2. Fornication will have a negative effect in your soul: 

There has not been any other human being physically as powerful as Sampson. His story is found in Judges 13-16. He was Israel’s twelve Judge. Sampson had a clear call from God from before his birth. In Judges 13:1-5 we see the introduction of his story,

And the people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, so the Lord gave them into the hand of the Philistines for forty years. 2 There was a certain man of Zorah, of the tribe of the Danites, whose name was Manoah. And his wife was barren and had no children. 3 And the angel of the Lord appeared to the woman and said to her, “Behold, you are barren and have not borne children, but you shall conceive and bear a son.4 Therefore be careful and drink no wine or strong drink, and eat nothing unclean, 5 for behold, you shall conceive and bear a son. No razor shall come upon his head, for the child shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb, and he shall begin to save Israel from the hand of the Philistines.” Judges 13:1-5 (ESV)

For those that may not know, the Angel of the Lord is Jesus himself. This was to be an amazing man with an amazing call in his life. However, when we look at Sampson’s life, we can clearly see how fornication will directly affect our souls, specifically our decision-making. That accumulation of bad decisions will have a damaging effect in the vision and destiny of our lives. In Judges 16:4-6 the Bible tells us,

After this he loved a woman in the Valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah. 5 And the lords of the Philistines came up to her and said to her, “Seduce him, and see where his great strength lies, and by what means we may overpower him, that we may bind him to humble him. And we will each give you 1,100 pieces of silver.” 6 So Delilah said to Samson, “Please tell me where your great strength lies, and how you might be bound, that one could subdue you.” (ESV)

This was the beginning of the end for Sampson. As you read the story you will see that Delilah kept insisting on knowing where Sampson’s power came from. Sampson told her three lies and, three times she attempted to do what he told her was the thing that would have taken away his powers. He could have easily seen her motives; these were clear red flags. However, how many of us have been in bad relationships, we see all the red flags, but we are so consumed with lust that we keep on pressing on? Sampson was drunk with lust for this woman and eventually he did tell her the secret of his strength. In Judges 16:15-17 we read,

And she said to him, “How can you say, ‘I love you,’ when your heart is not with me? You have mocked me these three times, and you have not told me where your great strength lies.” 16 And when she pressed him hard with her words day after day, and urged him, his soul was vexed to death. 17 And he told her all his heart, and said to her, “A razor has never come upon my head, for I have been a Nazirite to God from my mother's womb. If my head is shaved, then my strength will leave me, and I shall become weak and be like any other man.” (ESV)

Notice in verse sixteen the Bible tells us that “…his soul was vexed to death”; that means that he became annoyed or angry. That was the biggest red flag of all; that should have been the time for him to come to his senses and walk away from this relationship, however, his lust for this woman was stronger than his anger. Have you ever been in a relationship where there is never peace; all you have is fighting, but sex keeps you trap in it? This is exactly where the strongest man the world has ever seen found himself in. The story continues in Judges 16:18-21,

When Delilah saw that he had told her all his heart, she sent and called the lords of the Philistines, saying, “Come up again, for he has told me all his heart.” Then the lords of the Philistines came up to her and brought the money in their hands. 19 She made him sleep on her knees. And she called a man and had him shave off the seven locks of his head. Then she began to torment him, and his strength left him. 20 And she said, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” And he awoke from his sleep and said, “I will go out as at other times and shake myself free.” But he did not know that the Lord had left him. 21 And the Philistines seized him and gouged out his eyes and brought him down to Gaza and bound him with bronze shackles. And he ground at the mill in the prison. (ESV)

Notice the first thing the Philistines did after they seized him, they gouged his eyes. Beloved, fornication is the easiest way for a person to lose his/her vision for their lives. This is significant because the Bible tells us that people perish for the lack of vision (Proverbs 29:18) In other words, when we engage in fornication, we lose our way; we go into a very dark and humiliating place. Sampson did fulfil his destiny, but he died together with his enemies,

Then the lords of the Philistines gathered them together for to offer a great sacrifice unto Dagon their god, and to rejoice: for they said, Our god hath delivered Samson our enemy into our hand. 24 And when the people saw him, they praised their god: for they said, Our god hath delivered into our hands our enemy, and the destroyer of our country, which slew many of us. 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. 26 And Samson said unto the lad that held him by the hand, Suffer me that I may feel the pillars whereupon the house standeth, that I may lean upon them. 27 Now the house was full of men and women; and all the lords of the Philistines were there; and there were upon the roof about three thousand men and women, that beheld while Samson made sport. 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.29 And Samson took hold of the two middle pillars upon which the house stood, and on which it was borne up, of the one with his right hand, and of the other with his left. 30 And Samson said, Let me die with the Philistines. And he bowed himself with all his might; and the house fell upon the lords, and upon all the people that were therein. So the dead which he slew at his death were more than they which he slew in his life. Judges 16:23-30 (ESV)

We learned a few lessons out of this story: Fornication will push us to make terrible decisions, we will lose our way and the vision for our lives. The devil always overplays his card, but God will always have his way despite us. There is a place where we can use our gift to fulfill our call and, that is a good thing. However, we will always pay a costly and shameful price when neglecting our characters.

To be continued…