New Salem Baptist Church

The Blessing of God Coming to You Despite Sin and Failure

March 3, 2024

Scripture reading: Hebrews 12:1-4.

We are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses. I remember reading this passage as a new Christian a very many years ago. I thought it meant that the followers of God in ages past, the ones chronicled in chapter 11, are watching us. They are witnessing what we are doing, so we ought to be diligent to live for the Lord.

But that is not the kind of witnesses that they are. The author means that they are witnesses to genuine faith because of the way they lived. As we consider their lives, we should have no doubts about faith.^[1] Neither ours nor theirs.

Their lives should motivate us and inspire us to run the race that is set before us. We are not meandering through life! We are in a race. It’s not a sprint. It’s an endurance race. Yet, the fact that it is a race means that we are trying to win. We are not meandering.

Not only can we look to the great examples of faith from chapter 11, but we can look to Jesus Himself who fixed his eyes on the joy that awaits him after this life is over. We too ought to look towards the rewards that await us as we run the race.

Note verse 4: “In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood.” Every follower of Christ should be struggling against the remaining sin in their lives.

Today, I wish to encourage you. Specifically, I wish to encourage you to press on in a strong way after you have fallen into a sin. I hope that most of are successful in our struggle against sin, that is, I hope that we resist temptation most of the time. But we will still stumble.

I am here to tell you that, even after you have sinned, God’s blessings are still yours! God’s blessing will come to you despite your sins. The exception to this divine principle is if a follower of the Lord Jesus persists in sin. If they do that then the result is divine discipline as the author of Hebrews relates immediately following the passage we just read.

But when you stumble, do not be discouraged. See that God’s blessings are still going to come to you!

[1] Consider our first parents, Adam and Eve. Know that Adam and Eve were real persons. Do not believe the lie that the early chapters of Genesis are a fictional story merely to teach us principles. They were real people because both Jesus and the apostle Paul taught that they were (Mat. 19:4; I Timothy 2:14-15).

We should all be familiar with their account. They were tempted by the devil and succumbed:

            So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. ⁷ Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths.

⁸ And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. ^[2]

Their sin was so great that it plunged the entire world, all of creation, into a fallen state of selfishness, corruption, and misery. Yet, what did God do? He could have sent them immediately to hell. It is what they deserved. Instead, he displayed his mercy.

²¹ And the Lord God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them. ^[3]

They were naked and ashamed of their nakedness. If not sending them to hell, God could have left them in that condition. But he blessed them with clothing. God’s blessing came to them soon after their sin.  Our God is a God of compassion.

[2] What if someone were guilty of murder? We do not have to read very far before we find that terrible occasion. Cain became very angry at his brother, Abel, and at God Himself when the Lord rejected his offering but had regard for Abel’s offering:

⁸ Cain spoke to Abel his brother. And when they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him.^[4]

It’s just one little verse, but it records a sad and dreadful occurrence: the first murder. God rightfully curses him by having the ground not produce for him no matter how much he cultivated it. He would have to be a wanderer and a vagrant.

Cain is understandably hopeless and desperate about this curse. He cannot bear it. Not only can he not have a livelihood, but he fears that others will seek to kill him so that he would be a constant fugitive, maybe having to live alone the rest of his life.

Indeed, sometimes the consequences of sin are unbearable. They seem to be made even moreso because they come with the knowledge that the consequences are our own fault.

What does God do?

¹⁵ Then the Lord said to him, “Not so! If anyone kills Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold.” And the Lord put a mark on Cain, lest any who found him should attack him. ^[5]

God’s grace even extends to a murderer! He blessed Cain with protection. Oh! What a God we have! His blessings come to the most undeserving, even after their sin.

[3] Think of Abraham. He is the father of our faith. He is our father in the sense that he was the first one called by God out of a godless and perverted culture to the promised land where God would bless him beyond measure. He trusted God. Although his faith is an encouragement to us, yet he sinned.

Twice he allowed his wife, Sarai, to become the wife of another man. First, Pharaoh of Egypt took her as a wife because he told him that she was only his sister (Gen. 12:10-20). Think about what may have happened and what Abraham surely expected to happen when she was taken as Pharaoh’s wife. Abraham knew that Pharaoh would seek to consummate the marriage. It was only God (vs. 17) that prevented that from happening. Abraham was willing to allow his wife to have sex with another man, not just in a fling, but as a regular activity! And this was just to protect his skin (he feared for his life)!

Despite this sin, God returned Sarai to him without her having been violated and then he blessed him greatly!

• God was on his side magnificently as he rescued Lot.
• Melchizedek, as a representative of the one true God blesses Abraham. This is what Melchizedek says: “Blessed be Abraham of God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth.” (Gen. 14:19)
• God makes a covenant with Abraham, promising him and his descendants wonderful things!
• God promises him a child in his old age, Isaac, who would become his joy and Sarah’s joy.

These are all fantastic blessings!

Then Abraham repeats his sin! When he is sojourning in the land of Canaan he tells the king of Gerar, Abimelech, that Sarah is his sister again for the same reason! He was afraid he would be harmed so he gave Sarah to Abimelech as a wife (Gen. 20:2).  Again, God keeps the king from consummating the marriage by speaking to him in a dream. Sarah is returned to Abraham once again without being violated.

How did God treat Abraham after this sin? He blesses him again!

• Isaac is born, He is the child through whom God’s promises would be fulfilled.
• Abraham lived in peace with Abimelech and the inhabitants of that region (Gen. 21:22-34).
• When Isaac is grown, we read this: “Now Abraham was old, advanced in age, and Yahweh had blessed Abraham in every way.” (Gen. 24:1)
• After Sarah passes away, God blesses Abraham with another wife, Keturah, who then blesses him with six more children. One of those children was Midian, from whom the Midianite empire came to be. There, Moses lived with protection for 40 years. He married Zipprah a Midianite. His father-in-law, Jethro (not Jethro Clampett!), would help Moses guide the Israelites through the wilderness through sound advice. Another child with Keturah, Sheba, would give rise to another empire. The queen of Sheba would honor Solomon a thousand years later, Think about what a blessing it was for Abraham to have a wife in his old age to care for him, cook for him, etc.

God blessed Abraham in spite of his sin.

[4] Consider Jacob, Abraham’s grandson. Jacob’s character left much to be desired. He was a deceiver and a supplanter. He deceived his father and he supplanted his brother. Someone may say, “Yes, but God hated Esau and loved Jacob.” That is the very point I am making! God favored Jacob despite his sins! If you belong to Christ then God favors you too!

How did God bless Jacob?

• As Jacob left his family to go on a long journey in order to escape his brother’s wrath and to visit his uncles Laban, he was given a dream by God of a ladder from heaven to earth which was nothing less than a dream of the coming Christ. But Yahweh says to him in the dream: “Behold, I am with you wherever you go.” (Gen. 28:15). This was the favor and blessing of God coming to Jacob.
• He meets Rachel and falls in love. Love is a blessing from the Lord, is it not?
• He married both Rachel and her sister, Leah. Some would say that was a curse and not a blessing, but the book of Ruth portrays Jacob’s wives as being blessed (Ruth 4:11).
• He had twelve children who became the foundation of Israel as a nation. Having many children was seen and realized as the favor of God coming to a person.
• God caused Jacob to prosper in a great way in all that he did in his uncle’s service.
• God would appear to Jacob after he left his uncle’s house. We read: “Then God appeared to Jacob again when he came from Paddan-aram, and he blessed him.” (Gen. 35:9) The verse plainly states that God is blessing Jacob.

[5] Consider King David. After he committed adultery and murder the Lord did discipline him severely by taking the life of his newborn son and having his older son, Absalom, steal his throne. But, after a time, the Lord blessed him.

• Solomon was born to him, Israel’s second greatest king and the wisest man to ever live.

• He restored his kingdom and did so fully, so all twelve tribes supported his return as king (2 Samuel 19:40-43).
• He fought the Philistines four times and the Lord gave him victory on all four occasions (2 Samuel 21: 15-22).

David writes and sings a song to Yahweh after these battles and sings: “He makes my feet like hinds’ feet, and sets me on my high places.” (2 Samuel 22:34). The favor of God! He also sings: “Great salvation he brings to his king,

and shows steadfast love to his anointed,

to David and his offspring forever.” ^[6] The Lord’s steadfast love is poured out upon David and David recognizes that he is anointed by God?

• God gave David “mighty men.” These were fearless, powerful warriors who gave all their lives to David. God sent David support!
• When David was advanced in age, outliving his wives, his servants found the most beautiful woman in all of Israel (or one of the most beautiful) to be his wife (I Kings 1). The Bible says that she kept him warm. Blessing!

[Conclusion and Application]

We have seen the sins of six people: Adam & Eve, Cain, Abraham, Jacob, and David. We also saw that God favored each one of them and blessed them. But there is one more name we need to add to our list. That name is…yours! If you belong to Christ then you, too, will be receiving the blessing of God despite your sin!

What ought you to do? It’s very simple. You must know that God is blessing you and will bless you again despite anything you have done. Of course, God expects you to confess your sin to him, and I am confident that you have either done that or will do it (I John 1:9).

What should you do with this marvelous knowledge? You ought to press on in a strong way. Do not allow your failures to discourage you, but neither sit around and do nothing. Rather, press on into the kingdom that awaits you. That is, take the revelation of God’s steadfast love and allow it to motivate you to live for him in a higher and more focused way.

You will be like Abraham; you will be like David, experiencing the blessings of God in numerous ways. Expect them!