And God split open the hollow place that is at Lehi, and water came out from it. And when he drank, his spirit returned, and he revived. Therefore the name of it was called En-hakkore; it is at Lehi to this day. And he judged Israel in the days of the Philistines twenty years. Judges 15:19-20

Samson didn't ruin his life all at once. He ruined it one step at a time.

One day Samson went to Gaza, where he saw a prostitute. He went in to spend the night with her. Judges 16:1

The people of Gaza were told, “Samson is here!” So they surrounded the place and lay in wait for him all night at the city gate. They made no move during the night, saying, “At dawn we’ll kill him.” 16:2

SAMSON’S SMALL STEPS TOWARD HIS BIG DESTRUCTION:

1. Samson Taunted His Enemy.

But Samson lay [resting] until midnight, then at midnight he got up and took hold of the doors of the city gate and the two door-posts, and pulled them up, [security] bar and all, and he put them on his shoulders and carried them up to the top of the hill which is opposite Hebron. 16:3

It is much easier to be puffed up than to be built up, much easier to grow in self-conceit than in vital godliness, a little advancement turns many brains. -Spurgeon

So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don't fall! 1 Corinthians 10:12

2. Samson Rationalized The Same Old Sin.

After this he fell in love with a [Philistine] woman [living] in the Valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah.16:4

The rulers of the Philistines went to her and said, “See if you can lure him into showing you the secret of his great strength and how we can overpower him so we may tie him up and subdue him. Each one of us will give you eleven hundred shekels of silver.” 16:5

Then she said to him, “How can you say, ‘I love you,’ when you won’t confide in me? This is the third time you have made a fool of me and haven’t told me the secret of your great strength.” 16:15

With such nagging she prodded him day after day until he was sick to death of it. 16:16

So he told her everything. “No razor has ever been used on my head,” he said, “because I have been a Nazirite dedicated to God from my mother’s womb. If my head were shaved, my strength would leave me, and I would become as weak as any other man.” 16:17

Having put him to sleep on her lap, she called a man to shave off the seven braids of his hair, and so began to subdue him.And his strength left him. 16:19

3. Samson Assumed His Disobedience Would Never Cost Him.

Then she called, “Samson, the Philistines are upon you!” He awoke from his sleep and thought, “I’ll go out as before and shake myself free.” But he did not know that the Lord had left him. 16:20

Then the Philistines seized him, gouged out his eyes and took him down to Gaza. Binding him with bronze shackles, they set him to grinding in the prison. 16:21

Pride goeth not before salvation, but before destruction; and a haughty spirit is no prophecy of elevation, but the herald of a fall.

But the hair on his head began to grow again after it had been shaved. 16:22

Sunday 1st Service Pastor Mark Evans

Share