(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.)

Amen. Okay, we're in Genesis chapter 3 and we've been going through the book of Genesis in our Wednesday evening Bible study, but I mean we were in Genesis 3 probably near enough a year ago now, so it's about time we're in there again. What a great chapter of the Bible there and so much in there, but we're going to look just at a particular topic in here today and we're going to look down from verse 9 here, let's just look down at Genesis 3 and verse 9 and we'll just look at a few verses which reads like this, and the Lord God called unto Adam and said unto him, Where art thou? And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden and I was afraid because I was naked and I hid myself. And he said, Who told you that thou was naked? Has thou eaten of the tree whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat? And the man said, The woman whom thou gaveest to be with me, she gave me of the tree and I did eat. And the Lord God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me and I did eat. And the title of my sermon this morning is Stop Blaming Someone Else. Stop blaming someone else. I'd like to pray before we get going. Father, thank you for your word, thank you for the many truths we can get out of your word from so early on in the Bible, chapter 3 here of the Bible, and just this truth that I want to preach today, please just help everyone to receive it with an open heart, Lord, and in a way that they'll apply it to their lives and make sure that they don't fall foul of this sort of behaviour and help us all to just be improved in this area of our lives, Lord, and to just really be convicted by your word. Fill with your spirit, please, Lord, in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Okay, so from the beginning of time, it seems, people have tried to blame others for their problems, haven't they? That's just standard, isn't it? And some say it has reached epic proportions in our society. I don't know if you've ever heard of people talking about the blame culture and things like that, where they claim this blame culture is destroying business productivity, where employees blame management or other employees for their failures, management blames employees for their failings, everyone has a way out, no one takes responsibility, and when there's no personal responsibility, standards plummet, in all areas of life, not just in business, in everywhere, with everyone having some sort of excuse, we see, pretty much. Some sort of cry-baby tale to tell as to why their excuse to behave how they do, why their unacceptable behaviour is acceptable in their eyes. A lot of people have that, don't they? They've always got a scapegoat, some sort of excuse for it, and usually it's someone to blame. That's usually what it is, and people blame circumstances, other things, but usually there's someone to blame. If it's not parents, it's school teachers, it's government, it's the media Jews, the banking Jews, it's your husband, your wife, your ex-husband, your ex-wife, there's always someone, isn't there? The scapegoats come in all shapes and sizes. And of course, with many things in life, there'll be extremists on both sides. So there's always people that just take the extreme in situations. You've got the every-ones-to-blame types, okay, they're out there with just every-ones-to-blame for their problems, they can't take any personal responsibility at all. And then you've got the ones where there's no-ones-to-blame-at-all-not-even-yourself types, you know, that just everything is just the way it is, and it's all just, you know, there's no-one-to-blame, we just need to just learn from these things, everything's a learning curve. Well, the truth is usually somewhere in the middle, okay, there are negative influences in life for sure, okay, no doubt about that. There's adult shaping childhood experiences that we all have, there's brainwashing many areas of life, okay, all over the place, you'd be a fool to think that there wasn't. But we all still have personal responsibility, okay, alongside that we all have personal responsibility, we all have the ability to choose right and wrong, and as believers, which is what the vast majority of people in a church like this are, as believers with the inspired preserved words of God, whatever your background, whatever your influences, however long those influences have affected you, you have more ability than most to choose right. That's just the truth, you have the ability to choose the right choice in life, more than most people in this world, but you're not going to do that, you won't choose that right choice, if instead of accepting that responsibility you have, you'll always find your way of shirking it. And people do that, they just find a way of shirking responsibility, a way of finding someone else to blame for your mistakes, someone else's at fault for your problems, your mistakes, your errors, your sins. And look down at Genesis 3 where Adam and Eve are hiding from God after committing that first sin, and isn't that just something that we see day after day, week after week, month after month, year after year, with believers, with God's children, what do they do? They hide. They commit sin, they get into sin, and then they hide from God, but here's the thing, they don't then hide from God and go I'm hiding from God because of sin, they find an excuse, they find someone to blame. It said, and the Lord God called unto Adam and said unto him where art thou? And he said I heard thy voice in the garden and I was afraid because I was naked, and I hid myself. And how many end up in a similar situation because of sin, right? Scared to be in God's presence, scared to face him, and it's not just being in church, being in the Word of God, going to him in prayer, they just turn the other way, they run away. And then when they are in front of God, because eventually you accept that you're going to be in front of God, and a lot of the time it might be when they do eventually go back into prayer, maybe when they do come back into church, the reality of their sin is often pointed out to them. That's often why people are scared, why people run away, why people hide from God because they don't want to be told you're in sin. That's why people fear coming into a church which preaches the Bible because they're scared that their sin is going to get pointed out, right? Well, it gets pointed out, and look at verse 11, and he said, who told you that thou was naked? Has thou eaten of the tree whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat? Time to get right, yeah? Time to say, yep, okay, you got me. Time to say, I messed up, I'm sorry. You would think? No. And the man said, the woman, the woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat. The title is Stop Blaming Someone Else, and point number one is stop blaming other people. Point number one today is just stop blaming other people, okay? Stop blaming other people for your problems. Adam started by blaming his wife. She got relegated to the woman straight away, by the way, okay? He went from Eve, you know, it wasn't his lovely wife anymore, it wasn't the love of his life, my precious sweetheart, it was the woman. It was the woman, okay? But was it really the woman that was to blame? Was it really the woman that was to blame you? Because at first reading, you can read this, go, Eve, I can't believe she did that, right? But was she to blame? Look at verse six. It said, when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her, and he did eat. Don't miss that there, with her. He was with her. Adam was with her, he was with her. I don't see a pause here, he was with her when the devil beguiled her. I believe. I don't see a reason to think he wasn't. He was with her when she took of the fruit thereof. He was with her when she did eat. And he then chose to eat. He chose to eat. She didn't force-feed him. She didn't mash it up and cram it in his mouth while he was sleeping. He chose to eat. And he was with her during this whole thing, he was with her when she did all of what she did. And do you know when she wasn't with him? She wasn't with him when God gave that command that presented that choice in the first place. Did you know that? Look over Genesis chapter 2 and verse 15. Genesis 2 15 says, and the Lord God took the man and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it, and the Lord God commanded the man, saying of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil thou shalt not eat of it, for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die. And it was after that command that Eve was made. Look at verse 18, and the Lord God said it is not good that the man should be alone, I will make him and help meet for him. It was after that command that Eve was made, it was Adam that was given the command. There was one clear command that we're aware of. One clear command that's documented here in the Word of God. It was Adam's responsibility from the beginning to teach his wife that, wasn't it? That was his responsibility. Teach your wife the Word of God. It was not like he had to teach her the whole Bible at this point, just teach her that clear command. To guide his wife, to protect his wife, and by chapter 3 she's already getting God's commandment wrong. Look at chapter 3 and verse 1. Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made, and he said unto the woman, yea hath. God said, you shall not eat of every tree of the garden. What's the first thing that the devil does in the Bible? He questions God's Word. Questions God's Word. Tries to put doubt in the Word of God. Is it really the Word of God? Oh no no, because we've dug up some some better scrolls now. We, oh no no, we dug something up. That must be the Word of God. Oh is it really God's Word? Because no, we've got hundreds of translations which all say something different. Which one is God's Word? And that's what the devil does, right? Questions God's Word time and time again did he really say that? Did he really mean that? If you want to resist the devil you better know God's Word. You had better know the Word of God if you want to resist the devil. This is our weapon isn't it? This is our sword. Learn your weapon. Get to know your weapon. It's a useless weapon if you don't know how to use it. You can walk around with the best fully automatic guns if they let you do that here and you're actually allowed to defend yourself. You could have, you could have the best weapons in the world. If you don't even know, if you should blow your foot off when you try and draw it, or you don't even know how to use it, you don't know how to maintain it, it's useless. Might as well not bother. It's more danger to you not knowing how to handle it. You need to handle the Word of God. You need to know how to handle your sword, how to handle your weapon. Eve showed us that she didn't know it. Look at verse two. It says, and the woman said unto the serpent, we may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden, but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God have said, ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it lest ye die. When did he say that? He didn't say that. He didn't say neither shall you touch it. One command and she got it wrong. Now one command we know of, but one command here clearly that she got wrong, didn't she? Do you know what that tells me? That tells me that Adam had failed to lead her properly. It was Adam's fault. Adam was given the command. He had failed to relay it, maybe enough times in a clear enough way, remind her of it. He failed to show his wife the Word of God. He's a failure there. It's his fault. It was his responsibility to relay God's commandment to her. I mean, was there anything more important? In that day you shall die. And obviously we see they spiritually died that day. And that's all he had to do was show her clearly and she's getting it wrong. She's getting it wrong. And nothing has changed, okay? Nothing has changed here. And the first point I want to make on this is men stop blaming your wives. Men stop blaming your wives, the buck stops at leadership. The buck stops at leadership. You're at fault. You're to blame when your wife goes astray, when your wife does things wrong, when your wife isn't following the commandments of God, you're to blame. You're a husband. You're meant to lead her. You're meant to lead her into the things of God. You're meant to guide your wives. It's clear as day in the Bible, isn't it? The buck stops at leadership. Turn to Colossians 3. You chose to marry her, men. You chose to vow to love and to cherish her. And a big part of that is to lead her to be in God's will. It's down to you. You need to lead your wives into the will of God. And different wives take a different way and style and angle of leading, but it's all leading. And you've got to find that way. You need to dwell with them according to knowledge and not just excuse it as well, you know, it's her fault, can't believe she's made it. And to the point where, what's he saying, I can't believe she made me do that, basically. She made me sin. How wicked is that? You're the head. You're the boss. You should have been leading her into the truth, Adam. That's why Paul reminds us in Colossians 3.19, husbands, love your wives and be not bitter against them. That's a pretty clear command, isn't it? Love them, don't be bitter. Because just like Adam, when we fail, talking to the husbands here, when we mess up, when we lead them badly, when that bad leading plays a part in us sinning, when then the reaction is that now we're in sin in one way or another, who do we blame? Our wives. We've all done it. We'll all sadly continue to do it. Our wives, who often, often, not always the case, often are so desperate for our love and attention. That's often what it is. They want your love, they want your attention, they want your thoughts, they want you to think about them, to care about them and everything else. They get so frustrated a lot of the time, they end up then saying something sinful. And it's a result of our poor leadership. It's a result of our poor husband behaviour. They act in a sinful way. They end up disrespecting us and who do we blame? Our wives. I can't believe this woman. But it's not just husbands that resort to the blame game. So, women, it's also you as well. Okay, it's also women. How many wives then blame their husbands for their disobedience to God's Word? So, wives do the same. It's their husband's fault that they're in sin. It's our husband's fault that they're not doing what God tells them to do. Now, our failings often lead them to be frustrated, admittedly. Our behaviour as husbands can lead to that, lead them to be in error. But they can and they should ultimately answer to the big boss. They still answer to God. Okay, verse 18 in Colossians there, chapter 3 says, wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands as it is fit in the Lord. Nothing that your husband does or says gives you an excuse to sin. Nothing. Nothing that he does or says gives you an excuse. Yeah, the buck stops at leadership. Yeah, we can poorly lead our wives. Yeah, we can be culpable ourselves for then what the reaction and what happens but they still have responsibility towards God. It's as it is fit in the Lord. If my line manager in the workplace told me to do things that go against the company boss, that go against the big boss, I do what the company boss tells me to do if I want to keep my job, don't I? If he's made it clear to me what he wants me to do, how he wants me to behave in the workplace, and I go, well, no, no, because that duty manager told me something else, he's going to say, but you know what I told you to do. And that goes for all women here as well. There's no excuse to sin. If a husband tells you to stop going to church, you still go to church. That's something you put your foot down, women. That's the time to put your foot down and go, no, I'm going to church because God commands me to go to church and you don't override God. That's a clear command, isn't it? And when husbands pour wives out of good church and things like that, that wife should just turn around and go, no, I'm going to church. Yeah, I'm not just going to sit at home playing church or something else. If a husband tells you to lie, cheat, steal, that's not fitting the Lord, is it? We ought to obey God rather than men. That's a clear teaching in the Bible, isn't it? But your husband sinning, your husband being a poor leader, your husband not guarding you in the Word of God is no excuse to disrespect him, wives. It's no excuse, because otherwise you'd always have an excuse, because none of us are perfect. It's still no excuse to disrespect him and not do what the Bible says, which is to submit yourselves unto your own husbands. What sort of outlandish teaching is this? How old-fashioned. Oh, but you'll submit yourself to someone else's husband in the workplace. Oh, no, no, that's alright. Submit yourselves to someone else's husband, someone else's wife. Oh, no, that's fine. Can't submit to my husband who's told to love me at all times. I mean, what on earth, right? But what should Eve have done here? I'll tell you what she should have done. She could have gone to the Lord herself, couldn't she? Back in Genesis 3, 8 it said, And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the call of the day. And Adam and his wife hid themselves in the presence of the Lord God amongst the trees of the garden. In verse 13 she's talking to God himself. To God the Son walking amongst them. She had access to God and every single wife here has access to God. You've got the Word of God, you have prayer, you have access to God. If Adam had failed to lead her, she could still have gone to the Lord, couldn't she? She could have at that point gone, hold on, hold on snake, talking snake, yeah, something's amiss here. I'm gonna go and ask God what he thinks about this because Adam, I don't even know what he's on about. I don't even know, am I meant to touch it, the fruit or not, I don't even know. I'm confused, he didn't relay it properly. I'm going to God. And that's what she should have done. The title is Stop Blaming Someone Else. And point number one is stop blaming other people and it's not just spouses, okay, it's not just spouses. How many adults blame their parents or someone else in their childhood for their problems as an adult? It's because mommy didn't do this, daddy didn't do that, someone else, it was that teacher at school that ruined my life and everything else, you still have responsibility. It's not someone else's fault. Turn to Proverbs 28. Now of course we are somewhat a product of our upbringing, we are. The Bible does say in Proverbs 22 and verse 6, you're turning to Proverbs 28, but Proverbs 22 6, train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not depart from it. A big part of parenting is training a child for life. And by the way, the training is done as a child for them to succeed as an adult, okay. They're not meant to be behaving like an adult when they're a child, okay, we're training them up for adulthood, yeah. But however good or bad that training was doesn't negate our personal responsibility, okay, it doesn't. Your personal responsibility isn't, oh well, no, don't worry about it, I'm alright, I've got to buy because my parents weren't perfect. Even if they were completely lousy, you still have responsibility, you still know good and evil and when you choose evil it was your choice. When you choose to sin it's no one else's fault, no one's. You still choose it. And of course, look, we all sin, okay, that's a fact of life. But here's the question, are you bringing it to God or are you trying to make excuses? Are you bringing your sin to God and saying, yep, I'm to blame or are you blaming it on someone else? Proverbs 28 verse 13 says, he that covereth his sins shall not prosper, but who so confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy. And that's the problem, isn't it, every time you try to blame someone else you're trying to cover the sins, you're trying to excuse them, you're trying to find a get-out. Every time you're covering your sins when you're blaming someone else. And the chastisement of God on his children will only be worse. It's confessing them to God and then forsaking or renouncing, rejecting them, we might say, which by the way won't happen without taking responsibility, it's never going to happen unless you're actually confessing them, you're forsaking them with that confession. That results in more mercy from our loving Father. So you'll get the mercy that you need from God when you confess and forsake those sins. And like I said, without the confession, without the acceptance, without the admittance, you ain't forsaking nothing. Other areas where the blame game is rife. How about in the workplace? That's a big place, isn't it? Like I said earlier, blaming the boss because you're a lousy worker. It's the boss's fault that I'm useless and I'm not working how I should be. It's someone else's fault in the workplace, it's my co-workers fault or something else that I'm useless. And well go back to Proverbs 22 in fact while you're in Proverbs. Do you know what makes a vast majority of bosses happy? Diligent workers. They love a diligent worker. I've been a boss in the workplace, I'm sure many men here as well have, and it's lovely when you have people that work hard, that are diligent, that put effort in. How refreshing is that? A faithful messenger is refreshing, yeah? Seeing someone who's actually putting their effort in, putting work in is a great thing to see and it usually makes you happy. And you usually treat them fairly well when they do work hard or work well. Usually. Now don't get me wrong, you sometimes get some useless bosses every now and again, but the vast majority of people who are blaming their bosses, usually it's because of their lack of diligence. And Proverbs 22 29 says, See us our man diligent in his business. Proverbs 22 29. See us our man diligent in his business. He shall stand before kings, he shall not stand before mean men. Now what that's basically saying is that if you're diligent in your business, eventually you're going to be in front of, you're going to be promoted, you're going to keep doing well, you're going to keep succeeding, and you're going to end up in front of people who are ultimately good bosses, eventually. Now it might not be straight away, you might have to deal with a few forward bosses here and there, okay? But you're not just going to stand before mean men the whole time if you're diligent in your business. And another classic area as well, and this is a way for the work, but the workplace is a big one. So many people just blame everything and everyone instead of just working hard. Putting some graft in, putting effort into their job, workers unto the Lord, and you know what? You're diligent with that, you're going to end up succeeding in one way or another and you're going to please your boss. Even if they don't like the fact that you're a believer, they don't like the fact that you believe actually, God forbid, that He preserved His holy inspired words and that you actually believe the Word of God, you know, some outlandish belief like that. But you know what? When you're working hard, He's going to put up with that, He's going to deal with that, usually. But aside from that, another area is the church house. Now this is a big one, friend. Obviously I'm preaching to the church house here. How many people that have either left or been kicked out of a proper church will say, oh I just couldn't hack it. I couldn't hack 3 to Thrive and Soul Winning so I've just given up. How many people actually say that? The Expose YouTube videos, you know, Expose video, I couldn't hack it. Revelation about the latest Soul Winning church, I couldn't hack it. I couldn't take the pace, I couldn't keep 3 to Thrive, I couldn't turn up at church, I couldn't deal with Soul Winning week in, week out. It's me. How many will say that? Very, very few. How many will just go, I just can't be bothered anymore. I'm lazy. I can't be bothered to turn up at church, it's too much of a drive, it's too much effort, it's much easier to lie in bed and tune in online. How many say that? How many say, well just go, I backslid. Yeah, I left church because I backslid. I went into all sorts of wickedness because I fancied the pleasures of sin for a season instead. How many will say, well, the preaching just felt a bit personal. You know, the preaching just convicted me too much so I thought I'm not going to go to that church anymore because I don't want to hear preaching which is personal to me. I want to hear it on people that's got nothing to do with me so I can amen as loud as possible. They don't say that. How about, I was just hoping to pull out a few with me. That's why I left. I was hoping if I leave, you know, and I kind of just, you know, at least suggest that it's the pastor's fault, someone else in church's fault, hopefully I'll just pull out a few. But, you know, fair enough, isn't it? How many say that? They don't say that. How about the ones that say, actually, I'm a wicked rep mate that just wanted to destroy it but I got rumbled. He clocked me so that's why I left the church. They never say that. Have you ever noticed that? They never go... Red handed. They got me. They never do that. Yeah, they were right. I did spend my time at church trying to poison others but I'm a good person really. I did spend the couple of years at that new church plant just trying my best to destroy people's walk, to poison them, to build up my own following and everything else but... No, do you know what they do? They always say it's someone else's fault. It's always someone else's fault. Usually the pastor, or previously in our church it would have been the evangelist, but sometimes it's another church member as well. Or sometimes they'll combine them. It's the pastor and all these people. And this is just standard. Sometimes it's the whole church. Have you ever heard that one before? They're just so judgmental at that church. And it's like no one's judged a thing of theirs. They've just come to church dressed smart. Oh, they're just so pharisaical. Because they try not, they're trying to get sin out of their life. Oh, they're so hypocritical. So what have they actually done? You didn't even talk to anyone. You walked in and you walked back out and blamed it on everyone else. You walked into a house of God where the word of God was being preached like God commands preached to preach it. Where He preached the actual word of God, not just the things which feel nice. You had a problem with it. So you then blame everyone else. They'll look for anything other than saying, I couldn't cut it. I can't cut it. I can't serve God. I'll either go to backslap Baptist or I'll just go and sit at home and tell everyone that it was the pastor's fault. It was the church's fault. It was the church member's fault. It was the ladies in the church. Oh, they're just, oh, they just seemed really cliquey. What do you mean they were chatting to each other? Oh, they were just holier than thou. Why? Because they wore dresses. I mean, but this is what people do. But you get long term members who will do the similar stuff. Oh, that mean pastor. I'm sure he was preaching on me. I knew he was because he said something. It must have been about me. Yeah, if it was great, great. Hopefully you go and get convicted, straighten up your back, dust yourself off and go, I'm a man. I'm going to turn back up at church and say, yeah, I'm going to take some more preaching. No, just, I can't believe it. Oh, the pastor said something that affected me. Sort yourselves out, right? And we've got a church full of people that could take hard preaching because every single person in here that's been coming here any length of time will have heard preaching that convicted them. Heard preaching is like, yeah, that's about me. I'd feel that. I'd feel that whether I knew it or not. And you know what? You're still here. And that shows some strength, doesn't it? I'm sick and tired of all these crybabies, all these types who just want to find anyone to blame instead of just going, I can't take it, I'm out. But Proverbs 28, 13 said, he that covereth his sins shall not prosper. It's you that loses out in the end. It's you. It's not us. We don't want the crybabies here. We don't want that. We don't want those that are too weak, that are too soft to take a bit of preaching. We don't need that. Do you know what we want here? We want people that don't cover their sins, people that bring it to God and will keep getting improved and keep renewing and keep refreshing and keep getting washed with the water of the word and to go on to great things for God. It's you that loses out. Now, I want to inspire people to be like that. I want and that's how we do it. It's through preaching. No, it's not by coming and putting my arm around you and going, oh, don't worry about that sermon. I really hope that didn't upset you too much because maybe you looked at me like, maybe you thought that was personal, you poor little thing. Some people, it seems like they need that. They need someone to just cuddle them after the sermons. It's like straighten your back, stand up straight, take the preaching, go home, think about it, how can I improve? Because it's you that loses out. He that covereth his sins shall not prosper. It's for your own good. You need to prosper. Look down at Genesis 3 and verse 11, it says, and he said, who told thee that thou was naked? Has thou eaten of the tree? Where have I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat? And the man said, the woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree and I did eat. The title is Stop Blaming Someone Else. Point number one, stop blaming other people. And point number two, stop blaming God. Stop blaming God. Adam went straight from blaming his wife within a breath to blaming God for giving him his wife. And look, there'll be men of God that are out there that do that. I can't believe you ended up giving me that wife. Adam went straight to blame his wife. But like we saw earlier, whose fault was it? God gave Adam and help or me, or you could say suitable for him. He gave him someone who was an help suitable for him. Clearly, yeah? That's what she was described as. Not a spiritual guide to follow into foolish disobedience of God. That's not what he gave. That's not what he gave Adam. He didn't say, here's your spiritual guide. No, it was an help suitable for him. Adam had been given a command out of God's mouth and he chose to follow his wife in disobeying it instead. He followed his wife. And by the way, that wasn't loving his wife. Okay, there are times as a man when you have to stand up and say no. Okay, look, we should love our wives. And some people go too far one way on this and others go too far the other way. And they think loving their wife is letting her become their spiritual guide and head. Sometimes you've got to stand up and say no. No. God says something else, you need to listen to God. God comes first. I love my wife, yeah? But if there's a choice between my wife and God, guess who wins? Sorry, love, it's God. And every man ought to be saying the same. If it comes down to that choice, it's God that wins. No, you don't have to try and find that any which way you can find a way to show your wife that, you know? Because we should be loving her. Love her like you love your own body, you should honour her, cherish her, but ultimately God comes first. My wife tried to pull me out of church, I'm coming to church. My wife tries to stop me reading the word of God, I'm reading the word of God. My wife tries to stop me soul winning, I'm going soul winning. Whatever emotional pressure and, don't worry, she didn't try and do that, okay? She's going red now. That was two weeks ago, you said, you forgive me. I'm kidding. Okay, but God comes first. And so often, by the way, it should be the same the other way round, shouldn't it? I could just say it. If it's the other way round, God comes first. If your husband's telling you to do stuff like I said earlier, God comes first. If it's something that's out of God's will, if it's something that's clearly, clearly, not, well, I don't know, because, you know, when you look into the Greek, if you go back to the Greek, actually, God said that I should be able to go out all night, every night with my friends, you know? Because now you're not loving me, because you're not like me. Okay, obviously, that's not the sort of stuff we're talking about, okay? But it should be God that wins. And so often, when people end up blaming God, it's them that have just disobeyed him. It's them that are in clear, presumptuous sin. That's often, that's usually the time when they end up blaming God. It's them that have clearly done something God told them not to do, and then they blame God. And then they're blaming God, one way or another, for what then the result is. Here, it's the wife that he gave him. Now, turn to Job chapter one. For many, it's that God's allowed them to go through whatever hard time it is that they're experiencing, isn't it? But when did God promise us an easy life? Anyone remember that one? You will have an easy life with no challenges in life. In Acts 14, 22, off the back of a near-death stoning of Paul, okay? Did I tell you to go, where did I tell you to go? Did I tell you to go to Acts 14? No, sorry, you go to Job one, you go to Job one. I'm just gonna quote Acts 14, 22. So there's this near-death stoning of Paul. He and Barnabas were then confirming the souls of the disciples and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must, through much tribulation, enter into the kingdom of God. You know, you've just gotta go through tribulation in life. Not just tribulation, much tribulation. That's just the way it is. If you get your head around that, you accept that, and you pull your head out of all that prosperity preaching garbage, then you might be able to deal with it a bit better. There's gonna be tribulation. Sometimes, I'll be honest, tribulation can get pretty rough, yeah? I'm sure many people here can hold their hand up, go, yeah, sometimes tribulation in life is rough, yeah? It's tough. It's tough to deal with. And that's believers. Now, the worst example of this is the unsaved God rejecter. Okay, these are the worst example of blaming God. We get that all the time, don't we? You knock on someone's door. You say, okay, we're from whatever church, blah, blah, blah. Would you like to know how you could be 100% sure you're going to heaven? Or, you know, you say, are you 100% sure you're going to heaven? They'll say something like, oh, yeah, well, yeah, I'm a good person. You go, well, would you like me to show you what the Bible actually says? Well, straight away, they turn, don't they? It's like, well, me and him, we don't get on. Have you heard that one before? Yeah. Yeah, me and him, yeah, no, we don't get on. We don't, oh, what happened? Be like, well, after what happened, after everything I've been through, yeah, I don't believe there is a God. They contradict themselves about three times, innit? I know I'm going to heaven. You know that heaven, which is documented in the word of God, that heaven that he tells about in the Bible. I think I'm going to heaven because I'm good enough. Now you're telling me I'm not. I don't actually like God. We don't get on, therefore he doesn't exist. That's a lot of people, isn't it? Some sort of version of that. And it's so ridiculous. And then when you get down to it, be like, well, he let so-and-so die in my life. I had it, in fact, I had it yesterday. I had that exact thing yesterday, well, after what's going on. You know, someone died. I'm sorry your family member died, okay? But who told you that God is his puppet master? Just kind of make, like, die, stay alive, die, have this, have that. That's not how life works. We all have free will. You try and be a bit gentle with people, don't you? And not go, you know, that person probably died because they'd rejected everything in life and gone into all sorts of wickedness and health, you know, just bad health stuff and all these different things. I just can't work out why they died a little bit younger. I'll just tell him, why does he always, why does he always take the good ones? It's some God-rejecting, you know, drunkard drug addict somewhere who's doing all sorts of wickedness. So it just always takes a good one. I always say this with the rock stars, don't I? Oh, the good ones die young. Like some fornicating bad influence on millions. Oh yeah, no, it's terrible. They were such a saint. But, you know, people do this, don't they? And the reality of it is is really what they're saying is I don't like God because he didn't sort out that unsaved person in my unsaved life and do my will for my life that I think should have been best even though I didn't even, I've never worshiped him in my life. I don't even want to hear the gospel. In fact, I don't want to hear you open your Bible. I just want to rant at God and then blame him even though he's actually had someone come to my door. And when I say had someone, no, I'm not saying he pointed and went, well, you go to that door. But he sent out his people from his church, from his word of God to preach the gospel to a lot of people that don't deserve to go to heaven. None of us deserve to go to heaven. We've gone to their door and they're still hating on him. Well, we're trying to show them and we're trying to say, look, I just want to show you that going to heaven is a free gift. He died for you. Oh no, I don't like God because he let someone die. So that person could have gone to heaven because of how much God did for them. But anyway, that's annoying. But back to believers, I don't think anyone here has gone through what Job did. Anyone been through what Job did? I'm not going to ask for a raise of hands. Job 1, 13, look at Job chapter one and verse 13. You did turn to Job, didn't you? Job 1, 13 says, and there was a day when his sons and his daughters were eating and drinking wine in their eldest brother's house and they came and messaged her onto Job and said, the oxen were plowing and the asses feeding beside them and the Sabians fell upon them and took them away. Yea, they have slain the servants with the edge of the sword and I only am escaped alone to tell thee. Now this was his 500 yoke of oxen and 500 she-asses by the way. So this wasn't that, ah man, he lost a few cows. Okay, this was, I mean, the guy had a lot of wealth. This was his business, okay? And suddenly they were gone. Then verse 16 says, while he was yet speaking, they came also another and said, the fire of God has fallen from heaven and has burned up the sheep and the servants and consumed them and I only am escaped alone to tell thee. That was his 7,000 sheep by the way, 7,000 of them. While he was yet speaking, they came also another and said, the Chaldeans made out three bands and fell upon the camels and have carried them away, yea, and slain the servants with the edge of the sword and I only am escaped alone to tell thee. That was his 3,000 camels. So that was all his livelihood that we were aware of, his wealth, his business, everything he worked for, destroyed him one day, gone. Okay, in fact, he's told within moments of the whole lot, just gone. Yeah, wiped out, gone. Then verse 18 says, and while he was yet speaking, there came also another and said, thy sons and thy daughters were eating and drinking wine in their eldest brother's house and behold, there came a great wind from the wilderness and smote the four corners of the house and it fell upon the young men and they are dead and I only am escaped alone to tell thee. That was his seven sons and three daughters dead. On the same day that he lost his whole livelihood, then just to kind of, that was nothing compared with this. Suddenly kids, dead, all wiped out all at once. Can you imagine that? No one can imagine that. I mean, anyone can imagine your 10 children all dying at once. Very few in this world probably could really imagine that. Maybe in war-torn areas and places like that, it's more likely, but. Then Job arose and rent his mantle and shaved his head and fell down upon the ground and worshiped. Job's response, he worships God. It's amazing, isn't it? I mean, you look at this, you just, Job, like what? Like this guy is something else, isn't he? And said, naked came out of my mother's womb. Naked shall I return thither? The Lord gave and the Lord hath taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord. I mean, that is amazing, isn't it? Absolutely amazing. In all this, Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly. You can't get over that, can you? When you just slow that down and look at that, you just think, that, what an example that is to every single one of us here. You say, why did all of that happen to Job? And there are a few reasons why that happened to Job, but one reason is that it makes our blaming of God even more embarrassing. And there's one good reason that happened to Job, amongst many reasons that happened to Job, is that it makes us even more of a joke when we go, oh, I can't believe this happened. God doesn't love me anymore. I, you know, oh, it's a pointless serving God because look what happened in my life. Look what happened in Job's life. And in all this, Job sinned not, charged God foolishly. Look at chapter two and verse seven. It says, so went Satan forth. So this is later on, Satan goes for Job again. So went Satan forth from the presence of the Lord and smote Job with sore boils from the sole of his foot and to his crown. Now that's head to toe, as we would say, but worse because it's under the toes. Well, okay, that's from the bottom to the top. Covered in boils. It said sore boils from the sole of his foot and to his crown. He's just, by the way, like we just said, he's just lost his whole livelihood. He's just lost his children. They've all died. Now he's covered in boils. And he took him a potsherd to scrape himself with oil and he sat down among the ashes. That's some piece of some pot or other, basically like a fragment that he's now just, I mean, it's not that he's got like a special boil scraping tool or something, you know, from all, he's lost all his wealth. He's lost everything. He's got a bit of some broken bit of pottery that he's scraping his boils with. Then said his wife unto him, does thou still retain nine integrity? Curse God and die. Nice lady. But he said unto her, thou speakest as one of the foolish women speaketh. What? Shall we receive good at the hand of God and shall we not receive evil in all this did not Job sin with his lips? Now, maybe Job had some foolish thoughts, but he didn't verbalize it. Maybe he sat there and he thought some things and some things went through his head, but you know what he didn't do? He didn't open his stupid mouth and start verbalizing them. And we need to remember that as well. Don't verbalize it. You're going to think stupid things. You're going to have foolish thoughts sometimes. You don't have to then open your mouth and let, even if it's just on your own, let alone, let other people know that nonsense. Because a lot of the time, people do that, don't they? They just want everyone else to hear their foolishness. And by the way, reproving his wife wasn't sinning, was it? Because it said, he said, he said thou speakest as one of the foolish women speaketh. And by the way, a foolish woman is a big insult, okay? Being a fool, calling someone a fool is an insult, yeah? What, shall we receive good at the hand of God or shall we not receive evil in all this did not Job sin with his lips? He wasn't sinning because she needed reproving. Sometimes people need reproving. Sometimes you need to approve your wife. Back to point one, or two, three, whichever one it was. Sometimes people need reproving, okay? And sometimes you need to stand up and say no. No, I'm not cursing God and dying, woman. No. What a fool for Mona for Job, right? Yet he didn't blame God. He didn't turn on God. Oh, I would say what a great, just rise to honor, really. When you look at this, it's what an amazing guy. But he didn't turn on God, he didn't hide from God, even with all that happening. Because that's what happens to so many others, isn't it? They blame God and then they drop out of the things of God with just a small percentage of what Job went through. The smallest percentage of that is when people are lost. People are done. People just don't want to live for God anymore. People reject God. People hide from God. People take long breaks out of the things of God. They blame God, and they blame the word. A lot of people do that as well. They blame the word. They blame God's perfect word, don't they? His clear commandments as to why they're not happy. You heard people do that before. Well, I tried doing it God's way, and this happened. Oh, well, it's because of living righteously. It's because of this, because of that, that my life hasn't gone how I thought it should have gone. But what do you really know? You don't know anything. You don't know what could and couldn't have happened or anything else. They blame God. Turn to James 5, it's so foolish, because had they endured, they would have likely seen great things. Like Job, who ended up being physically blessed beyond measure after this. Everything was multiplied after this. Now, yeah, he lost his kids, but if they were saved, great, you know? He's going to be reunited with them, and he got blessed with a load more kids. But had they endured, things would have gone well, because this is what we see here, and I'm sure Job spiritually, wow, can you imagine the blessings that Job received, right? James 5 and verse 10. James 5, 10 says, "'Take, my brethren, the prophets, who have spoken in the name of the Lord, for an example of suffering, affliction, and of patience. Behold, we count them happy which endure. You have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord, that the Lord is very pitiful and of tender mercy." Even what happened at the end of Job's life, and him being blessed beyond measure, is an example for us. It's an example for us that when you endure through hard times, you will be blessed, and it might not necessarily be with all these physical things, because maybe you're not the right person for that. I think Job was, because Job, the man that had it all, clearly wasn't a covetous guy, was he? Because when it was all stripped away, he didn't go, oh my stuff! He just went, okay, the Lord took away. That's someone that can deal with wealth. But whatever it is, whatever you're blessed with in life, you will be blessed if you endure. It said, "'Behold, we count them happy which endure. You have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord, that the Lord is very pitiful and of tender mercy.'" So you want to see that pity, you want to see that tender mercy, you want to be counted happy, then stop blaming God and endure. Stop blaming God. And everyone needs to hear that, because so many people will blame God from time to time. Get annoyed, get frustrated. Why do I have to go through this now? Why is this happening? Stop blaming God. Go back to, go back into Genesis three, verse 11. And it said, and he said, "'Who told thee that thou was naked? Has thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?' And the man said, "'The woman whom thou gaveest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.' And the Lord God said unto the woman, "'What is this that thou hast done?' And the woman said, the serpent beguiled me, and I did eat." The title is Stop Blaming Someone Else. Number one, stop blaming other people. Number two, stop blaming God. Number three, stop blaming the devil. Third and final point, stop blaming the devil. We get to Eve, yeah? She goes into Pentecostal prophetess mode, doesn't she? Suddenly, here's what she's doing. Suddenly it's like, ah, the devil, you know, he just manipulated me, it was the devil. You know, and then she probably started, you know, singing some weird song or something, yeah? I don't know, but it's a convenient excuse, isn't it? The devil made me do it. The demons made me drink. The demons made me lie. The demons made me fornicate. The demons made me do it. Or, you know, another one that you hear people say is I've got the devil on my back today, right? That's why I'm being offensive. That's why I'm being unkind. That's why I'm putting God to one side over there because the devil's on my back so I'm not reading my Bible today. You know, because I'm having a tough day. I'm not going to pray to God today because the devil's on my back, but so often, do you know what it really is? It's the flesh. So often it's the flesh. It's your wicked flesh which is making you act like an idiot and you're blaming it on the devil. But Eve here did get tricked by the serpent, okay? Another name for the devil. You have to know Revelation 20, verse two, talks of that old serpent which is the devil and Satan, okay? So we know from that and other verses, we know that this is the devil here as a serpent, but she still chose to sin, okay? She still chose to disobey God. The devil presented the option. She chose it. The devil doesn't force you to do anything. He can't force you to do anything. He presents you an option. He presents an option in life. He always presents an option. In one way or another, there's always an option and she chose the wrong option. Now turn to 1 Corinthians 10. What happened is she chose to believe him instead of God. He didn't force her to eat of the tree. And she didn't have to do that, okay? We never have to sin. I really honestly believe that. Now we do sin, just to get it clear, okay? Make this very clear. We all have a sinful nature. We all sin. But we don't have to. The hypothetical what if, as far as I'm concerned, doesn't exist. Now I know people argue this about certain things and well, in this situation now. I just don't, when I read 1 Corinthians 10.13, I just think that there is, there should be an option. Now we fail at that, okay? All the time. However, I think that God gives you that option. 1 Corinthians 10.13 says, there has no temptation taken you, but such as is common to man. It's 1 Corinthians 10.13. But God is faithful who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able, but will with the temptation also make a way to escape that ye may be able to bear it. Now I believe that can apply to both trials of affliction and temptations to sin. I think it applies to the whole lot and I think that ultimately there is a way out. There is a way, we're talking about believers here. Not talking about the unsaved and people that have nothing to do with God, but if you're a believer and you're saved and you have the Holy Spirit and you have God in your life, I believe that there is an option. And there will always be an option that doesn't involve sinning in your life. I don't think you'll ever be backed into a corner where it's sin or sin to get out. I don't believe that. Now we do sin, okay? But it's not because we just couldn't avoid it. The devil got me, it's because we choose to. So my point here is stop blaming the devil. Just stop blaming the devil. And you go, well, how am I blaming the devil? Turn to Psalm 91 because it includes all of the devil's children. They present an option, but they don't force you to sin. They just present an option. The false prophet doesn't force you to be a member of Repent of Your Sins Baptist. Okay, he didn't force you to be the member of that church where you know that he didn't believe and doesn't believe and will never believe the gospel. He doesn't force you. So these people that are being like, oh, I just can't believe that, you know, that pastor that I was under for two years, it's like you knew. Now look, when you don't know, you don't know. When you're giving someone the benefit of the doubt, you give someone the benefit of the doubt. But when you know, you've got no, it's not his fault, it's your fault. You shouldn't have been there. You shouldn't have had, oh well, I'm just not doing anything anymore after spending three years at Repent of Your Sins Baptist and got out of soul winning, got out of the things of God, I just can't work it out. It's his fault. It's all that church's fault. No, it's your fault. It was your choice. You should be diligent about these things. The sodomite doesn't force you to hang out with them. They don't. They don't force you. The Bible says not to know a wicked person. They didn't force you to hang out with them, be poisoned, and God forbid something even worse happen to whoever, to someone vulnerable in your life, even kids. That wasn't forced. You chose to put yourself in that position because the Bible's clear about looking after your kids, for example, and things like that. It ultimately comes back to leadership. We should be keeping our kids. We should be keeping ourselves away from wicked people. And we are presented the option. The church divider doesn't force you out of church. They don't force you. You choose to take that option. You choose to be pulled aside. You choose to have your head turned. It's your choice. And the flesh wants it. So sometimes it's an easy choice for sadly some to make, but you're not forced to do that. The slanderer doesn't force you to believe their lies in all areas of life. You've chosen to believe the slanderer. You're the problem. The slanderer's a slanderer. They're already a slanderer. The media manipulator, how about that one? Because people love to blame everything on the media. And look, the media, it's worth knowing your enemy, but the media manipulator doesn't force you to be brainwashed. Because it's pretty obvious, really, isn't it? I mean, it's pretty obvious. If you're still watching movies and series where every single morning unmarried couples get up in the morning out of bed at the least, I mean, that's like the cleanest stuff. That's the PG stuff. They just get up in the morning, but oh, thank God, we didn't see anything worse. You still continue to watch all the other forms of brainwash, you know, the kung fu kicking, women that are so much happier beating up men rather than raising their children. You know, the effeminate, weak men all over the media. You still want to be brainwashed. So it's your choice. You've made that choice. I mean, you've got to be an idiot to not see that. And people know it. Even believers who hear this sort of preaching know it and they still choose to go there. Look, I just can't work out why I'm still brainwashed in this area or that area or my family is. Can't work out why my wife is still a feminazi. Yet she's sat in front of feminazi propaganda every day. I mean, stuff's just in your face. It's so obvious. You have the choice. And look, like I said, be aware of the angles, be aware of the angles of attack but don't concede defeat. Be aware, know where they're coming from but you still have the responsibility to avoid them. You have the tools to beat him. You have the tools to beat the devil. Did you know that? God says, if you make him your refuge, him your habitation, Psalm 91 says, thou shalt tread upon the lion and the adder. The young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet. He gives you the ability to trample these devils under your feet. You have that ability, you have that strength. Why? You have to turn it because as 1 John 4 says, ye have God, little children, and have overcome them because greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world. You have the Holy Spirit and you have God residing inside you. You have such power, such ability to destroy, to defeat the devil, but you can choose to just blame him and take that excuse to sin. Verse 14, where we are in Psalm 91 says, because he has set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him. I will set him on high because he had known my name. He shall call upon me and I will answer him, I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honor him. With long life will I satisfy him and show him my salvation. If you choose to deny the flesh and be led by that Holy Spirit, the devil's got nothing on you, if you choose that. And that's a daily choice you need to make. But stop blaming the devil every time you choose to basically be influenced by him in one way or another. You choose a sin, he presents a choice, but it's up to you what you choose. The title is Stop Blaming Someone Else. Number one, stop blaming other people. Number two, stop blaming God. Number three, stop blaming the devil. Now you might say, but I'm a sinner, okay? What hope have I got if I've got no one to blame? Because sometimes it's nice to have someone to blame. It makes you feel a bit better about things because we're all sinners, okay? Sometimes it can be a bit overwhelming when you really assess yourself. You're like, yeah, I've got issues, I've got problems. Who can I blame? Well, turn to 1 John 1. Firstly, there's someone that's taken the eternal blame for your sins. 2 Corinthians 5, 21 says, For you have made him Jesus Christ. That is to be sin for us who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. Jesus Christ is happy to take the blame for all your sins. Okay, the eternal blame for your sins. Your eternal account is clean if you've put your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. You never have to be punished. You never have to go to hell for those sins. There's no eternal punishment for anyone here if you've put your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. I mean, amen to that, right? How amazing is that? He's taken the blame. He said, blame me, blame me for it all. I'll take the whole lot. But the only way that in this life that you can conquer those sins that you're blaming others is by accepting your own responsibility. And we mentioned this verse, I know on Wednesday evening, I just quoted it and talked about it briefly afterwards as well. But we're gonna look at a few verses here. 1 John 1 and from verse eight says, If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. And that's by the way, all those Pentecostally types and all those people that think that somehow they don't have any sin in their life. I mean, you don't even have to like find out exactly, well, what do you believe? It's like, you ain't saved, okay? If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, it is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar and his word is not in us. So if we bring it to God, we don't cover it. We don't absolve ourselves. If we confess those sins, he'll forgive you on a daily basis, okay? You don't have to get the chastisement for things if you're bringing it to God. And that means that you can move on too. You're then able to move on, okay? As mentioned on Wednesday as well, you need to be able to forgive yourself as well. I said on, I preached on this on Wednesday night, is that you want to be able to, firstly, to let other people move on from things that they've done in the past and you want to be able to let yourself move on as well. And if you brought it to God, God is saying you can move on. So who are we to then hold things against people that they've brought to God, they've confessed their sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. But that's how we get cleaned up. You know, they say, I think this is in sort of rehab-type parlance, is that the first step is admitting that you have a problem. That's the first step to healing, is admitting that you have a problem, isn't it? And you know, that's a good reminder for everyone because if you just constantly cover your sins, constantly blame someone else, constantly find a scapegoat, constantly find someone else to blame for your problems, for your issues in life, you're not confessing your sins. You're not accepting you have a problem, you ain't going to get cleaned. You're not going to get washed. It's not going to happen because you're just blaming it on someone else, you're covering your sins. But if we confess our sins, if you go to God and you go, no, it's no one else's fault, I'm guilty. Guilty as charged. He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. And obviously, if you went as far as then denying sin, if we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar and his word is not innocent, you're calling God a liar. Because he said for all of us and to come short the glory of God. Everyone's a sinner here. Now, firstly, you need to get saved. You need to make sure you're saved. You need to make sure that you're counting that blood of Christ's payment for your sin, okay? That you know that eternally you're saved. But secondly, when it comes to our then daily walk in life, you need to confess your sins. You need to bring them to God and he'll help you sort yourself out. But here's the thing, if you want cleansing, you need to acknowledge your sins. You need to number one, stop blaming other people. Number two, stop blaming God and number three, stop blaming the devil. You need to stop blaming someone else. And hopefully, that's been a blessing to many here on that. We're going to finish in a word of prayer. Heavenly Father, thank you for your word. Thank you for all the clear teaching you give us, Lord, the clear instruction. And as early as Genesis 3, we see such a bad example of the blame game and help us. Lord, to get that out of our lives, to stop blaming others, to stop blaming you, stop blaming the devil, stop blaming other people for our failings, our problems, our issues, our fleshly desires, wants and failings, Lord, and help us to take responsibility to bring those sins to you, especially being the service now, before our Lord's Supper, Lord, to just bring you those sins, those sins in our lives, bring them to you, confess them to you, Lord, knowing that you'll cleanse us, Lord, to help us to get our hearts right with you before we then partake in the Lord's Supper this evening. Lord, please bless our soul winning this afternoon and just help everyone to, you know, give a good account of your gospel and help us to return for the evening service. In Jesus' name, for all of this, amen.