Accountability of This Generation — E.A. Johnston

Jesus’ Indictment of the Religious Leaders

In Luke's Gospel, in chapter 11, we find Jesus as he denounces the religious leaders in that day. The woes that he cries against them are scathing indictments to this religious crowd. This striking passage of scripture shows us how God looks at man, and how God will require of man all of man's actions to his generation.

Our focus today, friends, will be verses 50 through 52. Here now is the word of God, and may the Spirit of the Lord attend the reading of his holy word, that the blood of all the prophets which was shed from the foundation of the world may be required of this generation.

From the blood of Abel unto the blood of Zechariah, which perished between the altar and the temple, verily I say unto you, it shall be required of this generation. O woe unto you lawyers, for ye have taken away the key of knowledge.

Ye entered not in yourselves, and them that were entering in ye hindered. I will stop there, friends. This passage opens a window and throws light on the fact that God holds each generation accountable to him for how they responded to him, how they obeyed or disobeyed him by keeping his word and living spotless lives for him in a crooked and perverse generation.

Judgment and Stewardship Before God

Each generation of man will one day be held up at the judgment and be examined beneath the intense scrutiny of the judge of all the earth, that this generation in which we live makes each of us accountable to God as to how we live for God in this world, how we use the money we were given as his stewards, did we relieve the suffering of those in want, or did we, like the priest and Levite, look the other way?

Evangelism and Personal Witness

Did we use our resources and employ ourselves in the spread of the gospel in our own community? And then, to the ends of the earth, were we engaged in evangelism and did our personal witness to others bring glory to God the Father?

The Responsibility of the Pulpit

Our pulpits would be held accountable to God for how we represented him to a dying world. Did we faithfully preach the full counsel of God and warn men to escape the fires of hell? Did we preachers do a good enough job in explaining to our hearers what biblical repentance was, what biblical regeneration was, and the necessity of both to have eternal life?

Did we really have a passion for souls or did we just want to look good within our denomination? Did our generation do something about the growing evil in the land through our unfortunate lives of prayer, or did we just cast our vote on election day?

Intercession for the Sins of the Land

Did we fall on our faces before God and weep over the sins of the land and turn our sanctuaries into Bethels where we poured out ourselves before God in humility and prayer? Did we care enough about our lost young people today to stay on our knees and in our Bibles long enough in desperate intercession before God, or were we just too busy in our entertainments?

Did we spend our time glued to our TVs when we should have been on our faces in inaccessory prayer? Did we live sacrificially for God in the world or did we just live for ourselves in the world? Was our personal witness to the lost and perishing around us like a burning flame that consumed our very lives, or did we just care about what we had and who we loved in our own family?

Living for Eternity and Serving Others

Were we a help or a hindrance to others who needed Christ? Did we live for eternity or did we live for ourselves? Will be the questions that will be required of us and must be answered by us, as Christ will say to us as he did to the religious crowd of his day, for it shall be required of this generation.

Let us pray.