Genesis 3 vs. 12; 2 Samuel 24 vs. 24; Matt 26 vs. 42

From the time man was created have excuses being part of his history and ultimately his condemnation and downfall. This sermon will try to analyze three captains in the scriptures whose actions brought them glory or condemnation from God. By the title of this sermon, we mean those who refuse to accept that their actions were wrong and refused to take the blame; those who knew they sinned and sought mercy and those who knew of the danger in their action yet took responsibility for the evil of others for the larger good of mankind. The bible is all about these “type” of characters and the lessons taught by these will determine where you end up after the final judgment.

I was in Nigeria recently and saw a program on the television. The Police detectives were interviewing inmates about their crimes and why they committed them. One man gave the reason for ripping off others of their properties as follows; a) his victim is wealthy so that his victim SHOULD NOT feel the loss; b) he needed to get about $20,000 (twenty thousand) to start a honest trade and the easiest way was to rob another for the money; c) he needed money to feed his family who the police should not allow to see the program because they did not know he was a thief; d) this was not the first time he stole and that God gave him intelligent brain to be used anyway he wants to; e) the most fearful to me was when he said he did nothing wrong because the victim should not feel the loss. His victim has wealth and needed to spread his wealth. He was then the person to help the rich man decide how to depose of his wealth. I could neither believe he said that nor that I heard him say it. The inmate did not show an ounce of remorse at all. His jail term was unusually long. Here is our legacy from our forefather Adam that we need to reject so that we can receive mercy from a merciful God. It is such inmates as this God has sent this ministry to and may God give us the wisdom and strength to be successful servants. We must do it because God knows we can and do it with love.

Man is always looking for reasons to look good in the eyes of others to the extent that precept upon precept and line upon line doctrine is ignored because man of today wants quick fixes to problems. Man of today does not want to accept that wealth is an accumulation of nickels and dimes in most cases. I list here a few characteristics of those who refuse to accept that their wrong decisions to be of their own making. If any of these is the size of your garment, you need to go before the Lord for correction for He is willing to forgive if we show true repentance:

1 They hate to lose or fail hence they avoid taking risks of which this whole life is about; consider the parable of Matt 25 vs. 25. This servant was afraid to trade with one talent given him for fear of losing. He blamed his master for being stingy. He was condemned for his own wisdom (foolishness) and he could not appeal his sentence.

2 Chooses a task that fits his or her personality or lifestyle. The follower of Christ in Luke 18 verses 18-27 found it difficult to forsake his vast wealth. It was he who went to offer his services to Christ and not the other way around. But the condition of service, compassion for others, did not fit into his own condition of service. He withdrew his application for divine employment for the one that will gather moss and could be stolen. Do you always desire assignments which do not challenge you? Do you always want to set your rule of employment for your boss?

3 Someone else or past situation is always the cause of your problems. People in this category are neither born-again nor faithful believers in the Lord Jesus Christ. If you are in this class you will need to ask yourself whether you have had one or more opportunities to make your life better despite obstacles. How much do you dwell on the hurt others have caused? Do you see the possible solution through Christ? Your answer will determine if you are a born-again believer. Have you asked God for solution and wait on Him or you want the solution according to your timing? These are valid questions because life in itself is difficult and evil without Christ. It is not that the true believers do not pass through evil time but his Encourager during these storms of life is Christ. The said person who caused your problem may become born-again later in life and you are still dwelling on yesterday. Apostle Paul was once Saul of Tarsus and a fierce enemy of gospel of Christ at one time in his life.

4 Do you like to work in big or large groups so as to share the blame if it fails? If this is you, then you are not ready to take responsibility for failure. You lack confidence that there is One who can lift you up if you fall. You will always find someone to blame for your problems.

Now let us go back a little to the three bible characters:

ADAM:
Adam could have saved his off springs the pains and evils of this day if only he had accepted responsibility for his decision at the Garden of Eden and asked God for mercy. It was to him that was given the commandment and not his wife Eve. That he delegated decision to his wife was his and our downfall. Needless to say we are at the short end of the deal. God who is not the author of confusion does not give leadership in any situation to more than one person at a time for the reason of accountability and orderliness. Before Moses finished his leadership role over the people of Israel, God had him anoint Joshua for orderliness. An aircraft that has two captains/pilots or a vehicle with two drivers at the wheel will not likely make it to their destination in one piece. I was watching the disasters of the likes of Enron and their chiefs’ executives. I cannot remember anyone of them who took personal responsibility for the downfall of the businesses in their charge yet each made millions of dollars but messengers and the lowly in these companies were left in tears. Each of the executives of theses companies passed the buck to board of directors or subordinates or the other way around. The final chapter is still disaster. Many are left suffering which is what happens when we refuse to take responsibility for our failure. Others suffer when they do not have to. We are very likely to repeat the same error.

So it was with Adam. Making mistakes in is not unexpected in life but what determines the final chapter of our life and or others maybe if we admit our mistakes and seek corrections else we shall make the same mistake in the future. God gave Adam opportunity to ask for mercy but like most of us as students in the classroom who gets caught making a noise or disturbing others, the fault is never not ours but the other student who asked us a question while the teacher was talking. Then everyone gets punished. We blame others but not ourselves. God had to punish Adam immediately to set His standard. Once cancer is detected, no reasonable patient postpones treatments.

DAVID
David committed many errors in judgment and God did not punish him as much as He should have. Why? David always asked God for mercy because he knew God was and is willing to forgive those who are genuinely repentant of their errors. One of my most favorable passages in the bible was the answer David gave in 1 Chronicles 21 “And Satan rose up against Israel, and provoked David to number Israel.” David knew it was a sin before God for conducting a census at that time. God sent Prophet Gad to David to him know that he had sinned and deserved punishment. David did say that as the king he could what he wanted. (We blame Satan all the time and he deserves it most of the time.) David did not pass the buck here to Satan because David knew what God says about the matter and the ultimate decision belongs to man.

Let us examine the actions of Satan here and relate it to our lives. The bible says Satan rose up again Israel and not David directly but it was David God put in the decision making role as king. Does this sound familiar to you such as when you are close to achieving your goal? How did or would you handle it? Satan was after Israel as a nation to destroy it. Satan used David as a vessel. Are people very close to you used as vessels by Satan not knowing it? How do you deal with such people? If you see them as in the flesh then you are losing the battle. You should go into warfare prayers with weapons that are not carnal. Do you know and do what God expects of you in the leadership position He gave you at home, church or work? In verse 13 of the same chapter, David gave the answer a true believer of then and now should give. “David said to Gad, I am in deep distress. Let me fall into the hands of God, for His mercy is very great; but do not let me fall into the hands of men.” David could have chosen the option of having the whole nation suffer instead of just him but he did not. God saw his heart and He lessened the punishment. That is a true leader. When we refuse accepting responsibilities for our mistakes, then we spread the punishments when we should not. When Satan bombards you, do you ask God for His strength? How percentage of your wisdom do you think can match Satan? How much influence does environment or people have on you when it comes to decision-making? Satan was not after David alone but against the entire church. God loved David and whosoever God loves is a target for Satan. Whosoever God gives work to do is always a target of Satan. Satan went after man until he destroyed man because man depends on his own power. But thank God for Jesus.

The same story of the foolish census by David is also in 2 Samuel 24. When God through Prophet Gad confronted him, in verse 17 he said, “Lo, I have sinned and have done wickedly: but these sheep, what have they done? Let thine hand, I pray thee, be against me, and against my father’s house.” The answer of a humble and God fearing man. David immediately accepted his sin. Whenever I read this scripture, I cannot but ask God for the spirit of humility as David did. It also brings me to remember what our Lord Jesus Christ did in John 2 verse 24 “But Jesus did not commit himself unto them, because he knew all men.” The same people who cry “hosanna” to you today will cry, “crucify him” tomorrow. Most human beings throughout history have mistaken the approval of other men for the approval of God. In the process of copying what Jack did without knowing the reason why, Joe does the same thing and is pushed beyond his personal limits. Without Christ, Joe will fall. When he falls, he goes to sew fig leaves together and make aprons to cover the shame. In the meantime, the One person who can bail him out is watching to see whether Joe will come for help. Joe refuses to believe that he is wrong. Why did he not go for help? Is it pride or ignorance? We may never know. The punishment will not go away. It is worthy of note that God still loves man but hate his sin. Examine yourself to see whether you have pride, arrogance and ignorance in you. God will help and God will me.

JESUS CHRIST:
There are not enough adequate words, sentences, phrases in any vocabulary to describe what Christ did. John 18 vs. 37 “Pilate therefore said unto him, art thou a king then? Jesus answered; thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth.” In John 10 vs. 17-18, Jesus Christ told us that He came to this world only to lay His life down for the salvation of them that believe in Him. It was a decision He made knowing before the foundation of the world that it will cost Him His life. He did not have any sin of himself but chose to bear the sin of others when he did not have to. He chose to go ahead with it. He saw the shame and the pain as temporary situations. That is why the bible says that the things that seen are temporary and the unseen things eternal. It cost him His physical life on the cross and no wonder He is given a name above all names and at that name everything in heaven and on earth must bow whether they like it or not.

Are you and I willing to readily pay a price for our errors? There is no amount of decorations we can put on sin, it is still sin. We can change the wording of the charges to suite us or the prosecutor here on earth but the one in heaven will not change His and it is His verdict that is final.

Now in the world of the present day man, a king or president or prime minister is the ruler and his policies determine the course of the society for good or for bad. When his policies work for good he takes the praises. But when they are not good, he finds excuses to cover a bad policy. Then he tries to plaster or put bandage on the failed policies. I earlier gave the example of the Enrons, WorldComs and the likes. Each of those executives laid the blame on others. All of these companies eventually collapsed. So it is in every phase of human history. Those who own up to bad decision and take responsibility for it are saying, “Look I made an error but I can in a way or the other correct it or will not make the same error again if given another chance.” The chances of making the same mistake again are reduced because he will consider all consequences in making the next decisions.

Jesus Christ did not commit any sin 2 Peter 2 vs. 22 and John 18 vs. 38b. Yet he put upon Himself the sins of all and paid dearly for them by dying a shameful death on the cross. Pilate said he found no fault in Jesus. You may say that “well He knew what the deal was before he volunteered.” That is a valid statement. Another way to look at it is “who would be saved man if He had not done so”. The answer is “none.”

Adam refused to acknowledge his error and plunged man into a nosedive because he made excuses. He was condemned. David made a mistake he acknowledged it but asked for mercy and got reduced sentence. God called him His friend. Jesus Christ did not sin at all but because he created all things He took it upon Himself to bear the punishment of His creation. He did not take the easy way out which He could have legally and spiritually done. He is now in glory and will eventually judge all creation whether we disagree or dislike it.

WHAT THEN DO WE DO?
Know the commandments of God that govern your situation and adhere to them as much as possible. The bible says in 1 Corinthians 10 verse 13 that there is no temptation that is new to man but for the humble and faithful God will always make a way that the temptation will not overcome His own. Ignorance is a liability that you must pay for. Get the insurance by the name of Jesus Christ today. God did not force His rules on man so the responsibility to made decisions belongs to man. But you know what? God expects us to come to Him for solutions each time we have problems. Over and over again God is always inviting Israel to come back to Him even after their never-ending rebellions. He knows that Satan is very powerful and Satan hates us. Remember God set a limit that Stan must not trespass against Job. The Satanic power will go as far as we let it go if we do not seek Christ. Sure you lose some and win most but it is all for your edification so dependence on Christ is a must. You may say, “Tomorrow is when I will get to do that.” You do not own tomorrow. It is quite possible that what you will get tomorrow may be better than what you want to get today but you are not promised tomorrow.

If you trip after you have truly and honestly tried all, go before God to ask for mercy and try not to do the same again. A mistake in itself is not unexpected but how you handle it may decide what happens to you. Do not pass the buck to another to look good. It is only when you agree to your error that you will recognize what decisions you need to make the next time. Justifying yourself will only blind you from reality. Most people will always feed the parking meter because the fine for a ticket costs more than the twenty-five cents for the meters. The fine in New York now is about fifty dollars. You did not feed twenty-five cents in to the meter then you must now pay fifty bucks. The officer will not accept an excuse that the meter was broken. He will likely say that you should have parked your vehicle by the meter that is not faulty. It is your responsibility to find a working parking meter. It is your responsibility to accept your errors and ask for the grace not to repeat it. The cost of mistakes not repented of can be very grave indeed.

May God help us. Amen.

Prayer:
These prayers will not go anywhere if you do not genuinely give your life to Christ. Go before the Lord to remove those besetting sins that make you or will make you fall. Ask God to open your understanding concerning the plan of Satan against you. Ask for grace. Ask for His mercy also. God bless you. Amen