The High Cost of Low Living
Text: Judges 16:20-31
Introduction: As a 7 year old, Benjamin Franklin was given some small change. He saw another boy playing with a whistle. Benjamin gave the boy all his money for it. He played and played that whistle all over the house. He really enjoyed it until he discovered that he had given four times as much as the whistle was worth. Immediately, the whistle lost its charm. As he grew older, he continued to remember this event in his life and eventually, he developed a principle from that outcome. Whenever he saw a man neglecting his family or business for political popularity, or a miser giving up friendship for the sake of accumulating wealth, he would say, He pays too much for his whistle.
This story has an excellent lesson in it: Too often we pay too great a price for something that looks so good and promises so much. Fish are hooked because they are attracted to something that looks like food and would make a good meal only to become food themselves. Do not be fooled, the world offers you whistles that are not worth the price.
In our text, we are given the tragic end of a man who paid too much for his whistle. Samson lost his power, his position and his testimony because he valued the sin in his life more than he valued the God of his life. As we take a closer look at the life of this man and see where he failed, my hope is that we can learn to avoid the same kind of trouble in our lives. It’s all about Living Low and Paying High. As we look at Samson more in depth and consider the High Cost of Low Living, may we turn inwards and examine our own principles, motives and lifestyles and understand that low living is not worth the high price tag attached to it.
Let’s begin by considering:
I. Samson’s Potential
*God births us into this world with amazing potential - the ability to go far, accomplish much, do great things - but what we do with that potential is up to us.
*Consider Samson’s God-given potential:
A. His conception was extraordinary -
1. Jg 13:3 - "The Angel of the LORD appeared to the woman and said to her, It is true that you are barren and have no children, but you will conceive and give birth to a son."
2. Samson’s birth was announced by the Lord Himself.
B. His rearing up was extraordinary -
1. Jg 13:5 - "You must never cut his hair, because the boy will be a Nazirite to God from birth, and he will begin to save Israel from the power of the Philistines."
2. God’s call to ministry on his life came before he was born.
C. His accomplishments were extraordinary -
1. Jg 14:5-6 - "a young lion came roaring at him, the Spirit of the LORD took control of him, and he tore the lion apart with his bare hands as he might have torn a young goat."
2. Jg 14:19 - "The Spirit of the LORD took control of him, and he went down to Ashkelon and killed 30 of their men."
3. Jg 15:4-5 - "he went out and caught 300 foxes. He took torches, turned the foxes tail-to-tail, and put a torch between each pair of tails. Then he ignited the torches and released the foxes into the standing grain of the Philistines. He burned up the piles of grain and the standing grain as well as the vineyards and olive groves."
4. Jg 15:14-15 - "When he came to Lehi, the Philistines came to meet him shouting. The Spirit of the LORD took control of him, and the ropes that were on his arms became like burnt flax and his bonds fell off his wrists. He found a fresh jawbone of a donkey, reached out his hand, took it, and killed 1,000 men with it."
5. Jg 16:3 - "Samson stayed in bed until midnight at which time he got up, took hold of the doors of the city gate along with the two gateposts, and pulled them out, bar and all. He put them on his shoulders and took them to the top of the mountain overlooking Hebron."
D. His power was extraordinary -
1. Jg 13:25 - "the Spirit of the LORD began to direct him"
2. Jg 14:19 - "The Spirit of the LORD took control of him"
3. Jg 15:14 - "The Spirit of the LORD took control of him"
4. There’s a pattern here - reliance upon the Spirit of God.
Application: Just like Samson, the child of God is an extraordinary individual. We can look at Samson and wish we had the potential and abilities he had or we can arrive at the place in our life where we understand we do have the potential he had if we will only receive. On Pentecost, the Spirit was given to all believers. As we learn to live in the Spirit, be led by the Spirit, and to assimilate the power of God’s Spirit into our daily lives, we will learn that we have even more power available to us than Samson had.
But even with all this potential and ability at his fingertips, we must realize:
II. Samson Had Problems
A. The evidence proves it was not a physical problem. Samson’s problems were spiritually-based. His spiritual weaknesses overrode his physical power to make him the weakest strongman in the history of the world.
A. He battled with his own fleshly desires -
1. Jg 14:1-2 - "Samson went down to Timnah and saw a young Philistine woman there. He went back and told his father and his mother: I have seen a young Philistine woman in Timnah. Now get her for me as a wife."
2. Though he battled the Philistines for over 20 years, they were not his greatest enemy, his greatest enemy was Samson!
3. His own flesh and his fleshly appetites proved to be his undoing. Instead of surrendering his body, soul and spirit to the will of the Lord, he allowed his flesh to control his life and he paid a high price.
B. He battled with his special calling -
1. Jg 13:7 - "You will conceive and give a birth to a son. Therefore, do not drink wine or other alcoholic beverages, and do not eat anything unclean, because the boy will be a Nazirite to God from birth until the day of his death."
2. Although his life was to be totally dedicated to the Lord, he chose to live for himself, taking his vows for granted.
3. He was deceitful, he was lustful, he was proud and arrogant.
C. He battled with powerful addictions -
1. Jg 14:2 - "I have seen a young Philistine woman in Timnah. Now get her for me as a wife."
2. Jg 16:1 - "Samson went to Gaza, where he saw a prostitute and went to bed with her."
3. Jg 16:4 - "Some time later, he fell in love with a woman named Delilah"
4. His bent toward evil and his addiction to the flesh became his eventual undoing and destruction.
Application: Samson’s life was filled with battles. By God’s Spirit, he was able to overcome every enemy that came against him. But, his unwillingness to be spirit-led in his personal life, eventually brought total defeat into his life. We all face our daily problems but God has given us His Spirit in order that we might overcome these problems. The key to it all though is total surrender to His Spirit’s direction. Victory comes to those who overcome their spiritual problems by giving it all over to God’s Spirit.
Life choices determine life consequences whether positive or negative. Samson made life choices that were negative and from these choices we come to see:
III. Samson’s Life Product
A. Because of his sinfulness and his failure to control his fleshly desires and impulses, Samson paid a terrific price.
B. His life choices resulted in life losses -
1. He Lost His Vision - 16:21 - Samson lost his physical sight. When a child of God lives his or her life under the control of the flesh, they too will lose their eyesight. They may keep their physical vision, but they will lose the spiritual. They will lose their vision of the Lord, His Word, His house, lost souls, holy living etc.
2. He Lost His Vitality - 16:20-21 - He was bound. He lost his physical strength when he disclosed the secret of that strength. For the believer in our day, the danger of losing one’s spiritual power is great. Imagine not being able to get a hold of the Lord for your needs or the needs of others. Imagine not having the peace of God. Imagine being bound down by sin so that you cannot worship, cannot experience God, cannot enjoy Him, His Word or His people. Low living carries with it the high price of sapping your spiritual strength and leaving you weak before the Lord!
3. He Lost His Victory - 16:21 - Samson is made to do the work of grinding corn. This was women’s work and was given to him to humiliate him and is an indication of how weak he had become! Can you see the great man of God grinding corn for the Philistines? He has lost his power and he has lost his victory. He is a pitiful spectacle! Nothing is anymore sad than a believer who is out of fellowship with the Lord Jesus! They lack joy and peace. They are no happy. They are defeated, discouraged and demoralized. Sin will literally grind you to powder!
Application: What we sow, we reap. There is a very high price to pay for living low. Every choice we make will result in a consequence whether it be negative or positive. Being Spirit-led and directed is the key to the overcoming life.
Conclusion: What can we learn here today? What began as a life ordained by God, empowered by God, sustained by God, ended up as a life of total defeat because of poor decisions and choices. But, the story doesn’t end here for Samson. As he sat in that dungeon, his mind returned to what it had been like when God was in control. His source of strength began to grow and God’s power once again began to come upon him.
He was led into the heathen temple to be made fun of as a huge party of all the rulers and leaders was going on. He prayed for God’s power one more time and proceeded to bring down the house. On that day, he killed more people than he had killed in his lifetime combined.
So, what do we learn from Samson’s life. We learn that all choices result in some consequence, whether bad or good. We learn there is a very high price to be paid when we choose to live a low life. We also learn that God forgives when we repent and He restores us back into fellowship with Himself when we come to Him and seek Him.
Are you living the low life? It’s time to stop, repent, and be restored back to God.
Disclaimer: Portions of this message or ideas contained within may have been gleaned from other sources. Please feel free to use this message as the Lord leads for His glory.
