And he found a new jawbone of an ass, and put forth his hand, and took it, and slew a thousand men therewith.

So, the Philistines took him. “And when he came unto Lehi…” By the way, do you know that Lehi[11] means “jawbone?” I believe it’s a natural rock there that they had named Lehi, that looked like and had the shape of a jawbone. I believe this, because later it says that when Samson was thirsty, God opened up a place in the middle of this jawbone, and the water began to come out, and it says it’s a well to this day. So, it wasn’t the jawbone he was holding in his hand that the water came out of, but I believe it was the water in this rock formation, of the place called “jawbone.” Believe what you want. It doesn’t matter. God opened it up.

So they came to a place called jawbone, and it says, “…and the Philistines shouted against him. Amen! It sounds like the roar of the lion again, doesn’t it? Amen? It sounds like the days of David and Goliath again, where Goliath came out and shouted against the people of God. The enemy brings words. What do we find in Revelation?[12] Out of the mouth of the dragon (the devil) came a flood of water (the cursing words and accusation of the devil) against the woman church.

Oh, I’ll tell you what, sometimes the shouting of this devil business really grieves me up! Sometimes, when I go into a restaurant, I have to listen to the horrible demon screaming music that some of these people play. It’s just about enough to really vex me. One of these days, brethren! One of these days, people that are with me are not going to be happy with me in that place! I’m usually quiet and discreet to go up to the manager and say, “Do I have to endure this?” Well, I’m polite about it, but Samson was not polite when he heard this shouting against him. Let me read it, “…and the spirit of the Lord came mightily upon him! Glory! Oh, my! Don’t you want to taste the Spirit of the Lord? Don’t you want to taste the might, and the power, and the authority of the Spirit of the Lord? I’ll tell you what! Brethren, whatever the price, it’s going to be worth it! Hallelujah! Make up your mind that you are going to be in that place! Make up your mind, that whatever it takes, you’re going to be one of those that know the Spirit of God coming upon you! Hallelujah! Living within you — coming against the strongholds of darkness!

Do you go against the strongholds in your soul with the same vigor? How many, for instance, realize that you have a nasty temper? Do you go against that stronghold with the same hatred of demonic things? I mean, that’s a stronghold, too, isn’t it? Are we only thinking about the strongholds that are out there? Well, there are lots of them here to be overcome, and we need to be just as vigorous! If you are bound by the spirit of lust, or by some spirit of pornography, or nicotine, or whatever — then go after it with the same strength! Whatever it is, go after it! Amen! It’ll have to come down! HaIlelujah!

Samson was able to tear the bondage aside (verse 14). Amen! He had been bound. He had even agreed to be bound, but he was able to get loosed from that bondage when the Spirit of God came upon him! Hallelujah!. It says,

“…and the spirit of the Lord came mightily upon him, and the cords that were upon his arms became as flax that was burnt with fire, and his bands loosed from off his hands.”

They had his arms and his hands bound! It says that it was just like flax that had been put in the fire. It was torn off just like that! No bondage can stand before the Spirit of the Lord! It’s the anointing that destroys that yoke! Hallelujah!

So, we know the story — it says Samson “found a new jawbone of an ass,” and he put forth his hand and he took it! He did something! He didn’t just sit there and say, “Oh, God! Now that You’ve delivered me, cause fire to come down here, and destroy all these demonic things that are around me.” It says that he took forth this jawbone of an ass. Amen! Hallelujah! I don’t know what it represents — but you know, it’s through the mouth that the word comes, and maybe he took up the word against these things. It says he slew a thousand of them, and I’ll tell you what, when he finished, he was thirsty. Brethren, we need the word of God. We need to drink of the word, and God made provision for the word to quench his thirst when he finished that war. When we finish fighting, we need the word of the Lord, don’t we? Amen! These brethren that went to India faced some very difficult warfare, and I believe that they were happy to have the refreshing of the Spirit of the Lord when that battle was over. Amen! Hallelujah!

The Harlot Church

Let’s go on to the next chapter, to the second woman that gave him problems. Again, no name is given. It just says that she was a harlot. “Then went Samson to Gaza and saw there an harlot, and went in unto her.”[13] It’s another kind of church. Here, there’s no pretense. She doesn’t pretend to be a bride. She’s just a plain harlot church, and Samson got involved with her.

Can you imagine the sons of God getting involved in harlotry? You know, I am really grieved today at the discouragement that is going on in some of God’s people. We are looking for a move of God. Some of us read or remember the great things God did in the past. You know, there was a great move of God in the earth, back in the late forties and early fifties. There was a move of God. I don’t remember it like some of the older brethren here that were in this thing. But one thing that I do remember is that there were tent meetings. Evangelists would come to these tent meetings. They would put up a big tent, and the tent would be filled. It wasn’t just filled with one denomination of people. If the man had an anointing of God, many people would come.

The other thing that I remember is that when the word of repentance went out, people would repent! Do you remember? Did any of you get involved in any of these tent meetings in the fifties? People would come in the hundreds. They would come and they would repent. And I don’t mean just like they do with these television things today — like that Billy Graham crowd. People really repented! People came down, and their lives were totally changed! Brethren, I not ashamed to admit that I repented in a meeting like that. I had given my heart to the Lord when I was about ten, but I found myself about seventeen or eighteen years old, and in need of repentance again. You know the things that can happen to a seventeen or eighteen-year-old’s heart, and the wrong directions that we begin to get ourselves going in. I remember (what) the man of God said. I don’t even need to mention his name. You would not know it if I did. He said, “There are some of you here… you’ve been a Christian, and you need to get things settled again with God!” Amen! The word of God spoke to me. There was a move of God!

The thing that distresses me so is that in this dav and age, people will not move. There is a hardness that has settled in; a hardness that has settled into the house of God! People have gotten so that all they want to hear is the positive message and prosperity. “Tell me how I can make more money. Tell me how I can have this and how I can have that… what God is going to do for me today…” I mean, I don’t know what it is — but, I tell you what, I am crying for the day when the word of God will move people again! You know what? We can’t create it! The thing is that I think that people are beginning to sense that this repentance is in short supply in the house of God today. You know, maybe I’m only talking about America. There are places that we go, that you see God moving like this. But, in my homeland, this thing is in short supply; and I am seeing saints get discouraged over this thing, and say, “Well, God isn’t moving any more. What’s the point? Why even bother to gather any more? You know? Let’s just hang around at home, and wait for the power of God to fall somewhere.”

I’ll tell you what, with this kind of dryness, I think that the harvest has got to be getting awfully white! You know it has to be dry in the time of harvest? Do you realize that? You can’t go out with a combine in pouring rain, and expect to get a good harvest. Your combine is going to mess up! It’s going to plug up. It just won’t work! It just won’t work, and when I see the dryness, I believe that we are on the threshold. What was the term that the brether used? He said that we are “on the threshold of the dispensation of the fullness of time.” That’s why I brought the little story about the cicada locust. Is this not the threshold of the day of the Lord? Amen! Brethren, we are in this time! Hallelujah!

Deliverance at Midnight

Jg 16:2 And it was told the Gazites, saying, Samson is come hither. And they compassed him in, and laid wait for him all night in the gate of the city, and were quiet all the night, saying, In the morning, when it is day, we shall kill him.

3 And Samson lay till midnight, and arose at midnight, and took the doors of the gate of the city, and the two posts, and went away with them, bar and all, and put them upon his shoulders, and carried them up to the top of an hill that is before Hebron.

It says in verse 3 that Samson got out of the harlot’s house at midnight. Why are we going to have to wait until midnight to get out? There was nothing that prevented him from getting out before then. In the first place, what was he doing there? He didn’t even have to be there! But, if you are hearing this word, and that’s where you are (in the harlot’s house), get out! I’m convinced, you’re going to hear the bells ring “midnight” any day now, and I don’t think there’s going to be a warning bell that’s going to tell you, “Midnight bell will ring in sixty seconds.” No! You’re not going to hear a bell like that! You’re not going to hear a warning like that! Brethren, the warning and the cry is going out NOW!! “Behold, the bridegroom cometh. Go ye out to meet him!”[14] The servants of God are crying that cry in the land NOW!

Some are getting up and trimming their lamps and getting the flesh put in order. Some of us are noticing that there’s a lack of oil, and are beginning to get concerned about it! I think that it is good that we are concerned about it, because I think that there’s still time to buy. There’s still time to buy, brethren, but I don’t know how much time there still is. I don’t know how long it takes you to buy. It took me quite a while to buy what I’ve got, and I’m still buying. Do you understand? I’m talking against this thing as a single event!

Event: “I get into my car. I go to the store. I hand the man money. He hands me the merchandise. I have it!” That’s an “event.” Events don’t happen like that in God! It takes paying a price! It takes a season of time! It takes time! The word we are hearing here has been, “Do you know how to hear the voice of God? Do you hear the voice of God?” I don’t know how many people that I talk to are saying, “Oh, but I long to hear the voice of God.” Well, what are you going to do about it?

About seventeen years ago (now 27 years), a brother came to me. I had begun to hear the voice of God, because I began to make some very difficult choices in my life, and I began to feel the pain of the fire of that thing. I had told this brother that I had begun to hear the voice of God, and he came to me and he said, “How do you hear the voice of God? I want to hear this!” He’s a good believer. He’s in the house of God. But I said to him, “Brother, the only thing I can tell you is that there’s a certain price that I paid. Are you interested in paying that price?” He looked at what I was going through, and he said, “I certainly don’t want to go through what you’re going through!” I said, “Well, I’m not saying you are. But are you willing to pay whatever you have to pay to hear the voice of God?” I don’t think I got an answer. I just left the question there. I leave you with a question. Are you willing to pay whatever you need to pay to get to where you really want to be? Do you know what? You’ll be where you really want to be at the end of the day.

Let me just talk about that a minute. There’s a man among us who leaves us challenges to higher places than we are. He doesn’t force us into it, but he drops the word on us. I remember a word that he keeps dropping out, and that he keeps saying, “Well, there’s a thing of having the thing available to our flesh, and choosing not to take it.” You see, not everyone is going to say, “Oh, yes! Hallelujah! That’s the way I want to live. I want to learn to live in those realms of overcoming!” Do you see what I am saying? We are going to be where we want to be, and the thing about wanting to be is not just making a statement with vour mouth. “Oh, yes, I’d like to do that! Oh, yes! Doesn’t that sound good about Samson! Oh, yes! I’d like to be there!” There’s a price that you have to be willing to pay.

The Apostle of Faith

Let me tell you another little story. There came an old man from South Africa into our area. He came with the Full Gospel Businessmen, but he was in no way owned by this Full Gospel. He was a most unusual man. He would not tell them more than about three days ahead of time when he was coming. So there was no way that they could send out brochures and flyers, pictures and this type of thing. I began to inquire of this certain president of the Saratoga chapter, and I said, “How do you know when this fellow is coming?” He said, “Oh, he never tells us ahead of time.” I said, “Here’s my phone number. I don’t want to miss it the next time this man comes!” This was because I had discovered that this was a man who had learned to live by faith. He was called by God to live by faith, and, oh, the stories that this man would tell! His name was Robert Thom. I don’t know if you have ever heard of him. He was just a man of God, an older man of God.

If it is all right, I’d like here to tell you a story I heard him tell. You like hearing stories, don’t you? You hear something like this, and, of course, if you are a new believer, or a new man in the Spirit of God, you say, “Oh, I’ve got to go out and do this!” Well, you know, God bless you — [but you may have yet to realize what it all will cost you]. I think such stories are meant to challenge us. God wants to challenge us. In spite of our foolishness, God wants to challenge us. I think we need to be challenged, or we are never going to reach out. We are never going to climb higher unless we have a challenge.

Brother Thom would tell of times that God would tell him to go on a certain boat, or on a certain plane. He heard the voice of God, and he would simply obey. God told him when to be there, and he would be there. There were times where he had no money and no ticket, but somebody would hand him an envelope as he came in the door. He’d say, “Oh, thank you!,” and in the envelope would either be the tickets or the money to buy a ticket. Or he would go up to the ticket counter, and say, “I want to be on thus and thus flight (or boat, or whatever it was),” and somebody would say, “What’s your name?” He would say, “Thom,” and the man would say, “Oh, somebody left an envelope here for you!” He handed him the envelope, and it would have the tickets in it! Can you imagine this? He was telling of when he lived in America, (he lived in Kentucky somewhere), that the Lord spoke to him that he was to be on a certain flight. The Lord gave him the airline, the flight number, the day, and the time of day. He said, “You are to go to the airport, and you are to get on that flight!” Well, he didn’t talk about a money problem this time, but he spoke of how he gets there alright, but he has no reservation. He just walks into the airport and goes up to the counter of this airline, and says, “I’m going to buy a ticket now for flight number such and such to such and such city…” The lady at the counter said, “Well, sir, that flight is full!” He said, “Oh, no! I’m to be on!” She said, “Well, sir, I just said to you that the flight is full. In fact, it’s overbooked. There are nineteen people on standby ahead of you, and you are number twenty!” He said, “Oh, I’ll be on that flight!”

As you can imagine, she had a big argument with him. Well, he stuck to his guns! He said, “No! I’m going to be on that flight! She said, “How do you know that you are going to be on that flight?” He said, “Because the Lord told me to get on that flight!” She said, “Well, I’m going to tell you today, Sir, you will not be on that flight!” He said, “Do you mind if I just hang around here and wait?” She said, “You can hang around here all you want, but you’re not going to be on that flight!”

So, he hung around and waited. The airplane filled, and the airplane left the airport. The airplane went down to the end of the runway, and the airplane took off! So she said to him, “Sir, your airplane just left.” He said, “Oh, no, I’m going to be on that flight!” She said, “Crazy man…” Well, because the airplane left, nineteen other people left the airport. They walked out, and the airplane cleared the takeoff. It had no more than gotten into the air, and one of the passengers became violently ill. Oh, terribly sick! So sick, that they immediately turned the airplane around and landed. They took the passenger off. The lady said, “Sir, I believe there’s one seat left on this airplane.” He said, “Thank you. I will get on.”

Now, hearing things like that really tends to challenge you. I heard he was coming again to our area, and I went to hear him. When he was done, he began to tell about his walk of faith. He never had notes. He’d just get up and he’d start talking, and he would hold the bible up, and he would quote the word and tell about the things that he had experienced in his walk with God. He finished, and he said, “How many of you would like to have the gift of faith today? God wants to give the gift of faith to some of you here today. You come on up, and I’ll lay my hands on you.” I said, “Yes! Yes! Yes!”

Well, I’ll tell you, about the time of that first appearance that I remember of that seventeen-year locust, [when things in my life were very difficult], I began to say, “Oh, my, is all this because I let that man lay hands on me? God! What are you doing to me? Why do I have to go through all this?” Well, one day, the Lord just kind of whispered, “I thought you wanted to walk by faith?” “Well, I did, Lord, but I thought it was going to be a nicer story than that!” I thought it was just going to be going to airports — and you know, having people hand me a ticket as I come in the door… Do you see how the Lord tricked me? Did He trick me, or didn’t He? You know, what I am saying is that if it is in your heart, you are going to have it! Because you are going to want it, and you are going to pay the price! Amen!

Overcoming the Gates of Hell

You know, Samson eventually had to pay the price. He got out of this harlot’s house, but the enemy thought (and the enemy thinks this today), that if he’s got you in the harlot’s house, he’s got you! You’re as good as dead! That’s what the enemy thinks! But by the grace of God, he got out. You know, they didn’t have the gate open for him at midnight. The gate was not open. The gate was shut, and they intended to keep the gate shut until they went through the whole city and until they found him. Even if he wasn’t in the harlot’s house, they were going to get him.

Do you know how he opened the gate? He lifted it up. Do you know what that means? Have you any idea the size of these gates? These are not little aluminum decorative gates for your backyard. These gates were made of solid wood, probably twelve to eighteen inches thick. I don’t know, maybe even twenty-four inches thick. They were meant to withstand battering rams. A battering ram is a big tree carried by thirty, forty (or) fifty soldiers that are big, husky, strong, mean-looking warriors. They carry this thing, and run with all their might and slam it into the gate. They back up and they ram it again. They keep ramming against this thing until they break it! If that doesn’t work, then they try to burn it down. That’s what these gates were meant to withstand.

Now, imagine the gate post that would hold a door of this kind of weight. We’re not talking about a flimsy little Stanley hinge. These are massive things! Can you imagine how far down into the ground the posts must have been set in order to prevent them from moving with the swinging of this gate?

Do you know something about heavy equipment — do you think you have seen a piece of equipment that could just hook on to that thing and pick it right up, and tear it right out of the ground? I don’t know that there’s a crane made that can just whip in there and zip that thing right out without excavation, and jack hammering, and this type of thing. Do you realize what this is saying? Do you understand something about the power of God? This man did not do that because he had been “pumping iron!” No amount of pumping iron by a human flesh could ever accomplish what he did! This is something that God did! Do you understand? God opened the gate for him because it was shut, and he needed to get out of town! We are talking about putting this thing on his shoulders and carrying it off a great distance! Up a hill! Not human! Not human at all!

Spiritual Intoxication

Now, you would think that Samson had learned by now the kind of woman that was to be the right kind of “bride of Christ.” Wouldn’t you? The third woman has a name, and her name alone should have been the clue to problems. That’s the reason God mentioned her name. It’s not just because “Delilah” was a cute name. Do you know what her name means? First of all, let’s talk about where she lived. She lived in Sorek. Do you know what Sorek means? It means “grapevine stock yielding purple grapes, the richest variety.” [It is translated in other scriptures as the “choicest vine” in the making of wine]. Now, Samson was a Nazarite, and he was supposed to be avoiding that intoxicating drink.[15] So, here he’s going to go down to Sorek to get involved with a woman, and get intoxicated by what she has to offer of her charms.

We can talk about this as a type of being involved with a church that has intoxicating things to offer. In fact, this is what a lot of churches are offering today — just something to get people nice and drunk on their intoxicating fumes. You know, “Whatever you folks want. Children are bored? Well, we’re going to have puppet shows. Teenagers are bored? Oh, we’ll bring in some Christian rock groups. Everybody can have what they want to drink, and you know, we’ll have ‘old man’ clubs, and we’ll have ‘old woman’ clubs, and we’ll have a club for everybody.” They call it programs, and you know, some of the saints of God that have come out are going back, because they want these things. They want the intoxication of this kind of wine. You know, it’s the leaven that makes wine an intoxicating drink. Leaven! Yeast! It’s what breaks down the sugar and changes it into alcohol.

I don’t know if any of you have been through western New York; as you’re driving between Buffalo and Jamestown, they have row after row and field after field of these Concord grapes. The purpose of Concord grapes, by the way, is to make Concord wine. This is their purpose. They are not the eating type.So, he was going down into Sorek, a place of intoxication.

Let’s read again where it says, “It came to pass afterward, that he loved a woman in the valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah.” Oh, this name Delilah[16]; you can look it up. It has a very interesting meaning. It comes from a Hebrew word that meant, “to slacken or be feeble; to be oppressed.” It is translated as “to bring low, dry up, be emptied, to fail, be impoverished, be made thin.” Now, surely Samson had some understanding of what this word meant. He was able to communicate with these people. He surely knew the language. He understood what this meant, and yet he gets involved. What is he doing being involved in something that is destined to take and rob him of everything that he is?

Here again, Delilah uses the same tactic on him that the first woman used. Why didn’t he recognize it? Why didn’t he overcome this thing? She vexes him. She plagues him. She pesters him. Day and night! Time after time, she harasses him. It says here in verse 16, And it came to pass, when she pressed him daily with her words and urged him, so that his soul was vexed unto death. Why would a man stay in a situation like that, when it says his soul is being vexed unto death?

I had a dream the other night. It was a very brief one. I was dreaming that I was in one of those church businesses, and they were coming to me, and plaguing me, and wanting me to be involved in this program, and that program; and I knew in my heart that it had nothing to do with the kingdom of God — absolutely nothing whatsoever! I remember in the dream, it was like I went up to the deck of a ship, where the water was on the other side. I went up to the deck, and I got a hold of this thing, and I was so vexed over this thing in my dream that I began to vomit overboard. This thing was so troubling to me, and I thought, “My God! Thank You for delivering me out of that house! Oh, God! I don’t know what I would do today if I were still there. I would surely by now have risen up and fled from that place.” It so vexed me, that I woke up and I thought I was going to get up out of bed and vomit! The feeling was so strong in me, and I thought, “My Lord is this thing in the spirit so strong?” Do you have a sensitive enough spirit that if you were pressed in a situation like that, that it would cause you to rise up and purge yourself?

A Call for Deliverance

Yet, we put up with other spirits, don’t we? How sensitive do we have to be? Because a familiar spirit is one that we are just familiar with, and maybe we are comfortable with it. Let me ask you a question. If somebody (some trusted man or woman of God, or whoever it would take) were to just come up to you and say, “Brother, you know, there is something that I see that you really need to get a deliverance from.” What’s your reaction going to be? What would you say? Would you nod your head and say, “Okay, let’s do it?”

Oh, you’re not expecting anybody to do that, are you? You’re just expecting to wait and… But, I don’t know! If we really are this late in time, maybe we ought to consider [just what our reaction would be in such a situation]. Would you receive it? Maybe someone is just so pressed with the love of God for you, that they’ve just been sick night after night in praying for you. You know, I don’t think God is going to show us anything about anybody else, unless you love that person so much, that you would be willing to lay your life down for that person. We’re not talking about a spirit of criticism. We’re talking about somebody that has such an intense love for you, that like David, he would go (if he thought you were a lamb in the mouth of a lion), and he would lay his life down before you to save you from the mouth of that lion. I think it’s to that man, or to that woman, that God is going to reveal Himself.You know, I think the first thing that’s going to have to happen is that we are going to have to start praying before we starting running our mouth. You start spending three or four weeks in prayer over that issue, before you even open your mouth to another soul, and you’re going to have a whole different message that’s going to come out of your mouth for that person’s deliverance.

Robbed by the Enemy

Amen! What does that have to do with Samson? He finally revealed to this woman that his secret was his covering, and you know what? She wasted no time in relieving him of it. Boy, I tell you, if that doesn’t display the character of the devil, I don’t know what does. As I said before, the enemy is not just interested in seeing how many people he can make shake and tremble. If he had a long enough leash, he would destroy every one of us! God keeps him on a leash, and he can only get at you with what God allows.

You remember the whole business of Job. God lengthened Satan’s leash twice, but He still set a limit. He said, “You will not take that man’s life. You can touch him here, and the second time you can touch him there. I’ll lengthen your leash a little bit. But, here’s the limit!” You know what, I believe that it’s the grace of God, and you know, when we talk about coming into a greater measure of warfare against the enemy, then we also have to realize that we are coming into a slight lengthening of the devil’s leash. Because, if God is going to give us more power, He’s going to let him out just a little bit more.

Fight to the Finish

When the Lord gave us that word last spring (and I think that we shared this in Michigan when we were there) of how the Lord had given a prophetic word to us that He was going to bring us into a higher realm, and how He said, “You have not yet begun to fight.” I think of the old famous John Paul Jones quote, “I’ve not yet begun to fight!” The British came to him and said, “Do you surrender?” He said, “I haven’t started to fight yet!” I know, he’s just surrounded by many British ships. He said, “I haven’t started to fight yet!” Well, Amen! But the Lord said to us, “You haven’t begun to fight …and I’m going to bring you into a higher realm.” We rejoiced at that word! I mean, it was a wonderful word! But I wouldn’t have looked forward to what we had to go through last summer in warfare. But I’ll tell you something! We found out that we could come higher. We found out that we could take on spirits of a higher dimension than what we had faced before. We found out, that in the power and in the name of God, that they, too, have to buckle under, and they, too, have to back up, and they, too, can have egg all over their face! Hallelujah!

The county had three or four lawyers to our one. Our lawyer walked right up to them on the day of the trial, and made a statement to them. He said, “You guys are going to have egg all over your face! When I get through with you, you are going to be embarrassed!” I mean, he really laid it right on. He came back, and he smiled and said to us, “That was just leveling the playing field a little bit.” I thought, “This man knows something about warfare, and he’s never read the book that I’ve read!” He simply went up and told the enemy, “You guys are going to lose!” They didn’t come up to him and tell him that. He went up to them, and said, “This is the way it’s going to be, guys! Because I’ve got the goods!”

Amen! I’ll tell you, that little act really stirred up Janet! Now she goes and she says to the devil, “Listen, get off my back! I’ve got eternal life waiting for me, and you’ve got nothing but the lake of fire waiting for you! If you want to hear that, hang around…!” He doesn’t like to hear that. He leaves. Amen! Hallelujah!

The Cry from the Prison House

Well, one last thing about Samson. You know the story, and Brother duCille has talked about how they caught him, shaved him, and put his eyes out. The last thing, you know, was where he was grinding away there at the mill… just grinding away like a beast. Crying out to God, in that place! Crying for deliverance! Crying for restoration! He lost his vision. Amen! When there’s no vision, the people perish[17], and he must have felt like he was going to perish.

But God gave him one more chance! Amen! Isn’t it good to know we have a God of a second chance? Oh, yes! Cry out to God no matter where you are! No matter what condition you are in. No matter how hopeless the grip of the devil is on you! Amen! God will give you one more chance — if you ask Him for it — because He’s a God of a second chance. Go through the whole word. I mean, everything from Abraham on down. Second chance! Second chance! David, Samson — they had a second chance! Hallelujah! Oh, don’t blow it. Don’t blow it. Don’t play with it. You’ve got a second chance? Amen. Don’t ask for a third. I don’t know what He would do. But don’t blow it.

Hallelujah! I can just see that scene there at the house of Dagon. There he is. They have been making sport of him, making fun of him, making a big joke of him. “Yeah! There’s the big guy that killed a thousand of us with the jawbone of an ass! Oh, yeah! There’s the big guy that lit all our fields on fire one year! We went hungry that year because of you!” You know, they made a big joke of him.

That I May be Avenged

So finally, they brought him over to the pillars. And they went to their wine drinking up on top of this thing that was supported by the pillars. But Samson asked this little boy that’s with him, “Take me where the middle pillars are, son. Are these the ones? Are these the ones right in the middle?” “Yes, sir.” “Listen! You seem to be kind of a nice boy…” (I would tell him that, if I were him). “You’ve been a good boy. I would like to do something nice for you. I want you to run now, as fast as you can, and as far as you can. I’m going to give you to the count of twenty. Get out of here and get going!” I would like to think he did that for the boy, and then he leaned with all his might…

You know God talks about pillars. He says to the church of Philadelphia, “He that overcomes, I will make a pillar in My house.”[18] Alright? Now, what do you suppose these pillars represented in the devil’s house? It represented two of the chief ones. The big demons! The big two! He got them! He finally got the lion and he got the bear! He finally got the victory over the grip that the flesh had on his own soul. He took them down. He gave his life for it, though, didn’t he? He said, “I want my eyes back, and I’m doing this to take vengeance, because they took it away, and I’m getting my vision back!” He got his vision back. He got his overcoming back. He got his place back in God. Amen!

Brethren, when we see that heavenly army, Samson’s going to be one of them. Not because he weighs five hundred pounds, but because he learned. Amen! He finally learned! He had to give his life! He had to pay a price! For some reason, he was unable to pay that price. He was unable to overcome that natural flesh in his lifetime. My God! God gives us an opportunity! We can overcome the flesh, and we can walk in that place now! Amen! You don’t have to do it in your death, like Samson did, and yet, we are going to have to lay down our life, and count our natural life as naught. Hallelujah! Hallelujah!

Brethren, let’s just stand for a minute here. I want us to hear. If the word of God has moved you today — if you’ve heard something in this message, that you know that God is speaking to you, and you want something of God — then I think it’s time to reach out and tell God what you want. It’s time to tell God that you are going to pay the price, and you’re going to have it! You know, I started by saying that there are differences, even in the house of God. I said that there are differences among us. Amen! One of the reasons that there’s a difference is because we don’t all come, and we are not all willing to pay the same price, and come into the same place.

There is no reason why any one of us cannot come to the highest place — to the highest office, (if you want to use that term. It’s not a scriptural term, but whatever will jar your understanding). There is not a reason why any of you cannot walk in faith — in God’s particular way, and in the same manner of the witness and the testimony of the man that I talked of today. I heard that story, and I said, “I want to walk in faith. I want to walk in God. My story’s going to be different, but I’m going to have a story, and it’s going to be a grand story, and it’s going to be the glory of God! There’s going to be the might and power of God! There’s going to be deliverance of God manifest in my life!”

I’m just delighted that so many of the people here today are young people. You have your whole life ahead of you. You don’t have to wait until you are forty years old to get the wisdom, and to get the word and the understanding of the things that we are talking about! I didn’t have this understanding when I was twenty years old! I had to press in. I had to search for this house of God! Search for these brethren. Search for this truth! You don’t have to! It’s right here at your doorstep. All you’ve got to do is reach out and take it! Amen!

Lord, I pray that this word would be heard this day, among this people. Lord that you would cause us to rise up, in this place. Lord, we commit it to You. We commit it to You, Lord. Lord, we leave the results to You. Oh God, that we would respond this day, for Your word does demand of us a response, in this hour, and in this day. In the Name of Jesus. Hallelujah!