- I want to summon your senses and invite your intellect
to the Book of Judges 16. Judges 16. And I want to read this story to you, as it serves as the foundation of our Easter speech for today. Judges 16, I want to begin
reading at verse number 15. And don't worry about how long I'm reading 'cause you ain't read the
Bible this week, no way. (laughs) Amen. (laughs) Amen. Judges 16. I want to begin to read at verse 15. Your Bible should read. And she said unto him, how
can you say I love you, when your heart is not with me? You have mocked me these three times and have not told me where
in your great strength lies. And it came to pass, when she pressed upon
him daily with her words and urged him, so that his
soul was vexed unto death, that he told her all his
heart and said unto her, there has not come a razor upon my head, for I have been a Nazarite
unto God from my mother's womb. If I be shaven, and then my
strength will go from me, and I shall become weak
and be like any other man. And when Delilah saw that he
had told her all his heart, she sent and called for the
lords of the Philistines, saying, come up this once, for he has shown me all his heart. Then the lords of the
Philistines came up on to her, and brought money in their hand. And she made him sleep upon her knees, and she called for a man, and she caused him to shave off
the seven locks of his head. And then she began to afflict him, and his strength went from him. And she said, the Philistines
be upon you, Samson. And he awoke out of his sleep and said, I will go out as at other
times before and shake myself. And he did not know that the
Lord was departed from him. But the Philistines took
him and put out his eyes, and brought him down to Gaza, and bound him with fetters of brass. And he did grind in the prison house. Howbeit, the hair of his
head begin to grow again after he was shaven. Then the lords of the Philistines
gathered them together for to offer a great sacrifice
unto Dagon their god, and to rejoice for they said, our God has delivered Samson,
our enemy into our hand. And when the people saw him, they praised their god, for they said, our god, has delivered
into our hands our enemy, and the destroyer of our
country which killed many of us. And it came to pass when
their hearts were merry, that they said, call for Samson,
that he may make us sport. And they called for Samson
out of the prison house, and he made them sport and they set him before the two pillars. And Samson said unto the lad
that held him by the hand, suffer me that I may feel the pillars were upon the house stands
that I may lean upon them. Now, the house was full of men and women and all the lords of the
Philistines were there. And there were upon
the roof about 3000 men and women that beheld
while Samson made sport. And Samson called on to the Lord and said, O Lord God, remember me, I
pray you, and strengthen me. I pray you only this once. O God, that I may be at once
avenge of the Philistines for my two eyes. And Samson took hold of
the two middle pillars upon which the house stood,
and on which it was born up, of the one with his right hand and of the other with his left hand. And Samson said, let me
die with the Philistines. And he bowed himself with all his might. And the house fell upon the lords and upon all the people
that were there in. So the dead which he killed at his death were more than they which
he killed in his life. I want to tag this
text, the secret is out. You may be seated in the Lord's church. The secret is out. I recently read a quote
by Benedictine monk. His name was Bede Griffiths. And he said the Lord had
brought him to his knees and made him acknowledge his nothingness. And in the acknowledgement
of his nothingness, he was reborn. That quote quickened my spirit. Because it admitted, that actually our greatness
never begins with us. Our greatness always begins
with our acknowledgement and our prioritization of God. That's why he said, seek ye first the kingdom of heaven and
all of his righteousness, and all other things will be added. That's why he said, trust in
the Lord with all your heart, and lean not to your own understanding, but in all of your ways, acknowledge Him, and He will direct your path. That's why he said in the first
law of the 10 commandments, I am the Lord your God,
I am a jealous God, and I will not have any
other gods before me. There seems to be some repetitive thread in the biblical canon, that everything begins
with acknowledging God. Everything ends with acknowledging God. He is the Alpha and the Omega,
the beginning and the end. And ladies and gentlemen, maybe we need some kind of
soft, yet significant reminder, that even in these turbulent times, the key to making it through life always begins and ends
with acknowledging God. The key to discovering your own greatness begins and ends with acknowledging God. Such is the discipline discovered in the discourse of Judges 16. This is a terrible time that has been recorded and documented in the annals of Israel's history. They are clearly rebellious to God. The Book of Judges records,
what happened theologically in between the patriarchs and the kings. The children of Israel had now set foot in the promised land, and upon them setting
foot in the promised land, they neglected the Promise Giver. The judges were given
to correct the people, to lead them back into the ways of God. As a matter of fact, you
will discover in Judges 13, the very last verse of Judges chapter 13, it declares that God even
allowed Samson to be born, because it was his assignment to be the beginning of Israel's repentance and return back to God. And this segment of the Book of Judges in chapters 13 through 16 document Samson's life challenges and times, while he is recorded as the
strongest man who ever lived. He literally was a one man army. He literally was a one man
army until it came to women. He was able to beat
groups and masses of men. But there were some chronic
pattern of behavior with Samson. Samson got married in Judges 14, and his ex-wife was a Philistine. He left her, and in Judges 16, he hooked up with a prostitute. And Judges 16:1-3 says
that she was a Philistine. He left her. Then he fell in love
with this little hot mama in the Valley of Sorek. Her name was Delilah. And she was bait used for the Philistines. I'll try this again. His ex-wife was a Philistine. He left her. Went and hooked up with a prostitute, who was a Philistine. He left her. Fell in love with Delilah, who we don't know whether
she was a Philistine or not, but we do know she was
used by the Philistines. It's interesting that
Samson, ladies and gentlemen was an advocate of the Nazarite vow. And the Nazarite vow was
this extreme devotion to God, initiated by God. The Nazarite vow said, in Numbers 6, that you could not eat grapes, whether they were dried or not, you could not eat the fruit of the vine. You could not come near close
proximity to a dead body. And you could not get a haircut. This was all signs of his
extreme devotion to God. But his devotion to God
did not completely conquer his Philistine appetite. Samson ya'll was a Nazarite advocate with a Philistine appetite. He lived for God on the outside, but he couldn't conquer his appetite for Philistine women on the inside. He was a Nazarite advocate
with a Philistine appetite. And one of the things I
struggle with church folks, it is your Sunday morning hypocrisy. 'Cause you're trying to sit in this church like you don't have no
Philistine appetites. It might not be a woman for you. It might be something else. That you're living for God, but there's one area in your life, it is the sin that so easily besets you. Come on, talk back to me. Don't put your little
hypocritical glasses on while I'm talking about Samson as though, he don't relate to you, 'cause you just got done
shouting in the Lord's church. Can I tell you ladies and gentlemen, I'm talking to 20 of ya'll. I'm gonna make number 21 who testify, and got it together in a lot of areas, but there is this... I ain't trying to tell ya'll businesses, neither am I trying to tell mine. But I am trying to tell the truth that something about the human nature does not like restrictions. Something about the human nature has a fascination with the forbidden. Talk, tell them all. That as much as he was
consecrated unto God, he could not conquer his carnal curiosity. I can't get no help here. This ain't the Sunday to be fake church. Just come on and go with me. He struggles with this one matter. And she is on the other hand, technically, he is not her struggle. No, no, no. I want to share something with ya'll today that ya'll don't like, but if you read the Bible, you'll get it. Ladies and gentlemen, if you
got a Bible and can read it, she kept pressing this man about the secret of his
supernatural strength. She failed three times. And you and I read the fourth time, where she sent Samson on a guilt trip to suggest that the previous
three times of mockery was a sign that he did not love her. So now she pushes the emotional button to try to suggest that
if you really love me, you wouldn't fool me. But the truth of the matter is, when we take record of the text, if you can read it correctly. Ladies and gentlemen, Delilah
did not lie to Samson. In verses 16 and 13, she
straight up asked him, where does your strength lie? She didn't lie to him. Not only did she not lie to him ya'll. When we read the story, we
don't have any indication, Lenin about how Delilah felt about Samson. The text only says Samson loved Delilah. And when we read the text, Duncan, we can't really actually
say that she was into him as much as he was into her. As a matter of fact, when
you read the text areas, Samson is her man. His strength is her mission,
but money is her motivation. Since ya'll acting brand new. Delilah wasn't necessarily into Samson, she was into securing the bag. She is what we call a gold digger. We don't even know if
she even wanted Samson. Girlfriend just wanted to get paid. And if we read this text
correctly, the Bible says, that Samson did not immediately
disclose his secret to her. It took four times for him to disclose the source of his secret. Which means, if it took
four times, Carole Watson, for him to disclose the
source of his secret, it could be that he was suspicious of her constant questioning
in the first place. Or it could be, that since it took four times
for him to reveal his secret. He was reluctant in the first
place to even reveal it. So all he had to do was keep
throwing her off or tell her, I'm not telling you. But the text says, Delilah did
not discover Samson's secret. Samson disclosed his secret to Delilah. Which means church, I'm standing today to tell you that Delilah cannot be
blamed for Samson's fall. She's been getting a bad rep for years. She's been called all
kinds of derogatory terms. She was only operating
in a satanic capacity. But Samson was fully aware
of what he disclosed to her when he gave her the answer. And that's not Delilah's fault. So at the root of this
fall, ladies and gentlemen, Samson failed because
Samson betrayed himself. Samson betrayed himself
because Samson knew better. And Samson was reluctant to
disclose it in the first place, but he felt the pressure, and all he had to do was either tell her, I'm not telling you or
keep throwing her off. But no, he disclosed it. And herein lies the problem. Ya'll ready? Herein lies the problem. Here's the other options
Samson could have done. Samson could have just told her the true source of his strength. He could have just said, God
is the source of my strength. But he didn't because Samson, Ben, is guilty of publicizing his gift while keeping God a secret. The truth of the matter is, his strength was never in his hair. 'Cause if you got a Bible and can read it. Numbers 13:28 says, and when
he moved among the camp of Dan, he moved in strength 'cause the Spirit of
the Lord came upon him. Judges 14:6 says, he killed a lion because the Spirit of
the Lord moved upon him. Judges 14:19 says, he
killed 1000 men at Ashkelon, 'cause the Spirit of
the Lord moved upon him. Judges 16 says, he took out
the 30 men of the Philistines 'cause the Spirit of
the Lord moved upon him. His secret was never his hair, his secret was the Holy Ghost. And all he had to do was
tell this young sister, God's anointing is the
source of my strength. But the problem with Samson is that Samson wanted to
take credit for his gift, and keep God a secret. The problem with keeping
God a secret is in verse 20. The problem with keeping God a secret is that when you keep God a
secret that He is with you, He will keep it a secret that He left you. Verse 20 says, when he woke up, he didn't know that the Lord had left him. This is the scariest verse I have ever read in the entire Bible. Is one thing for God to leave you, it's another thing when God leaves you and don't give you no notice. But if you keep God a secret, God reserves the right to keep
it a secret that He left you. Maybe Roy Tommy. Maybe this Nazarite vow has more to it than just being committed to God. Maybe this Nazarite vow church is about keeping Samson to God so as to save Samson from Samson. Lord have mercy. Ladies and gentlemen, I don't care if you didn't
come to think with me today. I've been working on this text all week, and you're about to get it. Here it is. Ladies and gentlemen, hear me. Sometimes your commitment to God is about God saving you from you. Because He knows in
light of your Holy Ghost, in light of your commitment,
in light of your prayer time, in light of you going to church, you still got a Philistine
appetite on the inside. And every now and then, you need your commitments
to exceed your carnality. Preach Tolan Morgan. Is there anybody in here who testify, the real reason why you haven't
been as active in your sin, is either you ain't got time or you sick. I ain't talking to you fake people. I'm talking to the real
people who testify. I'm still sanctified and filled with the precious Holy Ghost, but I'm still struggling with
some stuff on the inside. And my commitment to God is
designed to save me from myself. The problem with Samson, is that God knows he's committed to God, but he's not perfect. He's committed to God,
but he's not perfect. The sin of Samson was
keeping God a secret. The sin of Samson is being
a down-low Christian. The sin of Samson is
watching everybody else be open about what they believe. But when it comes to our
witness, we want to be quiet, be loud in the church,
and be quiet outside. That's the sin of Samson
keeping God a secret. Because he kept God a secret, God kept it a secret that He left him. I don't ever want to be in
a place where God leaves me, and I don't know that he left me. He keeps God a secret, and he finally discloses
his secret to her. And by the time he discloses his secret, they've apprehended him,
they shaved his head. He fell asleep in her lap. She had secret people already
in the house standing by ready to apprehend him when
he disclosed the secret. He disclosed the secret. She calls for the guy
to give him a haircut. And then the text says, she afflicts him. She's trying to test him
to see, is he vulnerable? He wakes up. She says, Samson, the
Philistines are on top of you. They've come ready to apprehend you. Listen to what he said. He said, oh, don't worry about it. I'm gonna go out as I did before, and take them out like I did before. Not knowing that the Lord had left him. Ya'll got verse 21? This is where the text turns in verse 22. The text turns in verse 22, and says, Howbeit, the hair on his
head begin to grow back. Ya'll don't know when to get happy. Verse 21, they took
him, poked his eyes out, apprehended him with fetters of brass, his strength is gone. That's verse 21. Verse 22 says, howbeit, the hair on his head began to grow back. I'm gonna try this one more time. Verse 21. He is experiencing what life looks like when you neglect God. It leads to captivity. But in verse 22, the Bible says, howbeit, the hair on
his begin to grow back. Ya'll don't know when to get happy. So I'll shout myself. If he had the Nazarite vow,
he was committed to God. No grapes, no fruit of the vine, no dry grapes, no strong drink, no wine, no proximity to dead bodies, no haircut. His strength is gone
'cause he neglected God. But in verse 22, howbeit
the hair on his head begin to grow back. You don't know when to get
happy, so I'll shout myself. Hey Louise Wilson. Verse 22 is an act of grace. Because God knew that
he was going to mess up in the first place. So God put the covenant in a
place he knew would grow back. I'll shout myself. Ladies and gentlemen, God already knows that what he's assigned to your hand, you're gonna mess it up the first time. So he's already got a
grace covenant on your life that when you mess up. Watch this. You don't fall from grace,
you fall into grace. Thanks be to God. He will give you another
chance, even when you messed up, 'cause he knows you're going
to mess it up the first time. So he establishes the covenant in a place that was going to grow back. Minister Watson, I read
about this dermatologist in New York City. His name is Neil Sadick. And he was interviewed in a article. And someone in the article asked him, if I shaved my head off, will that improve the quality of my hair? This is a dermatologist
out of New York City. His name is Neil Sadick. They asked him, if I shaved my head off, will my hair grow back
healthier and stronger? Neil Sadick responded by saying, if you shave your head off, the only thing you're doing is
getting rid of damaged hair. But shaving your head is not
going to impact the shaft and hair growth on your head
because hair grows from within. Ya'll missed this, so I'll shout myself. The sign that hair was growing in Samson means that something had
changed on the inside of Samson. And the growing hair was evidence that he is not the arrogant
person that he used to be. That God had finally broken him, and there was a spirit of
repentance on top of him. Man, I tell you ladies and gentlemen, the good news about the God we serve is that after you fall, He'll
give you another chance. I wish I had some helper here. I said after you fall, He'll
give you another chance. The hair on his head
begin to grow back ya'll. Watch this. The hair on his head begin to
grow back while in captivity. While he was messed up. While he was strengthless,
sightless, subdued, and sport for the enemy,
the hair begin to grow back. And when the hair grew back ya'll, they had apprehended him. And I didn't think it
was an accident ya'll. I didn't think it was an accident. That when his hair grew back, his hair grew back during the time that his eyes was poked out. I didn't think it was an accident, that his hair grew back
while his eyes was gone. Ya'll going to get this in a minute. I said, I didn't think it was an accident that his hair grew back while
his eyes were poked out. Ladies and gentlemen,
his eyes being poked out, means he can't see any
more Philistine women. His eyes being poked out, means that God had now fixed his focus, by taking away his sight. His eyes being poked
out means that now God, he could see God though
his sight was gone. And now that his sight is
gone, his focus has been fixed. Because this was the first
time in four chapters that he stood between those pillars. And this was the first
time in four chapters that Samson had to ask God for strength. Ya'll don't know when to get happy. Did ya'll notice that Samson
had to ask God for strength at a time Samson was weak. I'm gonna try this one more time. Samson had never been
weak before in his life. He was born from his mama's
womb with this Nazarite vow. He had been anointed by the Holy Ghost since he came in the world. He's never experienced weakness, and God had to make him weak in order for him to call on Him. Now ya'll trying to act brand new, so I'll talk to 10 of ya'll. I'll make number 11, when you're walking around
think you got it all together. Think you're arrogant. Think you got the world figured out. God will break you down, so that you get to your
knees and call Him. (congregation applauds) First time he ever had to ask
for strength was in weakness, because now he's going to
discover how strong he really is. And discover that his real
strength is in the God he'd been ignoring. Ya'll missed it. The whole story, he's
been keeping God a secret. Now, at the end of his life, he's got the let the secret out. I can't get no help here. You've been holding on to God. You've never glorified God. You never gave God
credit for your strength. But now when you're weak, you
got to let the secret out. Don't ya'll know God operates like that? This man was walking around arrogant, presumptions, telling himself, I'll just get up and do
like I did the last time. Not even knowing God had left him. But God had to break him. Wait ya'll. And after God broke him, his biggest victory
came after being broken. 'Cause the text says, he killed more people in his death, than he did when he was ever alive. Ladies and gentlemen. Sometimes ladies and gentlemen, is not oil that's going to
make you useful, it's breaking. You can tarry, lay at the
altar all you want to, when you get up from the altar, God got to take you through something, because the oil comes through crushing. And his biggest victory came
after his biggest breaking. He killed more people in his
death than he did in his life. It is Paul who would put
on my coattail right now, and say, tell them son, it is in my weakness
when I see my strength. That his strength is made
perfect in my weakness. Maybe some of you're too
strong for God to use you. Maybe you got too much
education for God to use you. Maybe you got too many
letters behind your name for God to use you. Maybe you're too wonderful
for God to use you. You're too arrogant for God to use you. You're too presumptuous
for God to use you. And God wants to use you, but
he going to break you first. I'm done. I just want to talk to
you about the story. I'm done. May I submit to you ladies and gentlemen, that he's standing
between these two pillars, with his eyes poked out. And with no eyes, he sees God clearer. I said with no eyes, he sees God clearer. And he says, oh God, just this one time. Lord, I wish I had some help here. Just this one time, give me strength, so I can take down the enemy. Ya'll missed it. They poked his eyes out,
bound him in fetters, brought him into the temple of Dagon 'cause they're getting
ready to make sport of him. I'm gonna try this one
more time, Jefferson. They took his eyes out,
bound him in fetters, brought him into the temple of Dagon, so that Dagon could make sport of him. They got him in between the pillars. He puts his hands in the
pillars and prays to God. And then strength comes his way. I'm gonna try this one more time. They apprehended him, took his eyes out, bound him in fetters of chains,
got him between the pillars. He stretches his arms out to the right, and once to the left. And then he prays, and power
comes in the process of dying. I'm gonna try it one more time. They took his eyes out, put
him in chains of fetters, brought him into the temple
and he puts his arms out, and he's getting ready
to take down the enemy. First and foremost, ladies and gentlemen, don't tell your enemies a little secret. But God is using you to take them out. God is using them to put you in position to take the enemy out. And once you get there, if you stretch your arms out, this way, and your body is this way, you are in the form of
what we call the cross. Ladies and gentlemen,
Samson is in the Bible, because he had to get
in the form of the cross to take the enemy out. Might I suggest to you,
that the God I serve. I saved my thesis, Carole,
for the end of the sermon. I was going to give it at the beginning, I said, no. I'm gonna save it for the end. Hey ya'll, here's the
sermon in a sentence. Ya'll ready? - [Congregation] Yes. - For every trick of the
enemy, God has a counter-trick. (congregation applauds) Ya'll missed it. Ya'll thought ya'll brought
me in here to kill me, when actually God worked it out that I'm gonna take you out. Joseph interrupted my
studies when I got long here. And Joseph said, look man, tell them that God has a counter-trick for every trick of the enemy. 'Cause my brothers sold me into slavery, and they tried to play
off like I was dead. But by the time the story ended, I was second in command over all of Egypt. So what they meant for
evil, God meant it for good. They thought it was eliminating me, when actually they were elevating me. I'll ask the children
of Israel in Exodus 1, Pharaoh said they're
having too many babies. So why don't we increase
their torture and abuse them. And the Bible says, the
more they afflicted them, the more babies they had. So what looks like minimization
is actually multiplication. Ask David. David would tell you in 1 Samuel 17, Goliath thought I was a little shrimp. He thought I just had a little
slingshot and some stones. But what he didn't understand, he tried to make me
out to be a little dog. But by the time the story's over, he took one to the head
right from my slingshot. Because while he tried to make little, God used him to make me big. Ya'll remember Jesus, don't you? They were killing Jesus, but
they missed what he said. He said, if I be lifted up,
I'll draw all men unto me. What we call it in
football is a interception. Is when one quarterback is
throwing in one direction, and somebody on the other
team catches the pass, and takes it the other direction. Has God ever thrown a
interruption in your life? That what the enemy meant do one way, he turned it out to be another way. Just tell somebody, I serve a God who will turn that thing around. The enemy thought it
was going to go one way, but God interrupted and
he came out another way. Would you just let somebody know. Don't touch them. But I need you to yell under your mask and tell them the secret is out. I'm not successful by myself. I got God on my side. I'm not successful all by myself. But yeah, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil, for God is with me. Is there anybody here that can testify? You are no longer keeping God a secret. Have I got myself a witness? In this place, you are no
longer keeping God a secret. It's God that has been
with you all the way. Lord have mercy. It's God that's still with you. All the way, he walks with me. He talks with me. And he tells me that I am his own. Have I got a witness here? They thought that they
were going to take him out. But the Bible says, he
had more victory in death than he did while he was alive. O Lord. It looks like my older brother, he had more victory in death
than he did while he was alive. Because when he died,
he took the enemy out. When he died, he took a blow to the enemy. Have I got a witness here? If ya'll don't mind, you got to understand that your biggest victory
is on the other side of the biggest break of your life. God is only breaking you
so that God could use you. And if he uses you, you
are about to be victorious. Have I got a witness here? So here is the good news. Don't you ever decide
to keep God a secret. Because the Bible says,
for I am not ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ, it is the power of God unto the salvation to everyone that believes, first to the Jew and to the Greek. Have I got a witness here? You got to make up in your mind, that I will let nothing separate
me from the love of Jesus, which is in Christ Jesus. Have I got a witness here? You got to makeup in your mind, that wherever the Lord leads
you to tell of His goodness, you will testify of the goodness of God. Have I got a witness here? Now I need somebody who's not a shamed to tell of His goodness. I need ya'll to do me a favor, let's practice on what
we're going to do this week, and just turn to somebody
that's sitting next to you, and begin to testify to them
about the goodness of God. And all he's done for you. I said turn to somebody and begin to tell them
how good He been to you. I said turn to somebody and tell them what God has done for you. Tell them, neighbor, if
I'm getting on your nerves, you're just gonna have to deal with it, because God did too good
to me for me to shut up. The secret is out. He saved me. The secret is out. He blessed me. The secret is out. He healed me. And I got to give Him the glory. I said I got to give Him the glory. Now, let everything. I said let everything. I said let everything that's got breath, open your mouth under that mask and testify of the goodness of Jesus. Tell Him how good He is. Tell Him how He brought you the victory. Tell Him how he brought you victory. Yeah. (calm music) I said tell Him how he
brought you to victory. Say yeah. Yeah. I said tell Him how he
brought you to victory. I said tell Him how he
brought you to victory. You on the victory side now, because the joy of the
Lord is your strength. If you got victory, it's
because one fine day, they hanged Him high, and
they stretch Him wide. One fine day, the blood
came streaming down to wash our sins away. But the good news is, Samson did not live to tell about it. But his elder brother up out of the grave Sunday morning with all power in his hand. Now let everything that's got the victory in the blood of Jesus. If you've been washed
in the blood of Jesus, let's give Him praise. I said let's give Him praise. Yeah. (soft music) Yeah. (soft music) Yeah. (soft music) Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. (soft music) Has He been good to you? Has He been good to you? Has He been good to you? Has He been good to you? Yeah. (soft music) Listen, God is breaking you 'cause He's getting ready to
do something great with you. I said God is breaking you
'cause your biggest victory is on the other side of the breaking. The only thing God really wanted to get out of this man is glory. I said the only thing God really want to get out of him is glory. He's walking around with a gift, but he's quiet about the giver. I said he walking around with a gift, but he's quiet about the giver. Don't let God have to sneak off
from you and don't tell you. You keep God a secret, is not in God's will for your life. Everything God is doing in your life is simply for you to give Him the glory. Would you take a minute and just thank God for everything that is
happening in your life. This is a simple principle
ladies and gentlemen, give God the glory. (congregation applauds) You are not operating
in your own strength. You are not breathing your own air. You're not controlling your own mind. God's holding you together. Did you hear me? I said God is holding you together. And all he asked for you to
do, is to give Him the glory. We are not Christians secretly. We are not Christians
to keep God a secret. We're not Christians just to be in church and say that we've been in church, and nobody else knows we're Christian but the folk in the church. Can I tell you what Jesus says, if you be ashamed to own me before men, I'll be ashamed to own
you before my Father. Ladies and gentlemen, we are living in a day
where being a Christian is aggravating to other people. We're living in a day
where being a Christian rocks the boat. 'Cause everybody's supposed
to accept everything that the world throws at us. We're supposed to think is
okay just 'cause it's legal. We're suppose to just throw the Bible away just to make folk happy. But ladies and gentlemen, why be ashamed of something
you're committed to? That's a contradiction, to be committed to something
that you can't even tell. Why be committed to Jesus when
you can't even tell Jesus. What sense does that make? If I'm gonna be a Christian, I'm gonna be a Christian boldly. (congregation applauds) I'm gonna be a Christian boldly and I'm gonna do it for the glory of God. Knowing there's some things
that Christian folk don't like. Can I get you all a little secret? There's somethings in
the Bible I don't like, and I still got to tell it. See, you're nervous. I don't care. There's some stuff in the Bible I don't necessarily have
a full agreement on, but because it's in God's
word, I still got to tell it. (congregation applauds) How do you feel being married to somebody and they can never tell nobody
else you married to them? Isn't that crazy? That's a crazy concept, isn't it? But that's what we do
when we quiet about Jesus. That's what we do. We claim He ours but we
don't tell nobody He ours. Listen, don't keep God a secret. Samson showed us that when
you keep God a secret, you could end up in captivity. His plight was not Delilah's fault. The truth be told, Delilah was doing what
she's supposed to do. Samson wasn't doing what
he was supposed to do. If she was about that bad, she
was doing her bad business. He was the one that didn't honor
the commitment on his life. He shows us what life looks
like when you neglect God. And I want to challenge somebody today. To push your faith beyond the sanctuary. To push your faith beyond the comfortable confines of this place. And say, I'ma be bold. I'ma be the light of the world. I'ma be the salt of the
earth, for the glory of Jesus. And look, when you do that,
he'll give you a power beyond what you operate in. Everyone standing.
