The Destructive Wake of Sin
Judges 13:1-7
Today I want to deal with a very serious subject… The destructive Wake of Sin.
Not what I had planned… God often moves in ways different than I have planned.
Today we will be looking at negative example… Samson.
Today I will plan to do something I only plan to do once a year…
deliver half a message
just the negative
Usually do that on Palm Sunday so I can offer the good news on Easter
Today we are going to see half the message in the life of Samson
Next week we will get the good stuff
Samson has much to teach us about the destructive nature of Sin
both on the guilty person
and on others
Lessons:
1. THE BLESSING OF A GOODLY START
Every racer… whether they race on foot, or in NASCAR… knows the importance of a good start.
If you get a bad start you may never be able to overcome it.
If you get a good start it may be the difference between victory and defeat.
Racers will tell you there are few blessings better than a good start.
I know one… A GODLY START !
There are few blessings in this world that are greater than being raised in a Christian home, by Christian parents, taken to a Christian church and taught the Christian truths.
Samson was the beneficiary of such a blessing.
Judges 13 the angel of the Lord, [God in disguise] came to a woman and told her she had been chosen by God to give birth to a special son who was to be a NAZARITE.
You can tell that they were godly persons because of the choice.
You can see it in their prayer life.
You can see it in their desire to do things just right.
Having Christian parents does not guarantee that a child will turn out right… or that they will not at least get off the right road for a while.
But having godly parents, who are godly examples, and actively take their children to Christian church, and teach the Christian disciplines, and expose them to godly people and protect them from un-godly things and people
Makes that child is about 50 times more likely to become a Christian.
I know there are the horror stories of godly parents who have little demons
But THOSE ARE THE EXCEPTIONS....
A godly home gives the child a HUGE HEAD START.
Samson had that head start.
2. THE DESTRUCTION OF BAD CHOICES
Life is all about choices.
What you get in life, what you become, who you marry, is very much a product of choices.
Let me illustrate..
Life is all about choices… every time you make one choice you slam the door on other choices.
Look at the screen… explain
Bad choices limit you and your choices. They can lead to disaster.
Godless choices are even more disastrous.
The 13th chapter was such a tremendous story of godliness, of seeking God and God’s will, of surrender and of obedience.
But that was Samson’s parent’s story.
The 14th chapter begins Samson’s story.
It begins with four tragic words... "Then Samson went down,.."
THEN denotes the passing of time... as Samson grew.... when he was older… no longer a minor, no longer UNDER his parents control and influence
Samson is a man now… making his own choices.
WENT denotes intentional action.
Samson did not accidentally fall into sin or accidently become godless
it was BY CHOICE
it was BY REPEATED DISOBEDIENCE
DOWN denotes a
away from the godliness of his parents,
away from the path God had designed for him,
a plunging into a habit of sin, not one slip up.
DOWN is always the direction of nature.... nature always runs downhill as surely as does the anatomy of a man over 50.
DOWN means that Samson was following his fallen nature, the way of the world, and the temptation of the enemy.
The first three verses of chapter 14 give us some clue to Samson’s decline and how he got here.
a. He cared nothing for the rules
He knew that he was not to fraternize with the enemy, the Philistines, but he went there and rubbed elbows with the enemy.
After enough time with them he ceased the see them as the enemy and they became his friends. DESENSITISATION
He knew that he was not to marry a non-believer, but he did not care
after you break one rule, it gets easier and easier.
he had started breaking the rules and it snowballed.
b. He ceased to value the things of God.
He said, "I saw a woman in Timnah... and she looks good to me.
All that mattered to him now was the object to be grasped, the thing to be had, the object of his desire.
He no longer saw God
Never mind God’s desire never mind his parent’s desire
Distant from God… he decided to get closer to the world
The world, his desires, became his new god
3. THE CONTAGEOUS NATURE OF SIN
Many people want to say, "What difference does it make if I want to live my life the way I choose. It only affects me."
In verse 5 we read, "Then Samson went down WITH HIS MOTHER AND FATHER."
Not only is he guilty, in verse 1, but now he has dragged his parents down with him.
I know it was their choice and they will answer for it but the lesson is that He has dragged them into his sin.
He dragged them down into WILLFUL sin and UN-WILLFUL sin.
They knew it was sin to choose for him a wife from the heathen... they willfully sinned here.
Samson killed a lion... sin / touched dead thing... this was his personal sin
But went back and took honey... giving it to them this was unwillful sin for them
We are often guilty of the same thing...
we drag others down with us we drag them into our sin
sometimes they know it is sin and they choose to do it anyway sometimes they do not know it is sin because they are just following your example
They hear a dirty joke from us and they retell it
they see us go there and they go too
they know we watch it and they watch it too
Example: I was in a store and listening to a member of my church, no knowing I was listening. He was saying, It is the best movie I’ve ever seen.” Well, I rented it. IN the first 5 minutes they had ravaged each other three times in the elevator and in the kitchen. It was evil.
I wonder how often do we lend our recommendation to evil things because others see us do them.
Verse 10 is sad… because it shows the downward path of his father
"Then his father went down to the woman."
Before his sin was linked with following Samson.
Now he is acting alone...
And look at the sad state of Samson’s heart.
His father, a godly man, a God pleasing man, has entered into sin by following his example, and now his father has slipped farther into sin by sinning of his own volition...
And what is Samson’s response?
Is his heart broken to see what his sin has caused?
Is he repentant?
Does he go to his father and lead him back?
No HE THROWS A FEAST.
He is so happy that he finally has the thing he desired, that he cares nothing for the price that was paid.
4. The Destructive Wake of Sin
By chapter 16, Samson has blasted through from a godly beginning to a destructive lifestyle and in his wake he has left death...
physical the lion, the crops, 30 men he killed for their clothes, 1000 men he killed at one time,
and spiritual the lives of his parents.
Death is the result of sin... we always leave death in the wake of our sin.
What is in your wake??????
