Rev. David Holwick ZD
First Baptist Church
Ledgewood, New Jersey
September 17, 1995
Ezekiel 18:2-4
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I. Someone else is always to blame.
A. Our families.
1) Holwick children play "pass the buck," esp. Josiah.
2) Ezekiel - our fathers sinned, we get the aftertaste. 18:2-4
a) 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.
3) Menendez brothers is recent legal example.
John Leo wrote in U.S. News and World Report:
"We are deep into the era of the abuse excuse.
The doctrine of victimology - claiming to be a victim so you
are not responsible for your actions -
is beginning to warp the legal system....
Juries have traditionally been very open-minded about whether
a defendant committed an alleged crime, but very tough on
excuses.
Now the trial revolves around excuses.
Traditionally, defense lawyers tried to create doubts.
Now they just put the actual victim on trial.
A movement that began with the slogan, 'Don't blame the victim,'
now strives to blame murder victims for their own deaths."
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B. Our chromosomes.
1) 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.
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.
Swindoll didn't realize how prophetic he was - drug companies
are looking into it right now!
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.
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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) The great reformer Martin Luther said over 500 years ago:
"God wants nothing to do with the lazy, gluttonous bellies
who are neither concerned nor busy.
They act as if they just have to sit and wait for God to
drop a roasted goose into their mouth."
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3) 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."
4) God isn't magical. He works through our obedience.
III. Take charge of your life.
A. We believe people are accountable for their actions.
A few hundred years ago, bed mattresses in America used to be
filled with a stuffing of corn husks.
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 husks
for each bed.
If the children were careless or hurried, they might run out of
husks 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."
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B. Ezekiel makes this point. Ezek 18:4
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
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. Jon 1:12
2) Address the root of the problem.
a) Go to counseling or A.A. or other recovery group.
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.
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.
They shaved him.
They shampooed and styled his hair.
They 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.
Looking at the man on stage no one would ever have guessed
that he was living in the streets just a few hours before.
He was completely changed.
The very next day the organizers of the convention went
looking for this man again.
Would you like to guess where they found him?
That's right -- lying in a gutter, filthy and drunk!
They changed him on the outside, but....
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2) What we need is something internal - a new heart. 18:31
a) God gives this to us when we repent in Jesus' name.
b) Thousands have been dramatically changed: homosexuals,
abusers, and housewives.
c) God can change you, too.
Copyright © 2024 by Rev. David Holwick
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