by Jeffrey W. Hamilton<\/p>\n\t
Text: Judges 16:23-30<\/p>\n
<\/p>\nI. In our text, the Philistine lords and ladies were getting their jollies from having a captured\nenemy “amuse” them.\n
A. Exactly what Samson was doing, we don’t know<\/p>\n B. But here was a man whom they had gouged out his eyes and used as an ox to run a\ngrinding mill\n
C. They must have thought it great fun to embarrass him and degrade him<\/p>\n
II. There are numerous fans of baseball, football, basketball, soccer and a host of other sports<\/p>\n A. Yet the world is filled with people who enjoy themselves in the sport of evil –\nProverbs 10:23\n 1. The word “sport” here means to laugh in a derogatory manner, to scoff or\nto mock.\n 2. Some people get their jollies from doing evil or seeing evil done to another\n– Romans 1:32\n
3. And their laughter is like fingernails on a chalkboard – Ecclesiastes 7:5-6<\/p>\n
B. For some it starts in childhood<\/p>\n
1. One child tattles on another just to get to see him get in trouble.<\/p>\n 2. He carries this sport into adulthood. He enjoys seeing his enemies\ndiscomforted.\n
3. The Christian must combat this desire – Romans 12:17-21<\/p>\n C. Others are satisfied with passively watching. They actively set traps for their\namusement\n
1. People who hunt for people – Jeremiah 5:26-29<\/p>\n
2. They go out to prey on the weak, like gangs – Proverbs 1:10-19<\/p>\n D. Perhaps you have seen the thug who sees a likely victim. As he approaches, he\ngives his cohorts a wink as he begins to taught the unfortunate person. Perhaps he\nsignals his friend to put out his foot just before he nudges the person, causing him\nto stumble. Oh, the thugs get a lot of laughs out of the fear of a weaker person.\n
1. Psalm 35:19-20 – Deliver from those who wink maliciously<\/p>\n
2. The winker is a trouble maker – Proverbs 10:10<\/p>\n
3. A totally worthless person – Proverbs 6:12-15<\/p>\n
III. Another sport is the telling of lies<\/p>\n
A. We even have contests around this country for who can tell the biggest lies.<\/p>\n
B. Lying continues to be a widespread problem – Jeremiah 9:2-6<\/p>\n C. People misrepresent products they want to buy to get them cheaper – Proverbs\n20:14\n 1. Gains from deceit start out pleasurable, but they leave a bad taste in the\nmouth – Proverbs 20:17\n 2. Oddly enough, liars are more frequently taken in by other liars – Proverbs\n17:4\n
D. In reality, the liar has contempt for those to whom he lies – Proverbs 26:24-28<\/p>\n
E. Lies causes harm to the liar and those around him – Proverbs 25:18<\/p>\n
F. And yet when a liar is caught, he often says, “It was just a joke.” – Proverbs 26:18-19<\/p>\n
1. Lies are never a joke. They hurt other people and damage your reputation.<\/p>\n 2. I received a letter where a man exposed some fraud in the Philippines. The\nproblem is that knowing how greedy these people were for money, he\ndecided to have a little “fun” with them. He told them that a big name\npreacher was bring a sizable about of money for benevolence. As expected,\nwhen the preacher arrived, people flocked to him, but left disappointed.\n
a. Yes, he illustrated their greed, but he proved himself to be a liar.<\/p>\n
b. “But it was only in fun,” he responded.<\/p>\n c. But now everyone wonders if he lied then, how do we know if the\nrest of his letter is not another lie?\n
IV. Another sport is partying<\/p>\n
A. There are people who party when it is time to work – II Peter 2:13-14<\/p>\n
B. To the foolish, foolish deeds look fun – Proverbs 15:21<\/p>\n C. Those of the world don’t understand why Christians don’t join in the “fun” – I\nPeter 4:3-5\n 1. I remember one boy in high school who could not understand how a person\ncould have fun at party without alcohol and drugs.\n
2. He was like the drunkard – Proverbs 23-33-25<\/p>\n D. Christians are warned not to join in telling dirty jokes because is soils our\nreputation – Ephesians 5:4\n E. Have fun, do what you desire, but temper your actions knowing that God will\njudge and there will be no excuse of “we were only having a little fun.” –\nEcclesiastes 11:9\nV. One of the things that disgusted me in New York were the people who made fun at the\nconcept of sin.\n A. It is as if people have the right to sin if they so chose and no one else has a right to\nsay it is wrong.\n B. Proverbs 14:9 – The word “mock” literally means “to make mouths at.” In other\nwords, to make faces at the idea that sin exists.\n
C. God will judge and His judgment will be strict – Ezekiel 24:14<\/p>\n
D. His judgment will be just – Romans 2:5-8<\/p>\n E. Sin is not fun and games. It is death and eternal destruction. Don’t make a sport\nout of sin.\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Judges 16:23-30 I. In our text, the Philistine lords and ladies were getting their jollies from having a captured enemy “amuse” them. A. Exactly what Samson was doing, we don’t know B. But here was a man whom they had gouged out his eyes and used as an ox to run a…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[183,392,749,748,179],"class_list":["post-63280","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermon","tag-evil","tag-lying","tag-partying","tag-revelry","tag-sin"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":68821,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-case-of-the-philippian-jailor\/","url_meta":{"origin":63280,"position":0},"title":"The Case of the Philippian Jailor","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 15, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"by Terry Wane Benton He wanted to know, \"What shall I do to be saved?\" (Acts 16:30). The simple answer: \"Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ\u2026and you will be saved\" (Acts 16:31). The details of why believe in Jesus, what to believe about Jesus, and how to express faith in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":21399,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/was-jesus-omniscient\/","url_meta":{"origin":63280,"position":1},"title":"Was Jesus omniscient?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 29, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I have a question that I hope you can answer for me.\u00a0 Last night I heard a man preach that Jesus was not omniscient while on earth. I asked him after the sermon to explain passages like John 16:30 where the disciples state that Jesus knew everything.\u00a0 He said\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":627,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-authenticity-of-mark-169-20\/","url_meta":{"origin":63280,"position":2},"title":"The Authenticity of Mark 16:9-20","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 11, 2003","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jim Snapps II \"Does\u00a0Mark 16:9-20\u00a0belong in the Bible?\" The church has answered \"Yes\" for centuries. Many in the church still do. But in the 1800s, scholars questioned the originality of these 12 verses. Many scholars today take it for granted that the Gospel of Mark originally did not contain\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2003\/10\/64ManuscriptsChart.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2003\/10\/64ManuscriptsChart.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2003\/10\/64ManuscriptsChart.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2003\/10\/64ManuscriptsChart.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":35208,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-holman-christian-standard-bible\/","url_meta":{"origin":63280,"position":3},"title":"The Holman Christian Standard Bible","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 9, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: II Peter 1:16-21 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Publishers are producing more translations of the Bible, in part because a popular translation can lead to a good amount of profit from royalties. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0This means a drive to present the text of the Bible in modern terms for readability. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0In\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":63814,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/you-should-have-known\/","url_meta":{"origin":63280,"position":4},"title":"You Should Have Known","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 8, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Hebrews 1:1-4 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The writer of Hebrews addresses the Jewish people concerning why God changed His worship and laws \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0He does so by citing passages from the Old Testament to prove points that if you just thought about it for a while you realize it\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":17163,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-gospel-of-judas\/","url_meta":{"origin":63280,"position":5},"title":"The Gospel Of Judas","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 21, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"by Boyd Jennings Were you alarmed to hear that another gospel has been discovered?\u00a0\u00a0Before we continue, let\u2019s remember what Jesus told the twelve minus Judas. \u00a0\u201cHowever, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into\u00a0all\u00a0truth\u201d\u00a0(John 16:13).\u00a0\u00a0That\u2019s why Paul wrote by inspiration of God\u2014twice,\u00a0\u201cBut even if we,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/12\/Gospel-of-Judas-389px-Codex-Tchacos-p33.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63280","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=63280"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63280\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=63280"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=63280"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=63280"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}