I. Descent Into Darkness: Judges 16:16-21
And it came to pass, when she pestered him daily with her words and pressed him, so that his soul was vexed to death, 17 that he told her all his heart, and said to her, “No razor has ever come upon my head, for I have been a Nazirite to God from my mother’s womb. If I am shaven, then my strength will leave me, and I shall become weak, and be like any other man.”
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. 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. 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.
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.
22 However, the hair of his head began to grow again after it had been shaven.
Samson should have known better. He had confided once before to a woman who pestered him until he gave in and it did not end well. We should know not to give in to pressure to do something that we know is not right. We should be able to stand our ground and hold true to our convictions.
Samson also missed the point. It was not his hair. It was the Spirit of God that gave him his strength. The Nazirite vow included three parts. The hair was only a part of it and it wasn’t the most important part. The most important part is the dedication of oneself to the Lord.
When he says that he will go out and ‘shake himself free’ it shows that he has given in to pride in his own abilities. One of the saddest lines in scriptures is verse 20 when he does not realize that the Lord had departed from him.
The Philistines put out his physical eyes. He had descended into darkness.
However, his hair began to grow. Again, the hair is not important. It has more to do with his faith in God and his devotion to Him.
II. Drawn to the Light: John 3:12-21
If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things? 13 No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven. 14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. 16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. 17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.
18 “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. 19 And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. 20 For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. 21 But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.”
I have always thought it odd that Jesus would be compared to a snake. Perhaps you remember the story. The Israelites had been grumbling and God sent snakes among them that killed quite a few. When the people cried out for help God told Moses to make a bronze serpent and place it on a pole. Whoever looked at that snake on a pole in faith was healed. The comparison to Christ is obvious, if a little odd.
Jesus came to earth to deal with the sin problem. It is only through Jesus that we are saved. In Christ we have an opportunity for a new start, a new life. II Corinthians 5:17 tells us that “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” In Christ we can begin anew.
Jesus is the light that has shown into the darkness. Sadly, some people prefer the darkness. Others are drawn to the light. Once Christ has entered our hearts through faith, then the light of Christ can shine through us as well. Matthew 5:16 says “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.” It is important that we allow the light of Christ to shine through our lives, through our actions, our words and our attitudes. God has use us to bring others to Christ.
There is a lot of darkness in the world. Many people have descended into darkness. Some of them desperately want to escape.
Let the light of Christ shine through you.
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These are the sermon notes from the message that I preached on 5/5/24. The sermon contains additional material. If you would like to listen to it as it was preached at the 8:30 service it can be viewed at: https://www.facebook.com/100064322333786/videos/818893646793648
All scriptures are from the New King James Version of the Bible. Any adds that appear are placed by WordPress. I have no control over them.