LUKE 19:41-44 WHEN JESUS WEEPS2014 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: Luke 19:41-44 When Jesus Weeps

You are listening to FerventWord, an online Bible study ministry with teachings and tools to help you grow deeper in your relationship with God. The following message was taught by Jerry Simmons in 2014.

Well, the title of the message this morning is, When Jesus Weeps. Because we see there in verse 41 that Jesus saw the city of Jerusalem and wept over it. And it got me to thinking as I was preparing this week, what does it take to make Jesus weep? What does it require that would cause him to weep? And I would maybe extend that to you guys. Hey guys, uh,

What does it take for you to weep? You know there's a little bit of a difference, right? Generally speaking, guys and girls cry a little bit different frequencies than the other, right? I mean, there's exceptions, right? But for the most part, it's the guy thing. Guys don't cry, right? Now, some people who live in my house tease me a little bit because...

I only have one other person living in my house. So we were watching a movie one time and the previews were on. And there was a preview for a movie called Radio. I don't know if you remember that movie Radio. But there was the preview for Radio. And I got a little sniffly and my eyes were a little bit watery. And ever since then the people in my house have teased me for crying in the movie. But I hate crying. I absolutely hate crying. And

And I know part of it's my pride, okay? But I know it's not just that. Because even if nobody else is around, I don't like enjoy a good cry. I know some people enjoy like, yeah, I just got to have a good cry. I really love it. You know, you just kind of get it all out, have a good cry. I've never had a good cry. It's just, it's not something that I like.

And so as I think about Jesus weeping, it causes me to wonder what's going on in him that turns his insides upside down in such a way that he weeps. What's going on within that causes him to weep aloud? Now we see in the scriptures two specific times that Jesus weeps. The one time is in John chapter 11.

where he's at the tomb of Lazarus. And there he weeps there at the tomb of Lazarus, even though he knows he's about to raise him from the dead. As he sees what's going on in the family, he weeps. Now the word that's used there for him to weep, it means to shed tears. And so he actually sheds tears there at the tomb of Lazarus. Here in Luke chapter 19 though, as it talks about Jesus weeping, it's a different word.

It's a word that includes the idea of shedding tears, but it's attached to the concept or the idea of mourning. It's usually used in the context of someone mourning for a loved one that has died. For example, in Luke chapter 8, we see Jesus resurrect a little girl who died.

But it describes her family and those who were there at the house mourning or weeping for her. And that's the normal context for this word that Jesus wept. And so this is the idea that's going on. This is what's happening in Jesus' heart. There's this great mourning. It's as if someone he loves has died.

That's what he's experiencing. That's what he's going through. And that is why Jesus weeps. Now we're going to walk through three points about when Jesus weeps. Because there's, well, these reasons that Jesus weeps. And I don't want to have those things in effect in my life. I don't want to cause Jesus to weep.

To mourn because of the way that I'm living or the way that I am. Now, one last thing, just kind of a little bit of a side note before we get into the message this morning. The Lord's really kind of stirred this on my heart that maybe this message is one that God wants you to share with somebody else.

And I don't want to, I'm not trying to say, you know, make sure you get the CD after the service. I think God wants to encourage you to maybe take some notes today to pay attention because he wants to give you an opportunity. Maybe for some of you, he's already speaking this. And so be diligent, take some notes, and then be ready to share this because not only is this for us here, but there are those people

that God wants to reach out to in your life. And I want to encourage you to be ready with some of these things from the word that we find today that you would be able to call people to get right with God using some of the things that we'll look at this morning. We start with the first point in verse 41 and 42. And point number one is Jesus weeps when you do not know peace. I'll read to you again verse 41 and 42. It says...

Here is Jesus is approaching Jerusalem.

We saw last week the triumphal entry, right? He rides in on a donkey. He's got the crowd, you know, praising the Lord, praising him, calling him the Messiah. He's declaring himself to be the Messiah. They're singing, they're shouting, they're putting coats and everything on the road ahead of him. Now, all of that is happening as he's heading up the Mount of Olives. And as he heads up the Mount of Olives, he gets to the top and Jerusalem is

right across from the Mount of Olives. And so he can't see Jerusalem as he's heading up the Mount of Olives because he's going up this mountain. This is another mountain. There's a valley in between. So he goes up. He can't see it. He can't see it. But he gets to the top and then he can see Jerusalem. And that's what we're looking at here in verse 41. And so he gets to the top. He's able to overlook the city of Jerusalem and he begins to weep.

He weeps over Jerusalem. He's mourning for Jerusalem. Why? Well, he explains why starting in verse 42. It says, if you had known, even you, especially in this your day, the things that make for your peace, but now they are hidden from your eyes. Why is Jesus weeping?

What's got his insides all messed up and turned around so that he is lamenting and mourning and weeping and wailing for the city of Jerusalem? Well, he says, if you had known, if only you had known, if you would have known the things which make for your peace. Jesus is weeping for Jerusalem because...

The city of Jerusalem, the people of Jerusalem, the people of Israel missed an opportunity. They missed an opportunity to know peace. The opportunity was there. They had the opportunity. They could have had peace, but they did not. They will not have peace because they missed the opportunity.

And Jesus will describe in the next couple verses what that means, that they are lacking peace because of the destruction that is to come. But here as he's lamenting, he's mourning, he's saying, if only you had known the things that make for your peace. You have an opportunity for peace, but you are missing that opportunity. And that's something that God really put upon my heart to share with you this morning. That is peace.

Please, don't miss out on what God has for you. Israel, Jerusalem missed out. It caused Jesus to weep. They missed out on the peace that God had for them because they did not know the things which make for your peace. He says there at the end of verse 42, they are hidden from your eyes. Here's the thing. Jesus was right there.

He is the promised Savior, the Messiah. He is the rightful King. He has declared Himself that on this same day with the triumphal entry as He fulfilled Zechariah chapter 9 verse 9. Riding towards Jerusalem on a donkey. Proclaiming Himself to be that promised Savior and that King. Not only that, but He is the Prince of Peace. You remember in Isaiah chapter 9 verse 6.

For unto us a child is born. Unto us a son is given. The government will be upon his shoulder. His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, and Prince of Peace. Jesus is that promised son, that promised savior. He is the Prince of Peace. He's there. And Jesus says, If only you had known on this day.

That I'm here, the Prince of Peace, the promised Savior. But they could not see it. Now it's not that God was hiding it from them. They could not see it because they were not seeking God. They were not seeking God. We see throughout the Gospels that the Jewish people, the religious leaders, were passionate about religion, but they were not passionate about God.

They were passionate about their traditions and their rituals and keeping all of these laws, but they were not really passionate about knowing God. And so they missed it when the Messiah was there. They missed it. They did not know the things that would make for their peace. And Jesus says, if you had known, if only you had known, as he weeps, sorrowing, mourning for this city, because they did not know the peace that God had provided.

Jesus says, especially in this your day, not only, you know, I wish you had known the things which make for your peace all the other days, but especially today, Jesus says, this day is more significant than many of the other days. Because again, this is the day where he publicly, openly, clearly declares he is the promised Savior.

There's a prophecy from the prophet Daniel in Daniel chapter 9 verse 25. Where God tells Daniel about 77 year periods that are ordained for the nation of Israel. Now very smart men, much smarter than I have, have done the math and worked it out. So that at the beginning of this time period, which he said was the command to rebuild Jerusalem.

That command was given in March 14th, 445 BC. The king of Persia gave that command. And they've counted out the days, counted out the years, and worked it out to understand that the fulfillment of 69 of those seven year periods, 483 years, were completed on this day as Jesus died.

Rides in on a donkey presenting himself as the promised savior. There's that final seven year period. That happens later on. We call it the tribulation. But this is the completion to the day of that prophecy. That God gave through the prophet Daniel. It's the fulfillment of the prophecy of Zechariah. In Zechariah chapter 9 verse 9. He says especially on this day. This day is especially significant today.

Because of these prophecies being fulfilled, the word of God being fulfilled, declaring that Jesus is the Messiah. But they did not know the things that God had for them for their peace. Considering ourselves this morning, Jesus weeps when you do not know peace. Let me ask you, do you have peace this morning? I know you have a lot of things going on in your life.

Some very difficult, maybe some very exciting. But do you have peace? If on your chest you had a little piece-o-meter, what would it be indicating right now? Would you have peace? Do you have peace? Peace is found in knowing Jesus.

When Jesus was about to leave his disciples to go be crucified a little bit later on, in John chapter 14, he tells them, peace I leave with you. My peace I give to you, not as the world gives. He says, let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. Jesus gives his followers peace. Not like the world, it doesn't come and go. It's a different kind of peace that

He gives us peace because he's the prince of peace. He wants you to have peace. God wants you to have that idea of tranquility, stillness, rest between you and God, but also within yourself. He wants you to have peace. There's a bumper sticker that's been around for a long time. I'm sure you've seen it. It says, no Jesus, no peace.

If you know Jesus, then you know peace. But also, if you don't have Jesus, well, then you don't have peace. No Jesus, no peace. Or, you can know Jesus, and you will know peace. Now, without Jesus, there is no peace. You cannot have peace with God, apart from Jesus Christ. But also, you cannot have peace within, without Jesus.

Without Jesus, there's always going to be turmoil within. It's always going to be miserable. And you try to deal with that misery in different ways. But without Jesus, it will never be satisfied. There will never be peace. But if you know Jesus, that is you have a relationship with God by faith in Jesus Christ, then you can understand, you can experience real peace.

This morning I want to encourage you to know Jesus. Get to know Him. Pursue Him. Put Jesus first in your life. Seek Him. Know Him.

Like the Apostle Paul says in Philippians chapter 4, he says, Be anxious for nothing, but in everything, by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God, and then what will happen? He says, The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. You see, when we put Jesus first in our life,

We receive his offer of salvation, first of all, and we have peace with God. We're justified by faith. We have peace with God. Finally, between us and God, there's peace because of what Christ did for us upon the cross. He paid the penalty for our sin. And so we have peace with God. But for a lot of believers, there's still that turmoil within. God wants you to have peace. Are you anxious for anything? Paul says, be anxious for nothing.

No, have a relationship with God and present your request to God. And he will give you the peace that passes all understanding. Jesus weeps when you do not know peace. So make sure that you know Jesus. Because he is the prince of peace. Well, the second point we find in verse 43 and 44. And here we find that Jesus weeps when you are destroyed.

Jesus now is going to, in these verses, describe their lack of peace. Verse 43 says, Verse 44,

And they will not leave in you one stone upon another. Because you did not know the time of your visitation. Here Jesus goes on to describe the destruction that will happen when Rome comes against Jerusalem. This is fulfilled already in our history. We saw it take place in 70 AD. It's about 40 years after the life of Christ.

Rome comes against Jerusalem and does exactly what Jesus said they would. He says, your enemies will build an embankment around you. As Rome came against Jerusalem, this is what they did. They laid siege to the city of Jerusalem. And that means that they camped all around it. They fortified that position. They built an embankment all around it.

And basically, this was a common practice of the armies of that day. They would lay siege to a city, which means they would cut off all supply. So they would surround the city. They would let nobody in or out. So they had to survive off of whatever they had within the city already. Whatever food supply was there, whatever water supply was there, they had to survive off what they had. And so they would basically starve them out.

They would wait for them to be so hungry that they surrender or that they die of starvation. And that made for terrible, terrible conditions whenever a city was under siege. When Jerusalem was under siege, many people died of starvation. Many people died from their friends and relatives who attacked them because they had food.

I think Josephus, the Jewish historian, describes it pretty well. So I want to read to you a little passage from his writings about what took place. That you have a good picture of why Jesus is mourning here. The destruction that is going on. Josephus says, "...throughout the city, people were dying of hunger in large numbers and enduring unspeakable sufferings. In every house, the merest hint of food sparked violence."

And close relatives fell to blows, snatching from one another the pitiful supports of life. Geeping with hunger like mad dogs, lawless gangs went staggering and reeling through the streets, battering upon the doors like drunkards, and so bewildered that they broke into the same house two or three times in an hour. Need drove the starving to gnaw at anything.

Here Josephus describes a little bit of the famine conditions.

That were taking place in the city of Jerusalem when Rome laid siege to the city. Fulfilling what Jesus declared would take place. And as you can imagine, these were horrible conditions. He goes on later on to also talk about how people were eating their own children because of their great desperation. And so Jesus looks at the city. He says, if only you had known the things which make for your peace.

And he's mourning, he's weeping because he's seeing, he knows what is going to come. And the awful conditions that will be there, the terrible things that will take place because they did not recognize that Jesus was their Savior. He says, "...the destruction will be so complete, they will not leave in you one stone upon another."

The city is going to be demolished. The temple will be completely dismantled as Rome comes against Jerusalem. Now, please understand, this is not punishment. Jesus isn't saying, you guys didn't know me, so I'm going to beat you now. No, understand it this way. Jesus sees the destruction that is coming, and that's why he offers salvation.

That's why he's presenting himself as the king. Giving them this final opportunity to receive him as their savior. As their promised Messiah. Now in the same way as he overlooked the city of Jerusalem and wept over the destruction that was to come. Again, considering our own selves. Jesus weeps when you are destroyed. This is...

appropriate for us to consider because there are people it's not rare it's pretty common that people destroy their lives and bring upon themselves great destruction now god allows destruction but that doesn't mean he enjoys it or he's like you know looking for an opportunity to punish

God spoke through the prophet Ezekiel in Ezekiel chapter 18 and says, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked. I want the wicked to turn from their ways and live. That's what God desires. Of course, we know 2 Peter 3, 9, right? God is not willing that any should perish. God does not desire destruction for you. But instead, He offers salvation. He offers redemption.

He gives us commands. He calls things sin so that we have the opportunity to turn and not experience that destruction. He gives us warnings because He sees the destruction that is coming. If you're here today and you have not received Jesus Christ as your Savior, listen, there is a great destruction that's coming.

And that is why Jesus offered himself upon the cross to be the substitute, that he died in our place. So that you wouldn't have to experience the great destruction of hell that is coming for those apart from Jesus Christ, from those who have not believed in Jesus.

And so of course I would exhort you and encourage you today. You don't have to experience that destruction. Just like Jerusalem didn't have to experience that destruction. But they did because they did not know Jesus. In the same way you don't have to experience that destruction. But you have to know Jesus. He is the only way of salvation. But I also want to take a moment and speak to those of you who are believers. Including myself. Listen. Listen.

You've made a profession of faith. You've believed in Jesus. You come to church. You read your Bible. This is still a warning that's appropriate for us because we can still destroy our lives. And God speaks to us and warns us and calls us to give us opportunity to turn and not experience that destruction. We can really mess up our lives by ignoring God's call and His warnings.

I've experienced that personally. I've lived it. And I am so grateful that God is gracious and gives me multiple chances so that the destruction in my life was not final and permanent, but He gave me many opportunities to turn back. And He's been so faithful in His graciousness. But still, I brought destruction into my life. In a couple months, I'll be celebrating 10 years as pastor here at Living Water.

It's gone by fast. I've seen a lot. I've learned a lot. In those 10 years, I've seen people destroy their lives. People who knew Jesus. People who came to church. People who were involved and served. And people who were important parts of what God has been doing here. People, Christians, can destroy their lives. And as you watch this unfold, I mean, you see the hurt.

The overwhelming, incredible hurt that is inflicted upon the one who is ignoring what God is saying. But then also on everybody around that, there's unspeakable hurt. I mean, the description of Josephus for the city of Jerusalem, that was pretty gruesome. But there's even worse things that I wouldn't even know how to articulate. The hurt that is inflicted as people disregard God and bring great destruction.

To their lives. The hurt. The heartache. The misery. In this destruction. Listen again. I want to call you. I want to encourage you. Please. Don't miss out. On what God has for you. He sees the destruction that is ahead. And He's calling out to you. This morning. He's speaking to you. Don't miss out. On His protection. On His redemption. You don't have to experience that destruction.

That's why he offers salvation. That's why he gives commands and warnings and calls us to repentance. That's why he gives us direction in our lives. That's why he has you here this morning. Jesus weeps when you are destroyed. And when you and I disregard what God says, we bring destruction into our lives. That's a guarantee. The wages of sin is death.

Please don't miss out on what God has for you. Know the things that God has for you for your peace. Know Jesus Christ. Pursue Him with all of your heart. Make sure that He is first in your life. Well, the final point we find at the end of verse 44. And that is that Jesus weeps when you miss your last opportunity.

Jesus weeps when you miss your last, your final opportunity. Now, God is so gracious in that he often gives us multiple upon multiple opportunities. But there comes a point when an opportunity is the final opportunity, when it's the last chance. He's gracious and gives us many opportunities oftentimes.

But there comes a point where this is the last opportunity. There's no more opportunities after this. There in verse 44, he's talking about the destruction. He says, they're going to level you and your children within you to the ground. They will not leave in you one stone upon another because you did not know the time of your visitation. All of this destruction will come, Jesus says, for this one reason. You didn't recognize...

This day and its significance. You didn't recognize the time of your visitation where the promised Savior declares himself to be the one who can save you. The promised King. The promised Savior. On this day, the triumphal entry, Jesus presented himself as the Messiah. He fulfilled prophecies. But they missed the significance of this day.

This day was Israel's final opportunity to receive Jesus as their Savior. Now, I'm speaking as a nation. Individuals did receive Jesus, and they were, just a moment, a few moments ago, saying, blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord, and laying down their clothes and palm branches, and celebrating as Jesus rides in on a donkey. Individuals of the Jewish people

Can and do receive Jesus. But as a nation. The nation of Israel rejected Jesus as their savior. This was their final opportunity. To receive him as their Messiah. Jesus has been there in Israel. In his public ministry. He's been teaching. He's been working miracles. For the past three, three and a half years. There's been many opportunities for the nation.

Clear declarations by Jesus. Amazing miracles that proved that he is indeed the Messiah. The many prophecies that were fulfilled by the life of Jesus. They had many opportunities, but this one, this day, is their last opportunity. And they miss it.

The triumphal entry, as we studied that last week, I mean, it was a grand scene, right? Jesus is there on a donkey. There's clothes. There's palm trees. There's people shouting and celebrating, calling Jesus the Messiah. It's an incredible scene. It's a grand scene. But it's nothing like what it should have been. That was a few celebrating Jesus, receiving Jesus as their king. But the nation missed it.

The religious leaders who represented the nation missed it. They missed their last opportunity. And so Jesus weeps. He mourns because they didn't recognize how important this day was. And it was their last chance. Jesus weeps when you miss your last opportunity. Please don't miss out on what God has for you.

God has given you many opportunities. He's speaking to you. He's calling out to you. He's calling you to repentance. He's giving you direction. Opportunity after opportunity after opportunity. And here's what we think. We think, well, there will be more opportunities. And maybe there will. Because God is gracious. But maybe not. It's possible that

That as you sit here this morning, this is your last opportunity. It's possible that this is your last chance. Here's the problem. We really can't tell which one's which. We really can't tell if this is the last opportunity or if it's the first opportunity. We're not able to discern. Just like Israel didn't discern, didn't understand this was the last chance.

You and I, we can come to church week after week, ignoring what God is saying, ignoring God's call, thinking, well, there'll be an opportunity next week. We never think that this is our final opportunity. We always think we're going to have a little bit more time. But this morning, I want to challenge you to get right with God, to really pursue Him. This might be your last chance. Some opportunities are more important than others.

And you cannot tell the difference. You don't know which one's which. This might be your last opportunity. I want to give you a few examples from the scriptures to kind of help these things sink in a little bit. Again, overall saying, please don't miss out on what God has for you. Looking here at Luke chapter 19, we see that Israel missed out on Jesus.

Because they were not seeking God. They were passionate about religion. They were faithful at church. They were faithful reading and memorizing scriptures. They were faithful in all kinds of things. But they were not passionate about God. They were not seeking God. And so they missed out on their salvation. On their peace. On the blessings that God had in store for them. Please don't miss out on what God has for you.

By not seeking him. Is the Lord really first in your life? Is he the pursuit of your life? He calls us to deny ourselves and take up the cross and follow him. He requires that we put him first. That we really live our lives to know him. Do you know Jesus? Are you seeking him?

To know Jesus. And I don't just mean being religious. I mean you connecting with God by faith in Jesus Christ. That you have a real relationship with Him. That you don't just know about Him, but you know Him. He talks to you. He works in your life. He's speaking to you. He's leading you. He's guiding you. You're responding. There's this back and forth communication relationship with God. That's what He desires for you.

That's when you can really have peace. Because he is the prince of peace. But Israel missed out. Because they were not seeking God. Seek the Lord. Pursue him with all of your heart. We can go back further in Israel's history. To Numbers chapter 14. There Israel missed out on what God had for them. At a place called Kadesh Barnea.

And you're probably familiar with that place, Kadesh Barnea. That's where they were at the edge of the promised land. Moses had brought them out of Egypt. They went to Sinai. They got the law. They went to Kadesh Barnea. It's time for them to enter into the land that God had promised them. The land flowing with milk and honey. But they got to that point, the edge of it, and they said, Oh no, we're scared. There's giants in the land.

Remember they sent in the spies. The spies came back. Yeah, there's some big dudes in there. It's going to be a battle. And the people were so frightened. So fearful. They would not enter in. Even though God says, I'll be with you. Even though Joshua and Caleb, the two faithful witnesses say, yes, there's giants. But God's with us. We can do this. He's going to go before us. He's going to fight for us. But the people said, no. We are too scared. We are not going to enter in.

And so God spoke to them through Moses and said, okay, if you're not going to enter in, here's what's going to happen. You're going to go wander in the wilderness until every single one of you dies. Except for Joshua and Caleb because they were faithful. But the whole generation of people is going to die. And the next generation, I'll take you into the promised land. They missed out on what God had for them. Now God didn't just strike them down. They didn't lose their salvation.

But they missed out on the full blessings that God wanted for their lives. And so instead of living in the promised land, they lived and wandered in the wilderness, in the desert. Listen, learn from Israel's example. Please don't miss out on what God has for you. You and I, we experience the same thing. God brings us to the edge. And we know He's telling us to take the step. I better watch out, I'm going to fall. He's telling us to take the step. And we're fearful. It's hard.

But listen, if you don't go forward, as God speaks to your heart, if you don't go forward, you will miss out on what God has for you. And this might be your final chance. Because many times we get to the edge. It's like, oh, we're wrestling with should I go, should I not go? It's a step of faith. It's hard. And God gives us many opportunities. But this might be your last opportunity to take that step and go forward and obey God and experience the fullness of what He has for you.

This might be your last chance. At Kadesh Barnea, Israel said, no, we're not going to go in. So Moses said, all right, you're going to die in the wilderness. Your children are going to go in. And they realized, oh no, we've messed up. They say, we've sinned. Okay, we change our minds. We're going in now. They pick up their swords, their sticks. They're getting ready for battle. Moses says, don't go. God's not with you. You missed your last opportunity.

This was it. This was your last chance. You missed it. You said no. They said no. We're going to go in. And so they tried to go to battle. They tried to invade the promised land. And they're defeated by the enemies. You see there's a point where it's possible. God says that was your last chance. Now God is so gracious. He gives us multiple chances. But you can't count on that. You shouldn't say well there will be another opportunity to be faithful to God. You need to consider that this opportunity.

Right now, as you're sitting here, this might be your last chance for whatever step of faith that God's been speaking to your heart. He wants to take you into a promised land. He wants to do a work. There's going to be battles, but he's going to be with you. But it might be your last chance to experience that life that God has for you. Now again, I'm not saying you lose your salvation, but you'll just be wandering in the wilderness. You're going to miss out. Please don't miss out on what God has for you.

Take steps of obedience as he gives you instruction, as he speaks to your heart. Obey him and go forward to experience all that he has for you. Another example that we could consider is the example of Samson in Judges chapter 16. We see Samson missed out on what God had for him. He missed out because he was playing around with sin.

You know, he was supposed to be what's called a Nazarite. He had this special vow from his birth that he would not be involved in anything from the vine, no wine or alcohol or grapes. That was part of the vow. Part of the vow was that he would not be in contact with anything that was dead. Part of the vow was that no razor would touch his head. And God, as a part of this, gave him great strength to deliver the nation of Israel.

But Samson was kind of playing around with sin. He was dabbling, testing the boundaries, testing the borders. He broke his Nazarite vow in several ways. He touched a dead lion to bring honey from within that dead lion. The bees had set up a nest there. And so he brings forth honey from this dead lion. We also see him hanging out in the vineyards.

breaking his Nazarite vow, violating. He's kind of testing the boundaries. All right, can I do this and still have strength from the Lord? Yeah, yeah, I think it's still working. It still seems to be okay. I still got strength. All right, well, let me test this side. Let me go over here. Okay, can I still defeat the enemies? Do I still have strength from God? And so we find him in chapter 16 with a woman named Delilah. Now, all throughout his life, he's with this woman, he's with that woman, he's with Philistine ladies.

All through his life, he's where he's not supposed to be. Now Delilah is saying, hey, how can you have this great strength? How can you be made weak like normal people? And Samson's just kind of dabbling. He's just kind of playing around. He tells her, oh, try this. And so she tries it and it doesn't work. He's like, oh, I still got my strength. She's like, oh, you don't love me. He says, okay, well, try this. And this goes back and forth a few times. That didn't work. Try that. Try this. Try that.

Finally, he breaks down. He says, no razor has ever touched my head. So he falls asleep. She shaves his head. She wakes him up. Samson, the Philistines are upon you. Now he's weak. He missed his last chance. Think about how many chances, how many opportunities to turn and get right with God he had. Opportunities after the lion, after the vineyards. He had multiple opportunities with Delilah. His last chance to repent was before the haircut. That was his last chance.

Now his strength is gone. His life will not be the same. Because it's not that he was in all out rebellion against God. He was living in compromise. Dabbling in sin. Dabbling in things that were not of God. Trying this, trying that. Please, don't miss out on what God has for you. Don't follow the example of Samson. Playing around with sin. Playing around with compromise.

don't put up with sin in your life and think, well, hey, seems to be okay. I still got some strength. I still go to church. Everything seems to be going good. I mean, there's no lightning strikes. I guess God's okay with this in my life. No, this is one of those many opportunities that you have. God's calling you and saying, no, you know that's wrong. You know that's not what I have for you. Turn from sin. Get rid of that. Repent. This might be your last opportunity. You might go out from here, get a haircut,

And then boom, your life is never the same again. Because this was your last chance. God saying, I have great things in store for you. You have an incredible potential. But you will never reach that potential if you do not repent. Please don't miss out on what God has for you. One final example. And that is the example of Saul, the king of Israel. He was the first king of Israel. God called him, anointed him king.

But Saul missed out because he was not fully obedient. He missed out because, well, he was unfaithful in his obedience. Now, Saul messed up quite a few times. Very early in his reign, he had problems. You remember he offered the sacrifice that was not lawful for him to do. He couldn't wait for Samuel. He's like, I got to do something. So he just starts to do the work of the priest. Not what you're supposed to do, Saul. Not a good idea.

Remember he made the foolish vow. 1 Samuel chapter 14. Nobody is going to eat until I have my vengeance on the Philistines. Jonathan didn't know about it. He ate a little bit of the honey. There was problems early on in Saul's reign. But in 1 Samuel chapter 15. Saul had his last chance. To be the king that God called him to be. It was when God sent him to deal with the Amalekites. These people had come against Israel when they were in the wilderness.

They were incredibly sinful. And so God had to deal with them. He wanted to use Israel to address their sinful condition. And so he sends out Saul with the instruction, destroy the Amalekites. Don't keep anything. Don't keep the animals. Destroy them all. But Saul didn't. In verse 9 it tells us, he kept King Agag alive and they kept the best of the flocks and the herds, the best animals for themselves.

Now, it tells us of his unfaithfulness in verse 9. And then in verse 10, the word of the Lord came to Samuel saying, I greatly regret that I have set up Saul as king. For he has turned back from following me and has not performed my commandments. It was at that point God says, that was the last straw. That was the final opportunity. If he would have been obedient at that point, God would have had more things in store for him.

But it was at that point, the kingdom was taken from Saul. Because he was not fully obedient to God. Please, don't miss out on what God has for you. Whether it be an issue of a step of faith that's in your life that you're facing right now. Whether it be an issue of obedience where it's just a simple command. The scripture says it. Here's what you're to do. And you're wrestling with it. I don't know.

Maybe it's a little bit of sin that you're kind of dabbling with. You're like, you know, it doesn't seem to be harming that much. I mean, it seems like everything's okay. Don't miss out on what God has for you. You cannot tell if this is your final opportunity. You don't know. And you can miss out if you are not seeking God passionately. If He's not first in your life, you can miss out. This might be your last chance to correct that.

You can miss out if you're involved in sin and practicing sin. This might be your last chance to repent and correct that before the destruction from sin comes. You can miss out if you are not being obedient, going forward, taking steps of faith as God is speaking to your heart. And this might be your last chance to correct it. You might go to be with the Lord.

Or you might experience a life full of destruction, wandering in the wilderness. You don't know if this is your last opportunity. We read this week as we're going through the Bible in three years in Matthew chapter 25, the parable of the ten virgins. The five who were ready, the five who were not ready. Jesus makes the point in verse 13. He says, watch therefore you don't know the hour of the Lord's return. This might be your last chance before the rapture.

This might be the last chance for the life that God wants to give you. Watch. Be ready. Repent. Seek God. If you hear His voice today, don't harden your heart like Israel did in the wilderness. Respond and do what God is speaking to you. Let's pray. Lord, I pray for all of us here. I pray that you would help us, God, to respond as you speak to our hearts. Whether it be for salvation, for repentance,

For obedience, our steps of faith, Lord, help us to respond as you speak, to be faithful to you. Lord, you've been so gracious in giving multiple upon multiple opportunities to us. And maybe you have some more in store for us, or maybe not. But Lord, help us not to play that game. Instead, help us to be serious about what you are saying and to respond today.

Lord, to surrender to you, to pursue you, to turn from sin, to go forward, that we might experience the fullness of what you have for us. Jesus, I don't want to make you weep by missing out on what you have in store for me. Help me, Lord, to be faithful as you speak to my heart, as you give me instruction. Help me to be faithful, to go forward as you direct. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

We pray you have been blessed by this Bible teaching. The power of God to change a life is found in the daily reading of His Word. Visit ferventword.com to find more teachings and Bible study resources.