Sin is like lollies or candy, it comes in all different sizes, shapes, and flavours, but none of it is good for you. Sin is anything that displeases God including lies, lust, anger, hatred, selfishness, not tithing, cheating, stealing, immorality, being mean, neglecting Bible and prayer, swearing, dressing like the world, not putting God first, disobeying parents and even coveting things that God has not given us.

Over 35 years ago, while I was in Bible College, I heard Dr. Ron Comfort preach a message on Samson. He pointed out that sin is blinding, sin is binding, and sin is grinding. Though I do not remember anything of the sermon’s details, I never forgot that powerful outline.

Transition

This week the Lord gave me a sermon on those same three points that warns us of the often-overlooked dangers of sin.

Sin is Blinding

  1. Eyesight is extremely precious
    1. Loss of sight would be dreadful. Samson lost his two eyes because of his sin. Samson never got his eyesight back. He lived the remainder of his life in total darkness. He was sorry till the day he died that sin had caused him to lose his eyesight. (Judges 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.”
    2. Like Samson who was robbed of his precious eyesight, sin will rob us of the most precious things in life.
      1. Sin robs fellowship with God.
      2. Sin robs purity.
      3. Sin robs peace.
      4. Sin robs integrity.
      5. Sin robs a good reputation.
      6. Sin robs the ability to do God’s will.
  2. Sin blinds us to its consequences.
    1. Satan is active when we sin. He tells us that a little sin won’t hurt. He claims that we won’t get caught. He makes us think it will be the ultimate enjoyment. Moses realized that sin’s pleasure will never last. (Hebrews 11:24-25) “By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter; Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season;”
    2. Sin blinds to all the pain that lies ahead for those who disobey God. While we are sinning, we cannot see the regret, grief, heartache, shattered lives and sorrow that lie ahead.
    3. James describes sin as lure or bait that deceives the sinner and catches him, which causes unrepairable damage. (James 1:14-15) “But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away [lured] of his own lust, and enticed [baited]. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.”
    4. Once a person loses his physical eyesight, he will never get it back. Spiritually, God can forgive any sin, but often sin leaves scars or consequences that remain until death.
      ² When tempted to sin, remember that sin is blinding!

Sin is Binding

  1. Sin binds like an addiction.
    1. One sin often leads to a second and a third.
      1. Every cigarette addict started with one puff.
      2. Every drunk began with one taste of alcohol.
      3. Every drug addict began with a small sample of drug.
      4. Every pornography addiction began with looking at one dirty picture.
      5. Every rebellious teenager began with a bad attitude.
    2. One sin makes is easier to sin again. The devil lies and says, “You already did it once so it won’t hurt to do it again.” God tells us the truth! (2 Timothy 2:22) “Flee also youthful lusts: but follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart.”
    3. Sin grips and holds us like fetters of brass. Yes, sin is enslaving. (John 8:34) “Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin.”
  2. Sin will tie you up and hold you down
    1. Sin can keep you from serving God.
    2. Men, sin may prevent you from being the loving husband and father that God wants you to be.
    3. Ladies, sin may stop you from being the submissive wife and disciplinary mother that God wants you to be.
    4. Sin often takes people from the will of God and binds them so that they mist God’s best for their lives.
      1. When we start out life, God has a perfect will for each of us. When we sin, we may do something that will disqualify us from what God wanted us to do. For example, God says that a divorced man cannot be a preacher.
      2. Young people, God knows the person He has picked out for you to marry one day. If you do not walk close to the Lord, you may never find that special person God has for you.
        ² Sin will tie you up and hold you down. Sin is binding!

Sin is Grinding

  1. Grinding is humiliating
    1. Samson was reduced from the fearless invincible man to a blind powerless slave pushing the grinding wheel with the animals. Or he may have been forced to grind meal in a hand mill. For a man it was menial and humiliating, for grinding meal was a woman’s work or the work of the lowest kinds of slaves.
    2. Samson was led by a lad and mocked by the Philistines. (Judges 16:25) “And it came to pass, when their hearts were merry, that they said, Call for Samson, that he may make us sport. And they called for Samson out of the prison house; and he made them sport: and they set him between the pillars.”
    3. Sin is always a disgrace. (Proverbs 14:34) “Righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin is a reproach to any people.”
  2. Grinding is miserable hard work
    1. As a grinding slave, Samson was miserable.
      1. He could not see. He would trip and stumble.
      2. He was probably whipped as an ox to work harder.
      3. He probably suffered hunger and thirst as he laboured. Grinding was dreadful.
    2. The prodigal son suffered in a similar way because of his sin. (Luke 15:14-17) “And when he had spent all, there arose a mighty famine in that land; and he began to be in want. And he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country; and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. And he would fain have filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eat: and no man gave unto him. And when he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my father’s have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger!”
    3. Sin forces the sinner to grind in the prison house of guilt and shame. It makes him grind the rest of his life with regret. (Galatians 6:7) “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.”
      ² Do not be deceived, sin is grinding!

Conclusion

Samson could have avoided all three of these consequences if he had obeyed God and not sinned. The BEST way to avoid the terrible heartaches of sin is to DO RIGHT. We must not be deceived by the pleasures of sin. Every sin is a wicked sin that offends God, and every sin has the potential of ruining our lives.

Perhaps you are a slave to lust, or a slave to pornography, or a slave to selfishness, or a slave to a hypocritical life, or a slave to anger, or a slave to bitterness, or a slave to greed, or a slave to a substance. If so, sin has blinded you. It has bound you. It will make you grind with miserable guilt. Sin is no minor mistake. Sin is a terrible offence and a dreadful curse.

If a sin has been blinding, binding and grinding you, there is still hope. Our wonderful God is a forgiving God. (Psalm 86:5) “For thou, Lord, art good, and ready to forgive; and plenteous in mercy unto all them that call upon thee.” God can forgive you and set you free from that sin. If you will humble yourself and honestly confess your sin to God, He will cleanse you. (Proverbs 28:13) “He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy.”

Song: Just As I Am – 249
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Learning from Samson
22 May 2016 PM – Judges 16:21 – Scott Childs