Sermon Tone Analysis

Intro

I few years ago I remember one of my wife’s cousins who refused to wash dishes anymore

for those who can see and feel them they are very easy to spot

but for most they dont know where they are, and dont know how to escape them

She felt like if she didnt do them than no one would and she was tired of being the only one who cared

most of the visitor is Ocean City are completely blind to them and many people get caught in them every year

So for days dishes piled up in the sink and the cabinets continued to grow bare

And everyday her husband continued to walk by the sink as if nothing was abnormal

I wonder how many of you have even done something like this before

I know there are a lot of times i am completely blind to things around the house that need to be picked up

Ill even ask Shan sometimes.

“How I can help”

And she will just reply “Just open up your eyes and look around… there is plenty to do

In the same way there are many people who are completely Blind to their Spiritual condition

which is something we began to discuss 2 weeks ago

So today we will pick up where we left off in talking about the signs of Spiritual Blindness

Now before we get into the focus of today’s message let me remind you of what we talked about two weeks ago

Sign #1- Those who are Spiritually Blind Lack Spiritual hunger

Remember the situation

Joseph’s rise to power in Egypt

The Famine

And what we find in verses 1-5 is Joseph’s brothers standing around looking at each other while they and their family were starving

1 Now Jacob saw that there was grain in Egypt, and Jacob said to his sons, “Why are you staring at one another?”

2 He said, “Behold, I have heard that there is grain in Egypt; go down there and buy some for us from that place, so that we may live and not die.”

Remember we had talked about the very shady charchter qualities of Joseph’s brothers

And now they don’t even have enough hunger in the middle of the famine to recognize that there is grain in egyot

And there father who is old and going physically blind has more sight than they had

And we Talked about how a sign of spiritual blindness is this lack of Hunger for spiritual things

Those who have tasted of the Kindness of God will long for the nourishment of the word!!

The way to think about i, is like this

If you are physically alive, you will hunger for physical food

If you are spiritually alive, you will hunger for spiritual food

So sign number 1....

Righteousness and His word

Sign #1- Those who are Spiritually Blind Lack Spiritual hunger

So today we will continue to discuss spiritual blindness based on what we have been reading in Genesis 42

Sign #2- Those who are Spiritually Blind Lack Accurate Self-Examination

Read (Make Comments as you go)

Read

(make important comments as you go)

So as the brothers come to Egypt they are completely blind to the fact that they are speaking to Joseph

But Jsoeph knows who they are

And Joseph know what kind of Guys they are

And he doesn’t trust them with at all and accuses them of being spies

But what i want you to notice here is the brothers confession to Joseph

In verse 10-11

They claim to be honest men

Now Joesph know better doesnt he

And we know better

Thee sre not honest men

These are the guys who left their brohter for dead

They took his coat, dipped in in animals blood and told their father that he was killed by wild animals

They are not honest men

But how many people have this same spiritual blindness in their life

Yes they know they haven’t always done everything right… but for the most part they think they are good people

This is one of the biggest lies of the devil

He want us all to think that we are good people

A ruler questioned Him, saying, "Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?" 19 And Jesus said to him, "Why do you call Me good?

No one is good except God alone.

as it is written, "THERE IS NONE RIGHTEOUS, NOT EVEN ONE; 11 THERE IS NONE WHO UNDERSTANDS, THERE IS NONE WHO SEEKS FOR GOD; 12 ALL HAVE TURNED ASIDE, TOGETHER THEY HAVE BECOME USELESS; THERE IS NONE WHO DOES GOOD, THERE IS NOT EVEN ONE."

No one like to think of themselves as a bad person right

But we are… and until we see that we are living in blindness

6 If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth; 7 but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.

8 If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us.

notice the continued blindness of Joseph’s brothers in this passage

They don’t even recognize their own brother

But Joseph recognizes them doesn’t he

And he even remember the dream he had about them bowing down to him one day

There is definitely this great contrast the author of Genesis is giving us between Joseph and His brothers

Joseph has the vision and fore site to prepare for a disastrous famine

But His brothers don’t even have the vision to see that there was food in Egypt

Joseph has the vision to see that His brothers coming to him for food is a fulfillment of the dream he had when he was 17

His brothers don’t even recognize Joseph

But there real blindness comes in how they respond to Joseph when he accuses them of being spies

Honest me???!! ARE YOU SERIOUS!!!

That’s what i imagine Joseph must have been saying in his mind

These are the same guys who lied to their father saying that Joseph was killed by wild animals

We already talked two weeks ago about all of the shady and horrible things these guys were guilty off

But do you want to know something

They probably truly thought this about themeselves

As they sttodd there before a man who they had no clue was their brother they probably truly considered themselves to be honest men

Brothers and Sisters this one of Satan’s biggest lies

He wants people to think they are good

Speak from Memory about the Rich Young ruler In

No one like to think of themselves as a bad person

But listen to this...

Now here is what you need to know..

You cannot have a relationship with the Living God if you think you are righteous

Remember the passage i read two weeks ago

These are people who think they are doing things for God but are blind to their own unrighteousness

Which is why the point i am making here is this

A sign of Spiritual Darkness is in accurate self-examination

Spiritually blind people don’t even recognize their own depravity

Lets continue as the story goes on

Read

It is interesting here that they now admit their guilt

And they really see that what is happening is punishment for it

But what stands out to me is Reuben’s response

Reuben thinks he is innocent

But lets take a look at the instant replay