2 Kings 14:5-6 - Homiletics

Personal responsibility.

Amaziah visits with just execution the servants who had conspired against his father Joash. But he did not put to death the children of the murderers. He acted on the principle laid down by God through Moses ( Deuteronomy 24:16 ), that "the fathers shall not be put to death for the children, nor the children for the fathers; every man shall be put to death for his own sin."

I. EVERY ONE OF US IS RESPONSIBLE FOR HIS OWN LIFE . "For we must all appear before the judgment-scat 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."

II. EVERY ONE OF US IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE RIGHT DISCHARGE OF HIS OWN DUTIES . We cannot excuse ourselves by the unfaithfulness of others. Responsibility is something which we can never transfer to any one else. Men may deny their responsibility. They may refuse to fulfill it. They may neglect it. But there it is—they cannot get rid of it. Our responsibility to God for the life and opportunities which he has given is a truth we should do well to keep constantly before us.—C.H.I.