EXCUSES IN LIFE'S FAILURES

LUKE 19:2

A. "AND ANOTHER CAME SAYING, LORD, BEHOLD HERE IS THY POUND WHICH I HAVE KEPT LAID UP IN A NAPKIN; FOR I FEARED THEE, BECAUSE THOU ARE AN AUSTERE MAN; THOU TAKEST UP THAT THOU LAYEST NOT DOWN, AND REAPEST THAT THOU DIDST NOT SOW"
  1. The literature of excuses is the oldest thing in history:
    1. It began in the garden of Eden - Gen. 3:10-13
    2. Adam opens his mouth in Eden, he does so in the ungallant excuse, "The woman whom Thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree and I did eat" - Gen. 3:12
  2. We find these excuses throughout the history of mankind:
    1. Cain thought he had an excuse for feeling irresponsible for the murder of his brother
    2. Moses thought that God had to excuse him from bringing Israel out of bondage because of his inability to speak fluently B. EXCUSES IN LIFE'S FAILURES
  3. The parable of the pounds:
    1. Is intended to emphasize the importance of using the heaven-given means to the glory of the Divine giver
    2. To be diligent in the pursuit of our daily responsibility to God and men
  4. The parable of our text exposes the inexcusable excuses:
    1. We note first how the Lord Jesus puts His finger upon the sore place, the one fatal blow in man's excusable excuses for failures
    2. Such parables are used by Him to reveal or expose the thoughts of men 'O Lord, thou has searched me and known me' - Ps. 139:1. Examples: Nathanael learned the lesson that nothing is hid from God - John 1:48-49; the woman at the well discovered that the one that spoke to her knew her life - John 4:16-19
    3. So we too must ever be mindful that our every motive in life is like an open book before God that our excuses are, in fact inexcusable C. LET US NOTE FURTHER THE NATURE AND DEFECTS OF THE INEXCUSABLE EXCUSES
  5. The nature of the excuses:
    1. Distrust in God - "You are such a hard man, picking up what you never laid down and reaping what you never sowed"
    2. Surely this is an entirely unworthy conception of God; but that is the spirit of the ungrateful just the same and Jesus put His finger on it; the parable of the pound
    3. This same mistrust by the Jews was further revealed by our Lord in the parable of the prodigal's brother - Luke 15:29-30
    4. The same illustration is found in the men that took care of their lord's vineyard - Matt. 21:33-45
    5. Distrust of our own soul's capability to discharge our God-given duties usefully is another flow in man's excuses
    6. Would you know the reason why some people make inexcusable excuses for their unfruitfulness in life; find them in that they do not recognize the capabilities God placed into their being
  6. The defect in love:
    1. The criterion of character is the life it achieves. Judged by this, the servant had failed from lack of the spirit of devotion to a supreme object; hence his fear and his excuse
    2. His crippling fault was a defect in love; love is behind every adventure in living, and when love is absent there is trouble ahead
    3. Love to God and to men is the great secret of spending human energies in the effort of being fruitful in life
  7. The great fact remains:
    1. That man is accountable for what he does with his master's goods - Luke 16:1-6
    2. His attitude to God will not and cannot change his responsibility in anyway
    3. Because man is not the owner of his possessions but rather a steward only - I Pet. 4:10
    4. The neglect of the pound by the steward is to his own harm and to his discredit only
    5. All this places a special responsibility upon all of us to make the best use of the one talent God has given to us


Design © John Bryant 2011