 I'm going to dive in from the story of Samson to tell you just 10 things about the church that we can learn from the story of Samson. If you have Judges chapter 16 verse 26 and 27, all of our notes on your version Bible app under events, you have to enable your notification location so that you can see the notes, you can say them straight to your phone. Then Samson said to the lad who held him by the hand, let me feel the pillars which support the temple so that I can lean on them. Now the temple was full of men and women and all the lords of the Philistines were there. About 3,000 men and women on the roof watching while Samson performed and verse 30, so that the dead that he killed at his death were more than he had killed in his life. Samson is a very unique character in the book of Judges and one of the reasons he did so much mess, he was the only judge that God gifted to a prayerless generation. Every judge ever showed up in the book of Judges, the Bible says, Israel cried. Nobody cried out for revival before Samson came, which is one of the reasons he was one of the judges whom his generation did not embrace. Let me say it again, prayer prepares you for what God has prepared for you. If you don't pray, God will still do what God said he will do, you just will not cooperate with God. If you and I don't pray, God will still send Samson, it's just that Samson will malfunction. Samson did some pretty weird things and people say, oh Samson was so immoral, Samson was the playboy, but you know, I wonder, I wonder what would have happened if Israel would have prayed? They would have embraced their deliverer. If they would have embraced Samson, I wonder if Samson would have been screwing up like he was. I wonder if Samson would have been messing up like he was. God is going to still do revival because God is faithful to his word and God is faithful to his character. But my friend, I don't want to be like that servant who laughed at Prophet Elijah and said, that's not possible for God to end the war with Syria next day. But the Prophet said, he says he will, he says you will see it, you will just not eat of it. And the people trampled him next day instead of him eating of the goods they got it promised. If we're going to pray, my friend, if we're going to intercede as a church, whatever God is doing on this earth, we get a chance to be a part of it, not criticizing it, not demonizing it, not attacking it, not gossiping it. But we will be a part of what God is doing on this earth. Therefore, we're going to be a praying church, we're going to be a praying generation because prayer prepares us for what God has prepared for us. Somebody say amen. I didn't hear you, somebody say amen. Prayer prepares you for what God has prepared for you. Prayer does not just prepare an answer, it prepares us for an answer. When you pray for your future husband, God is not just preparing your husband, He's preparing you the wife. When you're preparing for your kids, for your future kids, God is not just preparing your kids, God is preparing also the parents that are praying. When you're praying for your business, God is not just blessing the business, God is also preparing the businessmen. When you are praying as a church, something happens, God is not just making a revival, God is preparing the church for the revival, He's preparing for the church. That's why we've got to pray, that's why we've got to intercede. Then things, I'm going to go through them very quickly. Number one thing that I see in Samson that we see also in the church is number one, Samson was born anointed. Samson did not get his anointing later on in life, he was born with it. Church in the book of Acts did not start without the anointing. It was born on the day of Pentecost. Church did not have a season without the power and then one day they got the power. No, on the birthday the church received the power and the anointing of the Holy Ghost. Jesus needed anointing to preach, He needed anointing to teach, He needed anointing to cast out demons. He needed anointing to heal the sick and He needed anointing to make disciples. You and I need anointing. Without anointing, whatever we're doing is extremely dangerous. With anointing, we are dangerous. Without anointing, what we're doing is just motivational speaking. With anointing, we're moving mountains. With anointing, we're speaking to dry bones. With anointing, yoke snaps under the presence of anointing. The Bible says He went out doing good and He, under the anointing, healed those oppressed by the devil. Without the anointing, we can comfort the sick, but with the anointing, we can heal the sick. Without the anointing, we can try to hug a demon out. We can try to console the demon out. We could try to medicate the demon out, but with the anointing, we cast the demons out. Come on somebody, we need anointing like never before and that's exactly what the early church had. Had the anointing. Number two, Samson went against the gates. Early church, Jesus says, I will build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it. Samson went one time, lifted the gates, completely took him off. Early church of Jesus Christ did exactly the same thing. They moved gates of the enemies. They did not necessarily move things politically. They moved things spiritually. They did not necessarily put their politicians in their White Houses into the Roman Senate, but they moved the grassroots movement where the poor were being ministered to, where the needy people being taken care of. And the Bible says one day, one of the critics they said concerning the early church is you filled Jerusalem with your teaching. They moved the gates of the enemy. The church of Jesus Christ, when it's anointed that our church, the churches that are watching right now, when you're anointed, you must understand your biggest war is not going to be against another church. Your biggest war is not going to be against masks and vaccines. Your biggest war is not going to be against Biden or Trump. Your biggest war is going to be against the gates and the strongholds of the enemy. And those gates and strongholds are not physical. They are spiritual. The church is number one assignment. It's a spiritual tank. It's a spiritual bazooka in the hands of God against every plan, every scheme and every weapon of the enemy. I will build my church, Jesus said. That's why every pastor has to resign from calling it his church. He says, I will build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail. That means the church will do the advancement. That means the church will go forth. That means the church is not going to go in hiding in the basement. The church will advance with its ranks. That means the church will not be a nursery. That means the church is not going to be a social club. The church will be an army. The church will be a warriors, full of warriors that will move forward. And the gates of hell will not prevail. Devil, listen to me. I want to warn you because the church is on a rise. And the church, you're not going to mess with it. It will not be filled with compromise. It will not be filled with weakness. Listen to me every demon that has sent an assignment against the church. You will fall. You will fail. And Jesus will succeed. His plan will succeed. His purpose will succeed. The gates of hell will prevail against the church. Somebody who is a part of the living church, give Jesus prayer. Gates of hell will not prevail. Number three, Samson, when he was anointed, he sent foxes into the fields. The early church did exactly the same thing. And the anointed church does the same thing today. We empower foxes, young people. We empower ministers. The Bible says the fivefold ministry is given so we can equip the saints for the work of ministry. And what did they do with those foxes? They caught them, which was not easy to catch fox. And then when he caught them, he merged them two by two. And he put fire in their tails. I believe that's exactly what our internship is. We take every tail and we'll fire in it. Come on, somebody. And what did he do with those foxes? He did not send them to a barn. He sent them to a field because fire is for the fields. Power is for the purpose. Anointing is for missions. Anointing is not to make you feel good. Anointing is not to give you a dose. Anointing is not to make you slain. Anointing is to drive out demons. Anointing is to heal the sick. Anointing is for the Walmart. Anointing is for the drive-through. Anointing is for the missions. Anointing is for the university and for college. Anointing is for your family gatherings. Real anointing does not need a church platform. It needs a field. It needs a harvest field. And if you are a fox and you know it. If you are a fox with fire in your tail, all you gotta do is be loose. Be loose into your harvest field. Be loose into your platform. Be loose into your sphere of influence. And set that place on fire. The Bible says that those who believe in me, these signs will follow, meaning signs will follow. Everywhere I go, the sign follows. Everywhere I go, miracles go. Everywhere I go, I am the light. Everywhere I go, I am the salt. Everywhere I go, I distribute the love of God. Everywhere I go, I distribute generosity. Everywhere I go, I distribute the goodness of God. I am a fire-walking fox. Come on, somebody. Whether we go to Brazil, whether we go to Spokane, whether we go to Yakima, whether we go to the football game, whether we go to a gym, whether we go to a coffee shop, you must understand you are a fox sent on a mission. Getting fire in your tail. That's exactly what church did. The moment persecution came, they all scattered into the fields. Everyone carrying their flame. End up in Samaria, set the whole place on fire. Another guy end up in another city, set the whole place on fire. Literally, the devil's worst nightmare came true. Why? Because the church was equipping the saints. The church is not one-man show. It's about raising up every believer, the saints, to minister. Number four, Samson killed with a jaw bone. The early church advanced the cause of Jesus through the jaw bone. No sword, no gun, no political affiliation, no Facebook ads, no non-profit status, no radio slots, no newspapers, the jaw bone. Through the jaw bone, they prayed that the place was shaken because it requires a mouth. Through the jaw bone, they preached the gospel and 3,000 people got saved on a day of Pentecost. Through the jaw bone, they proclaimed to the sick to be healed, to deepen eyes to be free. Through the jaw bone, they prophesied. Through the jaw bone, they advanced the kingdom of God. Through the jaw bone, they praised God in the jail prison cells. I want to tell you today that God till this day wants to use your mouth. Sometimes we say, well, I don't have a lot of education. I don't have a lot of connection. I'm not so pretty. I'm not so attractive or influential in the community. Can you give God your jaw? Can you give God your mouth? He says, and I will fill it. Open it and I will fill it. Could you open up your mouth? Some of us got in so much trouble because we opened our mouth. Some of us, we slept on our couch as husband because we opened our mouth. Some of you here today, you lost your marriage because you kept your mouth open too long. The devil used your mouth to get you into trouble. But I want to let you know the reason why he was using your mouth to get you into trouble because the devil knew that God always wanted to use somebody's mouth. He wants to use your mouth to bring somebody to Christ. He wants you to open up your mouth and invite somebody to church. He wants you to open up your mouth and tell somebody about what you've been going through so that it will help somebody else. He wants you to open up your mouth when you're going through difficult things and give God praise, give God thanks and worship Him and you'll come out of that situation. He wants you to open up your mouth when you feel like the world is against you, get on your knees and begin to storm heaven. Because your solution, your key, your breakthrough is your jaw bone. It's your mouth. When you open up your mouth, things shift, atmosphere shifts. See what happens? If I would just think a sermon, none of you will get blessed. If the worship team will think the song, none of you will get blessed. But because we open our mouth, something begins to happen. The atmosphere shifts, faith is being built, God is being glorified, demons are being trembling, sickness leaves. Why? Because when I open up my mouth, miracles start to happen. When I open up my mouth, salvation starts to happen. When I open up my mouth, demons flee. When I hope we'll be saved, somebody, oh, you want to zoom, turn on your camera and give God some praise right now. Turn on your camera and come on, wake up those kids, begin to praise God, begin to worship God, begin to worship God, begin to speak in tongues, begin to worship His name, call on His name, worship His name, demons will leave, sickness will go, depression will subside and be defeated. Thank you, Lord, that your neighbors will open up your mouth. And that's exactly what church did. Number five, Samson, he started to compromise and he lost the anointing. That's exactly what happened with the early church. During dark ages, Constantine faced Western Roman Emperor at a Tiber River in 300, in 310 AD. Constantine saw a flaming cross in the sky, bearing the words, in this sign thou shall conquer. And next year, Constantine, now the Western Roman Emperor and the Eastern Roman Emperor signed Edic of Milan, which finally ensured religious tolerance for Christians. The agreement granted freedom of worship to all, regardless of deity, and brought the end of the age of martyrs, which begun after Jesus' death. Christians were now given specific legal rights, such as the return of confiscated property and the right to organize dedicated churches, which was beautiful and amazing. But there was one problem with it. Today's compromise becomes tomorrow's chain. Yesterday's complacency is today's compromise. Church became comfortable and comfort for churches usually doesn't do well. Church started to compromise. Church's Bibles were taken away from everyday Christian. Religion became so popular. People became priests because it was popular and because it paid well. Convergence became fake. Religion quickly slipped into politics, and people who did not accept Christianity were murdered, were killed. And it's what the historians call the dark ages. Kind of like what happened with Samson. He started to compromise and he lost his anointing. I want to encourage you today that we are called not to conform to this world if we want to be transformed by the renewing of our mind. God never called the church to fit in. He called us to stand out. God never called us to be popular. God called us to be powerful. God never called the world to consider us wise. God called the world to consider us dangerous. If we truly believe and follow what we follow in the Bible, we will always be at odds with the system of the world whom the scripture says is under the sway of the wicked one. This world is controlled by the devil. We have to be at odds. God is raising up the three Hebrew boys again. God is raising up the Daniels in this generation again. God is raising up the Josephs and the esters again that will stand at odds with the systems of this world. And therefore we shouldn't embrace the culture because we are called to affect it. And the first thing the scripture says before you can be changed you have to refuse to blend in. I'm not talking about not learning the language or going to schools. I'm talking about when we embrace the lifestyle, when we embrace the idols, when we embrace the ideologies of this world. It's slipping into the church. It used to be that you are dead to your sin, today you're just depressed. It used to be the sin is a wickedness, today it's a weakness that you work on. You don't repent from. It's something you struggle, it's not something you need to repent from. Oh, you just feel down and if you come we'll give you a little joke. Before it used to be that you're dead in your sin and you headed to a Christless eternity. And the cross is the only solution but today there's many solutions. Therapy, counseling, there's few verses we can give you. And it's slipping into the church but I believe God is restoring. As it happened with Samson it's going to be happening even with the mainstream church in the world. What happened with Samson next is that Samson not only starts compromising but Samson starts going in circles. And that's exactly what happened with mid-age, with dark ages. The early church who was powerful started to compromise and then it started to go into circles. There was no revivals, there was no move of God, they started to persecute genuine Christians. And that's exactly what started to happen with Christians. But then I'm so glad for this to start to take place is that number seven is the Samson's hair started to grow. God started to restore the message of the cross salvation by grace. The poverty of sin, the wickedness of sin, the repentance through the blood. God started to restore when Martin Luther came in in 1517 and he nailed those 95 theses to a Catholic church at the time and says this is off. That's not what the scripture teaches. When in 1900 William Seymour in Azusa Street a black man who was not educated came and started to preach about speaking in tongues. And later on the healing revival started to hit America. When the worship revival started to hit America. When the prayer revival started to hit Korea. When the revelation about discipleship and small groups started to hit Colombia and started to hit Korea. When God started to revive the ministry of deliverance, the ministry of prophetic. What started to happen in this prison when Samson was going into circles is that his hair started to grow. And I believe that after these dark ages the church, God started pulling the church out. God started to pull the church out. His hair of discipleship, the hair of worship, the hair of prophetic, the hair of five fold ministry, the hair of deliverance from demons, the hair of healing of the sick started to grow and the church started to become powerful and the church started to stand on its feet and the church started to become glorious again and the church started to become powerful again. And we are in that place right now. What I believe God is restoring to the church, what the church lost in the book of Acts. I believe that we will see greater things in the last days that the church seen in the book of Acts. Somebody say amen. Number eight, we see that in the last time the Samson's hair started to grow back. And then we see this last victory. And I read this verse as the Bible says that though Samson was blind and he was already older, he took a lad. A lad is a teenager. A lad is a young man. The Bible says that the lad took the Samson's hand and led Samson to these last two polls that Samson was leaning on. And I believe that this is what is happening in our generation right now is there is a resurgence. There is a resurrection. There is this quickening that is taking place with young people. God is beginning to raise up the children. God is beginning to raise up the teenagers all around the world. God is quickening young people. In the last days, says the Lord, I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh, your sons and your daughters. God is not only touching the grandpas and the grandmas. God is not only touching people that grew up in the Brunswick revival to run to outpouring or some other. God is raising up the fame faceless, nameless. The ones that many people look at and says they're going to die victims. Gen C generation. More died last two years out of suicide than out of COVID. They feel a sense of hopelessness. But in the church that Gen C generation, that millennial generation gets a fresh hunger. That is a fresh awakening. That is a fresh thirst that exists for God that did not exist before because God is raising up the lads. God is raising up the kids that will take the hand of the adults and will say together, the young and the old, the passion of the young and the wisdom of the old, will march into the greatest revival the church has ever seen. O satara boko lobosi tala boko toya. Le boko to lobosi tala baka lobos so toya. Father, we are ready. Lord, we are ready. Holy Ghost, we are ready. That's why there is an emphasis on young people and hungry Gen. That's why there is an emphasis on young people online right now because God is doing something special. He's merging to generations. We're not going to be at odds with each other. We're going to fight for each other. Are you with me? It's going to be a nameless, faithless generation. It's not going to be about the stage. It's going to be about serving. It's not going to be a man with a microphone. It's going to be about people with a mission. Number nine, Samson had the greatest victory at the end of his life. And I believe the church will have the greatest impact on the world at the end of age. We see that in Matthew 14, 24, 14, and this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world as a witness to all nations, then the end shall come. God is not waiting for the birth of Antichrist. God is not waiting for the mandates to go further. God is not waiting for COVID passports. God is not waiting for another strength. God is waiting for this gospel to be preached to all the earth. That's why church, if you want the end to come closer, get busy preaching. The preaching of the gospel is what regulates the end times. Antichrist is a footnote in the end times. Antichrist is not the leader. Antichrist and his 2G, a false prophet and false teacher that undictate the timeline of God. Gosses and the last days, the gospel will be preached and then the end shall come. We determine the end, not him. Come on somebody. Isaiah 60, verse one, two, or three, and rise and shine, for your light has come. For the glory of God has risen upon you. For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth and deep darkness the people. But the Lord will arise over you and his glory will be seen upon you. The Gentiles will come to your light and the kings to the brightness of your rising. Haggaiah chapter two, verse nine, it says the glory of the latter temple will be greater than the former, says the Lord of hosts. And to this place, I will give peace, says the Lord of hosts. Daniel chapter two, verse 35, even though it deals with the millennial, but it gives us a good appetizer. Then the iron, the clay and the bronze and the silver and the gold were crushed together and became like shaft from the summer threshing floor. The wind carried them away so that no trace of them was found. And the stone that struck the image became a great mountain. Somebody say great mountain and fill the whole earth. So it's not just gonna fill the tri-cities. It's gonna fill Washington. It's gonna fill Oregon. It's gonna fill North America. It's gonna fill Latin America. It's going to fill Asia. It's going to fill the whole earth, the Bible says. Moreover, the law entered and that the offense may abound, but where the sin abounded, the grace abounded much more. Romans chapter five, verse 20, Habakkuk 2, 14, and the earth to be filled with the knowledge of the glory of God as the waters cover the sea. I understand some of these verses I pulled from the rug of the millennial, but it gives us the same main concept. The Lord is on the move in the last days and he will do something special through his local church. As I bring this service to a close, I wanna share with you the last thing. Samson lost his life in his victory. And the church will also face its greatest persecution with the greatest revival. I do believe persecution is coming. I believe the persecution has come to many places. And in the United States, and even in the Western circles, we have to get ready for a great outpouring of God and a great persecution. But what I love in this is that Samson, Phyllisius didn't take his life, he gave it away. He gave his life away to have the greatest victory. The price for this revival is not going to be more praying. It's not gonna be a longer fast. The price for this revival is you're gonna have to give your life away, your life, my friend. God is not asking for another 10% in your schedule. He says, I want you. And once your whole life is given away, you're not afraid of persecution because you have no more life. Satan can't take what's not yours. And when the devil comes and he says, I'm gonna kill you, you say, I died already. You're not a threat. I am a threat. You're not a threat. When you lie your life down, like our brother shared, when you lay it down, my friend, there is no fear of persecution. There is no fear of beheading. There is no fear of jail. There is no fear of having a property confiscated. You are a threat when you're not afraid to die. What makes terrorists dangerous is they have no value for life. What makes you as Christians dangerous is when you value the Lord so much that you give him your life. You can't live your life where your life is dearer to you than it was to Jesus Christ. To Jesus, his life was not dear to him as pleasing his father. Early disciples had the same view and church for us to see a great outpouring of God. There is a price. And the price is this. We're gonna have to be willing to lay our life down. If you don't surrender your life, I give you a prophetic word, you will waste it. At best, if you're educated, you will waste your life. If you're not educated, you're not clever, did not come from a good family, you're not gonna even waste your life. You're gonna destroy your life with your bad decisions. Breakups, bad decision there, bad business deal there, bad relationship there, bad friends there, went somewhere else and an accident, somebody got involved, you got fired there. You will destroy your life or you will waste your life. But Jesus says, I want you to surrender it completely. He says, if you give it, I can use it to bring the greatest glory on this earth. The price for revival is very simple. It's your life. I want you to lay it down. Then, serving it one more service, piece of cake. Praying, piece of cake, why? Because it's no longer yours. As long as it's your own, you will fear, oh, we can't travel with this. Oh, I'm gonna lose my job. It's all about you, I, so why? Because you're still holding on to life. But when you surrender, I'm not saying you're reckless, but you become a threat because you're a dead man walking. You're dead to yourself.