Church of Christ Studies

Man's Accontability

I must thank you, ladies and gentlemen, for the very great pleasure I have because of your presence and the interest manifested in our noonday services. I trust that they may be pleasant and profitable to all.

 

The very fact that man is man carries with it the idea of responsibility; but those unfortunates of earth in whose mind reason has been dethroned and judgment has fled away, we think not of responsibility connected therewith. A machine, if turned loose upon the streets of the city of Nashville, would not be accountable for any detriment or damage that might result therefrom. But the very fact that you and I are individuals and not simple machines implies upon its face that we are amenable and responsible.

 

Our accountability implies also the recognition of a power supreme unto whom I owe allegiance and to whom I must render a report at the last great day.

 

Any doctrine or theory whatsoever that tends toward the elimination of the idea of a Power divine; any doctrine that smacks of atheism, agnosticism, or any of the various phases of infidelity, is destructive of the idea of responsibility; and the consequence of said doctrine would necessarily be a rule of anarchy—a state of lawlessness on the part of humanity.

 

Throughout all God's teaching, in every age gone by, he has sought to impress the human family with the fact that it stands above the animals of the earth; that there is something about man that links him to divinity, that gives him dominion over all things created. God has given to him a sacred charge and trust. He has left him free to think and to act, and at the close of his earthly career the Lord expected him to bring a full report and receive according to the things done while here upon the earth he dwells. Throughout the various ages and dispensations there has been no exception to that general principle.

 

In the very starlight age of man's existence God held him responsible, personally and individually, for the deeds by him done. When that was merged into the moonlight age, the age known as Judaism, the same demand and the same requisite on the part of Jehovah was made. Christianity but enlarges our opportunity, widens the doors before us, and with that comes an increased responsibility which you and I must bear and share. One of the finest characteristics of any man's nature is to be fully alive and consciously aware of the responsibility that is intrusted to him that he may be enabled to measure up to the fullness of all the obligations and all the demands that duty imposes in his journey from time to eternity.

 

In Rom. 2:6, Paul makes the statement that in the final round-up of human affairs God will render to every man according to his deeds. I am not, therefore, personally and directly responsible for you, for those who have gone before, or for those who are to follow after; but standing as I do, demanding the privileges and the benedictions that come my way, I must assume life's obligations and responsibilities and recognize that at the final close of human affairs I will stand or fall upon my own record and upon my own relationship to the demands that are made upon me by Him who has the right to speak, by Him who has the right to command.

 

In Gal. 6: 1-5, Paul has this to say: "Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such a one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted. Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. For if a man think himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself. But let every man prove his own work, and then shall he have rejoicing in himself alone, and not in another. For every man shall bear his own burden."

 

I think that in verse 2 Paul must have observed life from the viewpoint of its sorrows, of its shadows, and of its troubles and sighs, and from that point of observation he said: "Brethren, bear ye one another's burdens. Weep with those who weep, rejoice with those that do rejoice."

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Then in verse 5 I think he observed life from a viewpoint of our individual acceptance of duty's demand.

 

When it comes to the rendition of that service that God makes obligatory upon me, there is no man on earth that can step in and substitute himself and meet with the approval of God Almighty in my behalf. I cannot possibly believe the gospel for you, I cannot possibly repent of your sins, I cannot acknowledge the Christ in your behalf, I cannot render that obedience demanded by the God of heaven for you, neither can I live the Christian life in your stead. My hands are full; the obligation rests upon me to measure up to Heaven's demand to the extent of my ability; and hence from that viewpoint every man must bear his own burdens, assume his own obligations, and stand upon his own deeds.

 

But perhaps the most serious thought in all of the Bible is the fact that "we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad."

 

A few times in life I have been summoned to appear in the courts of our land. There is something about such that, to me, is a little bit embarrassing, something that makes me feel like I would rather be somewhere else. But there is one occasion from which there is no escape. There is one summons that must be answered. No excuse will relieve us. We must answer to the roll call of the great Judge of the universe and render our account according to the deeds done in this body, regardless of whether they be good or bad.

 

My friends, if you and I would really believe that statement, if it could strike in and go home to our hearts and to our conscience, I think perhaps we would halt in our sinful course and thoughtless career. We would reflect more seriously and perchance correct our way while time and opportunity are afforded.

 

There has always been a disposition on the part of humanity to shirk its obligations and its responsibilities. We endeavor to shift the burdens on to others, with the expectancy that we may ride into places of prominence and into pastures green upon the goodness and activities of our kindred and special friends. There are plenty of young men and young women all over this land to-day conscious of their own lack of intrinsic worth and merit, and yet they are looking for preferment, for prestige, and for prominence. On what ground? Not upon the ground of their own individual value, not because of any merit per se, but on the ground that father was a prominent man, mother was well connected, and uncle was Governor of the State or a great benefactor to humanity; and out of regard for what these have done they expect the world to tip its hat and to bid them come up higher. But that is a false conception of life; and just so long as that idea prevails, there will not be at the head of the various departments of this government that type of men best fitted to render service to their fellows and to add honors to their country.

 

Time was in certain countries when it was impossible for a boy to rise above the caste or estate in which he was born. Regardless of his ability or lack, his station was fixed by birth. I thank God that in America no such principle prevails. We never stop to ask: "Who was your father? Where were you born? Under what kind of circumstances were you reared?" The questions in America are: "What can you do? Can you solve the problems and the perplexities that are bearing down upon the people to-day?" It is a matter of individual service and personal responsibility.

 

The Bible has warned us against the idea of relying upon the other fellow. In the parable of the virgins, ten in number, five were wise and five were otherwise. Those who were wise took their lamps, and also vessels with oil therein, while the others simply took their lamps and left the oil behind. At midnight, while they all slumbered and slept, the bridegroom came, and the cry was made: "Go ye out to meet him." The virgins arose and trimmed their lamps, but the foolish said to the wise: "Lend us of your oil; our lamps are going out. We want to go in now upon the preparation that you have made. We have not done that ourselves, we have not assumed our own responsibilities; but we want to pass in to the marriage feast and share its joys upon the preparation others have made." Then the wise said to them: "Not so. You cannot do a thing of that sort. Go to them that sell and buy for yourselves." And while they went out to further their preparation, the bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage, and the door was shut. The foolish came later and knocked for entrance, but they were too late.

 

Then the Savior added another parable, in which he said: "The kingdom of heaven is as a man traveling into a far country, who called his own servants, and delivered unto them his goods. And unto one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one; to every man according to his several ability." It was a personal, individual distribution of his goods to his servants. The five-talent man went individually, traded therewith, and gained other five. The two-talent man, likewise. The one-talent man, of his own individual matter, went and digged in the earth and hid his talent. In the course of time the master returns and demands of them a rendition of their report. They do not come up Collectively and say: "Now, Lord, here is what we have done." You have all heard persons who talked that way. "We killed a bear." But the Lord will have none of that. He says: "Mr. Five-talent man, let me hear from you." "Well, wife and I have done so and so." God never asked about the man's wife. "Well," he said, "mother was a splendid, fine woman." Never mind about your mother. The question is: "Sir, what have you done? I want to hear from you individually and personally." So the man rendered his own account. Likewise the two-talent man. To them the master said: "Well done, thou good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee [individually, personally] ruler over many things." But the one-talent man was consigned to the region of outer darkness, where there was weeping, wailing, and gnashing of teeth. Why? On the ground that he personally failed to measure up to duty, to appreciate the responsibility obligatory upon him. He was weighed and found wanting, and hence was cast into outer darkness. Ladies and gentlemen, there is not a parable, there is not an illustration, there is not a reference in all of God's Bible but that teaches individual, personal responsibility. "Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit." At the judgment it will never be asked of N. B. Hardeman: "What did the church do of which you were a member?" That is not it. But the question is: "What did you dol" I must stand or fall in the presence of God Almighty at the last great day upon my own record, my own obedience to the will of God, disregarding what the good people of ages gone by and forgotten have done. I am the only human being in this world to meet my own obligations. I must meet the issues of life and death day by day. Hence, if I believe the gospel of the Son of God, if from the depths of my heart I repent of all my sins, if I publicly and before men confess my Savior, obey him in every phase, follow all his demands, and live faithful unto death, I will be saved, though every other person on the face of the earth might be sent to hell. On the other hand, if every other man, woman, boy, and girl on God's green earth were ultimately to be saved, that doesn't argue that I would be included in that company. it all depends upon whether or not I personally and individually accept the obligation resting upon me, meet duty's demand, respond to the call, and walk faithfully in his footsteps until my work on earth is done.

 

I appeal to you, my friends, to assume your own responsibility, discharge your own duty, and stand approved in Heaven's sight. Why not do so now while we stand and sing?

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