Order of Service

Judges 14:5-9

(5) Then went Samson down, and his father and his mother, to Timnath, and came to the vineyards of Timnath: and, behold, a young lion roared against him. (6) And the Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon him, and he rent him as he would a kid, and he had nothing in his hand: but he told not his father or his mother what he had done. (7) And he went down, and talked with the woman; and she pleased Samson well. (8) After a time he returned to take her, and he turned aside to see the carcase of the lion: and, behold, there was a swarm of bees and honey in the carcase of the lion. (9) And he took thereof in his hands, and went on eating, and came to his father and mother, and he gave them, and they did eat: but he told not them that he had taken the honey out of the carcase of the lion.

Introduction

Sampson is one of the better-known characters of the Bible. Like all of us, he had some great positive attributes and some grave negative attributes. Like all of us, he had some very high moments in his life and some very low moments in his life. The lesson for us is that we must capitalize on our positive qualities and control our negative inclinations. We must maximize our strengths and minimize our weaknesses. The Scripture for this sermon records one of the high points in Sampson’s life in which he demonstrated some of his positive characteristics.    

In our text, Sampson was walking through the vineyard of Timnath. He was on his way to visit his fiancée. Although his father and mother wanted him to marry one of the “good church girls,” they respected his wishes and accepted his decision to marry one of the Philistines. (That’s what you do with grown children.) At this time, his father and mother came also to meet her and her family, but they traveled separately from Sampson.   

On this trip, suddenly a young lion attacked Sampson. This was no weak, cuddly, cute baby lion, but a lion in the fullness of its youthful strength. This lion was in its prime. It was fresh, furious, and probably very hungry. The Spirit of the Lord came upon Sampson, and he slew the lion barehanded. Then, he went on his way to visit his fiancée.

Several weeks passed before Samson went by that spot again. In the meantime, the vultures and the beasts of prey had picked clean the bones of the lion and left the sun to bleach them.  Sampson turned aside to look at the spot where he had slain the lion, and he was delighted to find the bees had used the skeleton for a hive. He took some of the honey and ate it, and brought some to his father and mother. This Biblical human interest story has a lot of spiritual and practical points. Let’s look at three of them.   

Exposition

1. An Unexpected Threat.

(The Lion Attacked When Least Expected.)

(The Lion Attacked When He Was Minding His Own Business.)

(The Lion Attacked When No One Else Was Around.)

(The Lion Attacked At A Tender Moment.)

(He Was Going To Visit His Wife-To-Be.)

2. An Unexpected Tactic.

(Samson Had No Weapon.)

(Sampson Did Not Flee – He Faced The Lion.)

(The Holy Spirit Came Upon Him And Gave Him Extraordinary Strength.)

(He Defeated The Lion With His Bare Hands.)

(He Continued His Journey.)

3. An Unexpected Treat.

(He Traveled That Same Road Again.)

(There Are Some Roads We Have To Travel More Than Once.)

(What A Surprise!)

(There Was Honey In The Skeleton Of The Defeated Lion.)

(God Has Used Time To Work Wonders.)

(The Vultures Had Plucked Away The Rotten Flesh.)

(The Sun Had Bleached The Bones.)

(The Bees Had Constructed A Hive In The Lion’s Skeleton.)

(He Shared The Honey With Others.)

Closing Thoughts

Out of the same lion that threatened him, Samson pulled sweet honey. The same situation that caused you pain can give your pleasure. The same challenge that can make you sad can also make you successful. First, you have to slay the lion, and then endure the bees. God will help us defeat the lions in our lives , and He will help us endure the bees. This is why God’s grace is so amazing!

Give God Glory! Give God All The Glory!

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