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Samson’s Blindness
/Text: Judges 16:15-21/
Place Preached - (Mississauga International Baptist Church)
Date Preached - (05~/19~/02)
Introduction:
/How Much Does It Cost?/
1) How much does it cost?
2) What's that going to cost us?
3) If I go that direction, how much will it be?
We ask questions like that all the time, don't we?- it may have been something simple like ordering off a menu...
Surely, when it comes down to more significant decisions, we ask those questions.
*Luke 14:28* For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it?
That’s a sign of maturity...that’s just being smart.
The problem is -- sometimes folks don't ask that question:
That can happen when it comes to material things...failing to carefully consider what that purchase will cost.
But isn't this true: - that can also happen spiritually.
People make decisions, take steps, go a certain direction without carefully asking the question --- How much is this really going to cost?
Tonight we're going to learn just how much Samson's decisions cost.
Samson was chosen by God to be a "judge" in Israel.
He gave Samson godly parents to train him for this important task
He instructed Samson to take the Nazarite vow, where he would never:
1) cut his hair 2) drink wine 3) touch a dead carcass...
He also blessed Samson with superhuman strength, and enabled him to do things that no one could do apart from a special work of God.
God wanted him to be a man who was passionate about living for Him in a day when the hearts of God's people had gone cold.
The problem was -- Samson had wasted his opportunities...his strength... his ministry...
In Judges 16, Samson met a woman named Delilah
The problem with Delilah was -- she was using Samson
The Lords of the Philistines (Israel's enemies) had offered her the equivalent of 150 pounds of silver if she could find out the secret to Samson's strength.
The first three times, Samson lied to her.
Of course every time he got up and broke that which bound him like it was thread.
Samson broke the twine (7green withs) and he broke the ropes.
But the third time, Samson's lie got closer to the truth...
Because he said -- if you weave something in my hair, I'll lose my strength.
Delilah tried that too -- and of course that didn't work.
It iss with that background that we move into verses 15-21 -- and learn just what Samson's life of sin is going to cost.
Samson's physical blindness---was an example of (and a consequence of) -- his spiritual blindness.
The way he was forced to live physically in that grinding house... was exactly the way he had been living spiritually for years when he was supposed to be making a difference for God.
The tragedy of this story is not what happened to Samson physically-- the tragedy is what was true of Samson spiritually.
Look what Samson's lifestyle cost.
What a tremendous price to pay!!
Now - this isn't just about Samson - Samson's life was an object lesson to God's people at that time.
The way Samson was living as a person -- God's people were living as a nation.
That’s why this book ends with the words, "/In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes./"
Of course, to take it one step further, these words were recorded in our Bibles -- for our learning, and for our admonition... (*Rom.
15:4*) so that we would be very careful to ask each time...
….- before we speak - before we think - before we act - before we decide - before we choose.... ~/ just how much is that really going to cost?
Samson's problem was he wasn't a careful man ~/ a thoughtful man ~/ he certainly wasn’t a cautious man...
He was a blind man....he was an oblivious to what was going on around him.
/In the time we have left, I'd like us to think of four ways that was true, with the hope that we'll look for any of the same tendencies in ourselves./
! I. Samson Was Blind To The Process of Temptation
One thing that is very clear from this text is that this event didn't “*/just happen/*”.
There was a whole process of temptation taking place that Samson didn't recognize.
/Let's think about that process for a minute./
!! 1) It was a process that involved wrong ("twisted”) thinking.
Delilah was putting one over on him, big time.
- she was playing games with his mind.
Did you see it in verse 15 - "How can you say, you love me, when your heart is not with me?" - that lines' as old as the hills.
“If you really loved me, you'd ___________."
(EXAMPLES)
What is all that?
- it's twisted thinking.
Twisted thinking is always a part of the temptation process---the worst thing about this is that its happening and Samson doesn't even know its happening.
He was blind to the process of temptation.
!! 2).
The process of temptation was also "continual."
In verse 16 – the Bible says -- "she pressed him daily with her words."
Day after day there was nagging and pressing, and pressuring till finally Samson was more than sick and tired of it.
He had had enough!!
*Proverbs 27:15* A continual dropping in a very rainy day and a contentious woman are alike.
But Samson had allowed this woman to tempt him in this way!!
He in many ways did’n’t even realize it was happening.
He stayed when he should have been running!!
Some times, it’s difficult or doesn’t seem possible to run... but you and I would be very wise to especially mark any temptation in our lives that is continual.
Someone has said and it goes along with the *Proverbs* passage -- "/A continual dripping wears away the stone/."
Can I ask you this tonight -- on a average day, how aware are you of the process of temptation?
Are you constantly on your guard?
Are you careful about letting thoughts into your mind that are wrong or twisted?
Are you especially careful in those areas where the temptation is continual?
! II.
He was Blind To The Powerful Effect of Wrong Companions
It's very important to note the first few words in verse 21... "/But the Philistines took him.../"
Philistines - the people he had called friends ~/ whom he chose to associate with ~/ wanted to be around even though God had expressly forbidden it.
Samson just couldn't seem to break away from his love for the Philistines.
Of course, as we said earlier, that was just a picture of the nation Israel at the time, that’s exactly what they were doing.
Instead of claiming the promised land like Joshua had commanded, they made friends with the foreign peoples who didn't know the Lord.
God told them -- Don't intermarry with them.
Don't make them close companions - they'll turn your hearts from following me.
And that is precisely what happened.
These were God's chosen people -- yet after all he did for them, they went out and worshipped other gods.
Because they didn't see the powerful effect of wrong companions
I'm not saying we shouldn't be kind to the people the Lord has placed around us - of course we should
We ought to see to build bridges to those who don't the Lord - we ought to seek to love those the Lord places around us.
But when it comes to the matter of companions - when it comes to the kind of people that we're going to let influence our thinking and our behavior...
…the Lord wants us to see from the life of Samson...We must not be blind to the powerful effect wrong companions can have.
*1 Corinthians 15:33* /Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners./
I know I'm talking to a lot of folks here who believe this.
In fact, many here would be able to say -- not only do I believe this, but our family is taking definite steps to build the right kind of friendships with people who are going to "/provoke us unto love and good works/"
EXAMPLES:
Sunday Services (Faithfulness) ~/ Bible Studies ~/ Leadership Training ~/ Development of Ministries etc.
You can't help but wonder what would have happened if Samson would have just listened to his parents on this issue - cf. *Judges 14:3*; *Judges 16:31*
/NOW, this next point is by far the most important/
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