 All right, it's just good to be here again. It's always a great blessing. Pastor David, great mentor of mine, one of my heroes in the faith. And I'm always honored when he asked me to come and share. And, you know, Pastor Don, wow. He didn't tap this. He didn't tap you out. I don't know if I got any time. Do I have any time left? I mean, who teaches the whole book of First Corinthians? Who does that? He just said, incredible. That was incredible. And I said, wow, how does he do that? I just thought it was a great, great message. And I was just sitting there and I said, oh my goodness. I went to the restroom really quick and I saw tons of people piling out. I said, they didn't tap, they tapped out. They aren't tapped out. So I'm going to try not to, you know, keep you and definitely I just want to just encourage us from the word of God. And so turn with me in your Bibles to Judges chapter 14. We're going to look at our boy here. He's our boy because he's one of us. Judges chapter 14. And Father, we pray that your Holy Spirit would teach us this afternoon. Lord, thank you for these men and Lord, they have given half their day to come out to hear your word. I pray your blessings upon him and upon these men and Lord Pastor David for hosting this conference and Lord, thank you for this great opportunity to share with your men here in Jesus' name. Amen. Judges chapter 14, the title of this message is Down Syndrome. Down Syndrome. Oh no, not the medical Down Syndrome that, you know, a child is born with with an extra Y chromosome. But you know what, there are many men today who are suffering from spiritual Down Syndrome. And we're going to see our boy here, our boy, Samson here, because syndrome is defined as a group of symptoms that consistently occur together or a condition by a set of associated symptoms. And there are some symptoms that we're gonna see from our boy here, Samson, that we're gonna see that these same symptoms are in our lives as well. And that's why as we see Samson's spiral downward, this is why I entitled this Down Syndrome because there are some symptoms that shows that we're spiritually going down that we need to address today. Look at verses one to three. It says, now Samson went down to Timna and saw a woman in Timna of the daughters of the Philistines. So he went up and told his father and mother, saying, I've seen a woman in Timna of the daughters of the Philistines. Now, therefore, get her for me as a wife. Then his father and mother said to him, is there no women among the daughters of your brethren or among all my people that you must go and get a wife from the uncircumcised Philistines? And Samson said to his father, get her for me for she pleases me well. Now in these verses, we see the summation of Samson's life. It has been rightfully said Samson was a he-man with a she-weakness. And because of this, verse one is so true. Notice Samson went down to Timna. Yes, Samson went down from a geographical perspective, but he started to go down spiritually. The same is true in our lives. When we start to go down, we will fool around with and play games with fleshly things. You know, the Philistines are a picture or type of the flesh. And so Samson goes down to Timna, which is in the Saurik Valley on the northern frontier of Judah. And he saw a woman in Timna of the daughters of the Philistines. After seeing this woman, he goes back up to verse, in verse two, and tells his mother, his father and mother, and notice the first recorded words of Samson. I have seen a woman in Timna of the daughters of the Philistines. Now therefore, get her for me as a wife. See, when we dabble in fleshly matters, we make everything about us. Samson said, I have seen. Get her for me. And after his parents questioned his decision in verse three by saying, is there no women among the daughters of your brethren or among all your people? They were trying to steer Samson back to the word of God, because God clearly said in Exodus 34, verse 16, as well as Deuteronomy 7, 3, do not marry or get involved with the inhabitants of the land you're about to dwell. Or they continue to object in verse three by saying that you must go and get a wife. Must you go and get a wife from, and you can kind of hear the disdain in Samson's parents' voice and you have to go get one, this woman from these uncircumcised Philistines? Now watch how Samson's answers. Watch how he answers them to show his selfishness at the end of verse three. Get her for me, for she pleases me well. Or the Hebrew rendering says she is right in my eyes. I don't know about y'all's eyes, but she's right in mine. Oh, let me just say all because someone looks good to your eyes doesn't mean that they are good or right for you and right in their heart to the Lord. Oh, because Samson was going down like verse one says, but spiritually, this is why he was more concerned with the looks outwardly and to him who cares what's going on in our heart, she looks good to me. Oh, you know as men we're stimulated by what we see. And I'm definitely not saying that we should not, especially for those of you who are single, we should not look at a woman and see what she looks like. I mean, you gotta wake up next to her every day once you said I do. So she better look halfway, halfway decent. But the thing is, is that when it's all about you, when you're going down spiritually, all you care about is what the outside looks like. Or something else we see from Samson is that not only is he linking himself up with a fleshly Philistine woman of the world, but he is ignoring the wishes of his parents. Oh, it was obvious that Samson, though he's older now, was still living with his parents and should have been obedient, but because he was special or God had a plan for his life, it looks like there was some role reversal that was taking place in the home. Samson is now telling them what to do. Oh, man, can I talk to us for a minute? If you still have a Samson in your home meaning that it is a young man who is now older, they should not be trying to tell you what to do in your house. And you do not, you do not let that Samson in, let me tell you something, let me put it in terms you can understand. There's only one Mufasa. And if Simba wanna try to tell you how to run your den, it's time for Simba to go get his own den. And you let Mama know, Mama, I'm about to tell Simba, don't let the doorknob hit you, and you know the rest of that. This should not be, but we see it happening here. There's some role reversal taking place. Now just understand, you gotta contend with Mama. Mama want her kids around forever. But let me tell you something, this is what happens when there's a man in the home. They gotta go. I remember my son, Tony Jr., I tell this all the time. Tony Jr., it was definitely time for Tony Jr. to go. And he was, you know, just kind of feeling himself. He was, I think it was about maybe 19 or so. He was starting to feel himself. He was in his first year or two of being a school teacher with the Newport News school system. And it was time for him to go. So it was, you know, and I said, bro, I said, bro, look here, it's that time, you know it's that time. Well, you know, and my wife, well, you know, he just, you know, it just got, he just started working. Time for him to go. So, you know, I'm gonna need some help, no problem. I went and got the U-Haul truck. So he said, dad, okay, when I get off work, when I get off work, you know, we can pack up and we can go, you know, because we got the park, we can, you know, help you move into your apartment. Okay, all right. Tony Jr. gets home, he gets off the tube. He got home around 2.30. Let me tell you something, Mufasa had the truck packed. He said, he said, dad, he said, dad, dad, you ready to pack up? I said, son, it's packed, let's go, let's go. I remember putting the couch on my back and I'm humping it up, humping it up that ramp, you know, that ramp, time to go. You don't let your kids, though they're older, you don't let your kids run your house. You don't let that happen, you don't let them run your wife either. Men, you don't let them run your wife either. You love them, yes. But when it's time for them to go, let me tell you something, it's been time for Samson to go. On the way, he's still at the house. That's a whole another sermon. But let's see what happens. He's starting to go down spiritually. Let's see what happened. Look what it says there in verse four. It says, but his father and mother did not know that it was of the Lord that he was seeking an occasion to move against the Philistines for at that time the Philistines had dominion over Israel. Now things were so bad spiritually in Israel and in the life of Samson spiritually that God would use, notice this, that God would use, watch this, that God would use his rebellious ways to accomplish his will. God wanted to move against the Philistines by using Samson, but he was too busy chasing women. So God said, was Satan meant for evil, I will use for good. Like Genesis 50 verse 20 says. Oh, this tells me that there are times that God will still use us even when we're in a rebellious state like we see here with Samson. What kind of God is that? That will still use us. But see, so often most people misinterpret God still using them as that he must approve of what I'm doing. God doesn't approve of what you're doing. He's giving you time to repent. He's giving you time. And I believe that there are some men here today. God is giving you room to repent. Maybe you're still helping out in the parking lot. Maybe you're still ushering at a door. Maybe you're still doing some other tomfoolery and you're in your mind, you're like, okay, God is still using me. He's still using you because Romans 11, 29 said the gifts and calling of God are irrevocable. God is not gonna, he's all of a sudden just, you know, we start messing up. And all of a sudden he's like, you're what? You're a teacher? You're what? Give me that back. No, no, the gifts and calling of God are irrevocable. And sometimes Satan can deceive us because the Bible in Hebrews talks about the deceitfulness of sin. Sin can deceive us into thinking that because God is still using us, maybe just maybe he approves of what I'm doing. And that's not the case at all. He's giving us time to repent. God always gives us time to repent. Stop listening to those hypothetical stories. Well, you know, if I'm on the road and somebody cut me off and I flip them, I give them half of a peace sign and I flip them off. And if I crash and die before I repent, will I still go to heaven? Stop, stop. God always gives us room to repent. And here God is gonna use Samson's rebellion to accomplish his will. Oh, look at verses five through nine. Says, so Samson went down to Temna with his father and mother and came to the vineyards of Temna. Now to his surprise, a young lion came roaring against him and the spirit of the Lord came mightily upon him and he tore the lion apart as one would have torn apart a young goat though he had nothing in his hand. But he did not tell his father or his mother what he had done. Then he went down and talked with the woman and she pleased Samson well. And after some time, when he returned to get her, he turned aside to see the carcass of the lion and behold, a swarm of bees and honey were in the carcass of a lion. And he took some of it in his hands and went along eating. And when he came to his father and his mother, he gave some to them and they also ate. But he did not tell them that he had taken the honey out of the carcass of the lion. Now in these verses, we see Samson go down to Temna according to verse five. Samson is experiencing what we all do when we dabble with fleshly things. We will experience a yo-yo up and down effect in our walk with the Lord. Notice Samson went down in verse one. Then he went up in verse two. He goes down here in verse five. It's up and down, up and down. See, if you're experiencing a yo-yo effect in your life spiritually, I guarantee you that you are dabbling with fleshly, fillesting people or fleshly, worldly things because your life is like a yo-yo. It's up and down, up and down, up and down. This is what Samson was going through. So on their way down to Temna, Samson and his parents, they came to the vineyards there. The end of verse five says. Now here's a side note. Remember that he was to stay away from wine or similar drinks, even grapes, because of his Nazarite vow. Because he was to be born a Nazarite, there were some things he had to stay away from. Dead things, drink, strong drink or anything related to wine. And he was not to cut his hair. So because of that, he was to stay away from these things. Notice how he is going down to the vineyards of Temna. Oh, God, you're not supposed to be doing that. And here he is, Samson is on dangerous ground. I just have to ask you, have you been to the vineyards of Temna lately? A place that is dangerous, that can cause you to sin against God? The vineyards of Temna is any place that is forbidden or that will cause you to sin against God. You know what that is for you. You know what the vineyards of Temna is for you. So as they approach the vineyards of Temna, the end of verse five says, now to his surprise, a young lion came roaring against him. Oh, we all know from 1 Peter 5-8 that Satan is like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. And here is Samson in the place that he should not have been, the vineyards of Temna, and no wonder he comes face to face with a lion. And the same is true for us when we find ourselves in our vineyards of Temna, at the forbidden place, don't be surprised when you come face to face with your lion, Satan himself. Oh, you know what, we were just at my house just watching a movie and we were sitting on my couch and you know, all of a sudden she just said she was cold and I just put my arm around her and next thing you know, we fell in the sand. You were in the forbidden, you were in the vineyards of Temna, the forbidden place, and you wonder why you came face to face with your lion. Well, we're just in the back of my car, you know. You know what, you know, and whenever we find ourselves in the vineyards of Temna, the forbidden place, don't be shocked when the roaring lion, Satan himself come because he will come. You know what that forbidden place is for you. Well, you know, she just invited me to come over, you know, she was just, we're just gonna talk when you go to the vineyards of Temna, you will be faced with your lion, hands down. So when Samson came face to face with the lion, verse six says something amazing, that the spirit of the Lord came mightily upon him and he tore the lion apart as one would have torn apart a goat though he had nothing in his hand. Well, this is the only way to deal with our lion Satan is through the power of the Holy Spirit. There is nothing in our own power or strength that can defeat our lion Satan. There is nothing in our hands that we can use to defeat Satan. We need the power of God's Holy Spirit to defeat Satan in our lives. Zachariah 4-6 is not by power, nor by might is by his spirit, says the Lord. That is the only way you can defeat your lion that's in your life, the only way. Notice the last part of verse six says that, but he did not tell his father or his mother what he had done. See, this is what happens when we start dabbling in fleshly Philistine activities. Watch this, don't miss this point. We become secretive. We don't want people to know our latest fleshly activities. Going in the other room, whispering to talk on the phone, hiding our phones and putting a lock on it that will rival Fort Knox. You gotta have retina scans and face recognition plus thumbprint just to get into your phone. What are you trying to hide? You know who you are too. Every time you gotta have your phone near you and the phone is always facing down so nobody can see when a message pops up or that light flash or so you always gotta dial. And then when people are talking to you, you're like, yeah, yeah, yeah, and you're doing this. Yeah, uh-huh, uh-huh. You become secretive. That's how you know you're going down. You're experiencing a yo-yo in your walk. You start to become secretive. You don't want people to know, hey, where you been? Oh, well, you know, just, yeah, yeah, yeah, you know. I ain't been nowhere. You've been gone for three hours. Oh, well, you know, I was just here, you know, I just messed around, you know, just. And we do that stuff. And what you, you know, your wife called, hey, what are you doing? Oh, I ain't doing nothing. What do you mean you ain't doing nothing? What, you watching TV? Oh, you know, just this, oh, you know, deep, you know. You know, it's just, you know, sports, you know, just. You start to become secretive. The reason why is the saying for Samson. We know that what we're doing isn't right in the eyes of God. And Samson knew that his parents would not have approved of it. And this is why he didn't tell them, you know, what he's been up to, where to get the honey from and all this kind of stuff because he is, he's been secretive. And the same thing starts to happen with us. Just know if you're starting to get a little secretive and starting to give, you know, do you know what it really means to get, to bear false witness? It means that you tell the truth, but you leave out certain parts to give people a false impression. Did you know that that's what it means? You can, because you can say, oh yeah, I just told the truth. See, you can, you know, your wife said, where you been? Well, you know, I just went to the store. Then what took you so long? You know, the lines, you know, it's just long, you know, just that story. But you didn't tell her that you spent 15 minutes talking to an ex-girlfriend, so you left that out. So you gave her a false impression in the thinking that the lines were long and they might have been. So that was the truth. But you left out, I was talking to an ex-girlfriend for 15, 20 minutes, and that's what really took you so long. But see, you're being secretive now. Oh, God is speaking to some people now. You're being secretive because the people in your life, you know if you told the truth, wouldn't approve of what you've been doing lately. Samson continued to go down in verse seven and talked with the woman and she pleased Samson well. And he is breaking protocol because this was the parents' job to discuss marital arrangements. But Samson seemed to be taking matters into his own hands. Remember the role reversal we talked about earlier? And this could be an indication that the parents backed out of this all together. They just saying, you know what? You're involved in that mess. You go and do your mess, and we're not involved in it. Which is the right response to have? Parents, men, men, listen to me. Don't you allow your children to get you to participate with them in sinning against God. Oh, you know that, come on, dad. You know, this is a good movie. You know, it wasn't a movie. You know, you're like, you know, man movie. Come on, come on, watch this with me. And you know, you've heard about the movies and the parts they have been. And I think Pastor Don gave a great illustration about what happens when we're told to fast forward those parts, you know. And I said, we're men. It's what we do. We like, our flesh likes flesh. So we're gonna tell, you know, we're gonna, I love that. I thought that was great. That was a great, I'm gonna take that illustration around the world with me. But it looks like Samson's parents backed out. Now, it's obvious that some time had gone by and Samson had gone back home, but when he returned to get his little wife, verse eight says, he turned aside to see the carcass of the lion. Oh, Samson, here you go again. Why would you turn aside to see the carcass of the lion? You are supposed to stay away from dead things. So when he goes to see the carcass of the lion, a swarm of bees and honey were in the carcass of the lion. He took some of the honey in his hands, verse nine says, and he went along eating it like it was no big deal. What happens when we start going down spiritually, we become desensitized to sinful things. Things that used to horrify us, things that we used to stay away from, now we can go near those things and it doesn't bother us. He went to that carcass of that lion, grabbed some honey out, probably got a little piece of honey cone in there with it and just went down the street just whistling Dixie, having him some good old honey. And he didn't care, it didn't bother him. And maybe that's you now, you've become desensitized to sin. Things that you once stayed away from, watch this, is now becoming sweet to you again, just like honey. And he gave some to his parents and his parents ate because they didn't know where the honey came from. They just ate it. See, we always get innocent people, this is the sad part. We always get innocent people to partake with us in sin. They're clueless to what's going on and we get them to participate with us. This is what they're doing here. The last part of verse nine says, but he did not tell them that he had taken the honey out of the carcass of the lion. He didn't tell them because sin is always sweet to us at first and we don't want to stop partaking of it. It seemed to give us energy. That's what honey does. That new honey that you've been kind of messing around with kind of give you a little perk, little energy. Like honey does, natural honey does. But just realize what comes with honey, bees. And all of a sudden that little honey that you thought was sweet, that you thought was everything your wife has not, is now buzzing in your ear, buzzing around and like a little bug is bugging you now. It was sweet at first, just like honey, but bees come with honey. Bees also sting. And just like our brother said, that little honey he was messing with, she started, she stung him because she hit, she hit his wife up and said, guess what? I want to apologize for the inappropriate relationship I've been having with your husband. See, she is sting, that's what happens. She's a woman and she like a bee will sting you. Oh, it's sweet at first. Woo boy, it's sweet and you got some energy, you know, keep messing with that honey. And the bees will soon be following and they'll sting you. And it won't be a pretty thing. Won't be a pretty thing at all. You know, Samson did some other things, but you know what, you've been here long enough. Let me just, and I think I've shared enough. I was supposed to do the whole chapter, but as I said, Pastor Don tapped us out, you know. I'd rather you guys to, you know, appreciate me ending early than, but I think that there are some things that we need to see because I believe that we have a lot of people here, a lot of men who are experiencing spiritual down syndrome. And you've been going down in these symptoms because syndrome has symptoms. These symptoms that we've seen in Samson's life, I think you're starting to see them. And this is why it's time, I love things. So I wish the East Coast was like this. That's one thing you guys know how to do out here. Y'all know how to have conferences and y'all show up. I mean, y'all show up. I mean, God bless y'all. It hasn't quite made its way on the East Coast. You know, we'll get there, you'll get there. But if you're here today and you like Samson, you've been experiencing a downward spiral in your walk with God, and you've noticed that you've been kind of, kind of yo-yo in your walk with God, you notice lately that you're starting to become secretive and starting to leave, leave pertinent information out because you don't want people to know you've been involved in fleshly Philistine activities. Maybe all of a sudden you starting to be somewhat desensitized to sin. Things that you used to be mortified by. Now it's not that bad. You can now go near the carcass of the lion, grab some honey out and go down the road. No big deal. Whereas before you never would have gone near that lion. Or maybe you here and you've been partaking of the honey and now she's starting to stain. She's starting to buzz. Oh, it was sweet at first. She brought you energy. You're nothing like my wife. She's nothing like your wife because she's not your wife. That's why. That's why she's nothing like. One of the things that I love and I sit back and admire is Pastor David, his relationship with his wife. It is something to marvel at and something that is not seen in today's time. I'm telling you, it's not worth that honey. That's on the job, that honey that's at the store. That honey that's at the park or at the game is when your son is playing. It's not worth it. It's not worth it. It's not worth it. The pain of being stoned, the loss that you're experienced, the heartache that you will go through, you will kick yourself a thousand times and that precious wife that God has given you, you may never get her back. All over a little taste of honey.