GAMING CAN BE DEADLY
Children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord.
The Lord delivered them into the hands of the Philistines.
The Lord appeared to Manoah and his wife and announced that they would have a son.
Judges 13:24
24 And the woman bare a son, and called his name Samson: and the child grew, and the LORD blessed him.
25 And the Spirit of the LORD began to move him at times in the camp of Dan between Zorah and Eshtaol.
14:1 And Samson went down to Timnath, and saw a woman in Timnath of the daughters of the Philistines.
2 And he came up, and told his father and his mother, and said, I have seen a woman in Timnath of the daughters of the Philistines: now therefore get her for me to wife.
3 Then his father and his mother said unto him, Is there never a woman among the daughters of thy brethren, or among all my people, that thou goest to take a wife of the uncircumcised Philistines? And Samson said unto his father, Get her for me; for she pleaseth me well.
4 But his father and his mother knew not that it was of the LORD, that he sought an occasion against the Philistines: for at that time the Philistines had dominion over Israel.
5 Then went Samson down, and his father and his mother, to Timnath, and came to the vineyards of Timnath: and, behold, a young lion roared against him.
6 And the Spirit of the LORD came mightily upon him, and he rent him as he would have rent a kid, and he had nothing in his hand: but he told not his father or his mother what he had done.
In this chapter and in 15, because of a stupid game and bad decisions, Samson lost his wife and father-in-law. They were murdered by the Philistines.
In chapter 16 Samson messes around with a harlot for a while, then later falls in love with Delilah.
We find him still playing games but this time it’s with Delilah about his strength.
1. Bind me with green withs.
2. Bind me with new ropes.
3. Weave the seven locks my hair.
4. He gives in and tells her the truth about his hair, that no razor has ever came to his hair.
16:19 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 she began to afflict him, and his strength went from him.
20 And she said, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And he awoke out of his sleep, and said, I will go out as at other times before, and shake myself. And he wist not that the LORD was departed from him.
21 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.
They brought him to the coliseum to make sport of him.
16:28 And Samson called unto the LORD, and said, O Lord GOD, remember me, I pray thee, and strengthen me, I pray thee, only this once, O God, that I may be at once avenged of the Philistines for my two eyes.
29 And Samson took hold of the two middle pillars upon which the house stood, and on which it was borne up, of the one with his right hand, and of the other with his left.
30 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 therein. So the dead which he slew at his death were more than they which he slew in his life.
There is a lot that could be said about Samson.
He was a special ordered by the Lord. (Angel announcing his birth. God had a special work for him to do.)
He was strong.
He was a warrior and a deliverer.
He was crafty in the way he dealt with the Philistines.
Judg 13:5-6
5 For, lo, thou shalt conceive, and bear a son; and no razor shall come on his head: for the child shall be a Nazarite unto God from the womb: and he shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines.
I wonder if he was able to accomplish all that God wanted him to? I don’t think so.
You can’t be effective and powerful with rebellion and moral failure in your life.
But he was also rebellious, a fornicator, and very prideful.
We could preach about all his sins
But his worst sin was that he took the power of God, working in his life for granted. "I’ll go out and shake myself." He neglected to nurture it and he lost it without even knowing it. Inexcusable!!!
Three times the Bible says that the Spirit of the Lord came up on him. Used of God, died as a result of sin.
This story is so illustrative of many Christian’s today.
Once filled with power, zeal, focus, and passion but today are living an ineffective and powerless Christian life.
These two words are not synonymous with the word Christian but there are many Christians today walking around powerless and ineffective who at one time in their Christian experience demonstrated power and effectiveness because they paid the price for it.
A close look at the early Church shows that something is missing in most Christian’s lives today.
And that is the supernatural power of God working in their lives.
Christians used to hunger for God, walk and talk with authority, keep the devil in his place, walk in victory, heal the sick, live an overcoming life.
But my have things changed in these last days.
Many so called Christians, do not fight spiritual battles today, they manage them. They wouldn’t admit it but they make deals with the devil. Not face to face, but they compromise, make no commitments, offer no loyalty to the church, pastor or ministry. They minimize their struggle with the flesh by giving in to it.
They stand and testify by the yard, live by the inch and ought to be kicked by the foot. Powerless!!! Ineffective wannabes.
If you want to possess power with God you will pay a price for it. By that, I mean that it is going to take prayer and a lot of it. It’s going to take faithfulness in every area of the Christian life.
The most disturbing thing today that I see, is people coming to Christ, in desperation seeking God for salvation, deliverance, and the baptism in the Holy Ghost and then after a while loose the hunger for God.
I mean, church involvement is still very important but intimacy with Christ is gradually diminishing and it’s evidenced by our absence at the altars.
There are no lengths that we would not go to too survive as human beings but we will limit our efforts to survive as Christians. You and I need the Holy Ghost to make it in these last days. Period!!
Rev 3:16
We get lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot,
17 say, we’ve got enough, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing;
So the hunger goes. We loose the awe and the wonder of it all. The expressions of gratefulness is not there like it used to be.
Where we used to stain the altars with tears, we now laugh and cut up between pews.
...and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:
We refer those in desperate need to someone else for prayer because we know that we don’t possess the power to help them.
We are willing to try anything rather than admit a spiritual lack!!!
We are apt to lose the things we become careless about!!!
Judges 13:24-25
And the woman bare a son, and called his name Samson: and the child grew, and the LORD blessed him.
25 And the Spirit of the LORD began to move him at times in the camp of Dan between Zorah and Eshtaol.
Judges 16:19-20
[But Delilah] 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 she began to afflict him, and his strength went from him.
How much sin does it take to rob you of your relationship, power, and effectiveness with God?
I’m afraid that that question might could be answered here this evening.
20 And she said, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And he awoke out of his sleep, and said, I will go out as at other times before, and shake myself. And he wist not that the LORD was departed from him.
Then she said, "The Philistines are on you, Samson!" He woke up, thinking, "I’ll go out, like always, and shake free." He didn’t realize that GOD had abandoned him.
21 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.
Perfect illustration of the Christian who has lost God’s power through carelessness.
The Holy Spirit is here to restore power to your life if you will obey Him.
What do I do?
You First Have To Admit You Have Carelessly Lost It!
2 Cor 13:5
Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?
Self examination is a step in the right direction! (Personal spiritual self-analysis)
You repent and do your first works over.
Resume your former zeal and diligence; watch, fast, pray, reprove sin, carefully obey the commandments of God, walk with a pure heart in his sight, and do not rest until you have recovered all your lost ground, and you have the witness of the Spirit that you are back on track with your Maker.
Seek Him until He completely possesses you again.
