"The Meter Is Running" By Malcolm Xechariah June 25th,
2017
Let us pray: God, we thank You for allowing Your servants to share Your Word, to get it from on high. God, we don't take it lightly. God, be with Your servant, as I attempt to do You justice, in Your Word, that it would come out the way that You would have it to be, in spite of my own personality, or my own way of delivering. God, You gave life to me. God, let me be Your vessel; form me and shape me, in Jesus' name. Amen. It's still morning, so, good morning, church. You know, I was listening to Kirk, and I was thinking, “Man, I should just let him do my part,” because, a lot of the things that he said were the same things that I had, you know, maybe in a different way, but the same—as a matter of fact, he said some things that made me want to change the topic, or the title of what I was going to say. While he was talking, I was thinking, “Maybe the title should be, 'Masculinity God's Way.'” But, I'm going to keep my title, because I like my title, and my title is, 'The Meter Is Running.' Amen. We're going to be reading out of Judges chapter thirteen, and, what I mean by, 'The Meter Is Running,' is that, you know, our lives have a beginning, and our lives have an end, our lives have an end. There's a finite amount of time from the beginning to the end, which means that it's not long, compared to eternity, right? So, I will focus on two men, in particular, in the Word of God: Samson, who was one of the judges; and Samuel, who was, not really the first prophet, but the first prophet who started the line of prophets towards Jesus, amen? Then I wrote, “Samson and Samuel, men of purpose.” Great responsibility, courage, strength, and faith. Let's read Judges chapter thirteen, verses one through five:
Judges 13:1-5 And the children of Israel did evil again in the sight of the LORD; and the LORD delivered them into the hand of the Philistines forty years. And there was a certain man of Zorah, of the family of the Danites, whose name was Manoah; and his wife was barren, and bare not. And the angel of the LORD appeared unto the woman, and said unto her, Behold now, thou art barren, and bearest not: but thou shalt conceive, and bear a son. Now therefore beware, I pray thee, and drink not wine nor strong drink, and eat not any unclean thing: For, lo, thou shalt conceive, and bear a son; and no razor shall come on his head: for the child shall be a Nazarite unto God from the womb: and he shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines.
Samson grew from a child into a mighty man before the Lord. In verses twenty-four and twenty-five in the same chapter:
Judges 13:24-25 And the woman bare a son, and called his name Samson: and the child grew, and the LORD blessed him. And the Spirit of the LORD began to move him at times in the camp of Dan between Zorah and Eshtaol.
So, if you know anything about Samson—I mean, you've seen pictures in media and children's books, where they show him as some big guy with muscles, and he's tearing up everything. I don't know what he looked like; I wasn't there. I'm not that old. Was anybody there? Raise your hand. Okay, so nobody was there; we don't know exactly how he looked. I would imagine that he looked like one of the mighty men that are referred to in the Bible. So, I'm sure that he had some muscle tone that was to be admired, amen. I see we have some young men, here. Anybody under twenty-one here? Any men, young men, under twenty-one, let me see your hands. Young men, under twenty-one, let me see your hands. One. I see one. Okay, yeah, he's under twenty-one. Hey, Samuel, we were talking about you. So, we've got a couple of young men. I did that for a reason: So, in chapter fourteen, verses one and two is the reason why I asked that question.
Judges 14:1-2 And Samson went down to Timnath, and saw a woman in Timnath of the daughters of the Philistines. And he came up, and told his father and his mother, and said, I have seen a woman in Timnath of the daughters of the Philistines: now therefore get her for me to wife.
Why is it, that, young men, you know, they get a few gifts from God, and learn how to stand up straight, and bathe when they're supposed to, and the next thing you know, “I have seen a woman; I need you to get her for me, mom and dad.” Amen? I'm going to leave that alone.” You say I better leave that alone, huh? I'm just teasing, young men. But, that's a part of life. That's a part of their—what did Kirk call it? Their evolutionary priorities. You're supposed to desire to have a woman. As compared to what the world tries to tell him, to desire another man. Amen? Can I get an amen? People think it's a danger to tell the truth in church, because you never know who's watching or listening. I don't care. I don't care. If I walk out that door right now, and I meet my end, I'm still with my Savior, amen? Moving on.
Judges 14:5-6 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. And the Spirit of the LORD came mightily upon him, and he rent him as he would have rent a kid, and he had nothing in his hand: but he told not his father or his mother what he had done.
So, Samson took this young lion and just tore him in pieces like he would have a baby goat. I don't know, I'm not trying to walk up to a lion and do anything to the lion. I'm not trying to give him a steak. I'm not trying to be in the same room or anything with a lion. Amen? I am not a lion trainer; God bless those brothers; I'm not one. So, it must have taken some kind of special gift from God to be able to do something like that. How did he know he was able to do such a thing? Because he had that gift from God. Amen. The Spirit of the Lord came upon him. He didn't just walk around and decide that he wanted that particular gift of strength that God gave him. That gift, that God gave him, he had to use that gift for the glory of God. Whatever gifts we have, men, in particular, that gift is for the glory of God, amen? In chapter sixteen, Samson showed himself to be—well, he had a weakness. And, I've already spoken of his weakness, because, you know, he went down and told his mom and dad, “Hey, I need you to get her for me,” so his weakness was women. And, you know, guess what? most men have a weakness for women. God bless a man who recognizes the beauty of a woman over anything else, because that's the way God made us, amen? That means we're supposed to recognize the beauty of a woman. That doesn't mean that you go after her, but it means you recognize if you're with your daughter and she paints her nails and shows them. “Hey, dad, what do you think of my nails?” “Oh, they look so cute.” Or, your wife puts on a dress, and she looks different from you. Amen, Brother Kirk? She looks different from your co-worker who's all grizzled, and barely combs his hair; nails look like eagle's talons. Amen? I don't know where you work, but where I work—let me move on. Judges sixteen, nineteen through twenty-two. I won't read it all, but I will read verse twenty-two.
Judges 16:22 Howbeit the hair of his head began to grow again after he was shaven.
So, he told Delilah the source of his strength, which was his hair. She deceived him, and, you know, one of her guys come and cut off his hair, and all the strength left. So, when the strength left, the Spirit of God left him. So, basically, as Jason said, Jason's not here, but Jason told me one time, he said, “God is the only one I know who will fire you and let you keep working.” Samson was fired, but he had to still keep working, because, when they put him in prison, which is what happened next, his hair eventually grew back, and the Spirit of God that he had, came back. Amen? So, I will read this little synopsis, right here. Samson was raised up by God to be a deliverer to the Children of Israel. He was an exceptional man, gifted by God with extraordinary strength, as evidenced, also, in chapter fifteen, verse fifteen, where he killed a thousand men with an animal jawbone, and, at the end of his life, he killed three thousand men and women. It's important for my young people to know, this is not a video game, this is real life. Men of God, men of God need to kill off those spirits that offend the righteousness of God. Amen?
Part 2
The judges, according to Acts, chapter thirteen, if you want to look it up, that was Acts 13:20, the judges were about four hundred and fifty years, according to Acts. So, Samuel came, after those judges, and became the first prophet in a line of prophets, until Jesus came. Samuel was also the one who anointed King Saul, and King David. David when he was a child, Saul when he was pretty much a young man. In First Samuel chapter one we read about Samuel, Samuel's mom. She made a petition before God and the priests for a son, and she said she'd give her son to God all the days of his life, and there shall no razor come upon his head (1 Samuel 1:11). Now, if you go back to Judges, also, Samson, there was no razor come upon his head (Judges 13:5). So, there was a similarity between these two men: Neither one of them was supposed to let a razor come upon his head; their hair was supposed to remain. And they both were raised as Nazarites. I want our sister, Mary Ogden, to come. She's going to read for us First Samuel chapter two, one through ten. I know it's a little lengthy, but this is Hannah's prayer to God, after she received her son. Now, I know this is Men's Day, but, as a man, I couldn't do this—I couldn't give it the justice it's due, because I never had a child. So, I recognize that there's a special bond between a mother and her children, that a man doesn't have. We'll say, if something happens, “Well, I told him not to go.” And momma says, “Well, we've got to go get him.” “I told him if he went to jail, I ain't coming to get him. He should have paid his parking tickets. I gave him fifty dollars; what did he do with it?” But momma, she said, “You know, I've got some money over to the side, that I was going to use for so-and-so; I'll go and get my child.”
1 Samuel 2:1-10 And Hannah prayed, and said, My heart rejoiceth in the LORD, mine horn is exalted in the LORD: my mouth is enlarged over mine enemies; because I rejoice in thy salvation. There is none holy as the LORD: for there is none beside thee: neither is there any rock like our God. Talk no more so exceeding proudly; let not arrogancy come out of your mouth: for the LORD is a God of knowledge, and by him actions are weighed. The bows of the mighty men are broken, and they that stumbled are girded with strength. They that were full have hired out themselves for bread; and they that were hungry ceased: so that the barren hath born seven; and she that hath many children is waxed feeble. The LORD killeth, and maketh alive: he bringeth down to the grave, and bringeth up. The LORD maketh poor, and maketh rich: he bringeth low, and lifteth up. He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth up the beggar from the dunghill, to set them among princes, and to make them inherit the throne of glory: for the pillars of the earth are the LORD'S, and he hath set the world upon them. He will keep the feet of his saints, and the wicked shall be silent in darkness; for by strength shall no man prevail. The adversaries of the LORD shall be broken to pieces; out of heaven shall he thunder upon them: the LORD shall judge the ends of the earth; and he shall give strength unto his king, and exalt the horn of his anointed.
Amen. Can you imagine standing between some mountains or something, and Hannah comes, and she stands right on the top of a cliff, and she's praying this prayer unto God. The highest place she could find. That's something you see in those movies, for all that dramatic effect. She doesn't skip a beat, she doesn't mispronounce her words, she was worshiping her God for a baby. Amen? I know, men, don't get nervous on me; I know it's Men's Day. But, I couldn't miss that opportunity. Maybe we should have read that on Women's Day, but I couldn't pass that up, because woman was taken from who? Aha! The same thing Kirk said, amen? Samuel was also well regarded by God and man. Not just Samson, but Samuel, also. Samson, you know, when he was his thing in the camp, you had to think the Children of Israel were saying, “That's our man right there! He's got our back! He's protecting us! He's delivering us from the enemy!” Which, by the way, was the Philistines, even then. So, here we go again with the Philistines; they just won't go away. Same enemy. It kind of reminds me of when you when you go through things in your life, maybe have cancer in your family, next thing you know, somebody else has cancer in your family, and your family says, “This is the same enemy! This is the same uncircumcised Philistine! This giant, standing before the people of God, saying, 'Hey, come on! Fight me!'” The only thing we have to fight with, is the Spirit of God, amen?
1 Samuel 2:26 And the child Samuel grew on, and was in favour both with the LORD, and also with men. #1h46m36s Now, Eli, the priest at the time, was not obedient to perform his duties to God. We can read about that in verses twenty-seven through the end of the chapter. So, he was basically fired but still working. As Kirk mentioned about Eli, he didn't take care of his household. His sons just ran crazy. They made the people to abhor the sacrifice. People would bring their sacrifices in, and these guys would try to, you know, jack them out of their sacrifice; take that sacrifice and do something else with it, cause them to bring more sacrifice than they were supposed to bring, they were just—people didn't want to go any more. That's what Eli's sons were doing, and he didn't do anything about it. After Eli's death, Samuel was in the stead of Eli. So, I mean, Eli still had to train up Samuel, even though his sons were acting the fool. So, he was fired, but he was still working. Samuel's strength was not physical, like Samson's. Samuel's strength was spiritual. First Samuel chapter seven, verses three through ten: This is an example of the Children of Israel disobeying God again, as usual, and them calling on Samuel. I'm won't read it all, but I'll start at verse eight:
1 Samuel 7:8-10 And the children of Israel said to Samuel, Cease not to cry unto the LORD our God for us, that he will save us out of the hand of the Philistines. And Samuel took a sucking lamb, and offered it for a burnt offering wholly unto the LORD: and Samuel cried unto the LORD for Israel; [and this is the most important part:] and the LORD heard him.
You can cry to God all you want to, He doesn't hear you, because He doesn't know your voice, because you never call on Him until you get in trouble. Like Pastor Thomas said, “If the only time you pray to God is when you get in trouble, guess where your life is going to be? In trouble.” He's going to keep you in trouble, just so you'll cry out to God. You've heard of people loving misery? We say that sometimes. Some people, they complain all the time. You brought it on yourself, because you keep putting yourself in that situation. Anybody ever heard of that? “I don't why I keep getting these headaches; I only drink on Friday nights. Aw, man; whew! I only drank a twelve pack.” Anyway, I've got to move on. Samuel's strength was in God's hands. First Samuel chapter twelve, verses thirteen through about eighteen:
1 Samuel 12:13 Now therefore behold the king whom ye have chosen, and whom ye have desired! and, behold, the LORD hath set a king over you.
So, Samuel was a little bit upset, because the Children of Israel, you know, the whole prophet thing wasn't working out for them; it wasn't good enough for them. They wanted a king to be over them. So, Samuel was offended.
1 Samuel 12:16-18 Now therefore stand and see this great thing, which the LORD will do before your eyes. Is it not wheat harvest to day? I will call unto the LORD, and he shall send thunder and rain; that ye may perceive and see that your wickedness is great, which ye have done in the sight of the LORD, in asking you a king. So Samuel called unto the LORD; and the LORD sent thunder and rain that day: and all the people greatly feared the LORD and Samuel.
Samuel also bore not the sword in vain. Or, as they say these days, let's not get it twisted. Samuel bore not the sword in vain. Somebody spoke about people thinking that men of God are weaklings. They think they can just run all over us and do whatever they want to do.
1 Samuel 15:32-33 Then said Samuel, Bring ye hither to me Agag the king of the Amalekites. [So, here's the deal: Saul, the king, was told to destroy everything. So, when they got to the battle, they destroyed everything except for the best things that they wanted to keep. You know, the sheep, and whatever, and then he brought the king of the Amalekites back with him. God already told him to destroy everything, but he didn't. So, then he comes back to Samuel, wondering what's going on, why things aren't working out. You can read about it.] And Agag came unto him delicately. [Agag being the king of the Amalekites] And Agag said, Surely the bitterness of death is past. [So he figures, since they're not in battle any more, they're not on the field, swords are not flying; he's good to go, he's going to live] And Samuel said, As thy sword hath made women childless, so shall thy mother be childless among women. And Samuel hewed Agag in pieces before the LORD in Gilgal.
I'm not talking about a video game, here; I've seen video games where they, you know, the whole graphic thing, blood flying everywhere. This is a prophet of God. He's not necessarily one of the mighty men of God brought to the battle to fight with a sword, physically. This is Samuel, the prophet of God spiritually, but, also, when the time comes, he's going to handle his business, the way every other man would handle his business. He killed him. It doesn't say he had help; it doesn't say he called somebody else to fall on him like some of the kings did, King David or King Saul. He hewed him, right there before the Lord, and was righteous in the sight of God, for completing the task that God had originally given to King Saul. And, as you know, Saul lost his king-ship for that.
James 4:14 Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.
Again and again, the meter was running. The clock is ticking. The clock was ticking for Samuel, the clock was ticking for Samson. And, if you read about these two men, you'll read that when they died, it wasn't like a big funeral. Samuel was preparing to die, or Samson was preparing to die, and go a couple of chapters. And, so you think, “Well, I know he's going to die,” no. When Samuel died, boom! that was it. I looked in the next chapter to see, you know, did Samuel die, before he died, no, no, no, no, no, no, when he died, he was dead. One of the greatest prophets that ever lived. The meter was running.
Galatians 5:7 Ye did run well; who did hinder you that ye should not obey the truth?
We as men, no excuse. No excuse, men. “Well, I'm having a hard time.” That's why we have other men. That's why we have fellowship. “Well, nobody knows the way I feel.” That's why we have God, that's why we have prayer, that's why we have men's prayer. We had a fellowship breakfast that I didn't make; sorry I wasn't there. That's why we have phones and texts. I don't use Facebook, but we have it. Kirk's putting information on there that people can use. People aree actually debating about. Stuff that they know is true, but they want somebody to agree with them.
1 Corinthians 9:24 Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain.
It didn't say walk and crawl on your belly, eating dust all your life, like Satan. And men, it says we have dominion over sin. Amen? We run this race as though it was only one in the race, and that's us. If somebody else in the lane next to you that's faster than you, that's on them. But you better run, that you may attain, amen? I better run that I may attain, amen?
Ecclesiastes 12:13-14 Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.
Amen. Give God a praise.
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