VICTORY THROUGH LOSS Part 8 of 8

TEXT- JUDGES 16:15-20

INTRODUCTION

This is the last message in our series from the Book of Judges on how to be victorious.

Throughout this study we have seen how God gave the nation of Israel the victory over their enemies after they had entered the promised land.

Through there examples we have learned how we can have victory over the things that cause us to live a defeated life today.

We have seen how God can give us victory over compromise, victory over afflictions, victory through commitment, victory through a few, victory through the unexpected, victory over our speech and victory through the power of the Holy Spirit.

This morning our text is found in Judges 16:15-20 and the title of my message is, "Victory Over Lost Things."

At the movie theater a man was found frantically looking under each seat in every row.  One of the ushers asked, "May I help you, sir?"  The man replied, "I lost a caramel apple."  "Oh," said the usher, "I thought you had lost something important."  "It is!" replied the man, "My teeth are in it."

Have you ever lost something and then tried to find it?  Maybe it was your car keys, your wallet or your check book.

Once my wife and I lost our daughter Kimberly in the Ventura mall.

Sometimes you can lose something and never even know it, until one day you wake up and realize that it is gone.

This same thing is true when it comes to our spiritual life.

Here in our text we find that after revealing to his wife the secret of his strength, Samson went to sleep and woke up not even realizing that he had lost his hair and his strength and not even knowing that the Lord had departed from him.

Judges 16:19-20, "And she made him sleep on her knees, and called for a man and had him shave off the seven locks of his hair. Then she began to afflict him, and his strength left him. [20] and she said, "The Philistines are upon you, Samson!" and he awoke from his sleep and said, "I will go out as at other times and shake myself free." But he did not know that the Lord had departed from him."

This morning I would like us to consider how to regain that which you may have lost.