| Failure ain't Final: Pastor Tim Lee |
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16:16 And it came to pass, when she pressed him daily with her words, and urged him, [so] that his soul was vexed unto death; 16:17That he told her all his heart, and said unto her, There hath not come a razor upon mine head; for I [have been] a Nazarite unto God from my mother's womb: if I be shaven, then my strength will go from me, and I shall become weak, and be like any [other] man. 16:18 And when Delilah saw that he had told her all his heart, she sent and called for the lords of the Philistines, saying, Come up this once, for he hath shewed me all his heart. Then the lords of the Philistines came up unto her, and brought money in their hand. 16:19 And she made him sleep upon her knees; and she called for a man, and she caused him to shave off the seven locks of his head; and she began to afflict him, and his strength went from him. 16:20 And she said, The Philistines [be] upon thee, Samson. And he awoke out of his sleep, and said, I will go out as at other times before, and shake myself. And he wist not that the LORD was departed from him. 16:21 But the Philistines took him, and put out his eyes, and brought him down to Gaza, and bound him with fetters of brass; and he did grind in the prison house. Here's a very well known story of the old testament about a man that under the anointing of the Holy Spirit had the power of superman. The message is about how that a man raised a Nazarite had favor from God. Samson was different in that God made this one man a terror to the Philistines. Samson had become enemy number one and they purposed to destroy him. Samson was a righteous judge for many years, but he begins to think about himself instead of the children of Israel. Samson's weakness was he loved to be with bad women. There was a woman named Delilah that Samson fell deeply in love with and this was the beginning of the end. The Philistines knew of Samson's great strenght had something thing to do with his connection to the Jewish God of his fathers. The Philistines hired Delilah to find Samson's secret to having super human power. Samson after being pressed dailey and deceived 3 times previous, finally tells all of his heart to Delilah. After falling asleep in the lap of deception, she calls for a man to remove his locks of hair. Delilah cries out Samson the Philistines are upon you, only to awake to his worse nightmare. For the first time Samson has to face the Philistines without the power of the Holy Ghost. Samson was subdued and taken out to where they put out his eyes. Samson was then taken to a grinding mill and made to push the mill stone to grind the meal and be made fun of. Samson the anointed of the most high God, had become a failure. Satan will not be satisfied with taking you to Hell with him, Satan wants your whole family.
16:28 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.
The Philistines bring Samson down on a day of worship to their god Dagon, to make sport of him. Samson called unto the Lord, failure ain't final. Samson knew that the God that he had left, was a forgiving God. The fact that Samson's hair begin to grow reconnecting that vow that brought Samson into covenant with God. Samson ask the lad to let him rest on the pillars that hold up the temple of Dagon. Samson called unto the Lord, Remember me this one time and avenge me of my eyes. Failure was not final, Samson killed more that day pulling the walls down on his enemies, than at any other time. Samson found favor with God and the power of the Holy Spirit one more time. The message is a simply thought, Failure Ain't final until you refuse to get back up. Had Samson given completely up, he would have died being a side show for the Philistines, at the grinding mill. Peter failed but He wept for forgiveness. Judas failed and He hanged himself. How would you respond to failure? Failure still allows for God to show you mercy. Failure should not be final, if you would allow the Holy Spirit to convict you of your failures. God has one unpardonable sin, everything else can be forgiven. |
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