Pastor Joe Sugrue - Grace and Truth Podcast

Title: Judges 15. Samson part 8 - Three major lessons from the battle of Lehi.

Jdg 15:14 When he came to Lehi, the Philistines shouted as they met him. And the Spirit of the Lord came upon him mightily so that the ropes that were on his arms were as flax that is burned with fire, and his bonds dropped from his hands.

Jdg 15:15 And he found a fresh jawbone of a donkey, so he reached out and took it and killed a thousand men with it.

Jdg 15:16 Then Samson said,

"With the jawbone of a donkey,

Heaps upon heaps,

With the jawbone of a donkey

I have killed a thousand men."

Jdg 15:17 And it came about when he had finished speaking, that he threw the jawbone from his hand; and he named that...

for full notes: http://www.cgtruth.org/index.php?proc=msg&sf=vw&tid=1596

Title: Judges 15. Samson part 7 - The battle of Lehi.

Jdg 15:11 Then 3,000 men of Judah [respect for the reputation that Samson already has] went down to the cleft of the rock of Etam and said to Samson, "Do you not know that the Philistines are rulers over us? What then is this that you have done to us?" And he said to them, "As they did to me, so I have done to them."

Judah should be fighting Philistia as those who are separated unto God - as Samson. How sadly they have declined since their beginning under Caleb.

The irony is that they could have sent this army against Philistia. Why not ask this man of incredible strength, raised up by God, to be the leader of this army?

The most effective decline in a person's life is a slow one, since it is barely...

for full notes: http://www.cgtruth.org/index.php?proc=msg&sf=vw&tid=1595

Title: Judges 15. Samson part 6 - Samson destroys a Philistine city while Judah stews in weakness.

Samson tells his new wife the answer to his impossible riddle and is confident that she won't betray him. But as he skillfully puts it, they "plowed with his heifer."

Jdg 14:18 So the men of the city said to him on the seventh day before the sun went down,

"What is sweeter than honey?

And what is stronger than a lion?"

And he said to them,

"If you had not plowed with my heifer,

You would not have found out my riddle."

Jdg 14:19 Then the Spirit of the Lord came upon him mightily, and he went down to Ashkelon and killed thirty of them and took their...

for full notes: http://www.cgtruth.org/index.php?proc=msg&sf=vw&tid=1594

Title: Judges 14-15. Samson part 5 - God starts a fight with the Philistines.

Israel will not fight against the oppression of the enemy. God raises us Samson to start that fight and to reveal to His own people and the enemy that in Him alone there is power and victory.

God allows Samson to marry a Philistine woman so that the conflict will start. God is in control of all of human history, while He does not cause any sin or evil.

Jdg 14:5 Then Samson went down to Timnah with his father and mother, and came as far as the vineyards of Timnah; and behold, a young lion came roaring toward him.

The Hebrew word used shows that the lion was a full grown cub.

Jdg 14:6 And the Spirit of the Lord came upon him mightily, so that he tore him as one tears a kid though he had nothing...

for full notes: http://www.cgtruth.org/index.php?proc=msg&sf=vw&tid=1593

Conference 2017: Part 3 - The Messiah presents Himself to the Gentile world.

We closed yesterday witnessing the transformation of the apostle Peter, which identical transformation was experienced by the other apostles to be, in that they came to see and identify the entirety of the Messiah, who didn't just bring the crown to Israel, but also the cross.

In the scripture, the spotlight is placed on Peter, but the rest of the apostles would have come to also see, even Thomas who wouldn't believe until, as he stated, he touched His scars.

Luk 22:31 "Simon, Simon, behold, Satan has demanded permission to sift you like wheat;

Luk 22:32 but I have prayed for you, that your faith may not fail; and you, when once you have turned again, strengthen your...

for full notes: http://www.cgtruth.org/index.php?proc=msg&sf=vw&tid=1592

Part 2: Messiah presents Himself to the disciples.

We often wrongly conclude that the twelve knew who Jesus really was at the outset when they were called to follow Him. Although they knew some very important things about Him, and that their understanding and knowledge of Him increased over their time with Him, it was not really until after His resurrection that they came to know Him as they should have.

What they did understand at any given time is not always revealed to us and so we erroneously conclude that they had in depth knowledge, understanding, and faith in the correct aspects of the Messiah.

As we know, they didn't exactly believe in His resurrection until after He presented Himself resurrected, although He told them of its certainty many times prior.

For this subject we will use the...

for full notes: http://www.cgtruth.org/index.php?proc=msg&sf=vw&tid=1591

Conference 2017: Part 1 - The Messiah presents Himself to Israel.

The Messiah presents Himself to Israel, to the Disciples, and to the Gentiles of the world.

In this brief study of the presentation of the Messiah we will look at three groups to whom He presented Himself for recognition: Israel, the disciples, and the Gentiles.

When the Lord Jesus Christ began His ministry at about thirty years of age He presented Himself exclusively to Israel. He was the fulfiller of all of her covenants and now it was time for the elect nation of God to recognize their Anointed One, their Messiah.

Certainly He did this in many ways and with many teachings (Luk 4). We could not find the time this weekend to establish all of them, and therefore, we will examine one of...

for full notes: http://www.cgtruth.org/index.php?proc=msg&sf=vw&tid=1589

Title: Judges 14. Samson part 4 - God starts a fight with the Philistines.

Israel will not fight against the oppression of the enemy. God raises us Samson to start that fight and to reveal to His own people and the enemy that in Him alone there is power and victory.

Samson would not move on the Philistines on his own, but this marriage would throw him into the fray and so the Lord arranged this marriage.

God is in control of all of human history, while He does not cause any sin or evil. He can manipulate events to His good pleasure in whatever way He chooses, while He never overrules the self-determination of one person. As the Psalmist stated, it is inscrutable how He does it, such knowledge is too wonderful for us. This should give every believer great comfort, and if it was actually known by the world, which one day...

for full notes: http://www.cgtruth.org/index.php?proc=msg&sf=vw&tid=1587

Title: Judges 14. Samson part 3 - God allows Samson to marry a Philistine in order to begin the conflict.

Jdg 13:17 And Manoah said to the angel of the Lord, "What is your name, so that when your words come to pass, we may honor you?"

Jdg 13:18 But the angel of the Lord said to him, "Why do you ask my name, seeing it is wonderful?"

So we can see what the Lord would so plainly ask a man like Manoah, a man like any one of us, "Why do you seek my name as if I am just another creature like you? You shouldn't be asking me like that. You should go with your wife's initial response to My appearance, awe and fear. She didn't know who I was and she felt like that, now imagine how you should properly respond to Me when you actually know who I am."

Manoah...

for full notes: http://www.cgtruth.org/index.php?proc=msg&sf=vw&tid=1586

Title: Judges 13. Samson part 2 - The Angel of the Lord visits Samson's parents.

Jdg 13:1 Now the sons of Israel again did evil in the sight of the Lord, so that the Lord gave them into the hands of the Philistines forty years [from the birth of Samson to the battle of Ebenezer in 1Sa 7].

Along with the curses that the captured ark spread upon the Philistines, God raised up Samson, the capstone of the judges, endowed by the Spirit with supernatural physical strength.

Samson's cycle is unique in the book of Judges in a number of ways.

Samson as an individual is a type of the condition of Israel during this age.

Samson was a mirror for Israel to look into. His strength lay only in being a Nazirite (separated unto God) and his weakness in his carnal...

for full notes: http://www.cgtruth.org/index.php?proc=msg&sf=vw&tid=1585