I am Responsible For My Actions

Introduction

So good morning. It’s good to see everybody here again. I’ve certainly been looking forward to this. I always enjoy coming over to Bumby. This congregation has been very, very encouraging to me over the years, especially when we lived over in Melbourne. And I just appreciate you all very, very much. If you’ll allow me, I’m going to skip some other introductions at this time and just get into our lesson due to a limited time with Bible class. So if you have your Bible, would you please open it to Ezekiel chapter 18. Ezekiel chapter 18.

My mom called and she was so excited since I was the first member of the family to actually graduate from college and get that piece of paper to hang on the wall. And she said, I want to get you something for graduation. Oh, Mom, you don’t have to do that. Good night. I’m grown now. In fact, uh, Cheryl and I’ve been married at least a year and a half. I don’t need anything. She goes, No, no, no. I’m going to send you some money, and I want you to not just let it go to pay bills. I want you to go out and buy something. So when I got the check, I was like, wow, mom must really love me. So I thought I’m going to get something I’ve always really, really wanted to do.

I’ve wanted to learn how to play the guitar. So I went straight off to uh to the music place, and boy, I saw all those pretty guitars up there, those acoustic guitars. I got to get one of these. And the guy in the store was kind of strumming them from me. And I thought, well, that one’s the prettiest. It sounds good. I want that one. And now I’m no idiot. I knew I was going to have to take some lessons. So right there on the spot, I said, I’m going to sign up for lessons. And the guy goes, Okay, we’ll start Thursday night, you be here, and we’ll be ready to roll. So I showed up at that first class, all ready to go. Had my pretty guitar, and I even had some fancy pics, and all I could do was just strum it, and he said, Here’s the deal.

He said, Do you really want to learn how to play? And I said, Sure. And he grabbed the guitar and he started playing, and oh, is it pretty? Oh. And he handed it back to me, and I was like, wow.

He said, Do you really want to learn how to play? I went, Well, yeah, that’s why I’m here. And he began to preach a sermon that I knew he had preached many, many, many times before. And I’m like, dude, I’m the preacher. Why are you preaching to me? He goes, if you’re going to learn how to play this guitar, it’s not just going to happen overnight. And you’re not just simply going to learn because you showed up to a few lessons. You’re going to have to practice. And I’m thinking to myself, well, duh. But then it’s almost as if he was poking me in the chest. He goes, I have guys like you who come in here all the time. And again, if you’re going to learn how to play this guitar, you’re going to have to make it a priority.

Man, I’ll never forget that. It made a huge impression on me. I’ve got that guitar today. It’s in my closet. And if I was to take it out for you right now, I could play just as much now as I could 20 years ago. Now, I need to share something with you about that. You see, that’s really not my fault, alright? Because I had all the best intentions in the world, and I still have all the great intentions in the world. My son’s wanting to learn how to play, and so I’m going to get him in there and we’re going to start learning how to buy it. But here’s something you need to understand about that situation and why I don’t know how to play that guitar just yet.

You see, I had recently gotten married. You know. Wives. Oh, boy, do they take up time. And then I was working for a TV station, and I was having to go in at two in the morning and produce the morning show and then work through the morning show and then report through the afternoon because I was taking a lot of time in. And you’re never going to believe what else happened. I had a lot of friends who like to play golf, and they were constantly calling me, wanting me to play golf with them, and I hated to disappoint them. You know? So I was having to play a lot of golf then also. And then you’ll, we had two beagles. Anybody ever had dogs? Oh, dogs take a lot of time.

Now, anybody heard a good excuse yet? Anybody heard one that goes, I see where you’re coming from, preacher. You have every reason not to learn how to play that guitar. No. But isn’t that what we do? I mean, really. Isn’t that what we do with our lives? You see, I have a beautiful guitar that is still sitting in my closet and in the hands of a master, it could play the most beautiful music in the world, but in my hands, it is useless. It has no value. It is nothing more than a piece of wood with some pretty strings on it. And to a large degree, that’s the way my life is. And here’s the point I want to make to you as we begin this morning.

Our lives, our lives in the hands of the master can be beautiful music. But if it’s left in our hands, without any discipline, without any accountability, without any effort, without any practice, without any commitment, our lives are useless. And all the excuses that we can come up with in the world are simply useless babble. Because the only excuse we have is an excuse that simply has no value to God. And we’re just wasting our breath. I want to talk this morning before we get into our series on the heart, at the request of your elders, about what I consider to be a rule of the spiritual road. Book tells us a lot about rules. In Proverbs 119 and in verse 30, I’ve chosen the way of faithfulness.

1. God’s Rules Do Not Limit Us

I have set your rules before me. But I fear that sometimes when it comes to the concept of rules, we see rules as great limits to our lives. Anybody ever seen the bank commercial with a guy who has a little box that’s trying on the board and a little girl’s on her bicycle. Anybody ever seen that one? You can ride this bike. Whoa, whoa, whoa, wait, but you can’t go out of the box. You see the little girl look at him. You know, I think a lot of us look at our relationship with God that way. God’s put me in this box that has really limited my life. He’s given me all these rules that I can’t have fun, that I can’t be what I want to be.

He’s got me in the box. But here’s the reality when you get down and you look at the point that God makes to us about rules. His rules do not limit us. In other words, his rules establish boundaries so we can truly reach our full potential. Consider these passages of scripture. Great is your mercy, O Lord. Give me life according to your rules. The sum of your word is truth, and every one of your righteous rules endures forever. Let my soul live and praise you, and let your rules help me. Psalms 119, 43. And do not take the word of truth out of my mouth, for my hope is in your rules. I will praise you with an upright heart when I learn your righteous rules.

2. A Rule of Personal Accountability

And then Psalms 19:9, that beautiful description of God’s word. The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever. The rules of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. See, when you really get down to the crux of the matter, God’s rules, God’s boundaries, God’s limits, God’s directions do not hinder us as much as they aid us and protect us and guide us. I want to look at one rule this morning, and it comes to us from Ezekiel chapter 18, and it is a rule of personal accountability. Set the stage here before we read verses 1 and 2. Judah is in Babylonian captivity. Unfortunately, their oppression has not led them to repentance, if anything. It’s led them to a streak of more honriness. Ezekiel has been commissioned by God to teach the people, and God has him preached in a very dramatic way.

Anybody here ever studied Ezekiel? Anyway? Yeah, I find a lot of people really haven’t got into Ezekiel. If you really want to have some great family time at home, I kid you not, read Ezekiel. I mean, this guy had some very unusual sermons. Has Josh ever just laid down on the pulpit up here for you? And he wasn’t sick or anything. Just like that. Hey, Ezekiel did it. Not just for a few minutes. He did it for years. Years. God had him preach on his side for the concept of many, many, many days. Not only did he have to preach sermons laying down, sometimes God had him cut off his hair and he would burn it in front of the people and he would throw it down on the ground and stomp it.

Now that’s the kind of sermon you’re going to remember. You won’t believe what this preacher did Sunday. He started cutting off all his hair. And then Ezekiel would describe these unbelievable visions. I mean, Ezekiel was doing everything within his power under the direction of God to get these people to turn back, but they just wouldn’t do it. And why was that? Well, they were blaming all of their problems on the generation that preceded them. You see, it wasn’t their fault. No, no, no. This isn’t my fault that I’m I’m in this situation. The reason that we’re being held captive thousands of miles away from our true home. Oh, this isn’t our fault. I’m in this pathetic situation because of my parents. Anybody heard that one before?

It isn’t my fault. It’s my parents’ fault and my grandparents’ fault and the government’s fault and everybody else’s fault around me. In Ezekiel chapter 18 and in verses 1 through 2, here’s exactly what the people were saying. It said, the word of the Lord came to me again saying, What do you mean when you use this proverb concerning the land of Israel? saying, The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth have been set on edge. There’s actually two ways to look at these sour grapes. You get sour grapes when you pick them a little too early before they get sweet. Anybody like blueberries? Yeah, I love blueberries. I love blueberries so much, as soon as I see them getting real big, and my friends will I know where their blueberry uh you know bushes were there in Hewittown.

I was ready to go get them. But if you didn’t wait till they got sweet, woo. Man. Anybody remember Tab?

Yeah, I can tell you remember Tab. Remember that first time you tried a Tab? Woo! You can still taste it, can’t you? That was some sort of nasty. Yeah. But for some reason it was kind of cool to drink Tab. I don’t know why that happened. I was in high school at the time, and you you would sit there and go, ooh, yeah, this is great.

Another way to look at the sour grape concept was that maybe these grapes had fermented and got a little too ripe and maybe caused a little drunkenness. But either way, the proverb simply meant our fathers have committed these sins. Our fathers have done these things, and we’re stuck with the consequences. It’s not our fault. Now, to some degree, to some degree that was kind of true. You look back to the final kings of of of Judah and Israel. They were all horrible, but specifically when you look at this kingdom that was in captivity here, Judah, Manasseth was so is so evil, the Assyrians took him off with hooks in his nose. Jehoa Kim was evil, the Babylonians would take him away. And Jehoachan was also evil, the teenage king, and so all these people are now in captivity, and they had evil kings.

3. All Souls Are Mine

But here’s what God says, verses 3 and 4. As I live, says the Lord God, you shall no longer use this proverb in Israel. Behold, all souls are mine, the soul of the Father, as well as the soul of the Son is mine, the soul who sins shall die. Did you hear what God said? I’m in control here. And I’m telling you, you have a choice. And I don’t want to hear you blaming your failures, blaming your inadequacies, blaming your consequences, blaming your life on someone else. And I want you to listen to how God says it. As I live. Anybody’s mom ever use this phrase? So help me. Oh. I don’t know exactly what that meant, but I had a pretty good idea. Here’s God saying, as long as I live, well, now how long is that going to be?

That’s what he said. As I live, I don’t want to hear this anymore. Well, what does he mean by that? What is God actually telling us? Well, God’s simply telling us that he’s in control. He is sovereign. And he is telling us that all souls are mine. And it’s been that way from the very beginning. I created you, I set the boundaries, and when you’re claiming that your life isn’t fair, when you’re claiming that what you’re enduring is because of something beyond your control, you’re telling me as God that what I’ve given you is just huge bum wrap, that I’ve given you all these disadvantages, that I’ve made your life particularly harder than the rest of the world. And because you’re sinning, because you’re failing, it’s my fault.

And God says, I don’t want to hear it. I don’t want to hear it at all. First of all, I created you, and I created you in my likeness. And I’ve given you special abilities. I’ve given you special capabilities. And more than anything else, if you’ll listen to me from the book of John, John 3, I’ve given you love that goes beyond your comprehension. And you’re going to blame your failures on me? Because that’s really what you’re doing. What you’re saying, when you’re dealing with all these consequences, when you’re dealing with all these failures because of your parents and because of this generation, because of your environment, you’re not actually pointing your fingers at those folks. You’re pointing your finger at me that I gave you a bum wrap, and you just can’t help it.

God says, I don’t want to hear it anymore. I don’t want to hear this proverb anymore. Because I am a sovereign God. Now here’s what’s interesting in Ezekiel’s sermon. Ezekiel’s going to talk to us about choices, but here’s the way he’s really going to conclude the sermon. He’s going to talk about God’s choices, if you will. And what you see is this. Let’s skip forward just a little bit. In chapter 18 here, verse 20, we find a phrase that’s actually repeated from the beginning. The soul who sins shall die. God repeats that phrase twice through Ezekiel. And what God is saying is judgment is going to be from an individual basis. You are not going to be judged as a family. Now we’ve got to hear this, because I think sometimes church folks really struggle with this.

We kind of got this feeling that, well, how’s it church on Sunday? And I was in the right church. I wasn’t in the wrong church. And I was in the right church with the right people at the right time. And so when I show up before God, I’m going to pull out the old card and say, member. Right here, there’s no asterisks beside my name in the directory. I’m the member. So please write on in. Here, here I go. God said, No.

No, you’re not, it’s not a group thing. It’s not even a family thing. It’s an individual thing. Now, here’s where Israel may have struggled with this. When you go back to Exodus chapter 20, and you listen to God giving the commandments, I’m under the assumption that they got this in their mind because they misinterpreted a very common passage of Scripture. In Exodus 20, verse 5, we have a warning against idolatry in the Ten Commandments. And here’s what God said you shall not bow to them nor serve them, for I am a jealous God, visiting iniquity on the fathers and to the children to the third and the fourth generation. See, there it is, right there, right there. You see the father, and then it goes to the third and the fourth generation.

You can go, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, well, wait a minute, though, before you draw your conclusion on that passage, thinking that everybody’s just going to suffer because of the father before them and they can’t help it. The very next verse says this. In Exodus 20, verse 6. But I am a God who is showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments. See what God’s actually talking about here is He’s talking about sins that are copied by the children that they see in their fathers and they decide to do it themselves. That’s how it goes to the second and the third and the fourth generation. God. God is certainly not saying that if a child does righteousness, that that child’s going to suffer the same condemnation as the father.

In fact, God’s going to make that very clear in this passage. Now, there is, there is this point, and fathers, you need to hear this.

4. I Am a Merciful Judge

And you know what? Kids do suffer because of that. But God tells us that just because your dad was an alcoholic or your dad was lazy or your dad was a bum, or your dad wasn’t providing, doesn’t mean that you have to be that way. And while it may not be the perfect situation, you can’t overcome that. But here’s what these folks are doing. They’re just throwing their hands in the air and saying, well, you know, it’s the way Dad was, it’s the way we are, we’re stuck with it. But here’s what God tells us in verses 21 to 23. God says, but if a wicked man turns from all of his sins that he’s committed and keeps all of my statutes and does what is lawful and right, he will surely live, he shall not die, and none of his transgressions which he’s committed shall be remembered against him because of the righteousness which he has done, he shall live.

Do I have any pleasure in that the wicked should die, says the Lord? And not that he should turn from his ways and lifts. Do you hear what God’s saying? God says, Yes, I’m in control, but I am a merciful judge. I am a just judge. The soul who sins shall die, but I am also a merciful judge, and my mercy and my grace abound to all men. If only, if only our Calvinist friends would really read this passage. This passage shows us that we have a choice here, and God, out of his abundant mercy, is longing and yearning to forgive us if we will turn to him, if we will change. And here’s what he says. He says, I will remember, I will remember your transgressions no more.

What a great thought. I will not remember these against you. Anybody remember what the theme is for Ezekiel? Remember the thing? Here’s your theme for the book. Probably should have pointed this out a little earlier. That they may know that I am the Lord. Alright? Now we’re sitting here listening to that thing, going, well, it’s the Bible. Isn’t that kind of the whole point of the whole thing? I mean, really, what’s a revelation? No, no, no. We struggle with that. Because too often we try to make ourselves God. Don’t we? Just out of curiosity, has anybody ever done you wrong? Nobody? This is church, folks. Don’t be lying in church. Anybody ever done you wrong? Alright. Just a few of you? So the rest of you are the ones doing it wrong to others.

Great. Oh, boy. Alright, somebody’s done you wrong. And in a moment of mercy and compassion, once you’ve got your senses back and you’ve calmed down and quit boiling over and you realize that your rage was not what it should be, and you went back and did you go back and say, I forgive you?

Did you forget it?

Did you forget it? Oh, I don’t know.

Here comes old Bob again. Sorry, stinking dog.

5. I Still Must Judge Because Justice Demands It

Giving me all hey, I forgive you. But I’m not hanging around you anymore. God says, I’m not like you. That you may know that I am the Lord. And as God, I remember sins no more. Now tell me, is that a mean God? Is that an unmerciful God? Sounds like a loving God to me, doesn’t it? If a man, if a man turns from all of his sins, he shall surely live. But here’s the third point that God makes about this. I still must judge. Because justice demands it. Notice verses 30 and 31. Therefore, says God, I will judge you. Now remember where we began with this. These people are saying, oh, our fathers have eaten sour grapes, and oh, now our teeth are set on edge.

Oh. No, no, no. God says, I will judge you individually. O house of Israel, everyone according to his ways, says the Lord God, repent and turn from all your transgressions, so that your iniquity will not be your ruin. Cast away from you all the transgressions which you’ve committed, and get yourselves a new heart and a new spirit. For why should you die, O house of Israel? For I have no pleasure in the death of one who dies, says the Lord. Therefore, turn and live. Anybody ever gone to a football game and had to deal with bad referees? God, I tell you what. They just don’t see it like I do. I realize I’m sitting 150 rows up. And I realize in my seats I probably need oxygen because I’m so high up.

And I realize that those players look like ants down there on that field, but I see all. For some reason they just don’t see it like I do. What would you think of a referee? If your team was being held and your wide receiver was going out and the other team just grabbed that guy, threw him to the ground and sat down on him, and the referee said, Well, he really didn’t mean to do that. Because I knew his heart, and he’s really a good kid, and he really didn’t mean to do it. I’m not going to throw a flag on him. I don’t want to hurt his feelings in front of national television. That’s just not fair. I don’t want to judge him. And who am I to judge him?

I don’t know his intentions. Well, what? Then get off the field, Mr. Referee. You’re not a referee. And I realize this is kind of a silly analogy. But for some reason, our society has got it in its mind that judging is wrong. And we all you don’t judge me. I don’t want you to judge me. I don’t want a God who judges me. But, but if a lack of judgment goes against me, then I want some justice here. I don’t want the cops stopping me for speeding unless somebody’s speeding around me, then go get them. You see what I’m saying? We are hypocritical in our mindset. And here’s what God says. I will judge because justice demands it. And you know what, folks? We better get used to that.

6. We Have Choices

Because every single one of us is going to be judged one day. And you know what a lot of people are going to do standing in front of God? Well, God! I had the best intention. Well, God, it’s really not my fault. And what God is saying to these people, you need to be accountable for yourselves because, as a God, a sovereign God, I must judge, must judge, but please hear me on this. I have no pleasure, no pleasure at all in the death of the one who dies. Now, God describes Himself here for us. But what He does before that is He actually speaks to us about our choices, and this is where I want us to focus the remainder of our time. The reason I can’t play that guitar has nothing to do with my wife or my golf game.

Or my job or my beagles. The reason I can’t play that guitar is because I chose not to play it. And that’s really the only reason, isn’t it? It’s in the same way. Every single one of us, when it comes to our spiritual life, the reason we don’t know more about the Bible, the reason we’re not involved more with the church, the reason we’re not evangelizing our neighbor, the reason we’re not changing our hearts, the reason that we’re not living more closely to God, it’s a choice. It’s a choice. And that’s exactly what God is telling us here. We have choices. Let’s notice the first thing. In verses 10 to 13, we’re told that we choose evil. In fact, what he gives us here, he gives us a long list of things that were being committed and done by the people who are even in captivity.

Some of them may be, some may take the uh approach that the book of Ezekiel wasn’t just written to those in captivity, it was written to the remnant who remains, either way. They’re still committing these same heinous crimes. And for some reason they’re blaming it on everybody else. Now, all of us can go through and read this list. We’re going to read the positive side of it in just a moment. But we’ll look at this list and go, well, yeah. They deserve it. You know. Uh, the verse 11, the eating on the mountains. That doesn’t mean it’s wrong to eat on a mountain. Yeah. Probably been to Gatlinburg and you ate dinner, and that’s not condemning eating on the mountain. The eating the mountains had the idol worship houses on them.

And so the people would go and serve and worship these pagan gods up there on the mountains. That’s that’s exactly what that is referring to. And we would look at all those sins and go, well, there you go. There’s the folks that are choosing evil. But here’s where we have a huge disconnect. Had a couple uh come and visit me, and one of the rules that I’ve kind of established as I’ve gotten a little older now, is if anybody wants me involved in their wedding, they got to go through the Phil Robertson uh premarital counseling course, which I almost hate to say that out loud. My brother called me one night after I’d sat down with a couple, he goes, What you been doing? I said, Well, I was actually uh giving some marriage counseling, and there was just dead silence on the phone.

And he finally goes, You were doing what? I said, Oh, I was actually giving some marriage. He goes, You? He goes, I’d love to hear what you have to say to a couple in marriage counseling. I said, Well, generally the first thing I say to them, if if they’re gonna get married, I want to know what kind of marriage they’re wanting to have, and we go to some ammo, but if they’re already married and having troubles, I usually have them say on a scale of one to ten, well, where are you? One is, you know, marital bliss, ten, you’re ready to get a divorce because that’s why you’re here, where are you? And he said, Well, what’d that couple say tonight? I said, Well, they actually said that they were a three.

Really? So, yeah, I got kind of excited.