Judges 16:1-21
Ushers, you may admit the door, as the worshippers enter in to hear a word from the Lord. Amen. You may be seated in the presence of the Lord. This text is getting to me on today. And it’s getting to me for several reasons. Here we have this beast of a man Samson and this crafty woman Delialah. And in the text, he rips out the city gates, carries them up a hill, and then defeats the Phillistine army. But then he almost in the same breath allows a woman to coax him into giving up his secret to her as to how to lose his strength. And this text is pregnant with possibilities. I could really talk about a few things. I could talk about how the enemy uses people, I could talk about the power of money and of lust. I could even talk about strength. But that’s not what’s getting at me. Verse 17 says, "Finally, he confessed his secret to her." And that’s what’s nawing at me. I’m thinking, "How in the world, could this man be so foolish, as to allow an enemy to seduce him into something, and he knows that the enemy is seducing him, and yet, and yet, he, he still allows it. And I want to keep it simple on today, I don’t wanna get too deep on you, so for just a little bit of time, I want to talk as the Holy spirit shall lead & guide from the subject of, " Seduction." hmmmmm....
My Brothers and my Sisters, if I could keep it real with you for just a few minutes on today, I would submit to you that the enemy is an excellent seducer. He has a way about him of being able to use people and money and things to seduce you into doing things that you really have no bissnuess doing. He has the ability to attract us to the wrong things, and to seduce us with them. Yeah, he’s crafty, cunning, seductive, and decieving. But I also believe that we as the people of God one, give him too much credit. We give him too much power & authority over us when in fact the word says that "If you resist the devil, then he will flee!" If you rebuke the devil, he HAS TO GO!! But not only that, I also believe that we have become comfortable with the enemy being around us and dwelling with us. I said we’ve become comfortable. So much so that we’re to the point now of where we allow him to sub-conciously control our minds, bodies, and spirits and allow him to just come into our lives and to "Make himself at home" and to "Set up shop." We let him seduce us. Well, what does seduction really mean? I have a few definitions for you but I first need to tell you to take your mind off of the sexual conotation that we so often put with this word becuase it is a whole lot more to it than that, amen?
The first thing seduction means in the biblical terminology is, "To lead astray from", or in the Greek it is translated as "Poplana" or "Seducco" But it means to lead astray from. And that my friends is the devil’s whole desire... To lead you astray from God. Can I get a witness in the house? But not only that, seduction or "to seduce" also means in the greek transliteration, "To lead away from the truth and into error." And not only that, not only that, the final thing that seduction means is "To go astray or to be lead off of the assigned path." Well I think now that we have a better understanding as to what seduction means I think I can take this thing a step further and that now I can drop a few things on you as to why we allow the devil to seduce us. I think this will help you so can I go ahead and drop it? The first reason we allow the devil to seduce us is because we don’t know the word. Yeah, I said we don’t know the word of God. And the word is one of our chief primary weapons that we use to fight the devil. Amen? The Bible says that "The word cuts to & fro, sharper than any two-edged sword", When you know the word of God you can use it as a weapon to cut the enemy down!!!!! When you know the word, you can speak it with confidence when the enemy comes to rise up against you with a seducing false hood or lie. We as believers don’t realize HOW MUCH POWER THERE IS IN SPEAKING THE WORD!!!!!!! We don’t come to Bible study, we don’t read on our own personal time, we don’t do anything but dust it off on Sunday and then bring it in to the house of God, use it for the readings and the sermon, and then we take it right back home & we put it right back on the shelve. All of the enemies schemes are in the word, and how can you expect to fight the enemy if you don’t know his battle plans???? Y’all ain’t likin’ me, but it’s okay, because I didn’t come to make no friends on today. But one of the reasons the devil is so easily able to seduce us is because we don’t know THE WORD OF GOD!!!!!!!!! I wish I had somebody to help me up in here!!!!!
But that’s not all, that’s not all, another reason the devil is so easily able to seduce us is because we’ve become so comfortable with the things of this world... We allow the money, the cars, the fame, the fortune, to illude us all into a false sense of who we are and of what we are about. The Bible says "Lay up for yourselves treasures in Heaven, but we’d rather lay up treasures for ourselves in this world, even though we know that these things will eventually all pass away. We get so concerned with whose dating who and whose driving what, whose wearing what, when what we really should be concerned about is wether or not you and I are saved, blood bought, and holy ghost filled!!! I know i’m hittin’ hard & I know it hurts but just go on ahead and take the pill and swallow it, and you’ll be better off in the end!!!! But we allow ourselves to get too consumed and wrapped up in the things of this world!!! Somebody oughta shout yes we do!!!!!!
Ohhh I feel like i’m about ready to preach up in here but I need to let you know one more thing and that is that the last reason that the devil is allowed so much control over us because we don’t know who we are in the Lord and how much power we’ve got!!!!!! I could go crazy & lose it RIGHT THERE!!!!!! We walk around scared to death of the devil and giving him waaaaayyyyyy too much credit!!!!!! We think he is some big beast that cannot be overtaken!!!!!! I think we even think sometimes that he is more powerful than God! OOHHHH NO BABY!!!!!!! THE DEVIL IS A LIAR!!!!!!!! The Bible says that "We are hiers and joint hiers of the kingdom of God and that we have power over the enemy through the shed blood of Jesus Christ!!!!!!!!"
OOOHHHHHHHHH, can I help somebody right now? I need you to understand, ha, that you’ve got power over the enemy, ha, you’ve got authority over him, you’ve got power, ha, to put the devil, ha, under your feet, ha, can I get a witness, ha? I don’t know about you, ha, but when the enemy comes in like a flood, ha, all I’ve got to do, ha, when he knocks at my door, ha, is say "Jesus, ha, can you please get that for me, ha, Can I get a witness? Ha, the story is told ha, of a man whose house Jesus came to stay at, ha, and he set him up, ha, in a fine room, ha, with all the greatest amnemeties, ha, and he shut the door, ha, and later on that night, ha, and for several nights after, ha, demons came to the door, ha, and they beat him up, ha, and so finally he gets tired, ha, and he goes into the chambers where God was, ha, and he said "Lord, why haven’t you helped me, ha, demons have been coming to the door, ha, ever since you’ve been here, ha, and they’ve been whoopin’ me senseless!" And Jesus says, ha, you gave me a fine room, ha, but you didn’t, ha, show me the whole house, ha, and the man says, ha, "I’m sorry, ha, Lord here is, ha, all my house, ha, it’s all yours, ha, well, ha, the next night ha, the man heard a rustlin’ at the door, ha, but before he could respond, ha, Jesus was there, ha, kickin’ the demons, ha, all the way, ha, back to hell, ha, the moral of the story is, ha, let Jesus riegn in your life, ha, and he shall take care of, ha, every demon, ha, every problem, ha, well now, ha, I feel like preaching, ha, Can I go ahead and keep it real with you for a minute? Ha, look at the text, ha, Samson finds himself in Gaza, ha, spending the night, ha, with a prostitute, ha, and the people of Gaza were told that he was there ha, and so they camped around him, ha, wanting to kill him at dawn, but Samson, ha, used his brains, ha, and he only stayed, ha, halfway through the night, ha, and he got up, ha, and he tore the city gates, ha, post & all, ha, and carries it up the hill, ha, he was a mighty man of strength, ha, but as you’re about to see in the text, ha, mighty men still fail! ha, you’ll get that one later! Well now, ha, i’m going back to my seat ha, but the text now says, ha, that sometime later, ha, he fell in Love with a woman from the valley of Sorek named Deliliah, ha, and the rulers of the Phillistines came to her and said, "See if you can find out the secret to his strength, ha, so that we may overtake him, ha, we’ll pay you off, ha, if you do it, ha, and so Deliliah goes to Samson, ha, and asks him the question, ha, "Tell me the secret, ha, of your great strength?" ha, I need to pump my brakes, ha, and tell you, ha, one of the biggest ways, ha, that the devil will seduce you, ha, is with money, ha, can I get a witness, ha, She fell for a couple of dollars, and the truthy be told that’s how many of us fall too!!!!! Cause money, ha, equals power, ha, and everybody wants that! ha, well, Samson answers her, and he says, "If they tie me with seven fresh thongs that have not been dried, ha, I’ll be subdued, ha," And so Deliliah gets, ha, the seven fresh thongs, ha, and they tied him, ha, and Sampson, ha, still broke free, ha, and so the secret, ha, remained a secret, ha, Sampson lied, ha, because he knew he was being seduced, ha, and so then Deliliah comes to him and says, ha, "You lied to me and made a fool of me, tell me how you can be subdued, ha,?" And so he told her, tie seven new ropes that have never been used, ha, and I’ll be subdued, ha, and she does it, ha, and he still breaks free, weeeeeellllllllllllllllllll, here she comes again, ha, and she says,"Until now you have made a fool of me, tell me how you can be tied, ha,?" This woman is persistent, ha, and she’s driven, ha, you’ll get that one later on, ha, and Samson says, ha, "If you weave my seven braids in my head into the fabric on the loom, ha, and tighten it with the pin, ha, i’ll become as weak as any other man." And so she does it, ha, and she wakes him up ha, and he pulls the whole loom up by his hair, ha, Samson has been persistent, ha, the devil has been persistent, ha, but watch what happens right here in the text, ha, look at verse 15, ha, she finally comes to him and says, ha, "How can you say you love me and don’t confide, ha, in me, ha, three times you have made a fool of me, ha, now tell me your secret, ha?"
I need to stop right there ha, and help somebody, ha, the enemy is persistent, ha, in all he does, ha, he’s relentless, ha, he’s a pressurer, ha, he don’t give up, ha, look at the text, ha, i’m going back to my seat, ha, but the word says, ha, that "After day after day of prodding and nagging him, ha, he was tired to death, ha, so he gives up, ha, he gives in, ha, and he spills the beans and tells her everything, ha, I SAID EVERYTHING!!!!!!!!! I need to pump my brakes right there, ha, and tell you, ha, that many ogf us, ha, have the same problem Samson had, ha, we fight & we fight, ha, but the devil just keeps coming, ha, and we get tired, ha, we get weary, ha, and we give up, ha, Samson coulda prayed ha, he coulda asked God for help, ha, but naw, he thought he could handle it, ha, by himself, ha, if he woulda just given it to God, ha, and rebuked her in the name of Jesus, ha, God woulda cast the enemy out, ha, and the story mighta ended, ha, another way, ha, I just stopped by today to tell somebody, ha, no matter how the enemy is coming at you, no matter how he’s trying to seduce you, ha, DON’T GIVE UP!!!!!!! DON’T GIVE IN!!!!! HA, REBUKE THAT PUNK HA, IN THE NAME OF JESUS!!!!!!!!! SOMEBODY TODAY, HA, NEEDS TO READ THE DEVIL HIS RIGHTS!!!!!!! DEVIL, HA, YOU’RE UNDER ARREST, HA FOR THE SEDUCTION OF MY SOUL, HA, AND NOW YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO REMAIN SILENT, HA, AND ANYTHING YOU SAY OR DO, HA, CAN & WILL BE USED AGAINST YOU, HA, IN THE COURTS OF HEAVEN!!!!!!!! SHOUT YES!!!!!!!! SHOUT YES!!!!!!! SHOUT YESSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!
Well now, ha, i’m going back to my seat, ha, but look what happens, ha, in verse 17, ha, he tells her his secret, ha, "No razor has ever been used on my head, ha, for I was a Nazerite, ha, set apart since birth, ha, if my head were shaved, ha, my strength would leave me, ha," And so Deliliah goes back to the Phillistines, ha, and says "Come on back, ha, he’s told me everything, ha" And so they come back, ha, with the money, ha, and she put him to sleep in her lap, ha, and a man comes in, ha, shaves his head, ha, and his strength leaves him, ha, You’d better watch, ha, what ya say, ha, and who you say it to, ha, because you may be entertaining enemies unaware, ha, your information may fall, ha, into the wrong hands, ha, I’ve got to get outta here, ha, but the word says, that she woke him up, ha, and said that the Phillistines were upon him, and he woke up thinking, ha, I’ll just take them out, ha, as before, ha, but he didn’t know, ha, that the Lord had left him, ha, and the Phillistines siezed him, ha, and locked him up, ha, well I asked the Holy Ghost, ha, "Holy Ghost, is that it? Ha, is that all? Ha, and he said naw, keep on reading, ha, so I kept on reading, ha, and the word says, ha, his hair grew back, ha, and then I fast forwarded, ha, to verses 23-31, ha, and the word says, ha, I wish I had time to really preach, ha, but the word says that he was bought out to the Phillistines for entertainment, ha, and he had them put him, ha, by the pillars that supported the temple, ha, and he prayed to God, ha, that God would strengthen him, ha, and let him get revenge on the Philistines, ha, with just one blow, ha, and the Bible says that the temple fell under his might ha, and that many others were killed along with him, ha, and thst he killed more in his death, ha, than he did in his entire life, ha, he did what he shoulda done, ha, aaaaaaaaaallllllllll along, ha, he prayed to God, ha, and GOD ANSWERED!!!!!!! Ha, i’m closing the book, ha, and i’m going back to my seat, ha, but the next time, ha, the enemy comes at you, ha, and tries to seduce you, ha, I dare you ha, ask the Lord, ha, to give you strength, ha, and he will, ha, give you strength ha, give you strength, ha, GIVE YOU STRENGTH!!!!!!!!!! I DARE SOMEBODY HA, IF YOU’RE HERE TODAY, AND YOU’RE TIRED, HA, OF BEING SEDUCED BY THE ENEMY, HA, OPEN UP YOUR MOUTH HA, READ THE ENEMY HIS RIGHTS, HA, DEVIL, HA, YOU"VE GOT TO GO!!!!!!!!! YOU AIN’T GOT NO BUSINESS, HA, UP IN HERE!!!!!!!!!! UP IN HERE!!!!!!!!!!! UP IN HERE!!!!!!!!! SHOUT YES!!!!!!!!! SHOUT YES!!!!!!!!! SHOUT YES!!!!!!!!!! SHOUT YES!!!!!!!!!!! SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSHHHHHHHHHHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOUUUUUUUUTTTTTTTTTT YYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE..........
Undercover seduction... Doesn’t have to be undercover. And it doesn’t have to be tolerated! If we can just open up our eyes to the attacks of the enemy and let the Lord fight back, we would be alright... But no, we’d rather sit back & do the seemingly comfortable thing, and let the enemy seduce us. That’s crazy! Just because God requires some work outta us, we’d rather be seduced. I believe God is challenging us, to be more on gaurd against the enemy’s attacks, and I challenge you on today, to do just that. When the enemy tries to seduce you, fight back. I ain’t messing with y’all no more. I’m done. I said I wasn’t preaching hard. There may be someone here...
