"The Foolishness of Repetitive Sin" | Pastor Steve Gaines

take your Bibles and please turn with me to Judges chapter 26 wrong book proverbs chapter 26 I'm sure there's something good in judges 26 if there is a judge 26 proverbs 26 11 and then turned to judges 16 all right proverbs 26 and we're going to look at verse 11 and then we will look at judges chapter 16 and we're going to talk today about the foolishness of repetitive sin what is sin it is breaking the laws of God first john 3 for everyone who practices sin also practices lawlessness and then he says sin is lawlessness and who has become a spiritual law breaker everyone Bible says in Romans 3:23 as you well know for all have sinned and come short or fall short of the glory of God and what happens when we sin there are horrific consequences ezekiel 18:4 says behold all sins God says behold all souls are mine the soul of the father is well verse oldest son is mine the soul who sins will die say those last words with me please the soul who sins will die there's no exceptions you sin it brings about spiritual death that's why Romans 6:23 Paul says for the wages the just penalty of sin is death Paul also said in Galatians 6 don't be deceived God is not mocked for whatever a man sews this he will also reap for the one who sews to his own flesh well from the flesh reap corruption but the one who sews to the Spirit will from the spirit reap eternal life if you so to the flesh you will reap corruption and destruction and that's why when God's people sinned when you and I as Christians sinned God disciplines us Hebrews 12:6 for the Lord disciplines the one he loves he chastises every son whom he received now why would he do that well you read a little bit farther in Hebrews 12 it says in verse 10 for our earthly fathers disciplined us for a few years doing the best they knew how but God's discipline is always good for us here it is now so that we might share in his holiness the reason God disciplines you is so you'll be holy that is more like Jesus but sometimes even though God does discipline us we keep on repeating the same old sins look at that boy the picture of that young man on the front of your bulletin and tell me you've never been there that boy you just got it written all over him does he not I did it again I can't believe I did it again even though we know the consequences are bad we commit our sins the same sin again and again this morning I want to talk to you about the foolishness of repetitive sin and there is no greater verse in Proverbs on that subject than the one I want to read to you proverbs 26 verse 11 like a dog that returns to its vomit I never thought I'd say that word in the pulpit is a fool who repeats his folly read it with me please off the screen like a dog that returns to its vomit is a fool who repeats his folly I looked up several sources that explain why dogs eat their vomit you should have been there with me it was a great time of research and they all came to the same conclusion dogs eat their vomit because dogs like vomit is that profound hard to understand the sermon today and we repeat our sin for the same reason because we like our sin as much as a dog likes its vomit now to show you I did some research and there's a difference between regurgitation and vomiting so while I'm here I'll just straighten you out on this all right I I don't want you using the wrong word yes I regurgitating well maybe maybe not regurgitation is the ejection of food that has already been swallowed that is it's past the mouth but it's still in the esophagus but vomit is the ejection of the food that passed the mouth and the esophagus got down in the stomach and down in the intestines I mean it's got some bad stuff in it and I can tell some of y'all are about to leave you're getting sick but I don't think it's an accident I think it's providential don't you that God connected that imagery with sin is there more anything that can upset you more get you more nauseated and I want to tell you something your sin nauseates God and you'll never stop repeating it until your sin nauseates you vomit is dealing with spiritual or our physical problems something's wrong physically when you vomit and sin deals with something that's wrong spiritually anybody can understand this proverb I mean how many times does the center return to his sin how many times do you return to your sin how many times as a liar tell another lie how many times does a glutton overeat how many times does in a moral man turn to pornography how many times is a rebellious wife dishonor her husband how many times does a rebellious child mock his parents how many times does a drunkard reach for another bottle of booze saying that this time will be different how many times does a dog returns to its vomit how many times does a fool repeat his folly one of the classic examples in the Old Testament of someone who repeated his sin and his folly was Sampson he lived during a wicked period of Israel's history known as the time of the judges and it is summarized in the last verse of the book in those days there was no king in Israel everybody did what was right in his own eyes and that's what we are seeing in America today don't tell me what to do what's right for me may be wrong for you what's wrong for me may be right for you I am progressive I don't want to hear about universal truth I don't want to hear about any solid standards I don't want I just wanna whatever I think is right in my own eyes that's what I'm going to do and just like in Samson's day people are calling good evil and evil good Sampson was in a godly position but he had he was guilty of repetitive sin he was a serial fornicator he was a dog who returns to his vomit he was a fool who repeated his folly what can we learn from him number one when you repeat your folly you revel in sin you get excited about sin now go to judges chapter 16 and look at verse 1 now Sampson went to Gaza saw a harlot there and went into her note that this happened in Gaza southwest of Israel it was at that time the headquarters of the Philistines Israel's arch enemy and it is to this day still the epicenter of many of Israel's enemies in our day Samson had gone outside the boundaries of the Holy Land because he was not intending to do anything holy here's a holy man connected with the harlot a preacher with a prostitute a man of the cloth was a call girl is there anything more repugnant than that verse 2 when it was told to the guy sites saying Sampson has come here they surrounded the place laying wait for him all night at the gate of the city they kept silent all night saying let us wait until the morning light then we will kill him now Sampson lay until midnight and at midnight he arose took hold of the doors of the city gate these were probably ten or eleven twelve feet doors and the to post and pulled them up along with the bars let me just say there you can't do that then he put them on his shoulders carried them to the top of the mountain look at me you can't do that which is opposite Hebrew now this is amazing strength but where did his strength come from it came from the Holy Spirit Bible says in judges 13 then the woman gave birth this is his mom - a son named him Samson the child grew up and the Lord blessed him now look at verse 25 and the Spirit of the Lord began to stir in him later on we read in chapter 14 verses five and six then Samson went down to Timna with his father and mother came as far as the vineyards of Timna behold a young lion came roaring toward him the Spirit of the Lord came upon him mightily so that he tore him that is the lion as one tear as a young goat though he had nothing in his hand but he did not tell his father and mother what he had done judges 1419 says the Spirit of the Lord came upon Samson mightily and went down to Ashkelon killed thirty of them that is the Philistines took their spoil gave the changes of clothes to those who had told the riddle and his anger burned and he went up to his father's house Samson had amazing strength there's one time where he killed a thousand men with the jawbone of a donkey he was strong physically and yet he had a weak this for women he was immoral and he reveled in his sin the devil was just setting him up he thought that he was getting away with it all look at me nobody ever gets away with any sin nobody God has no favorites some of you that's what the devil is trying to do to you he's setting you up you have Samba setting sin in your family or in your life and you say well that's the way my parents were that's the way my siblings are that's just the way we are and you're gonna settle for that it ought to make you angry that that's the way your family is and you ought to say I'm going to break the chains I'm going to be the one where it stops it's not passing on to my children sin runs in all families but the wise person renounces and repents of their sin they refused to be a fool who repeats their folly nowadays people cohabitate that's a fancy modern word for fornication which is an abomination to God and God says I will punish fornicators an even non-religious statistics show that if you live with someone who is not your spouse and you're intimate with them obviously you would be that you're a lot more likely to divorce than if you don't cohabitate and if you marry a habitual cohabitate err you are asking for a divorce you're uniting with a dog that returns to his vomit a fool who repeats is folly repetitive sin begins when you don't repent of sin but you rebel you rejoice in your sin and we've got a lot of people in America today who parade up and down the streets reveling in their sin secondly when you revel in your sin it won't be long before you repeat your sin what we read in judges 16 1 through 3 was not the first time that Samson had been immoral nor would it be the last verse for after this it came about that he loved a woman in the valley of Sorek whose name was Delilah Oh he'd never been with a woman like this before Delilah no man no woman could defeat Samson he was walking tall he was prancing proudly over confident cocky unconcerned about his future little did he know that in Delilah he hadn't met his match the devil had lulled him to sleep with with his sin he thought he was involve after all he was the judge of all his thrill God was on his side but he didn't know that God was the judge of the judges God had given him plenty of time to repent of womanizing and I want you to listen what I'm saying his problem was he mistook God's patience for God's tolerance you hear what I just said God has been patient with some of you so you would repent and some of you believe that his patience means he's giving you a by God doesn't give anybody a buy on sin Sampson didn't believe he played by the same rules as everybody else did he thought he was special because he was a judge he thought he was above the laws of God but through Delilah he would learn a lesson he'd never forget and look who was sponsoring the Delilah look at verse 5 the Lords of the Philistines came up to her and said to her entice him see where his great strength lies how we may overpower him that we may bind him to afflict him then we will each give you 1,100 pieces of silver so she engaged in her tactics of temptation she wanted that money verse 6 Delilah said to Samson please tell me where your great strength is big boy and how you may be bound to afflict you can you imagine somebody saying something that did you and you going right along I want to know how to bind you and afflict you I'm calling the police Samson lied to her verse 7 he said if they bind me with seven fresh cords that have not been dried then I'll become weak and be like any other man then the Lords of the Philistines brought up to her seven fresh cords that had been dried and she bound him with them no doubt she rewarded him with immorality he fell asleep in her evil arms she bound him with those seven fresh cords gave the signal Samson's enemies rushed in verse nine and she had men lying in wait in an upper room and she said to him as though she was concerned the Philistines be upon you Samson they snapped those cords a string of toe snaps when it as a string of toe snaps when it touches fire so his strength was not discovered now you would think that he would understand that he couldn't trust this woman but lust is intoxicating like a dumb animal he goes to the slaughterhouse verse 10 Delilah said to Samson behold you've deceived me told me lies now please tell me how you may be bound can't you see her seductive voice and hear her seductive voice and see her seductive eyes she's selling it man she even threw in the word please he lied to her again verse 11 he said to her if they bind me tightly with new ropes which have not been used then I'll become weak and I'll be like any other man no doubt she was intimate with him again immorally he fell asleep and her lustful arms so Delilah took the new ropes bound him with them and said to him the Philistines are upon you Sampson as though she was concerned for the men were lying in wait in the inner room he snapped the ropes from his arms like a thread twice she had asked him twice he had lied twice she had bound him twice he had freed himself he was living the dream he was the leader of this thrill he had this gorgeous woman satisfying his lustful desires but Delilah was getting angry verse 13 Delilah said to Samson up to now you've deceived me you've told me lies tell me how you may be bound he said there if you leave the seven locks of my hair notice he's starting to get close to the right answer with the web fasten it with a pen then I'll become weak and like any other man Samson getting dangerously close to telling the truth he talks about his hair what was the big deal about that because he was a Nazarite to God from the womb to the day of his death judges 13-7 says as a Nazarite he was to drink no wine and to eat no unclean non kosher food and he could not shave his hair for the duration of his life he was a permanent Nazarite if you took the Nazarite ik bow you grew your hair during the time of the vow if you were a permanent Nazarite you never cut your hair it was the symbol of your commitment to God so in this third response he's getting very close to telling her the truth he's flirting with sin he thought he was flirting with Delilah he was flirting with sin and once again they enjoyed their immorality Samson falls asleep Delilah goes to work verse 14 so while he kept he slept Delilah took the seven locks of his hair wove them into the web she fastened it with the pin said to him the Philistines are upon you Samson but he awoke from his sleep pulled out the pin of the Loom and the web then she said to him how can you say that you love me when your heart is not with me you've deceived me these three times as though she wasn't deceptive herself then if you have not told me where your great strength is he just kept on repeating his sin like a dog that returns to his moment he was a fool who repeated his father I wonder if I'm talking to somebody they can identify with Samson God's been patient with you trying to get you to repent and you've mistaken that as his tolerance of your sin nothing could be farther from the truth God hates all sin he loves sinners but he hates your sin and God is not a respecter of persons we all play by the same set of rules if you will the devil is setting somebody up in this sanctuary today in order to take you out here's what he's saying go ahead cheat in your business everybody does it that's how you get rich go ahead eat whatever you want you won't become obese you'll never have a heart attack you won't have a stroke you won't be a diabetic go on further with women at work your wife will never know go ahead call in sick even though you're well you owe it to yourself and on and on the temptations roll go ahead gossip about your neighbor nobody will ever know go ahead be arrogant toward your husband you know I have to submit to him and just like Simpson you're blindly walking into the house of sin every day God's rules don't apply to you the wages of sin may be death but not for me everyone else is going to reap what they sow but I won't the soul of every other Center will die but I won't die like a dog that returns to his vomit you're a fool who repeats your folly you repeat your sin so what's the end of it you revel in your sin you repeat your sin and finally after God gives you a time to get right with him and you don't you reap sins wages and this is tough stuff when you engage in repetitive sin you reap sins wages first of all you forfeit God's gifts verse 16 and 17 it came about when she pressed him daily with her words urged him that his soul was annoyed to death so he told her all that was in his heart and he said there a razor has never come on my head I've been a Nazarite to God from my mother's womb if I'm shaved in my strength will leave me and I will become weak and be like any other man he made one too many trips to Delilah's house the Bible says now flee from youthful lusts pursue righteousness faith love and peace with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart run from sin flee from sin run from lust run from anger run from laziness run from they run from drunkenness pursue godliness fellowship with godly people and Sampson did none of those things he did everything the opposite Delilah kept nagging and seducing and finally he gave in how sad he had given what was holy to dogs he had cast his pearl before swine he had she was now trampling God's good gifts under her feet and she was about to turn in terror Sampson to pieces how many men have been ruined by the likes of Delilah how many women have lost their innocence and dignity to a degenerate demonized immoral man like Samson first you revel in your sin then you repeat your sin but soon you will reap the wages of your sin and that's death and then you don't just forfeit God's good gifts you lose God's anointing look at verse 18 when Delilah saw that he had told her all that was in his heart she sent and called the Lords of the Philistines and she said come up once more for he's told me all that's in his heart then the Lords of the Philistines came up to her and brought the money in their hands and then she devoured her prey verse 19 she made him sleep on her knees and called for a man who had hid who had him shave off the seven locks of his hair then she began to afflict him and his strength left him his strength had come from the Holy Spirit the holy spirit had left him so his strength left him and then she says again as though she was concerned the Philistines are upon you safe sunny and notice Samson's foolish presumption and he awoke from his sleep and said I'll go out as at other times and I'll shake myself free isn't that what the sinner says I can beat this in i/o I've sinned again but I know my god God's a good God good old God he won't ever let me suffer for my sins he's forgiving me so many times I'm sure he'll do it again good old God will come through again I won't have to pay for my sin but then came the Great Awakening verse 20 but he did not know that the Lord had departed from him Sampson had lost the anointing of the Holy Spirit and he became weak and like every other man he had lost the anointing of God for a few moments of lust bad deal what about you is your sin worth losing the anointing of God is your sin worth losing the power of the Holy Spirit in your family the protection of the Holy Spirit in your family the intimacy that you have behind closed doors with God in prayer is your sin worth all of that is it worth your dignity is it worth your family being torn up is it worth you losing your job and maybe even your mind losing God's anointing and then when you engage in repetitive sin you suffer sins consequences look at verse 21 then the Philistine seized him gouged out his eyes they brought him down to Gaza bound him with bronze chains he was a grinder in the prison God had made him to be a judge a leader and now he was a slave a blind defeated chained up grinder in a prison and in verse 22 however the hair of his head began to grow after it was shaved off Delilah wasn't the only one who abused Samson the Philistines also abused their greatest enemy who again had killed a thousand of them at one time with a donkey's jawbone but now his strength was gone the strong man was seized the brave man was blind and so they bound him he was a slave down in Gaza he was down in more ways than one shattered the shackles before but he was now captive by their chains and he who had lifted city gates was now locked in a Cell he who had killed lions was nothing but a weak whimper the mighty had fallen when Satan tempts us he never shows us the consequences of our sins he just shows you the beautiful Delilah's he shows you the passing pleasures but you don't see the end as revelation 3:17 says that you will be wretched miserable poor blind and naked I'm begging you if you're in this cycle of temptation to turn from that seduction before it's too late turn before your eyes are put out turn before your hands and feet are shackled turn before you lose your dignity turn and repent while you can run to Jesus today don't suffer sins deadly consequences and then when you engage in repetitive sins you amuse God's enemies you make the lost people laughed verse 23 now the Lords of the Philistines assembled to offer a great sacrifice to Dagon their God and to rejoice for they said our God has given Samson our enemy into our hand when the people saw him they praised their God for they said our God has given our enemy into our hands no he had not a lustful man had done it even the destroyer of our country who had slain many of us it so happened verse 25 when they were in high spirits that they said call for Samson that he may come and amuse us so they called for Samson he was probably without any clothes they were embarrassing him from the prison and he entertained them and they made him stand between the pillars what a contrast he who had once experienced God's abundant favor found out that serving the devil pays pitifully he was like the prodigal son Satan had promised him stake but gave him slop Samson had once terrorized the Philistines now he's the punchline of their jokes and Christian when you repeat your sin you will inevitably become a source of amusement for God's enemies and finally when you engage in repetitive sin you die in shame verse 26 samuel said to the boy who was holding his hand let me feel the pillars on which the house rest that I may lean against them the house was full of men and women all the Lords of the Philistines were there and about three thousand men and women were on the roof looking on while Samson was amusing them then Samson called to the Lord and said o Lord God please remember me and please strengthen me just this time o God that I may it wants to be avenged of the Philistines for my two eyes Samson grasps the two pillars middle pillars on which the house rested and braced himself against them the one with his right hand and the other with his left Samson said let me die with the Philistines and he bent with all his so that the house fell in the Lord's and all the people who were in it so the dead whom he killed at his death were more than those whom he killed in his life than his brothers and all the father's household came down took him brought him up buried him between zorah and eshtaol in the tomb of Manoa his father there he had judged thus he had judged history of twenty years some people find hope in these final verses I don't think it outweighs the tragedy Samson's hair grew again Samson God used him in his end but he was still blind he was still a slave he was still being mocked God can forgive any sin but some results of some Sims caused damage that cannot be corrected can be forgiven but it can't be corrected don't don't take any hope out of those last verses saying well everything's going to be ok it wasn't ok the great leader had gone down you know if you get to heaven look him up and as Samson was Delilah worth it just ask I know the answer no no there's a cycle in judges can we put that on the screen Israel serves God and it's in that time when Israel is most vulnerable Herschel Hobbes said if poverty has slain its thousands prosperity has slain its tens of thousands it's when things are going right that you got to really focus on loving God and not loving his blessings only and Israel then falls into sin and then God punishes their sin he always will to punish yours too in mine too Israel is enslaved Israel repents and cries out to God God raises up a judge Israel is delivered and Israel serves God and you think they'd stay there but not so in the book of Judges everybody did what was right in his own eyes there is no standard there is no constant truth there is no one way that is right there are not just there's not just one way to God there are many ways to God if there is a god and what I believe is just as good as what you believe there is no standard does that sound vaguely familiar to you at all do you not see that we're living in the land of the judges you said well this is great how you get out of it write this down and we'll be through don't look at me write it down with your hand number one get on us and get angry about your sin this last week I had lunch with a guy in our church who had been an alcoholic drug addict lived on the street I said how did you get free he said I got mad at my sin he's not realized I'm either gonna die or I'm gonna live I chose life he said I I got mad at my sin I got honest about it and angry about it and then I can then you confess your sin to a confidential friend who will pray for you then you wage war on your sin you pray and fast go without food yes yes and you pray instead of eating a meal and show God that you don't live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God oh but I take medicine I've been taking it for 20 years and you can still fast eat a meal in the morning take your medicine and fast the rest of the day and you'll be okay I promise you you'll be okay and you cry out to God about your sin wage war on it and then stay committed it's going to be a long obedience aren't you sick and tired of the same old sin it's not gonna change by itself Samson you got to quit going to Delilah's house you've got to turn from sin and turn to God and some of you have sin that runs in your family you know what you ought to do you ought to draw a line in the sand and say it ends with me it ends with me I will not let this pass on to my children I will not let this pass on to my grandchildren I will not stay defeated in this I will not live in this I won't live in this anger I won't live in this lust I won't live in this fear I won't live in this hate I won't live the way I've seen my family live I'm not gonna do it I'm gonna go with God I'm gonna declare war on my sin and God's gonna pull me out of the miry clay set my feet on a rock put a new song in my heart a song of praise to my god and I'm not going to give up until I see victory can I have an amen in the house of God amen let's pray together father in the name of Jesus this be a message of hope and show us the foolishness of repeating sin in Jesus name and if you agree say Amen

Channel: Bellevue Baptist Church

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Length: 42min 24sec (2544 seconds)

Published: Thu Jun 06 2019