No Excuses!

2:01 pm obedience, Uncategorized

The Kinsmen produced a song titled, Excuses, Excuses, You Hear Them Everyday!  The lyrics of this song include the following:
“Excuses, excuses, you’ll hear them every day.
And the Devil he’ll supply them, if the church you stay away.
When people come to know the Lord, the Devil always loses
So to keep them folks away from church, he offers them excuses.”

Then, the song lyrics include a multitude of excuses commonly used by people to avoid religion. Here is an example.
“Well, the preacher he’s too young. And, maybe he’s too old.
The sermons they’re not hard enough. And, maybe they’re too bold.
His voice is much too quiet-like. Sometimes he gets too loud.
He needs to have more dignity. Or, else he’s way too proud.
Well, the sermons they’re too long. And, maybe they’re too short.
He ought to preach the word with dignity instead of “stomp and snort.”
Well, the preacher we’ve got must be “the world’s most stuck up man.”
Well, one of the lady’s told me the other day, “Well, he didn’t even shake my hand.”

In over fifty years of preaching, I have heard many excuses just like these!
Twice in the book of Romans, Paul uses the Greek word anapologētos which is translated, “without excuse” in Romans 1:20 and “inexcusable” in Romans 2:1.
First, rejecting God is inexcusable.  “For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse.”   Paul affirms that the creation declares the power and glory of God.  The created universe is visible to all people.  “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament showeth his handywork. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge. There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard” (Ps. 19:1-3).  When the truth that God is and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him is suppressed, the consequences are disastrous.  Paul mentions: ignorance (Rom. 1:18); ingratitude (Rom. 1:21); idolatry (Rom. 1:23); immorality (Rom. 1:24-32); and impenitence (Rom. 2:4-6).  Individuals who will not turn to the Lord and obey Him will have to face the indignation and wrath of God (Rom. 2:6-11).  They have no one to blame but themselves because they are “without excuse.”
Second, attempting to supplant God in the matter of final judgment is inexcusable (Rom. 2:1).  The Jews judged the Gentiles with regard to moral law, but the Jews practiced the same immoral acts (Rom. 2:21-23) condemned in the law.  They attempted to judge others from a hypocritical state.  Paul states that this is inexcusable because they knew the law and did not obey it.  Another thought on judging others relates to the final judgment of God.  Only God can judge a person’s final standing before Him.  God will render to every man according to his works (Rom. 2:6).  Only God knows everything a person has thought, said, or done.  Only God knows the secrets of the hearts of men.  God is no respecter of persons and His judgment will be according to righteous judgment.  Failure to fear God is inexcusable!
Third, failing to fully obey the gospel of Christ is inexcusable.  In Matthew 22:2-14, Jesus told a parable about the kingdom of God.  The Parable of the Wedding Feast contains a section where the king enters into the the place where the guests were located and sees a man who did not have on a wedding garment.  The king asked, “Friend, how camest thou in hither not having a wedding garment?  And he was speechless” (Matt. 22:11-12).  The man was not properly attired and was immediately cast out (Matt. 22:13).  Wearing the wedding garment clearly stands for our effort to respond to the king’s goodness, grace, and requirements for enjoying the wedding feast.  In order to be in the kingdom of God, a person must be baptized into Christ and put on Christ (Gal. 3:26-27); he must have his sins washed away by the blood of Christ whereby he makes his robes white (Acts 22:16; Rev. 7:14); and he must walk in righteousness and true holiness (Heb. 12:14).  God calls us to holiness by His Word (I Thess. 4:7).  There is no excuse for not obeying the commands of God.
If you haven’t believed in God, feared the judgment of God or obeyed the gospel of Christ, why not?  Be careful how you respond!

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