Judg 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. 
    	As we continue our reading of the Book of Judges, we are given the account of the means by which the Lord was ruling and overruling in the time of the judgment of the Children of Israel. This was because of their lack of following through with all His Holy and Righteous and Sovereign commandments for their benefit. 
The whole book contains numerous accounts of how the Lord would raise up a judge within the various tribes of that nation for the honor of God’s name. As we will see, the Spirit of the Lord would manifestly shine forth through each judge in order to manifest God’s grace and mercy and salvation upon these, His people. 
	Please turn in your Bibles to Judg 3:8-11, as we will once again consider one of the earlier judges who was raised up by the Lord. This was in order for God to establish the reminder within the hearts of the people as to Who He was and is and What He had done and would continue to do for them. 
In the course of God’s work in His people, The Lord often used the neighboring nations to cause the hearts of His people to return to Him once more. The Israelites had turned away from Him in sin and idolatry playing the harlot with the gods of the other nations. Therefore God brought forth His consequential and righteous judgment through the oppression of the king of Mesopotamia. He was given rule over them for a prescribed number of years. This would last until the people would remember the Lord God Almighty and call out to Him. That is when the Spirit of the Lord then came upon Othniel with all the power to provide deliverance from this oppressor.  
Judg 3:8-11, Then the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, so that He sold them into the hands of Cushan-rishathaim king of Mesopotamia; and the sons of Israel served Cushan-rishathaim eight years. And when the sons of Israel cried to the Lord, the Lord raised up a deliverer for the sons of Israel to deliver them, Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb's younger brother. And the Spirit of the Lord came upon him, and he judged Israel. When he went out to war, the Lord gave Cushan-rishathaim king of Mesopotamia into his hand, so that he prevailed over Cushan-rishathaim. Then the land had rest forty years. And Othniel the son of Kenaz died. 
    	Notice that the Spirit of the Lord was actively providing what was needed through Othniel, the nephew of Caleb. There was peace upon the land as Othniel provided the conduit from God to His people for their day to day operation within the land. The inherent object of this was that the people again turned to God and called out to Him for their deliverance. 
It may be judged, using the vernacular of this Book, that the people had put away their harlotries and their idolatrous heart for this period of time. That would be indicative of the reality that there was rest in the land. That rest could not have been there if the majority of the people were still serving the Baals of the surrounding nations. 
We could also infer that Othniel would not tolerate such behavior as he was the servant of the Lord, looking after the Lord’s interests within this people. He is not given as much detailed description, as we had with Moses and with Joshua, but, being the nephew of one of the faithful spies who served the Lord, it could be presumed that his heart was after the Lord. That is why the Spirit of the Lord came upon him and made him the deliverer for that period of time. There had to be some activity within him that precipitated such a call from God that Othniel answered, even against all the odds of the king of Mesopotamia who had enslaved this people for those eight years.
	The next judge that we will revisit is Gideon. Please refer to Judg 6:34+35, as we see that the Spirit of the Lord came upon him to cause Gideon to raise up an army to fight the Midianites. 
	Here, once more, the people had turned away from God and had returned to practicing the evil and despicable actions of the Canaanite nations. They were rampant in their adultery to the point of causing the Lord to bring upon them the slavery to the Midianite hoards who raided and destroyed all the works of their hands, in crops and herds and flocks. Therefore they once more cried out to the Lord for deliverance and God called Gideon into action to stir up the forces that would destroy the vast and countless numbers of those Midianite oppressors.
	Judg 6:34+35, So the Spirit of the Lord came upon Gideon; and he blew a trumpet, and the Abiezrites were called together to follow him. And he sent messengers throughout Manasseh, and they also were called together to follow him; and he sent messengers to Asher, Zebulun, and Naphtali, and they came up to meet them. 
	We are well familiar with the account of how the Lord reduced the number of the army of Gideon to just 300 men. This was in order to show that it was the Power of God that would defeat the Midianites, not the power of the hand of any mortal man. The destruction of those who had so plundered and pillaged the people of God was fully in place because of the work of God, Alone. This was evidenced in the Spirit of the Lord working through Gideon. There was no denial that the deliverance was directly from the Hand of the Lord God Jehovah. Therefore, once again, the people turned back to God for a season.
	The next judge upon whom the Spirit of the Lord became very evident for our consideration is Samson, with whom we started this morning. Please turn to Judg 14:5+6, where we have the account of Samson as he was attacked by a lion. It was the Spirit of the Lord Who was his deliverer in this explanation of how a man could kill a lion with no weapon but his bare hands. This is but one time that the Bible details that the Spirit of the Lord came upon Samson, His wonders to perform. The Lord used this impudent and impatient and rash and angry individual to destroy countless numbers of Philistine oppressors of the Lord’s people. 
Judg 14:5+6, 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. And the Spirit of the Lord came upon him mightily, so that he tore him as one tears a kid though he had nothing in his hand; but he did not tell his father or mother what he had done.
Again, it is vital to see that the credit for it all needs to be centered in the Lord and not in the power of the man. To consider Samson, one must see all the flaws and the faults and the behavior and the attitude of one whose opinion of himself is completely set in opposition to what we would consider to be a Moses or a Joshua or a Caleb. There is cockiness about him, a conceited opinion of who he is in the whole scheme of the history of his people. He toys with his victims and enemies. He baits them and he deals with them in manners that are rather shocking to us. 
Yet, there was a heart that wanted to serve the Lord as will be evidenced in our continued reading about his exploits. It had to be the Lord Who gave him the power to deal with all the numbers of oppressors and enemies that were arrayed against him. As long as he kept himself in the customary behavior and dedication of a Nazarene, Samson was empowered by the Lord to deal such severe and fatal blows to the Philistines. 
It was when he set his heart on his own desires and lusts that he became the same as the other people of Israel. His eyes were focused on the things of this age rather than the glory of God. Yet, his heart harbored that place into which the Lord would instill the power, the awesome power for the deliverance of the people from the overwhelming strength of their tormenters. 
Another who had that heart after the Lord is the Psalmist. There are psalm after psalm recorded in the Bible which declare that the Lord is to be desired above all else. These are scriptures, as with the totality of the Bible, which are inspired by the Holy Spirit being upon the writers of all the Books. They are God’s divinely inspired Word to us to instruct us in the way in which we are to be a testimony of Who God is in all His Omniscience and Omnipotence and Omnipresence. 
All of these attributes of God are fully invested into God’s blessing upon those who call out to Him and who will respond to His guidance and His Sovereignty. That was the case with each of the judges. Some maybe to a greater extent than others, but in every one of them there was always a response to the Spirit of the Lord. The Psalmist outlines this heart which is necessary in all who are so called by God, as in Ps 51:1-13.
 Ps 51:1-13, Be gracious to me, O God, according to Thy lovingkindness; According to the greatness of Thy compassion blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, And cleanse me from my sin. For I know my transgressions, And my sin is ever before me. Against Thee, Thee only, I have sinned, And done what is evil in Thy sight, So that Thou art justified when Thou dost speak, And blameless when Thou dost judge. Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, And in sin my mother conceived me. Behold, Thou dost desire truth in the innermost being, And in the hidden part Thou wilt make me know wisdom. Purify me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Make me to hear joy and gladness, Let the bones which Thou hast broken rejoice. Hide Thy face from my sins, And blot out all my iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God, And renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me away from Thy presence, And do not take Thy Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of Thy salvation, And sustain me with a willing spirit. Then I will teach transgressors Thy ways, And sinners will be converted to Thee. 
	This is the heart that responds to the Spirit of the Lord as He comes upon us and works His glorious eternal ministry within our beings. We are made completely new in Christ Jesus through this wondrous and awesome work of the Lord God Almighty by the majesty of His Hand in operation in our lives.
	The Prophet Zechariah summarizes this for us in Zech 4:2-6. It is as the Spirit of the Lord shows forth the majesty and the splendor of Who God is and what needs to be changed from within our lives, that we can attest fully to this so great love of God.
	Zech 4:2-6, And he said to me, "What do you see?" And I said, "I see, and behold, a lampstand all of gold with its bowl on the top of it, and its seven lamps on it with seven spouts belonging to each of the lamps which are on the top of it; also two olive trees by it, one on the right side of the bowl and the other on its left side." Then I answered and said to the angel who was speaking with me saying, "What are these, my lord?" So the angel who was speaking with me answered and said to me, "Do you not know what these are?" And I said, "No, my lord." Then he answered and said to me, "This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel saying, 'Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,' says the Lord of hosts. 
	This Omnipotent and Omniscient Omnipresence of the Lord in us is for the Life of Jesus Christ to be seen by all those who are in our sphere of influence. It is manifested for the sake of the glory of God and not of mankind in any measure. Therefore, as we are so indwelled by the Holy Spirit, we need to recognize that we are involved in something far beyond any human power or ability. As it was shown to the Prophet, the course of the walk of those who are redeemed must be by the power and the presence and the wisdom of God, Alone. 'Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,' says the Lord of hosts.
	The absolute necessity of coming into this reality is highlighted by the Apostle Paul in so many of his letters. It is brought directly into the course of this morning’s discussion in 2 Cor 10:3-7, where the true measure of the need for the Holy Spirit as the Guide of the course of our walk on this earth is brought forth in unfailing clarity.
	2 Cor 10:3-7, For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh, for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ, and we are ready to punish all disobedience, whenever your obedience is complete. You are looking at things as they are outwardly. If anyone is confident in himself that he is Christ's, let him consider this again within himself, that just as he is Christ's, so also are we. 
	Our sojourn on this earth is to be the fully operational testimony that we are being led by the Holy Spirit. As He moves us, we proceed in complete obedience and under His Omniscient and Omnipotent direction in this spiritual warfare. This will be against all those forces that would try to besmirch and hinder the spread of the Good News of the Victory of Jesus Christ over all sin and death.
	The Writer to the Hebrews brings this to the forefront in terms of calling to mind many of those men and women of God upon whom the Spirit of the Lord came with all His power and might to deliver those who were in such need of relief and freedom and rest and peace and salvation. Please open to Heb 11:32 and we will read through to Chapter 12, verse 2.
	Heb 11:32-12:2, And what more shall I say? For time will fail me if I tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets, who by faith conquered kingdoms, performed acts of righteousness, obtained promises, shut the mouths of lions, quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, from weakness were made strong, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight. Women received back their dead by resurrection; and others were tortured, not accepting their release, in order that they might obtain a better resurrection; and others experienced mockings and scourgings, yes, also chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were tempted, they were put to death with the sword; they went about in sheepskins, in goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, ill-treated (men of whom the world was not worthy), wandering in deserts and mountains and caves and holes in the ground. And all these, having gained approval through their faith, did not receive what was promised, because God had provided something better for us, so that apart from us they should not be made perfect. Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance, and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
	We are fully encouraged to go on in Christ, through the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit in order to bring the full length and breadth and height of all glory and majesty unto God, Alone! This is all the earthly manifestation of the Sovereignty and the Splendor that is brought forth when we trust and obey the Holy Spirit’s guidance and operation within our lives! Our minds and our hearts and our souls are His to command with full obeisance and fealty unto Him for His glory, Alone! So be it! 
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. Amen. 

	This morning’s benediction is Prov 22:19. So that your trust may be in the Lord, I have taught you today, even you. Amen.