Men trapped in the snares
08 Jul 2017 | 2 min readsermon2017subang | worldlypossession lovetheworld
-Like the wild animals in the jungle, the forest is ensnared with traps.
-This is a metaphor of the work of the devils to trap the children of God with worldly sin.
-The 1st Snare - Wealth -This is one of the biggest downfall of men -1Tim 6: 9-10 -Many people have given up their faith for they have been blind-sided and wandered off from the path the Lord in pursuit of greed.
-Does our stance waiver when we are tempted to amass great wealth? This is the first snare and is difficult to escape once caught. -In traditional Chinese character, the word ‘snare’ has the death character embedded in it.
-Money certainly plays a role in our life, but it must not be our primary focus. The Lord will provide, thus, we must not greed.
-‘Gold’ in Chinese characters also contains to characters that depicts the shape of axes – meaning the threats faced in obtaining wealth (i.e. family disputes, conflicts, etc) -Let us not lose ourselves for wealth. We should maintain true to ourselves and to the Lord.
-What is money when we lose friendship & morality to obtain it? We would have in fact lost everything.
-The love of money is the seed of all evil.
-The 2nd Snare - Love -In the pursuit of love, some people are willing to forsake and lose everything they have (this is the case in the fall of certain empires and kingdoms throughout history)
-Judges 14: 1-4 -This is the story of Samson. He was a hero in the book of Judges. However, Samson wasn’t introduced as most heroes would.
-The chapter began with Samson being trapped by the snare of women. He saw a women that he fancies and demanded for her. Even more, she was a Philistine who were enemies of his tribe at that point of time.
-Samson however, was resilient to have this woman to marry (even requesting from his parents to be introduced to her)
-Judges 16: 1 -Samson then fell in love with a prostitute by name of Delilah – she was a married woman.
-His passion was the beginning of his downfall for she was used by the Philistines to deceive Samson.
-Judges 16: 19-21 -Samson’s beard and hair was shaved and so his strength was subdued for that was the gift that the Lord had given Samson. -Now it is important to distinguish that Samson’s passion wasn’t the act of love. It was lust.
-It is also important to note that although Samson was viewed as physically invincible to the Philistines and his enemies, his downfall wasn’t in the act of war. Rather, he was deceived and subdued through lust.
-As an act of humiliation, Samson was chained like an animal – being forced to grind. -This was a great disgrace to someone who was perceived to be a great warrior.
-There’s also a saying that for love, a man may turn a wise man foolish and vice versa. We musn’t be the former.
-The 3rd Snare – -Hebrews 9: 27 -After death comes judgment. This is the fate of all men. -The statement that everything ends upon death is false for we will face judgment at the pearly gates.
-All our deeds will be recorded in the book of life.
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