Judges 16:20

Judges 16:20

Of all the heroes whose exploits we read in the Book of Judges, none so keenly awakens our sympathy, or so fully arrests our attention, as that solitary hero, Samson. His life is no romance of the past, but it is a type and picture of your life and mine, with its difficulties, temptations, and dangers. From the story of Samson we learn:

I. The absolute necessity there is of our achieving a nobler morality, a higher level of religion, than is to be found in the mere conventional standards Which are rife around us. What was it made Samson strong? He refused to accept the low degraded religious standard which his contemporaries were content with. To him nothing short of a real harmony between the promise of God and the fact of his people's freedom would be satisfactory.

II. On no account sacrifice your convictions. The conviction of Samson was that the dominion of God was absolute and irresistible, that the promises of God were true and everlastingly faithful. The force of conviction in your mind that Christ is true, that His Holy Spirit is a real power and influence in your heart, will make you strong, nay omnipotent, against all evil in the world.

III. Temptation comes gradually. It seems like a sudden catastrophe when Samson, who had been the glory of his people, the very hero of Dan, is led a nerveless and enslaved captive into the dungeons of the Philistines. Yet the progress of sin was very gradual over his heart. Inch by inch Delilah wearied out the strength of resistance, and then came the terrible catastrophe.

IV. With every sin there comes a blunting of that moral capacity by which you detect its presence "He wist not that the Lord was departed from him." No man is the same after sin; no man ever can be. Sow an act and reap a habit; sow a habit and reap a destiny.

V. Notice two thoughts arising from the story: (1) True convictions can be had from Christ alone. (2) Preserve the consecration of your whole life to Him.

Bishop Boyd Carpenter, Christian World Pulpit,vol. i., p. 299.

References: Judges 16:20. G. Brooks, Outlines of Sermons,p. 413; Homiletic Magazine,vol. xiv., p 46; Parker, vol. vi., p. 169; S. Baring-Gould, One Hundred Sermon Sketches,p. 121.Judges 16:20 Spurgeon, Sermons,vol. iv., No. 224.Judges 16:21. S. Baring-Gould, One Hundred Sermon Sketches,p. 87. Judges 16:23. W. Meller, Village Homilies,p. 79 Judges 16:25, Preacher's Monthly,vol. iv., p. 316.