Torch, Fall 1994

Eventually Saul disguised himself, went to a witch, and was told he would die the next day. The next day, he fell on his sword in the midst of the battle. The second person who ended up in the darkness was Samson. Samson means "sunny." Samson was especially anointed and empowered by the Holy Spirit of God and did great exploits. Then Samson started getting involved with the lust of the flesh . So Samson fought battles in the daytime and made love at night. He kept saying to himself, "It doesn't make any difference how I live. I win these battles so that shows that I am getting away with my sins." He was disobeying God, and he was lying to himself. The final lie came when he was shorn of his power. It was the most expensive haircut anybody ever had. The Scripture says, "He did not know that the Lord had left him" (Judges 16:20 NIV). He was lying to himself. Samson ended up bound and blind, pushing a mill stone. Whether Samson should be classified as a suicide or as a martyr is debatable. Yes, he killed 3,000 of the enemy, but he ended in darkness and defeat as far as spiritual things were concerned, except for one thing. He did call out to God. His power did come back. I think he did confess his sin. But what a sad way to go. 8 Torch The third man to end up in the dark was Judas. John wrote, "[Judas] went out. And it was night" (John 13:30 NIV). Now, we knew it was night; they always had the passover at night. But John is not writing about the time of day, John is writing about spiritual things. For Judas, it is still night and it always will be night. Judas lied to God. He spent three years lying to Jesus. Judas wasn't saved. Judas pretended to be concerned about the poor. Judas pretended to be an obedient apostle. Not one of the other 11 apostles knew that Judas was a liar. Until the very end, the Lord Jesus did everything He could to win Judas. And Judas went out and it was night and he committed suicide. When I was in seminary, I was told, "There are three great sins you have to watch out for in the ministry. You have to watch out for pride, lust, and money." Well, Saul fell because of pride, Samson fell because of lust, Judas fell because of money. Saul listened to the world and did what the world did. The world says, "Save the best for yourself!" Samson listened to the flesh and did what the flesh wanted him to do. Judas gave himself to the devil. This matter of keeping our Confessin8 sin means to say the same thin8 about my sin that Cod says about it. I don't come with alibis or excuses. hearts with all diligence is serious business. Verse nine says, "If we confess.... " That means being honest; that means coming into the light. Everyone who does evil hates the light. Confessing sin means to say the same thing about my sin that God says about it. I don't come with alibis or excuses. So I come to God and say, "I lost my