CHANGE IS INEVITABLE

Judges 16:4-20

4 And it came to pass afterward, that he loved a woman in the valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah.

5 And the lords of the Philistines came up unto her, and said unto her, Entice him, and see wherein his great strength lieth, and by what means we may prevail against him, that we may bind him to afflict him: and we will give thee every one of us eleven hundred pieces of silver.

6 And Delilah said to Samson, Tell me, I pray thee, wherein thy great strength lieth, and wherewith thou mightest be bound to afflict thee.

7 And Samson said unto her, If they bind me with seven green withs that were never dried, then shall I be weak, and be as another man.

8 Then the lords of the Philistines brought up to her seven green withs which had not been dried, and she bound him with them.

9 Now there were men lying in wait, abiding with her in the chamber. And she said unto him, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And he brake the withs, as a thread of tow is broken when it toucheth the fire. So his strength was not known. 10 And Delilah said unto Samson, Behold, thou hast mocked me, and told me lies: now tell me, I pray thee, wherewith thou mightest be bound.

11 And he said unto her, If they bind me fast with new ropes that never were occupied, then shall I be weak, and be as another man.

12 Delilah therefore took new ropes, and bound him therewith, and said unto him, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And there were liers in wait abiding in the chamber. And he brake them from off his arms like a thread.

13 And Delilah said unto Samson, Hitherto thou hast mocked me, and told me lies: tell me wherewith thou mightest be bound. And he said unto her, If thou weavest the seven locks of my head with the web.

14 And she fastened it with the pin, and said unto him, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And he awaked out of his sleep, and went away with the pin of the beam, and with the web.

15 And she said unto him, How canst thou say, I love thee, when thine heart is not with me? thou hast mocked me these three times, and hast not told me wherein thy great strength lieth.

16 And it came to pass, when she pressed him daily with her words, and urged him, so that his soul was vexed unto death;

17 That he told her all his heart, and said unto her. There hath not come a razor upon mine head; for I have been a Nazarite unto God from my mother’s womb: if I be shaven, then my strength will go from me, and I shall become weak, and be like any other man.

18 And when Delilah saw that he had told her all his heart, she sent and called for the lords of the Philistines, saying, Come up this once, for he hath shewed me all his heart. Then the lords of the Philistines came up unto her, and brought money in their hand.

19 And she made him sleep upon her knees; and she called for a man, and she caused him to shave off the seven locks of his head; and she began to afflict him, and his strength went from him.

20 And she said, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And he awoke out of his sleep, and said, I will go out as at other times before, and shake myself. And he wist not that the Lord was departed from him.

 

If we always do what we have always done, we will always get what we have always got.

 

Nothing in this world stays the same:

• Microwaves
• Panty hose
• VCR’s
• Gasoline prices
• Telephones
• Computers
• Families

 

Everything is in constant state of change!

 

Sometimes we resist change so much that we are left behind.

 

CHANGE IS INEVITABLE!!!!

 

We have no choice on whether change is going to happen…it will happen, how we react to it will determine how successful we are in CONTINUING to be effective.

 

Everything we do must be weighed in the balance of soul winning.

 

Acts 1:8

But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.

 

Our 1^st commandment after receiving the HG is to reach someone else with the GOSPEL.

 

Soul winning must become the 1^st priority of the church!

 

If what we are doing is not winning souls, then we must change the methods, not the message.

 

Samson never learned to change the things in his life that were wrong. He just kept doing the same things, and repeatedly got himself into the same type of problems.

 

When we refuse to change, and adapt to the times and culture of our day, we will continually have the same unproductive results. We will awaken days, months, and years later wondering what happened, and why do we not have more to show for our effort.

 

A’s for effort are wonderful, but if souls are not being produced, then something must change.

 

8 things that Samson found out when his hair had been shaven:

 

1. He had his first haircut (Judges 16:17).
2. He was no longer a Nazarite.
3. He was as weak as other men (Judges 16:17-19).
4. His new lover had betrayed him (Judges 16:18).
5. His enemies had power over him (Judges 16:19-21).
6. He was not at all like he’d been at other times when he shook himself (Judges 16:20).
7. The Lord had departed from him.
8. He was helpless to fight back now (Judges 16:20-21).

 

Samson was completely bewildered at the predicament that he was in, but it all came from his unwillingness to change.

 

Isaiah 6:1-8

In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple.

2 Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly.

3 And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory.

4 And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke.

5 Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.

6 Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar:

7 And he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged.

8 Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me.

 

• Isaiah had already been a preacher for several years
• Messages, songs, prophecies had already flowed through him
• Death brought about a need for God
• He saw himself in a very honest way
• Change came from off of the altar
• Nation was reached because of his willingness to change

 

What will happen if we refuse to allow God to change us?

• Unproductivity
• No babies
• Left behind in the flowing of the Spirit

 

What will happen if we allow God to lead us into a change of heart?

• Babies
• Fruit produced
• Cutting edge following God

 

The Spirit of God had been referred to several times as water. Water continually flows, changes, and moves all of the time.

 

We can never change the message, but the methods must continually change to our culture.