The High Cost of Living Low
Some are born to privilege, w/ many advantages, and can't seem to succeed, and then others are the opposite, born to nothing, and rise above it all to great success. Samson was an example of the former.
He was born at a special time in Israel's history. 7 times this nation had rebelled into apostasy. This time it is the Philistines which God used to punish and oppress Israel for 40 years. They were their worst enemy.
Samson means "sunshine." And in the darkest days of his nation's history, sunshine came into the world.
He was a Nazarite, which means different, separated, or set aside.
There were three elements to this vow.
1. He was to have no wine or fruit of the vine.
2. He couldn't come near or touch a dead body, whether animal or human.
3. And he couldn't cut his hair.
Well, Samson had been given great strength of the Lord. On one occasion he slew 1,000 Philistines w/ just the jawbone of a donkey. On another, he lifted the gates of the city up a hill on his shoulders. Then there was the time he was confronted by a wild lion, and destroyed it w/ his bare hands.
What did he look like? Like Schwarzenegger? No. Probably just average. How do we know? Because Delilah asked him the secret of his strength. It wasn't obvious...It was a supernatural strength.
14:5-6, 15:14-15 In each case the 'Spirit of the Lord came upon him'. Samson’s power was not his own, but the Lord’s to use as HE saw fit!!!
He was not only strong in body, but in mind and spirit. He was sharp witted. He loved riddles and had a great sense of humor. No wonder his name was sunshine...he was a bundle of potential. And yet this is not a happy story, it is a tragedy. He went from hero to zero, from victor to victim. Disobedience, defeat, disgrace, and destruction were his describers.
He was bold before men, but weak before women. He had the Spirit of God upon him, but lived for the appetites of the flesh. He was called upon to declare war upon the enemies of God, but many times we find him fraternizing w/ the enemies of God. He fought the Lord's battles by day, and broke the Lord's commandments by night.
Sunshine was his name, which speaks of light, yet he ended his life in darkness having had his eyes poked out. At times he soared to incredible heights, but also sunk to incredible depths.
If you had told Samson at the beginning of his life what he would do in the end, he would not have thought himself capable of going that far. Most of us do things throughout our lives that we never thought we could see ourselves doing!!! All it takes is a turning away…a dabbling with sin…a giving in to the temptation.
This reminds us that there are 3 people in your seat right now.
The person you are now, the one you could be for God, and the one you could be for the devil.
Was Samson saved. Yes! Heb. 11 mentions him as a hero of the faith. So, even Samson didn't lose his salvation. This is where opponents of eternal security say, "So, you are teaching that you can be saved and then do anything you want?" Pretty much, but you can't choose the consequences. Samson paid a high price for his low living.
How did Samson sink so low…how did he go from Champion to Laughingstock? From Victor to Victim ? By doing 4 things…
1. Samson dishonored his parents.
Judges 14:1 - 3 (NKJV) 1Now Samson went down to Timnah, and saw a woman in Timnah of the daughters of the Philistines. 2So he went up and told his father and mother, saying, “I have seen a woman in Timnah of the daughters of the Philistines; now therefore, get her for me as a wife.” 3Then his father and mother said to him, “Is there no woman among the daughters of your brethren, or among all my people, that you must go and get a wife from the uncircumcised Philistines?” And Samson said to his father, “Get her for me, for she pleases me well.”
The first step in his downward journey. He had godly parents who pleaded with him to do right and avoid the unequal yoke of 2 Cor. 6.
ill.--a 3 fold cord is not easily broken [husband/wife/God]. But when God isn't holding the other 2 together, it is very easy for them to come untwined.
Exodus 20:12 (NKJV) 12 “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the LORD your God is giving you.
Samson thumbed his nose at his parents, and died young!
2. Samson deserted his promise.
Judges 14:5 - 9 (NKJV) 5So Samson went down to Timnah with his father and mother, and came to the vineyards of Timnah. Now to his surprise, a young lion came roaring against him. 6And the Spirit of the LORD came mightily upon him, and he tore the lion apart as one would have torn apart a young goat, though he had nothing in his hand. But he did not tell his father or his mother what he had done. 7Then he went down and talked with the woman; and she pleased Samson well. 8After some time, when he returned to get her, he turned aside to see the carcass of the lion. And behold, a swarm of bees and honey were in the carcass of the lion. 9He took some of it in his hands and went along, eating. When he came to his father and mother, he gave some to them, and they also ate. But he did not tell them that he had taken the honey out of the carcass of the lion.
He took the Nazarite vow.
14:5 'Down' is a geographical term, but it has more meaning than that.
When you run from God...you're goin' down! Read the story of Jonah...he went down over and over again until he went God's way.
'Vineyards' = he went to a place he wasn't supposed to be. Aw, Bro. Ron, that's just a little thing...yes! It's the little foxes that spoil the vines. It is when we are just flirting w/ sin that the slippery slope takes over.
14:6-9 'Carcase' = more disobedience. He keeps violating his vows. He is losing his focus. He is sinning in high gear! And it's a downward spiral.
The deeper you go into sin, the blinder you get! Samson was blind long before his eyes were gouged out!
3. Samson defiled his purity.
Judges 16:1 - 5 (NKJV) 1Now Samson went to Gaza and saw a harlot there, and went in to her. 2When the Gazites were told, “Samson has come here!” they surrounded the place and lay in wait for him all night at the gate of the city. They were quiet all night, saying, “In the morning, when it is daylight, we will kill him.” 3And Samson lay low till midnight; then he arose at midnight, took hold of the doors of the gate of the city and the two gateposts, pulled them up, bar and all, put them on his shoulders, and carried them to the top of the hill that faces Hebron. 4Afterward it happened that he loved a woman in the Valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah. 5And the lords of the Philistines came up to her and said to her, “Entice him, and find out where his great strength lies, and by what means we may overpower him, that we may bind him to afflict him; and every one of us will give you eleven hundred pieces of silver.”
Oh how the plot thickens. He is looking for trashy women, and they aren't hard to find. We don’t see one time in Samson’s life when he went looking for a wife among his people…He KNEW he wasn’t supposed to intermarry with the enemy…yet the forbidden fruit was sooooo tempting…
The devil never shows us the end of the story.
Sin has not only a blinding effect, but a desensitizing effect as well. The more we think we get away with, the stronger the desire to sin grows…Samson broke his 1st vow, and retained his power, then his 2nd, and it seemed nothing happened…but he was getting closer and closer to the edge of the cliff…why do we do that???
4. Samson deluded his power.
Now he's sitting in Delilah's hair salon, and she tries to learn the secret of his strength. He toys with her, telling her lies [tie me with green bowstrings/ new ropes / tie my hair in locks] Notice he's getting closer to the truth. The devil just tries to get us to take small steps his direction.
Finally, he caves in and tells her the truth. He breaks the final part of his Nazarite vow. Now it's too late, the point of no return. And here is the saddest verse...
Judges 16:20 (NKJV) 20And she said, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” So he awoke from his sleep, and said, “I will go out as before, at other times, and shake myself free!” But he did not know that the LORD had departed from him.
He lost his power, and didn't even know it. Some here don't even know how cold they've grown, and how far away from God they have slowly become.
The great lesson of this book is that God would rather forgive than judge. Along the way Samson made mistakes, but could have made them right and been restored, but he went all the way w/ sin.
Judges 16:21 (NKJV) 21Then the Philistines took him and put out his eyes, and brought him down to Gaza. They bound him with bronze fetters, and he became a grinder in the prison.
And sin binds, sin blinds, and then sin grinds, slowly, grinds away at you.
Even in the downfall of America which we seem to be witnessing already in progress, there's hope. Even though the church has laid her head in the lap of the world…and seemingly been shorn as Samson was…theres hope…God would rather forgive than judge. And if we insist on His judgment, there still could be a great victory in the tragedy, multitudes could be saved if we go thru a mighty judgment, and God can still get a great victory.
Judges 16:22 - 31 (NKJV) 22However, the hair of his head began to grow again after it had been shaven. 23Now the lords of the Philistines gathered together to offer a great sacrifice to Dagon their god, and to rejoice. And they said: “Our god has delivered into our hands Samson our enemy!” 24When the people saw him, they praised their god; for they said: “Our god has delivered into our hands our enemy, The destroyer of our land, And the one who multiplied our dead.” 25So it happened, when their hearts were merry, that they said, “Call for Samson, that he may perform for us.” So they called for Samson from the prison, and he performed for them. And they stationed him between the pillars. 26Then Samson said to the lad who held him by the hand, “Let me feel the pillars which support the temple, so that I can lean on them.” 27Now the temple was full of men and women. All the lords of the Philistines were there—about three thousand men and women on the roof watching while Samson performed. 28Then Samson called to the LORD, saying, “O Lord GOD, remember me, I pray! Strengthen me, I pray, just this once, O God, that I may with one blow take vengeance on the Philistines for my two eyes!” 29And Samson took hold of the two middle pillars which supported the temple, and he braced himself against them, one on his right and the other on his left. 30Then Samson said, “Let me die with the Philistines!” And he pushed with all his might, and the temple fell on the lords and all the people who were in it. So the dead that he killed at his death were more than he had killed in his life.
Conclusion
Is your hair growing back???
You might have gone through some stuff in your life, and you are feeling lower than you ever felt before but just put your hand at the back of your head, just above your neck and you will feel like your hair is growing back. You might have made some mistakes in your life and you put yourself in the mess you are in, but turn to your neighbor, put your hand at the back of your head and say “I feel like my hair is growing back.”
You may have stayed away from church for too long and you have begun to feel spiritually weak, but you are here today and I want you put your hand at the back of your head and say, “I feel like my hair is growing back.”
You may have dropped your ministry and started to find other things to occupy your life and you are finding out that you are not enjoying them like you thought you would, just put your hand at the back of your head and say “I feel like my hair is growing back.”
“Yes Devil you may think you have me now, you may even begin to feel cocky that I am in your grip and that you will stop me from fulfilling my God-given and God-ordained destiny, but you haven’t noticed that my hair is growing back.
My spiritual power is coming back. I feel different now. The things I used to do I will do them no more. Change is coming. Turn to two people and say change is on the way, I feel like my hair is growing back.
You see when Samson’s hair was long the Spirit of the Lord was upon him and he was in relationship with God he was anointed by God. When his hair was shaved off, he lost his anointing and his power with God but his hair grew back and with it came the anointing and the power of God.
That same power that opened up the Red Sea. That same power that rescued Daniel from the lions and Shadrack, Meshach and Abednego, from the fiery furnace, Jonah from the whale’s belly, opened blinded eyes, unstopped deaf ears, caused the lame to walk and the dumb to talk.
That same power came back to Samson and the Philistines took him to the temple of dagon, their half fish half man god, to make sport and a mockery of him. Now the temple was full to capacity with men, women and children and on the roof there were 3000 men and women.
He asked a boy to take him to the place where the two main pillars of temple were located and he cried out to God to remember him and to strengthen him so he could take revenge on the Philistines for his eyes, and with a final prayer he asked God to let him die with the Philistines and he pushed the pillars and the entire building collapsed killing all those that were in it.
Is your hair growing back?
Who are you going to leave here today with?
The person you are…the person God wants you to be, or the person Satan has locked firmly in his grasp?
The choice is yours!
