Innocent Of The Blood Of All

INTRO.- Innocence. That sounds good, but are we innocent in any way, shape or form? I was once in life. You were too.

ILL.- It’s like the story of the little boy peeking over the corner of his newborn baby brother’s crib, saying, "Quick! Tell me what God is like before you forget."

We all were innocent at birth but that innocence didn’t last long. It seems like it doesn’t take long to lose our innocence in this old sinful world, does it?

What’s the worse thing you did as a little kid at home that would indicate you lost some of your innocence? Tell a lie, do something naughty, sass your mom, etc.?

ILL.- Most of my mother’s cooking was very good but there were a few things that I didn’t like. And of course, we were told to clean our plates, especially, if we wanted any dessert. Well, when mother left the room and the dog was near....MY PLATE WAS LICKED CLEAN!

But I wouldn’t say that was the start of losing my innocence. I did worse things than that, but for some reason, I have a loss of memory.

WHAT DID YOU DO? We all lost our innocence at some point in time.

ILL.- The first “First Lady” to go counter to the social custom of serving champagne and other wines at formal White House functions was the wife of President Rutherford B. Hayes, who refused to serve any kind of alcoholic beverages. She said, “I have young sons who have never tasted liquor. They shall not receive, from my hand, or with the sanction that its use in my family would give, their taste of what might prove to be their ruin. What I wish for my own sons, I must do for the sons of other mothers.”

That kind of commitment opposing alcoholic beverages isn’t seen often in our world but I believe that the whole world would be a much better place without alcohol in any form. Much evil has been thought up and performed as a result of drinking alcohol: people have been killed or maimed for life, children left orphaned, marriages destroyed, theft and murders performed, etc.

Frankly, it’s hard to be innocent in a world that is filled with all kinds of sins taking place. And the world doesn’t just keep sin to itself, the world flaunts it in our faces. The world advertises it everywhere. The world invites us to participate through TV, movies, peer pressure, sports stars, and Hollywood actors who give us horrible examples in life.

And anybody that goes to Hollywood and starts making movies is asking for trouble! However, you don’t have to go to Hollywood to be affected and/or corrupted by the world. We all know about the evil around us and the pressures to give into that evil.

But Jesus said, "you are the light of the world." Meaning that we are light because we belong to Him and He is the way, the truth and the life. And we must give forth this light in the world. WE MUST SHED LIGHT IN THIS DARK WORLD!

We do this by living out the gospel in our lives and by presenting the message of Christ.

26Therefore, I declare to you today that I am innocent of the blood of all men. Paul speaks of being innocent of the blood of all. What’s he talking about?

ILL.- What if I knew the answer to your problem in life and didn’t share that answer? What if you had a terrible disease and I knew exactly what would cure it but didn’t tell you? Would that make me innocent? No way.

The only way I could be innocent is by telling you how to cure your disease.

Brothers and sisters, we know the cure for man’s disease called sin! The cure is Jesus Christ! And if we don’t share that cure we are NOT innocent of the blood of all men!

PROP.- How can we Christians become innocent of the blood of all men?

1- By proclaiming the will of God

2- By warning people night and day

I. BY PROCLAIMING THE WILL OF GOD

25"Now I know that none of you among whom I have gone about preaching the kingdom will ever see me again. 26Therefore, I declare to you today that I am innocent of the blood of all men. 27For I have not hesitated to proclaim to you the whole will of God.

ILL.- As the golfer approached the first tee, a hazardous hole with a green surrounded by water, he debated if he should use his new golf ball. Deciding that the hole was too treacherous, he pulled out an old ball and placed it on the tee. Just then he heard a voice from above say loudly: "Use the new ball!" Frightened, he replaced the old ball with the new one and approached the tee.