Opening Blind Eyes

Let's pray now and ask God to take this text, teach us from it, change us from it, transform us in ways that we had not seen before. So let's pray. Father, we come now to your word, realizing that this is more than just words on a page. It is the living word of God. that this is the way you speak to us. This is the way you reveal yourself to us. This is the way that you open our hearts and give us sight.

We come now to this word and ask that you would use its living function to expose our hearts so that we, Lord, would not just think of our sin but of our Savior. So use this now we pray for your good purposes. In Jesus name. Amen. Recently I read a story which included elements of dysfunction, death, sex, bitterness, bitter recriminations, blame-shifting, prostitution, and even a paternity scandal.

You say, wow, would you start reading the National Enquirer, Pastor? I'm not. I read this in the Bible. All of that, and then some, can be found in Genesis chapter 38. And it's all there because God wants us to read it. and he has something important to tell us with it. You know, God has a better idea of what to do with his Bible than what we do.

We often approach the Bible as if it was a series of heartwarming stories intended to inspire us to good, clean, moral living. Kind of like a divinely inspired little house on the prairie, if you will. Instead God provides us with disturbing passages like Genesis chapter 38 to move us beyond the ravages of sin and to provide a picture of grace hope and transformation Let us read now Genesis chapter 38.

You follow as I read and you cover your children's ears at the appropriate times. Verse 1, it happened at that time that Judah went down from his brothers and turned aside to a certain Adulamite whose name was Hira. There Judah saw the daughter of a certain Canaanite whose name was Shua. He took her and went into her and she conceived and bore a son and he called his name Ur.

She conceived again and bore a son and she called his name Onan. Yet again she bore a son and she called his name Shelah. Judah was in Chezib when she bore him. And Judah took a wife for Ur, his firstborn, and her name was Tamar. But Ur, Judah's firstborn, was wicked in the sight of the Lord, and the Lord put him to death. And Judah said to Onan, Go into your brother's wife and perform the duty of a brother-in-law to her, and raise up offspring for your brother.

But Onan knew that the offspring would not be his. So whenever he went into his brother's wife, he would waste the semen on the ground so as not to give offspring to his brother. And what he did was wicked in the sight of the Lord, and he put him to death also. Then Judah said to Tamar, his daughter-in-law, Remain a widow in your father's house till Shelah my son grows up.

For he feared that he would die like his brothers. So Tamar went and remained in her father's house. In the course of time, the wife of Judah, Shua's daughter, died. When Judah was comforted, he went up to Timnah to his sheep shearers, he and his friend Hira the Adulamite. And when Tamar was told your father-in-law is going up to Timnah to shear his sheep she took off her widow's garments and covered herself with a veil wrapping herself up and sat at the entrance to Aniam which is on the road to Timnah.

For she saw that Sheila was grown up and she had not been given to him in marriage. When Judah saw her he thought she was a prostitute for she had covered her face. He turned her at the roadside and said come let me come into you For he did not know that she was his daughter She said what will you give me that you may come into me He answered I will send you a young goat from the flock And she said if you give me a pledge until you send it He said, what pledge shall I give you?

She replied, your signet and your cord and your staff that is in your hand. So he gave them to her and went into her and she conceived by him. Then she rose and went away and taking off her veil, she put on the garments of her widowhood. Judah sent the young goat by his friend the Adulamite to take back the pledge from the woman's hand he did not find her and he asked the men of the place where is the cult prostitute who is at Aniam at the roadside and they said no cult prostitute has been here so he returned to Judah and said they've not found her also the men of the place said no cult prostitute has been here and Judah replied let her keep the things as her owner we should be laughed at you see I sent this young goat and you did not find her About three months later, Judah was told, Tamar, your daughter-in-law has been immoral.

Moreover, she is pregnant by immorality. And Judah said, bring her out and let her be burned. As she was being brought out, she sent word to her father-in-law, by the man to whom these belong, I am pregnant. And she said, please identify whose these are, the signet and the cord and the staff. Then Judah identified them and said, She is more righteous than I, since I did not give her to my son Shelah.

And he did not know her again. The time of her labor came, there were twins in her womb. And when she was in labor, one put out a hand, and the midwife took and tied a scarlet thread on his hand, saying, This one came out first. But as he drew back his hand, behold, his brother came out. And she said, What a breach you have made for yourself. Therefore, his name was called Perez.

Afterward, his brother came out with the scarlet thread on his hand, and his name was called Zerah. So reads Genesis chapter 38. Now it would help us to get a bearing on the chronology of this passage in order to understand it. this story runs parallel with the story that will unfold about Joseph in the succeeding chapters so this runs parallel to the story of Joseph because it seems extraordinarily odd that the story of Joseph that the story of Judah suddenly intrudes on the story of Joseph You would expect chapter 37 36 which reads this way meanwhile the Midianites had sold Joseph in Egypt to Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, the captain of the guard, to be followed.

You would expect to be followed immediately by what you find in chapter 39, verse 1. Now Joseph had been brought down to Egypt and Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, the captain of the guard, an Egyptian, had bought him from the Israelites who had brought him down there. Now, given the fact that Judah's son, Judah has some sons and they grow, they're old enough, they're marriageable age, we can estimate that chapter 38 covers about 20 or more years.

Okay? So all that happens in chapter 38 covers about 20 years. Now when Joseph meets his brothers again, they sell him to the place where he meets them again, is a span of about 20 years, as we do the arithmetic in the clues that we have. So what we find here in Genesis 38 is 20 years. What we find in Genesis 37 through 43 is another 20 years as well. So these are parallel stories.

This is a parallel narrative covering the same amount of time. Now here's what I want you to see. Judah is best supporting actor in a biblical drama. Okay? He's the best supporting actor. So he gets a little bit of ink here that tells us about his preparation for the part he's going to play in his family's rescue. and then the following chapters give us and more ink in preparation because that's about best actor in a biblical drama joseph so you got supporting actor main actor supporting actor we get a little bit about what's happening to him and then best actor more ink given to him if you understand that that these are parallel accounts, then you'll understand a little bit more about what's going on in chapter 38.

Both of them are about the preparation of God for men who will be involved in the rescue of his family. And in this chapter... you find described for you the beginning of Judah's transformation. In this chapter now, you see how God opens his blind eyes before using him in the rescue of his family. As we're going to see in the narrative that follows, Judah plays a supporting part.

He plays a part more than his brothers do. And so this is telling us of the preparation of Judah for his part. It's going to tell us how God changed this man to become the man that we read about later. That's why Genesis 38 is here. That's why this crazy story is here. To tell us about this wicked man and how God begins to transform him.

Now the story begins with Judah leaving his family and immersing himself in the Canaanite people and Canaanite culture. His friend, his best friend and sidekick, Hira, is a Canaanite. And he seems to be sexually attracted to a Canaanite woman. And it seems to be just merely that. Because it says he saw her and took her. Now, remember, that's a phrase that's used over and over in this book.

Eve. She saw the fruit and took it. Right? Genesis 6. The sons of God saw the sons of men and took them. Pharaoh saw Sarah and took her.

You see? So it gives you the idea of this guy is strictly a sensual, appetite-driven guy. There's no romance here. He saw her. He took her. All right?

He gets a Canaanite wife. and this unnamed woman bears him three sons, Ur, Onan, and Shelah. He was gone at the birth of the last one, and note, she names two of them. Of course, he has to find wives for the boys, and so he chooses Tamar for his oldest son, Ur. Ur was a wicked man. Although the writer does not reveal what his sins were, they evidently were extraordinarily wicked. for God kills him.

God kills him. And so Onan is supposed to marry his widow Now all that seems horrible to us today It what we call Leveret marriage The culture of that day believed in Leveret marriage and in fact it becomes part of the Mosaic Covenant God requires this of his people later on. What is that? What's that all about? Well, let's think it through. If a man dies with no son, his brother is required to marry his widow and to raise up children or to conceive children by her.

Now that seems horrible to us, but here's the reason. the child born of that union would be considered the son of the deceased and so would receive the inheritance of his dad now Ur is the oldest son is he not and when you think about it if your older brother died you would have to father a child who would compete with you for the inheritance. You see, if your older brother dies, the one who gets, you know, the big share of the property, right? If he dies, who now is the oldest son?

You are. Onan is, right? Why would he want to father a competitor? Right? If he fathers a son, he doesn't get that, because his son would get the inheritance his father would. So he's out.

He's not too keen on this idea. He has a responsibility, though, of conceiving a son who's going to get his older brother's inheritance. But he wants nothing of that. Why produce this competitor? He doesn't want anything to do with that. But Onan is worse than that.

If you think, well, I can sympathize with the guy. I mean, come on, I don't want to do that either. But notice what he does, and we won't read it again. It's all in your minds. You know what's going on here? Notice.

Whenever he went into her, that is to say, this was regular and repeated. Not just once. He uses this young widow for his own sexual gratification That what happening He abuses what is intended to be an act of kindness and provision and he sexually abuses this defenseless widow. So what happens? God kills him. Now Judah has no intention now of giving Shelah as a husband to Tamar.

He has no intention of doing that. Read carefully verse 11. Then Judah said to Tamar his daughter-in-law, remain a widow in your father's house till Shelah my son grows up. For he feared that he would die like his brother. So Tamar went and remained in her father's house. He told her this, but he had no intention of fulfilling that obligation.

He figured he would die if he got associated with that woman, there's no way he's going to let her marry him. So he has no intention of doing that, and he pushes her off on her father while still remaining or still retaining his authority over her. Story progresses. We're quite a few years down the road. Judah's wife dies, and after a period of mourning, he heads up to Timnah where his sheep shearers work.

Now here's something I found out they didn't know. In the ancient world, sheep shearing time was like spring break in Florida. And everything that went with that. Same thing. Festivities, all of that. That's what happens at sheep shearing time.

Well, someone informs Tamar that Judah's on his way. He's headed that way. And aware of her father-in-law's sexual appetite, she takes advantage, dressing like a prostitute in hopes of conceiving a son from him. Now, you notice at the beginning it says prostitute. Later, Hira says cult prostitute. What is that all about?

To the writer, to the writer, she's a prostitute, but she dressed like a cult prostitute. What's a cult prostitute? By the way, cult prostitute in the Hebrew says holy woman. What? It's because holy, as in separated, dedicated to. Shrine prostitutes were men and women who were dedicated to a fertility temple.

And their job was to have sexual relations with people as part of the worship of a fertility God in order for that God to give them fertile wives fertile land, right? That is the kind of worship. By the way, that should give you an idea as well as to why God has such a dim view of idolatry. You notice wherever idolatry goes, sexual sin just explodes. And so she's dressed like a cult prostitute because she wears a veil.

Alright? The thing is, the writer doesn't even give her that much credit. He just calls her a prostitute. It's Hyra later who comes and elevates her, actually elevates her social status by saying, there was a cult prostitute around here. Right? Because there was a difference between a cult prostitute and a common prostitute.

This was someone who served a good function. This was just someone who was a slut. Got it? That's how they viewed it. And so Hira, when he comes looking for her, elevates her status a little bit, of course, because, you know, he doesn't want his boss to look bad, his buddy to look bad. And, well, you know the story.

He'd not given her to her son as his son, as he promised. Now, remember, let's think about this too. Like, when he promises his youngest, do you think he's like saying, well, he's six years old, but wait until he gets to be 20 and then you can have him? No, he's probably just a few years behind his brothers, okay? So it's not like old woman, young guy.

It's nothing like that either. But he's not going to fulfill his word. He has no intention of doing that. But she knows if she conceives from Judah, she'll have provision through a son getting the oldest son's inheritance. Well, of course, Judah propositions her, names a price, the goat, but he's not going to pay yet. So she says, well, give me a pledge to make sure that you pay up. so he hands over his signet and cord and his staff now the signet and cord what that is is a cord hanging around his neck and on it is a cylinder this was with something on it with some raised things on it.

This was what they used, like when you would close a deal, you put the wax down, you would take your signet that's hanging on the cord, you take it off, roll it on that wax, and there was your mark. Or if you were like a contract, they had clay tablets, you would roll that on there, there's your agreement to the contract. So she asks for that, and she asks for his staff.

Now, staffs were reputable guys, men of great dignity would have staffs that were carved with something that made it distinctive. Listen, ask any child in this church to get Pastor Tim's staff. They'll know exactly what you're talking about. Every little kid knows because they always want to play with it. It's in my office. it's a staff about that high and it has a face carved at the top all the little kids like when they're here like not on sunday and stuff they're always coming to my office saying pastor tim can can we play with your staff but they know it's mine not just because zemoska's got that face carved on it so something on this is carved so that everybody knows it belongs to judah Well, after the encounter, of course, she leaves with the pledge.

And this is like a reputable, you know what that's like? It's like a reputable man in the community going to a brothel and leaving behind his wallet with his driver's license and all his credit cards. You got the picture here? This is not a good thing. All right? well when Hira goes with the payment he can't find this woman he asks about her and you know how it would probably go well why are you interested in finding out about this prostitute what's he going to say my friend who consorted with a prostitute left his staff and seal with her how's that going to make Judah look right like what an idiot you left your wallet there what's wrong with you so they would look foolish it would destroy his reputation so he says look just forget it forget it we're not going to worry about that then I don want these people laughing at me again he just concerned about his reputation three months later he gets a report that Tamar pregnant and he is incensed How immoral She is unmarried and she still under my authority!

She's brought shame on the family! Go fetch her, bring her to the city gates, and we will burn her! That was the authorities. That, by the way, should tell you the risk that Tamar took. That's the risk she took. Well, as they come and get her, she sends word to Judah, this seal and staff, send it ahead.

This seal and staff belong to the guilty man. Please identify who they belong to. Of course, there is. And he's confronted with his own sin. And he confesses it. He says, she is more righteous than I.

You know what a better translation is? She is righteous, not I. And from that union then come these twins. Now this is the narrative of a man who's blind to his sin. Totally blind to his sin. To whom God brings repentance. preparing him for the role he's going to play later.

This is a story of Judah's repentance and his blindness and his repentance. What would I say to you from this passage? Here's the first thing. Believe that you are blind to your sin. You need to be convinced. You have a tendency to be blind to your sin.

God puts Judah's blindness on display so you get the point. Where is he blind? He's blind to the sin of abandoning the promises of God. You say, what? How do you get that? How is he blind to the sin of abandoning the promises of God?

He left his family behind. Notice the words that the writer uses. It happened at that time that Judah went down from his brothers and turned aside to a certain Adulamite. Look at chapter 39, verse 1. Now Joseph had been brought down to Egypt. Those are parallel phrases.

Joseph is out from his family He went down Right He brought down The same thing is true here of Judah Judah went down He left. He's disassociated from his brothers and his family. Now God had promised Abraham a great nation and a seed from that nation that would bless all the nations, but three generations in, it all seems to unravel. It all seems to be unraveling.

Judah leaves his family. And when you look at the history of that family, don't you think that you would leave too? Don't you think that you would leave too? He was born to the woman whose father does not love. Remember, he's been put in a certain spot when they went to meet Esau. I mean, favoritism all the way down the line.

It's maybe a guy who says, I'm done with this family. I've had it. I'm going out on my own. Does that sound familiar? But in leaving, you know what he signals? He's not interested in God's plan.

Listen, this is the family. This is the family that belongs to God. This is his covenant people. From Abraham on down, they're going to know that. He's done with it. He's gone. he leaves.

He turns his back on the covenant, if you will. He's blind, not only to the promises of God, he's blind to his own sexual appetite. He saw, he took. He wants what he wants, and he'll take it. Turns out to be a failure as a lover and a husband. he is blind to the sin of immersing himself in a wicked culture Judah doesn't care anything for the fact that he's living in a wicked, despised, depraved, degenerate culture he chooses to make these wicked people his neighbors he chooses his wife from among them he chooses his closest companion from the Canaanites Now remember, again remember, great-grandpa Abraham and grandpa Isaac were intent on keeping their sons from marrying Canaanite women Remember Their intent on keeping them from marrying Canaanite women In fact, one of the reasons why Esau is rejected by his family is because he married Canaanite women.

Not only that, and they had a good reason for that, because God despised this ungodly, perverted culture. Now again, let me just say to you, when you go to archaeological digs in what is now Israel and Jordan and a little bit further north, Iran and Syria and Lebanon and all those places, you're going to dig up things that are going to show you that this is an incredibly immoral culture. You know what?

For one thing, we think that homosexuality in our country is running rampant. It's not even coming close to what it was in those days. Okay? Sexual sin in those days was unbelievable. Things they uncover. A lot of those things don't make it into the museums.

Okay? That's how depraved the culture was. In fact, what did God say to Abraham in Genesis 15? Which is, I think, one of the reasons why they didn't want their sons to marry Canaanite women. Genesis chapter 15, verse 12. This is God making his promises with Abraham official as he enters into covenant with Abraham.

As the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell on Abram. And behold, dreadful and great darkness fell upon him. Then the Lord said to Abram, Know for certain that your offspring will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs, and will be servants there, and they will be afflicted for four hundred years. But I will bring judgment on the nation that they serve, and afterward they shall come out with great possessions.

As for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace, you shall be buried in a good old age, and they shall come back here in the fourth generation for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete. What is God saying to Abraham? He's saying, my intention is to judge this culture. My intention is to destroy this people. That's why no Canaanites. Well, what's the point?

He's blind to his sin of immersing himself in that wicked, depraved, degenerate culture. He doesn't care! He'd just as soon make it his! You know where he's really blind? He's really blind to the wickedness of his sons. He doesn't get it.

He doesn't get it. His first son dies, but Judah doesn't discern the hand of God in it. he doesn't see any judgment at all Onan's repeated offense repeated offense does not seem to register with him or maybe he doesn't care and again he does not discern the hand of God in the judgment of his son in fact he is so listen he is so blind to their wickedness who does he blame for their deaths notice what it says in verse 11 he blames tamar look what it says remain a widow in your father's house till sila my son grows up for he feared that he would die like his brothers what does that say you know what the problem with their deaths is they're married to that woman she's to blame she's cursed she's jinxed something's going on there anybody who messes with that woman is going to die. He blames her, not them.

Okay, you can't miss that. You can't miss that. He is so blind to his son's wickedness that he thinks it's Tamar's fault that they die. Isn't it funny? Judah, who sold his own brother, ditched his family, contracted a quick marriage, for what appears sexual reasons, runs with the wrong crowd, holds Tamar responsible for the deaths of his sons. He's blind to the sin of his own lies.

He has no intention of fulfilling his obligation to this woman. He says, I'll give you Sheila, but then he says, what does it say? But he thought she was responsible for the death of his other sons. There's no way. No way he's going to fulfill that responsibility. He's blind to the sin of shirking his responsibility.

A man with his dignity and status, he's a very rich man, could easily take care of a widow Especially a widow from his own family But what does he do He sends her back to her father while yet retaining authority over her There is his blind hypocrisy, which seems to sum it all up, doesn't it? this profane fornicator condemns another for the same crime. Did you get that? He wants her burned for the same thing that he did, being immoral.

He jumps at the chance to get rid of that woman. It frees Sheila from his obligation. She looks like a slut. he retains his reputation. This man is incredible in his hypocrisy. But thankfully, God opens his eyes to his blindness. He opens his eyes to the evil of his heart.

When the seal and the staff show up, he repents. she is righteous not I and God begins to transform this blind hypocrite now before you all sit back and think this is a great story and look at Judah and cluck your tongues and say how could anyone be so blind to his own sin look at your own heart first. Remember that you were blind and that you still have problems seeing. Don't in any way sit back and feel superior to Judah.

One theologian wrote this, perpetrators tirelessly, perpetrators tirelessly generate their own innocence. And do so by the double strategy of denying wrongdoing, I did not do it and reinterpreting the moral significance of their actions she asked for it And the same double denial is the stuff out of which the peculiar blend of fraud and self-deception is concocted by which individuals seek to evade being held responsible for evil doing. You see what he's saying?

What produces this deceit, this blindness? You know what produces it? Here's what produces it. I didn't do it, and if I did, it's your fault. Right? The double strategy, so that we are blind.

Now you may be sitting here saying, I'm not so bad. Right? Or, I'm not as bad as, point down the street. Or, you know what? If you grew up with what I grew up, with the abuse that I suffered, you wouldn't give me a hard time about this. You don't know what my childhood was like.

Listen, you need your eyes opened. You may not be as bad as the guy down the street, but you're evil in God's eyes. And when you stand before God, He's not going to say, okay, let's pair people up here. Okay, you're worse than he is. Okay, you go. You're done.

Okay, next pair. Does he do that? No. You know why? The prophet Isaiah said to us in Isaiah 64.6 that even your righteous deeds are what? Filthy rags in the sight of God.

Even the best things you do still don't even get to the measure beyond filthy rags. Don't compare yourself to somebody else. You know what you do by that? You just deceive yourself. You remain blind to your sins. and listen maybe you have suffered others have sinned against you and that's tragic and we need to weep about that but be aware of the fact that sufferers sin too you know how when someone perpetrates wrongdoing against you you respond with what wrongdoing you know what suffering very often blinds you to your own sin.

Now I not here to pick on anybody I know there are people here I can help but imagine there are folks here who have had horrible horrid experiences and abuse to you But I'm pleading with you. Do not let your suffering blind you to the fact that you sin too. as a believer as one who loves Jesus you too have sight problems you know it was not for nothing that the apostle Paul or the apostle John writes this you heard it already if we say we have no sin we what? we deceive ourselves right? hey I you know what I've sat in much counseling over 31 years as a pastor and never fails to amaze me which says I don't know what the problem is must be him I must be her right if we say we have no sin we deceive ourselves we blind ourselves we still play the game we still perpetuate this blindness. If we say we have no sin.

And notice, see you always got to read 1 John 1 verses 8 and 9 together because they're giving you a contrast. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. But, if we confess our sins, I have no sin. No, no. you're going to get rid of that you're going to say I openly confess that I sinned alright we are we can be deceived we can be blinded we can be nearsighted we don't see even those of us who love Jesus are blind to our sins and often times you need others to help you see Hebrews chapter 3 verse 13 if you want to look at it this is a very important verse but exhort one another every day as long as it is called today so that your heart will not be hardened by sin's deceitfulness do you hear that?

Other people talk to you and point out your sin. Otherwise, what? Your heart gets hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. Bishop Ryle, who was an Anglican bishop of the last century, great gospel man. He and Spurgeon were great friends. Baptist and Anglican, super friends.

They were partners in the gospel. Bishop Ryle said this, all our sins or many of our sins are pinned to our back we don't see them but everybody else does never forget that but that's not the only thing that this text tells us not just believe that you're blind to your sins but this, believe that God can and will open your eyes believe that God can and will open your eyes he opened Judah's eyes through the deceit of Tamar. Now Tamar, believe it or not, is the heroine of this story.

She takes great risk out of faithfulness to this family. She had been miserably neglected and abused by two husbands. She was horribly mistreated by her father-in-law. She could have married just another Canaanite guy. But she remained loyal to this family. I don't understand that.

Except for this. It's quite possible that she was aware of the covenant promises and her faithfulness flowed from her faith. Why would she remain loyal to this family? now she used questionable means we're not going to argue that are we her intentions were noble the means she used was not but you know what God still used her to open Judah's eyes to his own sin and wickedness to his deceitful ways and his hypocrisy and he owns his sin and God begins his work in him.

And it appears that forgiveness is forthcoming because he has given twins. For her replaces two husbands For him a new age is dawning And by the way don miss the fact that these are twins where the younger one actually takes precedence. Hmm, that sounds like something familiar, doesn't it? That seems to be, you know, it's like God saying, you remember how I blessed last time?

I'm going to do it again. And it's interesting to me that this new day dawns with the coming of those twins, especially Perez, because Perez is the line of the kings and of Christ. He is the line of the Messiah. And later on, Tamar's memory is held up as a model of God's blessing. You remember the book of Ruth? In the book of Ruth, the elders are praying. for Ruth and Boaz and they say this, and may your house be like the house of Perez whom Tamar bore to Judah.

She's held up as a sign, as a signal of the great blessings of God. You know what's interesting? Tamar is one of four women mentioned in the genealogy of Jesus. There's only four women mentioned. Every one of them questionable. Okay?

Tamar is one of those four. And Matthew. Now listen. God will open your eyes to your sin. Sometimes, like Judah, it will be done by the consequences of your sin. sometimes you know what you can sit back and thank God for the consequences of your sin opening your eyes to your own wickedness one writer I love this guy he's good his name is Ian Duguid he writes this however there is no other way to learn humility than by being confronted with the embarrassing shameful foolish hurtful sinful things that we do We might as well get used to it Because humility is very important to God and He seems intent on working this part of the mind of Christ in us You see, when the consequences of your sin hit you in the face, it ought to open your eyes, and you see what you didn't see before.

So sometimes he'll use the consequences of your sin like he did with Judah. Most times God uses his word to penetrate our hearts and to expose us for what we are. Look at Hebrews chapter 4 verses 12 and 13. Those two verses go together. And they say this, For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

Now, you know what he's saying there? What's the difference between soul and spirit, thoughts and intentions? Nothing. They're the same. He's trying to make the point that the Word of God is so sharp it can separate that which is inseparable. That's how sharp it is.

Okay? But notice the next verse. After it talks about it pierces us, right? And divides us. Next verse. And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.

How are we exposed? By the word of God. It exposes our sin. if you don't want to be blind, you will give yourself to the reading of God's Word. You will give yourself to the hearing of God's Word. If it's important to you to have good sight when it comes to your sin, you will make much of the Word of God. Sometimes God uses the faithful rebuke of fellow believers.

We just read about that. Right Exhort one another as long as it called today so that you won be hardened by sin deceitfulness Exhort one another Rebuke one another You know, we're not very good at that. We're afraid to tell other people what may be wrong. Now, that's not a plea for you to start pounding someone on the head. But it is necessary sometimes.

I think of an incident in my own life. Recently, it wasn't too long ago, when one of my sons came to me, looked me in the eyes, and told me that I was doing something wrong. I'm thankful for that. I am thankful for that. That helped. That helped me a great deal.

Paul Tripp in one of his books I don't remember which said this self-awareness is a community project that is to say you may think you know yourself you need other people to help you with that self-awareness is a community project our blindness to our sins start to dissipate, start to go away when other people tell us where we need to change. But you know where else we can dissipate our blindness? How we can start seeing?

You need to look at the cross. You need to look at the cross always remember Jesus did not die for good people. Isn't that right? Jesus did not die for good people. He went to the cross for sinners. He went to the cross for you.

In other words what? You are a sinner. And when you see the sins of others listen, when you see the sins of others you should never be shocked. but warned. When other people sin too often, we're shocked. You know why we're shocked? Because we say, That will never happen to me.

No, no, you ought to be warned because you're capable of the exact same thing that you're judging. Remember, the cross says loud and clear, you're a sinner, I'm a sinner, we're all sinners. We all need the cross. Therefore, we ought never to be shocked when someone commits sin. We ought always to remember, I needed the cross. so that we ought never to be shocked by our sin or the sin of others.

After all, we all need the cross. Let me say it again. You should never be shocked at your sin or the sin of others. You know, I hear much about... You know, I think of a dear, dear friend of mine in ministry who's no longer in ministry because of moral failure. I heard of a pastor two weeks ago who fell because of moral failure.

And I'm not shocked at that. I scared Because I capable of the same thing How do I know that Because Jesus died for sinners The cross should open your eyes to the fact that you needed a Savior. And therefore, you're going to struggle with sin. Now probably this morning, in the midst of this sermon, as you're examining your heart, you're becoming aware of the blindness to your own sin.

And maybe some sins have been exposed. I don't know. I'm always amazed at how the Spirit of God works. Yes, God takes away your blinders so that you can see the evil that still plagues you. He makes you aware that you have sinned against a holy God. the God that everyone must someday give an account to. But God does not intend to crush you with that realization so that you lay hopeless under the burden of your newly discovered sin.

That never God intention Rather He exposes that sin so that you look to Jesus as your only hope Christian, I'm talking to you too. When that sin, when that brother confronts you, when the Word of God exposes that sin, when the consequences of your sin expose that sin, God's intention is not to crush you. God's intention is to make you look to your only hope.

And even as a Christian, He's your only hope. He'll always be your hope. He will always be the only plea you can make before God. In His mercy, He reveals the depth of your sin so that you look to Jesus. we all ought to be able to say, I am a great sinner, but Christ is a great Savior Father thank You again for your word We thank you for the searing ability of the word of God to expose our hearts.

Would you help us now even as we contemplate these words and think about our own blind spots that you would always help us to keep Jesus clearly in our sight so that by hope we will seek to grow, to change always realizing that our only hope, our only plea is the Lord Jesus Christ open our eyes we pray we don't want to be blind to our sins we want to live for you so help us I pray in Jesus name Amen