The Critical Hold of Sin
Rev. Steve Boyd

Judg 14:1-3  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.

• Samson was a reckless individual that possessed so many great qualities that the Lord could use.
• He was a man that was chosen by God to do a work for Him in that hour.
• Although Samson did not do everything right, he was mightily used of the Lord.
• He did not take serious the VOW OF THE NAZIRITE and lived his life with an attitude of indifference.
• The NAZIRITE VOW is found in the book of Numbers:

Num 6:1-6
1 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 2 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When either man or woman shall separate themselves to vow a vow of a Nazarite, to separate themselves unto the LORD: 3 He shall separate himself from wine and strong drink, and shall drink no vinegar of wine, or vinegar of strong drink, neither shall he drink any liquor of grapes, nor eat moist grapes, or dried. 4 All the days of his separation shall he eat nothing that is made of the vine tree, from the kernels even to the husk. 5 All the days of the vow of his separation there shall no rasor come upon his head: until the days be fulfilled, in the which he separateth himself unto the LORD, he shall be holy, and shall let the locks of the hair of his head grow. 6 All the days that he separateth himself unto the LORD he shall come at no dead body.

• You can notice one of the first things that Samson did was to touch the carcass of the dead Lion and retrieve the HONEY from the dead Lion.
• Over and over again you can see the life of Samson in a twisted light and see the deeds of his hands being tangled deeper in the acts of SIN.
• Yet, in spite of his sinful ways, God’s mercy was very evident in his life.
• Samson always did things with great flare and finesse.
• Look at the three hundred foxes that he tied two together and made 150 brands of fire and burned the Philistines corn field.
• Then we see him with the jaw bone of the donkey slay a thousand more of the enemy and then God gave him water to drink out of that same jaw bone to revive him.
• But as you continue to read we see him walking deeper and deeper into the arms of the enemy.

Judg 16:1-3 1 Then went Samson to Gaza, and saw there an harlot, and went in unto her. 2 And it was told the Gazites, saying, Samson is come hither. And they compassed him in, and laid wait for him all night in the gate of the city, and were quiet all the night, saying, In the morning, when it is day, we shall kill him. 3 And Samson lay till midnight, and arose at midnight, and took the doors of the gate of the city, and the two posts, and went away with them, bar and all, and put them upon his shoulders, and carried them up to the top of an hill that is before Hebron. (KJV)

• After he lay the night with the harlot the Lord still moved mightily upon him the very next morning.
• I truly believe that Samson was repentant concerning his folly.
• There is a difference between SIN and a SIN PROBLEM.
• I don’t believe that we can sin a little everyday…
• But if we do fall, GET UP!!!
• But watch what happens next.

Judg 16:4 4 And it came to pass afterward, that he loved a woman in the valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah. (KJV)

• He kept right on going down to the Devil’s work shop until something happened that he did not count on.
• HE FELL IN LOVE!!
• The Bible says she was a harlot.
• That’s not what you go shopping for when you are looking for someone to love!
• But if you keep hanging around sin, you CAN and WILL fall in love with bad things!
• This proved to be the beginning of the end for Samson.
• You know well the story line of his life…
• However let’s look closely at it one more time.
• Broken, Blinded, Ruined…yet when they called for him to make sport of him let’s see what began to transpire.

Judg 16:25-30 5 And it came to pass, when their hearts were merry, that they said, Call for Samson, that he may make us sport. And they called for Samson out of the prison house; and he made them sport: and they set him between the pillars. 6 And Samson said unto the lad that held him by the hand, Suffer me that I may feel the pillars whereupon the house standeth, that I may lean upon them. 7 Now the house was full of men and women; and all the lords of the Philistines were there; and there were upon the roof about three thousand men and women, that beheld while Samson made sport. 8 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. 9 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. 30And 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.

• NOTE: When small things can lead you around by the nose, your in trouble!!
• Samson came to this place in his life as a broken man, but God was able to use what was left!

Amos 3:12 hus saith the LORD; As the shepherd taketh out of the mouth of the lion two legs, or a piece of an ear; so shall the children of Israel be taken out that dwell in Samaria in the corner of a bed, and in Damascus in a couch.

• We read in this scripture an amazing passage that continually stirs the heart of the reader at any level.
• Often this passage is considered because it represents to us the remnant that remained and that God was saying he would take whatever was left and do a work.
• However, there is an underlying truth to that very comment and let’s look at it one more time as we close this morning.
• TWO LEGS and a PIECE OF AN EAR.
• Seven times in the book of Revelation the Lord said "He that hath an ear, let him hear."
• If you are hear this morning and can hear the sound of my voice then there is HOPE.
• You see there really was enough left for the Good Shepherd to work with because there was an ear and LEGS!
• If you can hear the truth of God’s word and then WALK in that direction, you will find yourself in a position of deliverance!