Who are you going to blame?
Ezekiel 18:2-4
I. Someone else is always to blame.
A. Our families.
1) De Loney children play "pass the buck."
2) Ezekiel - our fathers sinned, we get the aftertaste.
18:2-4
2. What do you people mean by quoting this proverb about the land of Israel: “The fathers eat sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge? (the children’s mouths pucker)
3. As surely as I live, declares the Soverign Lord, you will no longer quote this proverb in Israel.
4. For every living soul belongs to me, the father as well as the son—both alike belong to me. The soul who sins is the one who will die.
a) Scripture Appears to be complaint about God’s
unfairness.
1> Our parents sinned, so why should we suffer?
2> The Israelites actually took comfort in this proverb
because they thought it got them off the hook.
b) The prophet Ezekiel says they sin just as much as
their parents, and so properly share the blame.
In Discipleship Journal, Don McCullough wrote: "John Killinger tells about the manager of a minor league baseball team who was so disgusted with his center fielder’s performance that he ordered him to the dugout and assumed the position himself. The first ball that came into center field took a bad hop and hit the manager in the mouth. The next one was a high fly ball, which he lost in the glare of the sun--until it bounced off his forehead. The third was a hard line drive that he charged with outstretched arms; unfortunately, it flew between is hands and smacked his eye. Furious, he ran back to the dugout, grabbed the center fielder by the uniform, and shouted. ’You idiot! You’ve got center field so messed up that even I can’t do a thing with it!
B. Our chromosomes.
1) Some say that Alcoholism is due to a genetic
sequence.
2) Homosexuality is said to have a genetic basis, or
to be due to a part of the brain called the
hypothalamus.
3) Fat may be due to another genetic sequence, not ice
cream.
4) BLAME THE MIRROR...
for what you see?
Honey if a donkey looks in the mirror, he need not
expect to see a prophet’s reflection. Mirror,
mirror on the wall, you better say what I expect.
C. Our society.
1) Teachers are expected to be social workers, and held
accountable for results. Sue if kids can’t read.
2) The government makes a handy villain. It does
nothing right.
II. Someone else must get me out of this
mess.
A. Parents are to bail us out, no questions asked.
B. Technology is a great cure-all.
A few years ago Charles Swindoll wrote about how we expect science to solve all our personal problems.
He said we are always awaiting the new magical pill that will enable us to eat all the fattening food we want, and not gain weight.
In our minds, at least, technology is always on the verge of liberating us from personal discipline and responsibility.
Only it never does and it never will.
C. EXCUSE IT...
REMOVE BLAME, exempt me, justify,
1. Please release me.
2. Not correct it...
3. Explain away ... rationalize.
a. Master I bought a piece of land? ... you’ve
already seen the land.
b. I purchased a new tractor? Oxen? ... you’ve
already tried the vehicle.
c. I just got married? ... Move the date forward or
backward... Classes of excuses...
A. HIDE ...
to put out of sight, conceal, keep secret, evade,
JUST BURY YOUR BROTHER.... AM I HIS KEEPER?
You may have the body buried, but just because
things may be out of your sight and memory does not
mean God can’t see.
Concealed behaviors by nature expose a danger.
B. COVER-UP ...
Let’s mask it...To wear a mask does not change who
you are? Can you disguise yourself that your Mother
does not know you? Can covering up things protect
you? Are you playing games? Is life a masquerade?
Can we disguise our true character and intentions?
A skunk may say, I am getting a bad rap,but he
still stinks
C. God will do in a pinch. He becomes a fire
department.
1) We expect God to give us money, save our marriage,
make us happy, and then we might believe in Him.
2) It is a common attitude. One Ledgewoodian told me:
"I prayed to stop smoking, and God didn’t take
the desire away. He didn’t take away my desire
to gamble, and he hasn’t brought back my wife.
Religion doesn’t work."
3) God isn’t magical. He works through our obedience.
III. Take charge of your life.
A. We believe people are accountable for their
actions.
Bed mattresses in America used to be filled with a stuffing of corn shucks. Each year it was the children’s job to refill the family’s bed mattresses.
They had to be very careful to use the right amount of shucks for each bed.
If the children were careless or hurried, they might run out of shucks before they got to their own mattresses. Then they would have to fill their own mattresses with straw or other inferior materials.This would often leave their mattresses lumpy. From this practice comes the saying:
"You made your bed, so lie in it."
B. Ezekiel makes this point. Ezek 18:4
4 For all people are mine to judge—both parents and children alike. And this is my rule: The person who sins will be the one who dies.
“The soul that sins will surely die”KJV
1) God looks at individuals.
2) Each one will answer for his or her actions.
3) One life, then death, then judgment. Heb 9:27
27And as it is appointed for men to die once, but
after this the judgment,
a) Friends and family can’t hurt us then, nor help us.
b) We will stand by ourselves before God.
C. Move beyond victimhood.
1) Accept blame when you are responsible.
a) Jonah didn’t obey God till he got to this point.
Jonah 1:12 12“Throw me into the sea,” Jonah
said, “and it will become calm again. For I know
that this terrible storm is all my fault.”
2) Address the root of the problem.
3) Do what is right, whether it "works" or not.
IV. It is possible to change.
A. The good news from Jesus is all about how we
can change.
1) No one is perfect, except your wife’s first husband.
2) Worse people than us have been converted - 1 Cor.
6:11. 11And such were some of you. But you were
washed, but you were sanctified, but you were
justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the
Spirit of our God.
a) He doesn’t just accept them, he makes them different
B. Brain structure and genetics are not destiny.
1) Research is exploding, but often misapplied.
a) No research says genetics forces us in a behavior.
b) We may be predisposed to some extent, but we are not
predestined. You are NOT born an alcoholic.
2) Any leaning we have can be corrected.
a) Choices may be harder, but we can still choose.
b) Including homosexuals and alcoholics. 1 Cor 6:11
C. If the Gospel doesn’t have power to change us, it
is a waste of time.
1) Change cannot be superficial.
Several years ago, a barbers’ supply company held a large convention in a metropolitan city. To show the world how good their products were they organized
a publicity stunt.
They went to the worst section of town and brought back the dirtiest and most helpless drunk they could find.They presented him on the stage. Everyone saw how dirty and unkempt his hair and beard were.
Then they took him out and cleaned him up.- shaved him.
shampooed and styled his hair. sprayed him with cologne. They washed him with a new kind of soap they were trying to sell.They bought him a new suit, a new shirt, new tie, and shoes.He looked great. He looked and felt like a new man.
They brought him back to the stage to show him off, saying to all the world:
"This is what our barber supplies can do for you."
The audience could hardly believe that this was the same man they had seen earlier that day. He was completely changed.
The very next day the organizers of the convention went
looking for this man again. Where did they find him?
That’s right -- lying in a gutter, filthy and drunk!
They changed him on the outside, but....
2) What we need is something internal - a new heart.
Ezekiel18:31 31Put all your rebellion behind you, and get for yourselves a new heart and a new spirit.
a) God gives this to us when we repent in Jesus’ name.
b) Thousands have been dramatically changed:
homosexuals,abusers, and housewives.
c) Jesus is the savior or mankind. Only Believe!!
