Break Off The Cords
Pastor Erickson preaches from Judges 15, where the men of Judah bind Samson with new cords to hand him over to the Philistines. He calls the church to be more than singers, to stand and fight the enemy, and to break off the cords of bondage they have allowed in their own lives, including the failure to give.
The message in 5 points
Samson bound with new cords
He reads Judges 15, where the men of Judah bind Samson with two new cords to hand him to the Philistines, and the Spirit of the Lord comes on him so the cords become like burnt flax.
4:52Setting the stage
He retells Judges 14 and 15: Samson's Philistine bride, the lion and the riddle, the lost bet, the foxes with fire in the fields, and the great slaughter that followed.
6:26More than praisers
The Philistines came for the one man doing damage to them, not for Judah. Judah stands for the praisers, and he says the devil has some convinced that singing is all it takes, but God wants people who share their faith and change the world.
13:40When revival stirs the enemy
Three thousand men of Judah would rather give up Samson than fight. When prayer, fasting and revival stir the enemy, he says, the church must not hide but rise with a fighting spirit, knowing greater is he that is within us.
17:26Break off the cords
Most of the cords that bind us we allow ourselves. Bondage is anything that hinders what God called you to do, including financial bondage from not giving, and it is time to break off the cords.
22:32
In his words
“If you're not doing anything to inflict pain on the enemy, you don't have to worry about the enemy inflicting pain on you.”
“Help me not just be a singer, help me not just be somebody who's up here praising and worshiping, although I know I should, but help me be more than just that.”
“Let me tell you what bondage is. It's anything that hinders what God called you to do.”
Taken word for word from the video, with punctuation added.
Scripture
He reads
Judges 15:9-15
9Then the Philistines went up, and pitched in Judah, and spread themselves in Lehi. 10And the men of Judah said, Why are ye come up against us? And they answered, To bind Samson are we come up, to do to him as he hath done to us. 11Then three thousand men of Judah went to the top of the rock Etam, and said to Samson, Knowest thou not that the Philistines are rulers over us? what is this that thou hast done unto us? And he said unto them, As they did unto me, so have I done unto them. 12And they said unto him, We are come down to bind thee, that we may deliver thee into the hand of the Philistines. And Samson said unto them, Swear unto me, that ye will not fall upon me yourselves. 13And they spake unto him, saying, No; but we will bind thee fast, and deliver thee into their hand: but surely we will not kill thee. And they bound him with two new cords, and brought him up from the rock. 14And when he came unto Lehi, the Philistines shouted against him: and the Spirit of the LORD came mightily upon him, and the cords that were upon his arms became as flax that was burnt with fire, and his bands loosed from off his hands. 15And he found a new jawbone of an ass, and put forth his hand, and took it, and slew a thousand men therewith.
King James Version.
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