Lust or the Lord - Our Choice

C: In this lesson we'll be looking and the life of Samson, and talking about our own purity. The lesson will change our lives if we are open.

C: Samson was a man to whom God had given special strength. As long as his hair was long, he would keep that strength. He had many conflicts with the Philistines, the enemies of Israel.

1. Marry Inside the Church

Judges 14:1-3
1 Samson went down to Timnah and saw there a young Philistine woman.
2 When he returned, he said to his father and mother, "I have seen a Philistine woman in Timnah; now get her for me as my wife."
3 His father and mother replied, "Isn't there an acceptable woman among your relatives or among all our people? Must you go to the uncircumcised Philistines to get a wife?" But Samson said to his father, "Get her for me. She's the right one for me."

C: Samson saw a girl. She wasn't from Israel, the people of God. He insisted on marrying her. This caused tremendous conflict in his life between him and the Philistines.

It reminds us of God's command that we should marry onl inside the church.

2 Corinthians 6:14-18
14 Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness?
15 What harmony is there between Christ and Belial ? What does a believer have in common with an unbeliever?
16 What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: "I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people."
17 "Therefore come out from them and be separate, says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you."
18 "I will be a Father to you, and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty."

1 Corinthians 7:39-40
39 A woman is bound to her husband as long as he lives. But if her husband dies, she is free to marry anyone she wishes, but he must belong to the Lord. 40 In my judgment, she is happier if she stays as she is--and I think that I too have the Spirit of God.

Q: What about you? How is your marriage going (if you are married)? If you are single, are you being strong in resisting an arranged marriage? Are you planning to go to your native place soon, where they may arrange a marriage?

2. Run Away From Lust

C: Samson's first marriage ended in disaster. Later in his life, his lust for women again caused him trouble. Let's see what happened.

16:1-6
1 One day Samson went to Gaza, where he saw a prostitute. He went in to spend the night with her.
2 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."
3 But Samson lay there only until the middle of the night. Then he got up and took hold of the doors of the city gate, together with the two posts, and tore them loose, bar and all. He lifted them to his shoulders and carried them to the top of the hill that faces Hebron.
4 Some time later, he fell in love with a woman in the Valley of Sorek whose name was Delilah.
5 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."
6 So Delilah said to Samson, "Tell me the secret of your great strength and how you can be tied up and subdued."

Q: What did Samson see in Gaza? [A prostitute, and he slept with her.]

What happened after that? [The people of the city tried to catch him, but he escaped (vv.2-3).]

Q: What does v.4 say? [He saw another woman and fell in love (really, he fell into lust).]

C: He married this Philistine woman Delilah, and she nagged him, trying to find out the secret of his strength so that the Philistines could subdue him. But he wouldn't tell her. Look at what happened.

Judges 16:15-21
15 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 With such nagging she prodded him day after day until he was tired to death.
17 So he told her everything. "No razor has ever been used on my head," he said, "because I have been a Nazirite set apart to God since birth. If my head were shaved, my strength would leave me, and I would become as weak as any other man."
18 When Delilah saw that he had told her everything, she sent word to the rulers of the Philistines, "Come back once more; he has told me everything." So the rulers of the Philistines returned with the silver in their hands.
19 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.
20 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.
21 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.

C: Finally, Samson told her the secret of his strength: his hair. And so Delilah told the Philistines, and they caught him and gouged out his eyes. Verse 20 is very sad. It says that Samson did not even know that the Lord had left him. It was a tremendous tragedy. That is what happens to us when we lust. It controls our behaviour, and leads to a corrupted heart, and bad relationships.

Q: Have you been struggling with lust? Have you looked at any blue films? Have you lusted with boys / girls on the road?

Conclusion We've seen how marrying the wrong woman ruined Samson's life two times! He could not control his lust, and so all his strength was taken away. He ended alone, captured by his enemies, with his eyes poked out. When we marry outside the church, it ruins our lives, too. Let's stay away from lust, and be sure to marry in the kingdom.