JUDGES 16:4-22 DONT PLAY WITH THE ENEMY2015 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: Judges 16:4-22 Dont Play With The Enemy

You are listening to FerventWord, an online Bible study ministry with teachings and tools to help you grow deeper in your relationship with God. The following message was taught by Jerry Simmons in 2015. Well, this morning we're in Judges chapter 16 and we are looking at the account of Samson.

famous man in the Bible, famous account that we have seen many times, but one that is necessary for us to review because, well, it's always appropriate for us to consider the things that he went through because we go through very similar things and the attacks that he experienced are very similar to the attacks that you and I experience.

The title of the message this morning is Don't Play With The Enemy. Don't play with the enemy. And so I have for the background the picture of the lion. He looks pretty mean, right? Anybody want to play with the lion? I think he's kind of focusing his eyes on this section of the room. So maybe you guys especially need to pay attention this morning.

I read about a situation that happened back in June of this year. There was a wildlife park over in South Africa. And the idea of the park is you drive your car through the park and you get to see the different wildlife that they have there. One of the main attractions that features there is lions.

And so, you know, you drive your car, and I can't really picture doing this. I think I would be pretty freaked out. But driving your car, and there's no fences or anything. There's just lions there. And you drive your car, and there's a lion just like staring at you while you drive by. And so it's one of the things that they do, though, one of the features of the wildlife park there. And there was a situation last month where...

there was a lady who rolled down her window to get a better picture. She's like, hey, there's some lions there, but you know, you know when you take a picture and you got the reflection of the glass and so she rolls down the window so she could take a better picture. Well, it's not really normal. It's not really common, but suddenly the lion saw opportunity and charged at the car now that has the window rolled down.

And you may have heard about this because the lady involved is involved in producing the show Game of Thrones. So it's, you know, it's real popular. So it kind of got some attention. And so this lion lunges at the car, sticks his head through the window, his claws through the window, and he's attacking this lady who rolled down her window to take a better picture.

And he ended up actually killing her as a result from the injuries they weren't able to save. They got away, but the injuries were too bad that she did not survive that attack because, you know, of course the lion is ferocious and the lion is deadly.

A couple weeks later at the same park, someone else did the same thing. They rolled down the window to try to get a better picture and the lion charged at the car and stuck his head through the window. That time they were able to get away. But you get the idea. If you go through a wildlife safari drive in Africa, don't roll down the window, right? Because these animals are not to be played with.

We might look at them and think, oh, they're so nice. They're so tame. Let me get a better picture. It's like you want to be, who is that guy who's like, hey, he looks angry. I'm going to touch it. No, no, no. Keep your window rolled up. Stay safe because these are not to be played with.

Well, in a similar way, Peter tells us in 1 Peter 5, verse 8, Your adversary, the devil, is like one of these lions.

And this adversary, this enemy that you have is looking for opportunity to kill you, to destroy you, to take you out. And so we need to learn not to play with the enemy. Now, as I talk about the enemy, of course, we can look at Satan specifically, but I would also say in general, as I'm talking about the enemy this morning, you

You could consider Satan. You could also consider sin that is in your life or sin that you struggle with or are tempted by. That sin is your enemy. You could also consider your own flesh, that the cravings and the sinful desires that you have, that's your enemy. And we could consider all of those things, the world around us. And all of those things are combined in this idea of the enemy that seeks to destroy you.

So don't play with the enemy. There's five points I'd like to walk you through this morning here in Judges chapter 16. The first one is found in verses four through six. And point number one is the enemy is not playing. Here's why we should not play with the enemy because the enemy is not playing. He's not just looking for a good time. He's not looking for some good sport. He is out to kill.

Check out verse four. It says, afterward, it happened that he, talking about Samson, loved a woman in the Valley of Sorok whose name was Delilah. Now we're jumping in kind of right in the middle of Samson's life here. The full account of Samson starts in Judges chapter 13 and then goes through the end of Judges chapter 16. As you look at those chapters, you see that Samson was previously married to a Philistine woman.

but situations happened and that fell apart. So he was married to a Philistine woman, but he's not at this point. We also see in those chapters that different times he was involved with different Philistine prostitutes. And so he was always going into that enemy territory and seeking out different ladies. And I like the way that John Corson describes him. You know, he says that Samson was a he-man with a she-weakness.

He was strong like Heman, but he had this weakness for the ladies. And he would always be out, you know, in foreign territory with these different ladies. Well, now in chapter 16, verse 4, we find a new lady introduced. He falls in love with Delilah. Verse 5. And 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 1,100 pieces of silver. So Samson falls in love with this girl named Delilah. And the Philistine leaders, the lords of the Philistines, they see this as an opportunity. And so they approach Delilah and say, okay, we want you to work for us. Entice him.

seduce him. Get him to tell you where's the secret of his great strength. Find out where his great strength lies. Now, I think this is interesting because usually when we picture Samson, especially if you, you know, grew up in Sunday school, you saw all the coloring books, all the pictures of Samson are like this buff, you know, like just completely, you know, ripped guy. He's like, oh, this guy's tough, man. This guy is strong. And

And that's the way that we often visualize. But it's interesting here because they asked her to find out where his great strength lies. Now, if he was like super buff and strong in that way, there would have been no mystery. But it was a mystery to them, right? They would have known, well, look how strong he is. I mean, look at his muscles. Of course, you know, those biceps, that's where his great strength lies. It wasn't in his muscles. It was a mystery, which...

You know, it might mean that Samson was probably, you know, just kind of a little skinny dude. And they're trying to figure out, like, how is he able to conquer thousands? How is he able to lift those gates and, you know, carry them for miles? Those are like 400 pounds. How did he do that? He's just a little skinny dude. It was a mystery. They couldn't figure it out, right? Nobody wonders where my great strength comes from, right? It's not a mystery, right?

But I have great strength. You know, one time I actually beat up Lester. Yeah, I mean, that's great strength, right? I rubbed his face on the ground, messed him up for a long time. Yeah, mopped the floor with him. True story. I felt really bad afterwards. But nobody wonders, right? It's not a mystery. For Samson, it was a mystery. And so they're trying to figure it out. How can we take this guy down? We can't figure out why he's so strong. And so they approach Delilah and they say, find out.

And notice what they say in verse five, find out by what means we may overpower him, that we may bind him to afflict him. Find out how we can overpower him. Now their desire here is clearly stated and it's the same desire that your enemy has regarding you. The enemy wants to overpower you. The enemy wants to have power over your life.

The enemy wants to have the control of your life. The enemy wants to be the one calling the shots. How can we overpower him? And also, we want to bind him. The enemy wants to take away your freedom, wants to trap you, to keep you held captive. That's his desire. That's the enemy's desire for Samson and for you. And we want to bind him to afflict him. The enemy wants

wants to afflict you as well. The word afflict, it can also be translated to be humbled, to be brought low, to be humiliated. The enemy seeks to overpower you, to bind you, and to humble you, to bring you low in affliction so that you have nothing left, that you're humiliated. This is the desire. And so again, the point is the enemy is not playing.

The enemy is not just looking for a good sport. The enemy is not just looking for a good time. The enemy is out to overpower, to bind, and to afflict. And so they tell Delilah, hey, if you're able to get this information for us, each one of us will give you 1,100 pieces of silver.

Now the Philistines were divided into five different groups. There was five lords of the Philistines. So it's 1,100 shekels of silver times five, which doing some math, it works out to be about 110 pounds of silver. And at today's value, that's about $25,000. So hey, if you're able to get us this information, we'll give you $25,000 for that. Samson had this weakness for women.

And we can see here that Delilah had a weakness as well for money. And so she says, wow, $25,000. Yeah, that's worth it. So verse six. So Delilah said to Samson, please tell me where your great strength lies and with what you may be bound to afflict you. So she says, hey,

I want some money, $25,000. That sounds pretty good. And so now she goes to work for the Philistine leaders and is trying to entice Samson to give up the secret, how he could be overpowered and bound and afflicted. The enemy will use whatever weakness he can find. Samson's weakness was for the ladies. But that's not...

not, this account or this pattern that we see is not limited to just that type of sin. Delilah had a weakness for money. She also is exploited by the enemy to be put to work so that Samson would be overpowered and bound and afflicted. Now, every one of us has weaknesses. All of us. We have weaknesses in our lives.

We still wrestle with the sinful nature. We still have these kinds of issues in our hearts. And sometimes even the issues that we thought we're done with and we conquered them already, we find out later on, oh, I still have the struggle. I still have that issue in my heart. And that's why it's so important for us to understand that the enemy is not playing. The enemy wants to take those weaknesses that you have and use them.

to overpower you, to bind you, and to afflict you. Please understand, the enemy is not playing. And so like Peter said, be sober and be vigilant because your adversary, the devil, walks about like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. He's looking to devour. That's his intent. That's his goal. He's not just playing a game. He's not just looking for good sport. He's not goofing around. He wants to destroy your life. The enemy is not playing.

Well, as we go on in verses 7 through 14, though, we see even though the enemy's not playing, Samson is playing. He's just having fun. And so point number two, learning from his bad example, is you only think you can play with the enemy.

Samson thinks, hey, let's have a good time. Let's have some good sport. I'm really strong. These guys can't beat me. I can handle whatever they throw at me. And so he's playing. He's goofing off. He's playing around with Delilah and these Philistines. And there's three rounds to their match. Actually four, but three rounds here in verses seven through 14. The first round happens in verse seven. Samson said to her,

If they bind me with seven fresh bow strings, not yet dried, then I shall become weak and be like any other man. So Delilah says, hey, Samson. I think it's interesting too. She's pretty clear, right? There in verse six. Hey, Samson, can you tell me where your strength is so that I could bind you to afflict you? You know, she's not real secretive about it. I don't know if she needed some work on her cleverness skills or something, but she's not real secret about it. She's pretty upfront.

Hey, I want to bind you to afflict you. How could I do that? Now, why would Samson tell her anything at all? Why not just say, are you crazy? I'm not telling you that. If I have some secret and then I'll be weak like anybody else, I'm not going to tell you that. He could have just walked away. He could have stopped visiting, you know, his new friend Delilah that he had fallen in love with. He could have walked away, but he stayed. And not only did he stay, but he responded. He gave her an answer. He

Why would he give her an answer? Why would he make up some answer to give to her? Because he's playing. He's just having fun. He's just thinking, hey, let's see what happens. You know, it's quite entertaining to say something crazy and see what happens. Someone asks you for something. Maybe your kid, you know, hey, can I do this? Well, do 75 push-ups and then we'll talk about it. Let's just see what happens. Let's see if the kid does it. Just say something crazy and see what happens. You ever do that? I like to do that sometimes. People say, hey, how you doing? And I say, better looking than ever. How about you?

Just crazy, right? Just see what happens. It's entertaining. It's fun. Samson's doing that. He's just having a good time. Like, hey, let's see what they do. I'll tell them. Seven bow strings. Yeah, that'll be fun. See what happens. Verse eight. So the lords of the Philistines brought up to her seven fresh bow strings, not yet dried, and she bound him with them. Verse nine. Now men were lying in wait, staying with her in the room. And she said to him, the Philistines are upon you, Samson.

but he broke the bow strings as a strand of yarn breaks when it touches fire. So the secret of his strength was not known. He's able to break off the bow strings like nothing, like just that's it. Piece of cake, no problem. And so he's able to fight off the Philistines. The secret of his strength is not known. Samson wins round one of this game that he's playing. That was fun. Let's go for round two. Starts in verse 10. Then Delilah said to Samson,

Look, you have mocked me and told me lies. Now please tell me what you may be bound with. So he said to her, if they bind me securely with new ropes that have never been used, then I shall become weak and be like any other man. Samson's just continuing to play the game, entertaining himself, thinking he's having a good time. Nothing bad could happen. She says, hey, you lied to me.

What's the truth? What can you be bound with? And so he says, you know, did I tell you bow strings? Oh, I'm so sorry. I meant new ropes. You got to buy me with new, if you buy me with new ropes, then it'll be effective. Then it'll work. He's just playing. This isn't the answer. This isn't the truth. I kind of liken this, you know, he's talking about new ropes. This is Samson's version of bungee jumping. You know, he's just getting adrenaline rush.

Like, okay, let's set up this situation. I'll get bound with ropes again, and then I'll get to beat up some Philistines. It's going to be great. He's just having a good time, just entertaining himself, not understanding that the enemy is not playing. He's thinking he's playing and he can get away with it. He's strong enough. He got in a bind with the bow strings, but he's able to get out of it. Yeah, give me another bind. I can get bound with ropes. I'll get out of that one too. I'm strong.

Verse 12, therefore Delilah took new ropes and bound him with them and said to him, the Philistines are upon you, Samson. And men were lying in wait, staying in the room, but he broke them off his arms like a thread. He broke them off his arms. Now, twice now, the men were lying in wait there in the room. How many times does that happen before you start like looking around when you walk in the room, looking behind the curtains? Is anybody waiting? He's not concerned about it because he's just playing a game.

And he thinks he's just playing. He thinks the stakes are low. It's not that high. It's not a big deal. He's just having fun. So he goes into round three, verse 13 and 14. Delilah said to Samson, until now you have mocked me and told me lies. Tell me what you may be bound with. And he said to her, if you weave the seven locks of my head into the web of the loom. So she wove it tightly with the baton of the loom and said to him, the Philistines are upon you, Samson.

But he awoke from his sleep and pulled out the baton and the web from the loom. So again, she asks, hey, why are you lying to me? Tell me the truth. And so now he comes up with something else. He starts getting a little bit more creative. Yeah, I'm tired of being bound up with bow strings and ropes and stuff. Like, let's do something different. Let's mix it up and have a little bit of fun. All right, if you weave my hair into this loom,

Then I'll be weak. So she weaves the hair and gets it all intertwined and entangled and everything in the loom the way it's supposed to be and then wakes him up. All right, Samson, the Philistines are upon you. And he gets up and he's able to pull it out of the wall and able to fight the Philistines once again. Third time now, got in a bind, able to get out of it. He's thinking he's winning the game, not understanding that it's not a game. It's not a game.

Now, as we look at the example of Samson, again, I want to encourage you, don't play with the enemy because, well, you only think you can play with the enemy. And every one of us should know that this is true. Every one of us should know the reality of the things that I'm saying. But we need to be reminded of these things because, like we'll see with Samson a little bit later, we kind of get lulled to sleep sometimes. And we get into situations like Samson where we're

Well, let's say you get involved in sin. You do something that you know is not right, that you're somewhere where you shouldn't be. You're doing something you know God doesn't want you to be part of that. And maybe even there's some kind of bind that happens. You know, you kind of get stuck and, oh man, because I did that, you know, now I can't pay these bills and I don't know what I'm going to do. How am I going to take care of that situation? But then you figure something out and the bills get paid. And so you feel like, hey, I got out of the bind. So you start to think, well,

Hey, that wasn't so bad, actually. I was able to work out those details. Or you're involved in that. You go and you're doing and engaging in this activity. You're pursuing this thing and you feel like, oh no, I'm going to get caught. There's situations almost uncovered, but then you figure out a way and oh, okay, okay, nobody figured it out. Nobody found out. Okay, okay, I got out of the bind. And so you start to think.

Hey, well, I can keep playing with sin. I can keep playing with the enemy. I can keep engaging these things. I can keep going on in this direction, thinking that you can play with the enemy, but you only think that you can play with the enemy. You're not that smart. You're not that strong because it's not a game. Have you ever had a situation where you're playing, but then all of a sudden it turns very real and it's not a game anymore?

I remember one time when I was young, I was back in Arkansas visiting my Aunt Regina, and she had a little dog. And I was a young boy, and so we were having a good time. I took the dog out to a nearby field, and we were running around and stuff, and we started wrestling. I started wrestling with this dog. And it was just fun. Like, we're just playing around. I'm tossing him around. He's biting me a little bit. You know, we're just hitting each other back and forth and just having fun. But then all of a sudden, something changed, and that dog was not playing anymore.

He was not just kind of like nibbling or just, you know, kind of play, you know, you know how they do that, right? So he just kind of like scrape you a little bit. It's like, you know, no big deal. But then suddenly like he's out for blood. He's like trying to take chunks out of me. Like he wants blood. I remember that feeling. And it was like, it was just this sudden change, like right in the middle. I thought we were playing. And then all of a sudden, no, no, this is for real. This is, you know, fight for your life. Wasn't that bad. He's a little dog. But I got scared. I was really terrified because of that.

Or maybe you've had the experience where, you know, maybe you're teasing a friend. You know, we like to tease each other, you know, sarcastic, you know, using some kind of different things. But then all of a sudden it changes, right? All of a sudden it's like now it's becoming personal. Now it's becoming real. And it's like, whoa, whoa, whoa. Like, hey, we were just joking around, you know, like it wasn't meant to be serious.

Or maybe you can relate to this. Do you remember watching The Three Amigos? I love that movie. It's a great movie. The Three Amigos, right? These guys, they're showmen. They're actors, but they get fired. This town thinks they're real heroes, and so they hire them. And so these guys go thinking they're going to go put on a show. And then they get there, and they find out when Steve Martin gets shot that, no, no, this is for real. They want them to actually battle. They want them to actually fight. They didn't know how to do that.

suddenly they realize it's for real. Sometimes we think we're playing. We're dabbling in this. We're dabbling in that. We're getting involved. Hey, it's not, I know God wouldn't really want that. I know that's sinful, but you know, I get out of the bind. I get out of that bind. You know, it's kind of like, okay, it's not that bad. But what we don't understand is it's not a game. And sooner or later, we're going to find out what you thought you were playing. But now, suddenly you're going to be fighting for your life. Listen,

Point number one, the enemy is not playing. That's what you need to know. The enemy only begins to play after he's won. Later on, we won't see it in the portion we're covering today, but later on in chapter 16, the Philistines call Samson in and they start to play with him. After he's been beaten, they want him to perform for them and do a little dance and they're playing and laughing and having a good time. After the enemy has won, then he begins to play.

But before that, he's not playing. He's seeking to destroy. You only think you can play with the enemy. If you're involved in sin and you're thinking, hey, it's okay, I can handle it. Got out of the bind, got out of the bind. I'm good, I'm good. You're deceived. If you're involved in things that you know are not of God, you're playing, but it's not a game. It's for real. And sooner or later, you're gonna find that out. Well, Samson found that out in verses 15 through 17. Point number three now.

The enemy will break you. Samson is still playing the game, but he begins to find out that it's for real. Verse 15, then she said to him, how can you say I love you when your heart is not with me? You have mocked me these three times and have not told me where your great strength lies. Delilah begins to add some pressure here. Now she's manipulating. Now she's putting a guilt trip on him. How can you say you love me?

Now, those are kind of like words that strike deep, right? Those dagger to the heart. How can you say you love me? You don't even wash the dishes. You know, you ever have your wife tell you that? How can you say you love me, man? It's like, it cuts right to the heart of a man. So he's like, oh, oh, how can you say you love me? She's manipulating. She's using that guilt to try to get him to break for him to give in. Tell me where your great strength lies. He resisted for a little bit, but check out verse 16.

And it came to pass when she pestered him daily with words and pressed him so that his soul was vexed to death. Then in the next verse, it says that he told her all his heart. The enemy will break you.

And it might start out real light and fluffy and easy and you think you're playing a game and you get in a bind but you get out of the bind. You get in a bind, you get out of a bind, you almost get caught but then you don't get caught. You have a situation but you figure it out and so you think, hey, all right, this is a fun game. You know, a little adrenaline rush here. We're having a good time. But now she begins to pester him daily. She pesters him daily. Now, this is common, right?

Again, to all of us, this isn't just Samson and Delilah issues. When you are playing with sin, it opens up the door for the enemy to pester you daily. Playing with sin leads to a constant barrage of temptation. And so at first you're just playing and you think, hey, it's a little tough, but you know, hey, I can handle it. I got it under control. I got this and everything's working out. And you think you're just playing.

But then now there comes this constant barrage, this constant attack, pestering daily. It's day upon day upon day upon day. And you get weary from this constant attack. It's no longer a game anymore. Now you're tired. Now you're worn out. Now you're exhausted because you're being attacked. You're being pestered. You're being hounded constantly. She pestered him daily. Not only that, but she pressed him.

She put on the squeeze, you know, she's applying the pressure, using the guilt, using manipulation, working him every which way she can, trying to get him to break. And so day after day, he's facing this battle. Day after day, he's facing this pressure. He's being broken down from the outside, but also he's being broken down from within. It says there at the end of verse 16 that his soul was vexed to death.

So she's coming at him from the outside, applying this pressure, and it's deteriorating his defenses within. The word vexed here, when it says to be vexed to death, it means to be short or impatient. I know we all experience that, right? Have you ever been short with your words? Like you just can't hold it back anymore, and so you say those things that you've been wanting to say for a really long time. Or maybe the idea of, you know, like blowing up in anger.

You have this outrage. You've been trying to hold it back and trying to hold it back, but then you blow up. Out comes all the rage, all the anger that you've had. To be vexed, it means to be short, to be impatient. With all this pressure and this constant attack from the outside, from Delilah, his defenses within are being broken down. It's a dual attack. Constant barrage, pressure,

And the pressure continues to build. The defenses continue to weaken until finally Samson says, I can't take it anymore. He breaks, verse 17, and told her all his heart and said to her, no razor has ever come upon my head for I have been a Nazarite to God from my mother's womb. If I am shaven, then my strength will leave me and I shall become weak like any other man. Samson breaks. He gives in. He caves. He gives in.

And he tells her, no razor has ever touched my head. Now, we think of the account of Samson. We think, yes, he was shaved and that's why he lost his strength. But I would call your attention to what he says here in verse 17. No razor has ever come upon my head for I have been a Nazarite to God from my mother's womb. The real strength or the real secret to Samson's strength was not his hair. There was no like magic sauce in his hair that made him strong.

The real secret to his strength was that he was a Nazarite to God from his mother's womb. The Nazarite, it's a reference to a type of vow that God made provision for in the law. It was a vow of commitment. It was a vow of dedication where he said, I'm going to set myself apart for God for this amount of time. I'm going to be focused on, devoted to God for this time. And the vow consisted of a few things.

first, you were not to partake of any fruit of the vine during this vow. And so Samson, from his mother's womb, was not to partake of the fruit of the vine. Now, Samson's already been playing around with this vow a little bit, and he's partaken of the fruit of the vine, but he still had strength. So he's like, okay, cool. Another part of the vow is you were not to touch, be in contact with a dead animal or a

Well, Samson violated that as well. He found a lion that was dead with honey inside. And so he came in contact with the dead body in order to get the honey. Still had strength, still was able to play around and have some fun. So no big deal. But the third aspect to the Nazarite vow is, well, you're not to shave your head, cut your hair. And so it's not about just the haircut that's happening here. It's about Samson finally coming to the point where he fully breaks the

His commitment to God, his devotion to God. This constant barrage has brought him to the point where he gives up on his decision. He gives up on his commitment. He gives up on his devotion to God, his dedication to God. That was the secret of his strength. And listen, that's the secret of our strength as well. The enemy is looking to break you, to bring you to the point where you give up on your commitment to Christ, where you give up on your decision to follow God, where you give up

on your devotion to him. And if you are playing with sin, if you're playing with the enemy, thinking, hey, I got in a bind, but I got out of it. I can handle it. It's all under control. If you're in that mentality and you're playing, it brings you to the point, because it's not a game, where the enemy will break you. This is guaranteed. This isn't, you know, well, it happened to Samson. It doesn't always happen to everybody. You get on that path,

where you're living and practicing sin. You're involved in things that are not of God. This is where it will take you. It will break you. You will come to the point where you say, I give up on my commitment to God. And I know many of us would say, I would never say that. You ask Samson maybe six months prior, maybe a couple years prior, he would have probably said the same thing. Oh, no, no, I would never give up on my dedication to God, my commitment to God.

Even though he was playing around with sin and openly, blatantly violating, he would have still said, no, no, no, I would never completely give up. You know, I'm just playing around. I've got it under control. We would all say that. But here's the reality. This is the path. The enemy will break you. Don't play with the enemy because he will win. He will break you. He will bring you to the point where you give up, where you quit.

in your commitment, in your devotion to God. This is the end result of sin. Pastor Tom shared the word with us on Wednesday evening and he finished up James chapter one and something in there stood out to me in relation to this. James chapter one, verse 14 and 15. James explains that temptation comes, well, he says each one is tempted when he's drawn away by his own desires and enticed. So we have these desires, we're enticed and we begin to play with sin.

But he says, then when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin. And sin, when it is full grown, brings forth death.

So here's the process of sin. He says, you begin this temptation. You have these desires within. You begin to play with it. You begin to entertain it. And now you begin to engage it. You still think you're playing, but now it's given birth to sin. Now you're involved in sin. Now you're doing sin. You're practicing sin. And that's developing as you entertain and you're playing around. You're goofing off with these different things that are not of God. It's developing. It's growing. It's growing.

And the end result is when it's full grown, it brings forth death, James says. The enemy will break you. That's guaranteed. This is the path of sin. Whether you're like Samson with the weakness for the ladies, or whether you're like Delilah with a weakness for the money, or whether you have a weakness for covetousness, or whatever it might be, whatever sin that might be there that you're tempted when you're drawn away by your own desires. Again, we all have those weaknesses. We all have those weaknesses.

And if you play with them, it will bring you to this point. The enemy will break you. Now, you don't have to take it all the way to the end. You don't have to go that far. The end result is death when it's full grown, but you don't have to let it get that far. But here's the trap. Once we're on the ride, we begin to realize if I try to get off now, it's going to hurt. It's going to hurt.

The commentator Thomas Constable put it this way, yielding to temptation starts us on a toboggan slide. We find ourselves going faster and faster down the hill and soon we can get off only with great personal pain. When I was growing up in Riverside, we had a hill on the street that I grew up on. And so we would go to the top of the hill and ride down like on our skateboards and stuff.

And I remember there's those times, right? You've had those experiences. I'm sure you're on a skateboard, you're going down a hill, you know, or on something and you're picking up speed. And at first it's fun. It's like, woo, all right, yeah, get some speed. But then that comes to the point where I'm going too fast now. I don't have control anymore. And, you know, you ever tried to, remember the old skateboards, right? You know, so you had the pads, you know, on the tail. And so like, you're trying to like, just lift up the back a little bit. So like,

But you don't want to fall over either, right? But you're going fast. But to do that, you know, you go on two wheels. And so you're like, whoa, you know, and you're trying to stop, but you can't stop. And you realize, okay, I'm either going to crash at the end or I'm going to jump off right now. And if I jump off right now, it's going to hurt because I'm going fast. But here's the point. If you jump off right now, it will hurt less than if you take it all the way to the end. And that's true of sin.

That's true of this progress. Sin, when it is full grown, brings forth death. It will destroy you. And sometimes as believers, we get caught up in things and we realize, man, I've been engaged in this. I've been involved in this. I've been playing around with sin. If I'm going to get off, if I'm going to break away from this, there's going to be pain. I'm going to have to come clean. I'm going to have to deal with it. I'm going to have to repent and deal with these issues. And that's not going to be fun. And so

Well, because there's that threat of pain and the consequences for what we've been doing, what we've been involved with, we're hesitant to repent at that point. Let me tell you, it will hurt to get off right now, to break away right now, but it will hurt less than if you take that all the way to the end because sin, when it is full grown, brings forth death. Well, let's go on to point number four, found in verses 18 through 21. Verse 18 says,

Well, point number four is the enemy will bind you. So not only break you, but then bind you. Verse 18, when Delilah saw that he had told her all his heart, she sent and called for the lords of the Philistines saying, come up once more for he has told me all his heart. So the lords of the Philistines came up to her and brought the money in their hand. Delilah saw a difference. She saw a change. He's broken. He's broken now. He's given up. He's told me the truth. And so she says to the Philistines, all right, come on.

It's time now. We got him. Verse 19. Then she lulled him to sleep on her knees and called for a man and had him shave off the seven locks of his head. Then she began to torment him and his strength left him. She lulled him to sleep. She had him shaved and then she tormented him. This is the reality with sin. This is the reality with the enemy. Samson was in love with this girl. That's why he's sticking around through all this. He's just playing around.

But the things that we love, those desires that we chase, we're so enthralled by, those are the very things that crush us and bring us to our knees, devour us, and then torment us. She's just like, she's having fun now. Look at him. He's weak. I can mess with him. Look, I can make him bruise. She's tormenting him, and his strength left him. This isn't like a wrestling match where, you know, you get pinned and you're like, okay, I tap out.

That was a good one, man. Yeah, you did. Good job. Good job. You got me. Now let me go. That's not the way. This isn't a game. It's not a sport. The enemy will take you down to the very end. Verse 20. And 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. To me, I don't know about you, but this is one of the scariest statements of the Bible.

He did not know that the Lord had departed from him. Again, the secret of his strength was not his hair, but it was the Lord. The Lord was with him. And he didn't recognize when the Lord wasn't with him anymore. He'd been so involved in playing, he thought it's just gonna continue. He was deceived. He thought he could fight the Philistines again.

as he always had. But verse 21, then 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. So now he's bound. This verse has prompted a saying. It's been around for many years. Sin will blind you, bind you, and grind you. This is where all sin ends up. All sin ends up at this place.

blinding, binding, and grinding. And it always starts out small. It always starts out with a little bit of playing around. It always starts out with that. But the end result for all sin is bondage, where sin, the enemy, becomes your master. This is the reality, and this is what we need to understand. Listen, you could think about the example of bitterness. Bitterness, it starts small. It's a

a little bit of refusing to forgive. I'm going to hold on to that hurt. And many times it's just like Samson was playing around. He's just playing around. You know, it kind of feels good to be angry over that. I'm kind of enjoying this. So you're playing around. You're holding on to that issue, that hurt, that harm. And you think, not a big deal. It's just a little thing. And then there's another little thing and you hold on to that. And there's another little thing and it grows. It builds. It

to the point where you have this root of bitterness that now is holding on to you and you're not able to let things go. You're not able because, well, now sin has bound you. You're caught in the trap because you played with it. You allowed it to grow and now it's overtaken you. It could be sexual sin and you might think, hey, we're just playing. It's just a look. We're just talking. It's just this. It's just that. We're just not that big of a deal, but it grows.

And it continues to grow until it breaks you and binds you. It could be just covetousness. You think, hey, it's just, I just want a little bit more. I just want a little bit. I just need that. And then I'll be content. Then I'll be satisfied. Then I'll trust God. Then I'll stop worrying. And then it builds and then it builds and it builds. And then it has a grip on you. The enemy will bind you. This is the end result of sin. And this is why you must not play with the enemy. Sin will take you here.

and it will destroy you completely. That's the enemy's desire, and that is the end result guaranteed for all sin unless, unless we repent, unless we turn from sin back to God. And here's the good news. There's a little glimmer of hope in verse 22, and that gives us point number five here.

God can work in you again. No matter where you're at in the process, even if you ride the train all the way to the very end and there you are broken, you're completely destroyed, you're blinded, you're bound, and you're grinding there at the mill. God is able to work in you again. Verse 22 says, however, the hair of his head began to grow again after it had been shaven. Just a little glimmer of hope. His hair began to grow again.

The thing that he was known for, the thing that, you know, was his final decision of turning away from God, giving up on his commitment to God, it began to grow back. It's an indication here. God is still at work. He's still able to work. Now, later on in the rest of Judges chapter 16, the Philistines gathered together and here's where they begin to play with him. They call him into this big gathering that they have at the temple.

And they want him to perform and do a little dance. And they're just laughing and enjoying that their enemy is beaten. But there in that situation, Samson prays to God and he asks for strength. And God gives him strength once more. And he pushes against the pillars of the temple and brings down that whole building. And it ends up being a victory in the sense that many Philistines are defeated.

In verse 30 of Judges 16, it tells us, the dead that he killed at his death were more than he killed in his life. So in that one swoop, you know, he broke down the pillars, the building collapsed, the people that died, you know, he defeated more of the enemy in that one occasion than he had his whole life before him. God is still able to work. He's able to work in you again. Even if you take the train all the way to the end, it will still hurt. There will be great pain and consequences to sin.

But you're not past the point of God being at work. You're not past the point of God being able to work. Thomas Constable says, God always gives opportunity for divine service after failure, but we may not be able to serve him as we could in the past. And he points out his hair returned, but not his eyesight. So don't get deceived and think, well, hey, then I'll just wait till the end and repent and then everything will be good. God will work again. No, no, no. Samson missed out on his potential.

If he had been faithful to God, the victory that happened here with the Philistines at his death, that wouldn't have compared to the victories that he would have had in the rest of his life if he would have been faithful to God. His victories would have been far greater. His impact would have been far greater. He missed out on the potential and he suffered the consequences. There was great pain. This is the reality of sin. Yeah, you can continue to play with sin and you might have opportunity to repent. You might not, we don't know.

That's not guaranteed, but you do have opportunity right now. And it may hurt to get off the ride right now because yeah, there's some consequences. There's some things you're going to have to address. You're going to have to come clean and deal with these issues, but it will hurt far less right now than it will if you take it all the way to the end. God's still able to work. If you're in the playing around with sin phase, the enemy is not playing. He's seeking to overpower you, to bind you and afflict you, to bring you down completely.

But if you think, hey, I'm playing around, understand that's not the reality. You're deceived and you can break out of it right now. You can repent and turn to God. He's able to work. Even if you've gone beyond the playing around with sin phase, even if you've given up on your commitment to God, even if you've broken vows, even if you've broken the things that you committed to, you've broken away from devotion to God, God's still able to work.

Even if you're bound and you're caught up and there's now serious issues in your life where you are trapped, you're bound, you're addicted, you're afflicted, you're not able to do anything, God is still able to work in you again. Don't play with the enemy. God's able to work. So take this opportunity to stop playing and to turn your heart over to the Lord, to repent from sin and to turn once again to follow Christ. I'm gonna ask the worship team to close us out in a song.

And I'd like to do something a little bit different this morning, different than I usually do, but the Lord put it on my heart this morning. And so what I'm going to ask is, as they lead us in this song, if God is speaking to you about these things, and you know that you need today to stop playing and to turn back to the Lord, whether it's just been a little bit of issues or whether you've gone really far in playing with the enemy.

I'm gonna ask, if you wanna respond to the Lord, if you wanna say, Lord, today I repent, that as they lead us in this song, that you just stand wherever you're at and stay standing. I'll pray for you at the end of the song. Now, this isn't for you to announce your sin. I'm not saying announce and confess for everybody everything that you've done, but this is for you to announce your repentance. And here's the thing that the Lord put on my heart. This is for you because I know what it's like. Listen, I've been in this cycle, right?

most of us, I know Lester's been in this cycle. Ronnie's been in this cycle. Jake's been in this cycle. Richard's been in this cycle. Where we think, we hear a message like this and we think, okay, yeah, yeah, that's, oh man, you're right. Oh Lord, I got to repent. And we, okay, yeah, later on I'm going to go home and repent. And then we go home and it doesn't happen. Listen, you need, you need to respond and you need to respond in a way where

Well, you have the body around you to encourage you where you announce, you know, I need to repent. It doesn't mean you have to share all the details of everything to us in general, but maybe there is some people that you need to talk with. But just for you to say, I need to repent and I need help. And listen, we're all going to be praying. We all know the battle. It's real. It's not something that's foreign to us.

And so I want to ask you to do that. Stand any time during this song and stay standing. At the end, I'll close us in prayer. But wherever you are in the process, stand and push against the pillars like Samson did and ask God for mercy and strength and say, God, give me strength once more and break down these fortresses, break down these strongholds that are now in place so that you can reign in my life once again.

and so let's worship the lord together and as the lord prompts your heart and moves in your heart you just stand where you're at and at the end we'll pray together for god to do that work we pray you have been blessed by this bible teaching the power of god to change a life is found in the daily reading of his word visit ferventword.com to find more teachings and bible study resources