God Doesn't Accept Excuses

GOD DOESN’T ACCEPT EXCUSES

** Erika’s testimony

My friends, it doesn’t matter what your background is like, it doesn’t matter what mistakes you’ve made; God will forgive and can help you, so He doesn’t accept excuses.

Each one of the Gospels was written by a different writer, for a different audience. Matthew wrote His gospel with the Jews in mind so he began his account with the lineage of Jesus, showing that He was rightfully the Messiah. In the genealogy of Jesus, I believe we find included 3 reasons why God doesn’t accept excuses.

I. YOUR _SITUATION_ DOESN’T _SEAL_ YOUR _FATE

- Matthew 1:1-17 Notice, if you will, a few of the people God had Matthew include in Jesus’ genealogy.

*v6 Mentions king David. David was called “A man after God’s own heart.” In spite of his sins, David loved the Lord.

* The same verse mentions Solomon, who asked the Lord for wisdom. He built the temple and for the majority of his life, served and followed God.

*v7 mentions Rehoboam. Rehoboam despised God’s people, and thought only of his own comfort.

*v7 Abijah, The Bible tells us that Abijah, Rehoboam’s son, “walked in the sins of his father.”

*v7 Asa, 2 Chronicles 14:11 tells us that “Asa cried to Jehovah, his God.”

*v8 Jehoshaphat, 2 Chronicles 20 tells us “Jehoshaphat prayed: . . . “Our eyes are on Thee.”

*v8 Joram, “But he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, as the house of Ahab had done; . . .”

*v8 Uzziah, “But when he was strong, his heart was lifted up . . .”

*v9 Jotham, Jotham was victorious over many opposing armies and 2 Chronicles 27:6 tells us “So Jotham became mighty because he ordered his ways before the Lord his God.”

*v9 Ahaz, Jotham’s son Ahaz, the Bible tells us, became king when he was 16. He did not do right in the eyes of the Lord. He made molten images to the Baals.

*v9 Hezekiah, the son of Ahaz prayed, “O Jehovah, our God, save thou us.”

We could continue on and on, and we find the same repetition. A godly king can have a godly son. Or, a godly king may have an ungodly son. An ungodly king may find his son following in his footsteps, or his son may see the error of his father’s ways and choose to follow God instead.

My point is, “YOUR SITUATION DOESN’T SEAL YOUR FATE”. There are many people today who claim they act the way they do because of their environment. They act the way they do because their parents acted that way. They say, “It’s not my fault. I was brought up that way.” Or, “If you knew what my home life was like, then you would understand.

We live in a society where people try to make excuses for the way they act and the decisions they make. They want to say it’s their parents’ fault. They didn’t love me enough, or they pressured me too much, or I was potty-trained too soon, or my parents something.

If you only knew the bad breaks I’ve had, if you only knew the way people have treated me and cheated me. If you’ve been through what I’ve been through, then you would act the same way.

> Ezekiel 18:20 The person who sins will die. The son will not bear the punishment for the father’s iniquity, nor will the father bear the punishment for the son’s iniquity: . . .

My friend, your situation, your background, your environment, does not give you an excuse for rejecting Jesus Christ, and it does not give you an excuse for living in sin.

You cannot blame your laziness in following Jesus on others. You cannot blame the sin in your life on your environment. You cannot blame your bitterness on your spouse. You cannot blame your anger on your boss. You cannot say, “The Devil made me do it.” The Bible says it is your own choice.

> Isaiah 53:6 says, All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. In other words, you are what you have decided to be.

II. YOUR _PAST_ DOESN’T _DETERMINE_ YOUR _FUTURE_

In this genealogy, there are 4 women mentioned. Now, it is unusual enough to find women listed in a Jewish genealogy, but if you were to look for matriarchs listed in ancestors of Jesus, you would expect to find godly women; women like Sarah, Rebekah, Rachel, and Leah. These 4 women stand out because they are missing. Instead, Matthew lists 4 other women. He lists, Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, and “her who had been the wife of Uriah.” Now, what was it that made these 4 women stand out?