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Series Code: BOLS
Program Code: BOLS000045S
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00:05 Sermon #S024 - An Inside Job - (Part 2)
00:19 Welcome to the Breath of Life Television Ministries broadcast. 00:24 In today's message, I will share Part Two of the message “An Inside Job”. 00:29 Now let's go to the Word of God. 00:33 Pastor Snell: This, friends, is where you got to recognize the anointing that's over your life. See, the problem is, 00:39 we believe the lie that colleges make the man, but it's the man or the woman that makes the college, 00:47 so that even if you're talking about going to a secular HBCU, I need you to understand that when you look at Joseph, 00:55 when he went to Egypt, that Egypt didn't make Joseph. Egypt prospered because of Joseph. 01:08 [ Congregation: Applauding] 01:10 Daniel went to a secular school in Babylon, but Babylon didn't make Daniel. Babylon prospered because of Daniel, 01:19 so that even when secular schools prosper is because the righteous get blessed, 01:25 the wicked get blessed because of the presence of the righteous. 01:30 But what would Israel have been? Watch this? See, Israel had to go, 01:36 borrow from Egypt to get some of the surplus of the green that Joseph helped them establish, 01:45 but what if Israel didn't send their kids to Egypt? What if Israel kept Joseph back home? 01:54 They wouldn't have had to borrow from Egypt. Are we all that? Egypt would have had to come to borrow from them. 02:02 [ Congregation: Applauding] 02:05 What I'm saying to somebody today is we've got to stop with the idea that we've got to get validated from the outside. 02:13 Stop celebrating how the devil has blessed them, and praise God for how God has blessed our schools. 02:19 Are you all hearing me today, friends? Second thing the story teaches quickly is that if you don't break certain patterns, 02:28 certain patterns are going to break you. See young people, I need you to hear me on this, 02:37 in many ways, in these next 4, 5 to 7 years, I need you to know, you are becoming who you will become. 02:49 I'm not saying you can't change, not saying you won't grow. I'm not saying maturity will not kick in, 02:54 but I need somebody to fundamentally understand that right now you are like wet concrete, 03:01 but in a few years, you're going to be settled. Because you're about to be settled, 03:06 you got to be careful who you are allowing to stir you. 03:11 [ Congregation: Applauding] 03:13 So, the word says, that he goes down to Sorek, and the Bible says that he doesn't just hit it and quit it. 03:22 The word says he loves a woman named, Delilah, a Philistine woman. Now, I need you to be clear friends, 03:30 that this is not a one-off for Samson. This is a part of a pattern. 03:34 Remember, we just read in chapter 14 that he initially marries a Philistine woman that actually breaks up with him, 03:43 and has given in marriage to his best friend. Then earlier in chapter 16, 03:48 the Bible says that he bonds with a prostitute there in Timnath who tells the Philistines that Samson is there. 03:57 The Bible says here, now that he falls in love with a woman named Delilah, whose very name means, 'the consumer'. 04:10 Now, the crazy thing I'm saying, and the reason I'm saying this, and I'm not just talking to you from this 04:14 because what happens is we normally preach Samson on youth day, 04:18 The mistake we make is we assume that this story is a story just about youthful lusts. 04:24 That's not true. This story is actually about the decisions that we make as youth that shape who we become as adults. 04:33 What are you talking about, Pastor? Do you realize that your boy, Samson, is acting the fool with Delilah, 04:40 but the Bible says that Samson operated as a judge for 20 years over the land of Israel. So, if he started between 17 and 20, 04:51 by the time he hooks up with Delilah, this cat is almost 40 years old. 04:58 In other words, this is not a young boy that doesn't know any better. This is an old man that's gotten ensnared, 05:04 and got an appetite for certain things when he was a teenager and those things have shaped him all the days of his life. 05:13 In other words, he's developed a pattern and I'm sure that God through conscience and through warnings and messages from loved ones, 05:23 have tried to get him to turn from the pattern. 05:25 But the only way God could allow the pattern to be broken was to let the pattern break him. 05:32 See, I need to say to somebody that if you're going to turn from some things in your life - hear me on this - 05:39 if you're going to turn from some things, the time to turn is now. 05:45 [ Congregation: Applauding] 05:48 Because when you let stuff get ingrained, and it becomes second nature, 05:54 and you lose an appetite for natural affections of the right order for things, 06:00 you get to a place where you can't break the pattern. God has to let the pattern breaks you. 06:09 So, if you don't break the pattern of drinking, God is going to let the pattern break you. 06:15 If you don't break the pattern of procrastination, oh you all might be quiet. You all want me to be done now. 06:22 Yeah, I'm staying right here until I'm fit. If you don't break the pattern of procrastination, it's going to break you. 06:27 If you don't break the pattern of spiritual indifference, guess what? That pattern is going to break you. 06:33 If you don't break the pattern of being a people pleaser, guess what? That pattern is going to break you? 06:39 If you don't break the pattern of needing other people's approval, guess what? That pattern is inevitably going to break you. 06:46 I need you to understand that there are times where we think God is punishing us or is judging us, 06:52 when the truth is God allows certain things to happen because there is no other way for deliverance. 07:00 Friends, you know what? One of the saddest things for me is when we got cats, that you know how it is 07:07 because like how many of us are at least 40 years old in the room? When you see your folks from homecoming or alumni weekend, 07:14 the folks you knew back in the day are crazy. How you run up on them and you walk away saying, "Man, they ain't changed at all." 07:23 Why? Because they literally begin some stuff in youth that literally defined who they became as adults. 07:31 It's crazy, friends of mine, that there are some of us that are doing the same stuff that we did as kids, 07:36 making the same mistakes we made in our 20s, in our 30s, and early 40s. What it teaches is that wisdom doesn't come with age. 07:46 Do I have a witness to that? The Bible says that the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom? 07:55 That wisdom is not the result of gray hair. It's not the result of the birth certificate. 08:02 Wisdom is the result of being in communion with God. In fact, you don't get more spiritual the older you get. 08:10 In fact, if you don't get converted now, you just become a more skillful sinner. 08:16 [ Congregation: Applauding] 08:19 Pastor Snell: See, what an old fool has learned how to do is simply nullify some of the consequences of sin. 08:25 In other words, an old sinner just knows how not to get pregnant, where to go for the abortion? What to take for the hangover? 08:32 How not to get caught? I need you to know God says, "If they don't break that pattern, I'm going to let the pattern break them." 08:41 I need somebody to open up your eyes today and get to a place older brother, or sister. 08:46 Is there anybody in this room that's like me? 08:48 You've just got to a place where you can admit I ain't got no more time to waste. Am I preaching to anybody today? 08:54 Like anybody ever took inventory of your life, 08:57 and you can say, "Man, I got to buy as many years behind me as I got in front of me, 09:02 and I'm tired of praying the same prayers. I'm tired of asking God to forgive me for the same sins. 09:09 I'm just ready for God to break the cycle. I need God to do a new thing in my life. 09:15 Is there anybody that's out of place where you're saying, "God, take away the heart of stone? 09:21 Give me a heart of flesh and give me a clean slate?" Are you all hearing me today, friends? 09:30 The third thing that teaches is that if the enemy cannot overcome you. He's just going to try to infiltrate you. 09:39 Listen, stay with me. See, all right,see I'm editing in my head See, the issue is, with Samson's narrative, the problem is that, 09:51 in too many ways, we have kind of framed Samson as this dumb jock that has no intellect or judgment. 10:02 Are you all hearing me, saints? But I need you to know that Samson is not some dumb jock. 10:07 Look at the assignment God appointed him to. God assigned Samson to be judge. He is judged over Israel. 10:18 In other words, what that means about Samson is that Samson has to be wise in matters of the law. 10:24 That Samson has to be keen in issues of government. That Samson is the one that has to be the arbiter in disputes. 10:31 That Samson is the one that has to make decisions and choices with foreign nations and trade. In other words, 10:38 Samson's job is not to fight. Samson's job is to make judgments. 10:45 See, the enemy knows that he cannot just come in and overtake Samson. 10:51 He's got to get somebody that can affect Samson's decision-making. 11:00 You all know why the Philistines keep coming and trying to figure out the secret of his strength. 11:06 The reason they keep asking the secret of his strength is because the secret is not obvious. 11:17 The secret cannot be detected through empirical means. Are you all hearing what I'm saying? 11:21 Like, in our minds, we always saw Samson to be 8 feet tall, with 46 inch biceps, and triceps and all that stuff, 11:29 but did you all ever notice friends that the Bible is actually very detailed 11:34 and giving physical descriptions when it informs the plotline of the story? 11:40 Did you all ever notice, friends of mine, that the Bible described Joseph as good-looking, and God goodly informs? 11:47 Has the Bible described Goliath as a giant, and how it describes Saul as being head and shoulders tall above everybody else? 11:57 It describes Rachel's Beauty, and Leah's cross or weak eyes. It is clear to talk about how short Zacchaeus is, 12:06 and he talks about how handsome Absalom was, and how David was rooted and small, 12:13 but did you notice that even though we see Samsung as this big cat, that the Bible doesn't describe him that way. 12:21 In other words, friends of mine, I need you to know that the secret of his strength had nothing to do with his physicality. 12:29 In other words, if he was just bigger than everybody else, then they wouldn't know the secret of his strength. 12:35 It wasn't because he lifted more. It wasn't because he squatted more. There were other men that were taller. 12:41 There were other men that were bigger. There were other men that had their hair in locks. 12:45 In fact, the one thing they know about him is that the secret of his strength is spiritual, 12:51 and that it has something to do with his God. As secular idol worshippers, they see Samson more as a wit than a wrestler. 13:00 They see Samson, not as Hulk, but Dr. Strange. 13:06 So, they spend their whole life trying to figure out the secret of his strength. Are you all hearing me? 13:12 So, they're like, "Man, we can't see, they keep coming for Samson because they like me, he ain't no bigger than me. 13:23 I done take down some cats in the street about this size before, but there is something on him. 13:33 There is something about him that there is this fence. There is a hedge around the fence. 13:42 See, I need you to know that God is so good. That the hedge stayed around Samson. 13:56 It didn't leave with his first act of rebellion. That the hedge stayed around Samson when he got married outside of Covenant. 14:07 That the hedge stayed around Samson when he broke Covenant touching dead carcasses and eating from them. 14:14 That this hedge stayed around Samson when he lived a life with harlots and prostitutes. His hedge stayed around Samson. 14:22 when he lay up with Delilah every day. I need you to know that the hedge does not depart at the first sign of trouble. 14:30 Is there anybody that is glad to dispel the lie that God leaves you as soon as you go into the wrong kind of place? 14:39 But is there anybody that can testify that I'm still here today because God kept this hedge around me? 14:48 [ Congregation: Applauding] 14:49 Oh, don't act boujie here with me today. 14:51 Go ahead and testify that the hedge should have been taken when you were in the club, when you were in the streets, 14:58 when you were stuck on stupid, when you didn't pray, 15:01 but is there anybody that can praise God that in all your years of rebellion that when you're living at the bottom of a bottle, 15:10 when you are smoking your brains out, can you praise him that the hedge didn't leave? 15:16 [ Congregation: Applauding] 15:18 But that God kept his hedge around you so the enemy can't just come and over take your defense system. 15:30 If it's going to happen, it's got to be an inside job. So, they go get Delilah, 15:36 and understanding that Delilah's job is not just to satisfy him sexually. Delilah's job is to make herself necessary. 15:48 No, no. This is not just youthful us because you remember that he bonded with the harlot, but guess what? 15:54 She just sexually, that couldn't get him to give up the secret. Are you all with me today, friends? 16:00 See, the Bible says that this thing has gone to a whole nother level deeper. 16:03 The whole purpose of Delilah is to create an intimacy with Samson that he cannot live without. 16:14 No, no. No. Are you all hearing me? I mean, I need you to know that this is his girl. 16:20 She is not just somebody that he sees every now and then. 16:24 But the Bible says that the only way they could get to Samson is they had to attach themselves to the portal of his heart. 16:34 Are you all with me today, friends? So Delilah, man, she bad. I ain't seen her, I just... 16:43 [ Congregation: Applauding] 16:45 I just assumed, right? But when Samson talks, she finishes his sentences, 16:55 She speaks Sampson's love language. So, if he's words of affirmation she's telling him how good that hair looks every day. 17:03 If he's a gift man, then she is bringing a man a soul glow with ribbons on top of it. If it's love language, it's quality time, 17:16 she sits at the foot of the bed and listens to him tell stories until he can't talk anymore. 17:21 You see, I need you to understand who Delilah is, that her goal is not necessarily just to get to him physically, 17:27 but it is literally to get on the inside of his soul. See, I need you to understand, she's playing this cat like Roblox 17:34 and her words are the remote control. 17:37 So, I need you to get man, that this thing has become so necessary that for Samson, she Is like oxygen. 17:43 She is like food. She is his daily bread. She is everything that God is supposed to be in his life. 17:51 See, because he is assimilated so deeply into Philistine culture, his friends are Philistine. 17:57 His woman is Philistine. His associates are Philistines. 18:00 They have told them in so deep that he has separated himself from everything that he knows 18:05 and everything that is God, so that when she threatens to withdraw her love, it is like his whole world crumbles 18:14 because he's connected himself to the wrong person. I'm still talking about Oakwood. 18:19 So, not only do you need to come and to see, I'm going to age myself on this one. 18:23 Not only should you come in order to get a good education to grow spiritually. 18:27 You need to come so you can be a part of a network. 18:30 [ Congregation: Applauding] 18:33 You all are not going to receive this today, 18:35 but you will receive it in 10 years where there is a network of potential Godly Adventist spouses that can help you get into 18:43 the kingdom of God. Okay. See, I knew you all were going to receive this, but I need you all to understand this about greatness 18:51 and tragedy. Neither one function in a vacuum. So, wherever you see a great man; a Leslie Pollard, there is Prudence Pollard. 19:06 Come on and say, amen, "Amen". 19:07 [ Congregation: Amen] 19:09 That somewhere praying and speaking the word of faith that's on her face that same word can be. 19:14 There's a woman that sees the best...are you all hearing what I'm saying? For every Barack, there's no Barack without Michelle. 19:21 Are you all hearing what I'm saying? 19:23 [ Congregation: Yes] 19:24 Wherever there is tragedy or the abortion of potential, 19:29 there is a man or a woman that had great potential who partnered themselves with somebody whose vision was not aligned with theirs. 19:43 listen I want to be clear, I'm not going to fake the funk with you. Listen, you come to Oakwood 19:46 it ain't going to work out for everybody. Come on. Can I tell the truth and shame the devil? 19:54 Ain't going to work out for everybody, especially my graduation, but guess what? 19:58 You're a part of a network of people that 5 years after graduation, 7 years after graduation, 20:04 you might still be able to connect with the right one. Are you all hearing what I'm saying? 20:20 Yall going to believe, so he opens up. It's crazy. She is, literally. He is participating in practice to kill him. 20:38 Seven bowstrings and they just show up. Who has new ropes to their house? 20:47 [ Congregation: Laughing] 20:49 Pastor Snell: Unless... 20:53 [ Congregation: Applauding] 21:00 I'm not a 50 Shades believer. Come on and say, amen. Are you all....? 21:05 Don't put that on me. I mean, who else has new ropes in their house that had never been used? 21:11 What woman has that in her apartment? Which shows that God, when you partner with the wrong one, 21:20 God will always make the serpent show its fangs. 21:27 What you do with that information is up to you. So, he tells her his whole heart. The word says that she rocks him to sleep. 21:41 It says, watch this, she rocks him to sleep. See, the problem is we think that the strength left when the hair got cut off. 21:51 But notice the word says that she began to afflict him before the Philistines ever showed up. 21:58 It's crazy because I'm going to tell you something that's important in just a minute. 22:02 So, he says, "Man, I already got away with this so long. No matter what I've done before, man, I can eat from a lion's belly. 22:09 I can break the Covenant. I've been laying up with prostitutes for 20 years. I'm just going to go shake myself, like I did last time. 22:17 This is how you know the holy spirit is not a feeling because the word says, he didn't even know. He felt like he felt the day before. 22:31 He didn't even know that the Lord had departed from him. So, what's the tragedy in the story? 22:41 Is the tragedy really Client that he told her the secrets? Or maybe friends, 22:51 the tragedy of the story is that he didn't even know the secret himself. 23:00 Read your Bibles today, friends. The Bible says that when he struck down 30 men and took their clothes, 23:09 the Bible says, "The Spirit of the Lord... it says the Spirit of the Lord came upon me." The Bible says, 23:17 when he killed the thousand men with the jawbone of an ass, it's because the spirit of the Lord came upon him. 23:24 The Bible says when he took the city Gates and walked with him down the street it's 23:29 because the spirit of the Lord had been upon him. In other words, The secret of his strength was not long hair. 23:38 The long hair was just the sign of the Covenant. It was just an outward demonstration of obedience, 23:46 but the secret of strength was not in the locks. It was not in the lenght. 23:51 The secret of his strength was the presence of the Holy Spirit at work in his life. 23:58 [ Congregation: Applauding] 24:00 How many of us know that the secret of your strength, it is not in your last name. 24:04 It is not in your heritage. It is not in your upbringing. It is not what your parents do. 24:11 The Bible makes it clear that is not by might, and it's not by power, but it is by His Spirit. 24:21 Is there anybody that knows that it is the anointing that destroys the Yoke? It is the spirit that makes the difference, 24:30 that I am who I am not because of my degree, not because of my frat, not because of my friends, 24:39 not because I know somebody that knows somebody. It's because I've got the Holy Ghost at work, and living inside of me. 24:53 So, this is my hypothesis. The spirit doesn't leave because he told the secret. The Spirit leaves 25:08 because he didn't tell them the secret. 25:14 [ Congregation: Applauding] 25:18 See, the problem is, we think God hates the Philistines. When God wants to save the Philistines. 25:27 He says, "In you, shall all the nations of the earth be blessed." 25:32 See, the reason he loses his strength is when they'd been asking the question, 25:38 if he had just said, God is the joy, and the strength of my life. He moves all pain, misery and strife, 25:50 he promised to lead me. Never perceive me. I'll never draw short of His word. If he had said, God is the reason. 26:01 Is there anybody that knows God is the reason? His curse is because he refused to testify about where the strength came from? 26:15 So, when they ask you how you got the car, when they ask you how you got the house, when they ask you, how you raise good kids, 26:25 when they ask you why you never get sick? 26:28 When they ask you how you can do in 6 days, what it takes them 7 days to do. Don't you talk about your diet? 26:37 Don't you talk about your school, don't you talk about your grades, but you better open up your mouth, 26:45 and bless and acknowledge and say, "That if it had not been for the Lord on my side, 26:59 I'm not ashamed of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, for it is a power of God unto salvation. If he's your strength, 27:13 praise the name of the Lord who did it. Praise God because he's the one that brought it to pass in your life. 27:32 Hi. I'm Debleaire Snell. Have you ever been in a place where as soon as you start believing big, praying big and thinking big, 27:41 someone told you that you need to be more realistic. It was unrealistic for Jesus to say, I'm going to lay down my life 27:49 and in three days I'm going to pick it up again. I would encourage you to put down your commonly held beliefs. 27:55 And it's time for us to get unrealistic. 28:03 (Breath of Life Theme Music) 28:40 [END] |
Revised 2022-12-01