God’s Judgment Revealed
Righteousness Revealed: An Exposition of Romans

Below is an automated transcript of this sermon:

Thanks for listening to the podcast from gary combs and the preaching team at wilson community church Wilson, north carolina. Check us out on the web at wcc.nc.org for more and now here’s the sermon.

Good morning, church. We’re continuing our series through the book of romans, and we’ve entitled the series righteousness revealed. This title came from paul’s theme, which we find in romans chapter one verses sixteen and seventeen he says, i’m not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of god for salvation to everyone who believes to the jew first, and also to the greek, and then notice in verse seventeen he says, for in it in the gospel the righteousness of god is revealed from faith for faith. It is written, the righteous shall live by faith.

And so we see that paul wrote the book of romans to probably jewish background believers, people who had come from the jewish background and had believed the gospel he writes to those in rome . He’s never met them yet, but he’s writing to those in rome, saying, this book, this letter i’m writing to you called romans is so that you understand that the only way to be acceptable under god to be made right with god made right just with god is the gospel. And someday he’s gonna explain that, and so that’s what the book of romans is about

paul just wanted to get there so he could strengthen them and their understanding of the gospel. And so chapter one we start with that, and then the latter part of chapter one, which we covered last week, he begins to answer this question, why we need the gospel, why we need this righteousness of god. And so last week, if you were here we did eighteen through thirty to chapter one, and he addressed those people who don’t have the scripture people that he might have called pagan or gentile. And he said, it doesn’t matter they still have no excuse before god, because they have creation and creation points to the creator, and not only that, but they have a conscience, and so god made them so that they have a nature so that they intuitively know right from wrong.

And so that’s what he talked about in the latter part of chapter one, we discussed this last week. Now some of you were here last week, and maybe you were like, get him god like, get those people god like that, you know, and maybe that’s how the jewish background believers were when they read the letter because what they would do in those days is they would get a letter and they would read it aloud at a church service, just like we do, except they’re doing it for the first time, and then one of the elders would get up and comment on it because he would have read it first he would prayed about it and they would read it and discuss it and that’s, what we’re doing except for them it is the first time, and maybe as he got to that part , people in there like amen, those pagan gentiles are so bad like that and then chapter two, verse one, pastor tim keller says it must have hit him like a bucket of water in the face because here he’s going to talk about why the self righteous need the gospel people who think they’re good, i need the gospel.

Last week it was people who don’t have any scripture. It’s the native who never heard it’s, the person living out there, you know, that has no access to the gospel but this week, he’s talking about the person who thinks they are moral thinks they’re good enough.

Have you ever talked to a person like that? Christ didn’t die for me; i didn’t ask him to die for me. I’m as good as those people at church; a church filled with hypocrites. This is who this letter is to it’s to that person who thinks they’re good enough and it might be to that person could be you who loves it when god gets him your kind of judgmental. So this is to the self righteous and to the judgmental why you need the gospel if you’re in that place.

So why did the pagans need the gospel? Why do the moral self righteous people need the gospel? Next week it will be why do the jewish people need the gospel and then the following week is why everyone needs to gospel.

Paul is taking the diamond of the gospel like a jeweler and he’s spreading out the black velvet of why we need the gospel on the countertop at the jewelry store and he’s there talking to that fiance who’s getting ready to buy a diamond for his soon to be wife and he’s saying, hey, look at how bright it shines when you lay it on this background because he’s going to show just how sinful we are, regardless of our background and how bright the gospel shines on that black background. That’s what he’s doing Okay, so stick with me, it’s going to be good.

Last week we talked about god’s wrath revealed hallelujah! And now today god’s judgment revealed because god is saying through his word to us, you’re not good enough. My judgement is coming in the book of romans chapter two one through sixteen paul warned the self righteous that they would have no defense when they stand before god and before his judgment. And we can understand that our own attempts at self righteousness, our own attempts to try to be good enough will leave us defenseless before the judgment of god. And as we look at the text, it tells us why this is so. why we’re defenseless if we’re depending on our own righteousness before god, it’ll give us three reasons as we study it today, these first sixteen verses of chapter two are you ready? Let’s, dig in

chapter two, verse one therefore, you have no excuse. Oh, man every one of you who judges For in passing judgment on another, you condemn yourself, but cause you the judge practice the very same things. We know that the judgment of god rightly falls on those who practice such things. Do you suppose oh, man, you who judge those who practice such things, and yet do them yourself, that you will escape the judgment of god. Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that god’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance, but because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath, when god’s righteous judgment will be revealed, he will render to each one according to his works to those who by patience and well doing seek for glory and honor and immortality. He will give eternal life. But for those who are self seeking and do not obey the truth but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury. There will be tribulation and distress for every human being who does evil, the jew first, and also the greek, but glory and honor and peace for everyone who does good, the jew first, and also the greek for god, shows no partiality for all who have sinned without the law will also perish without the law, and all who have sinned under the law will be judged by the law. For it is not the hearers of the law, who are righteous before god, but the doers of the law, who will be justified for when gentiles who do not have the law by nature, do what the law requires. They are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law, they showed that the work of the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accused, or even excuse them on that day when, according to my gospel god judges the secrets of men by christ jesus, this is god’s word.

Three reasons why the self righteous have no defense before god’s judgment here’s the first, because god’s judgment is inescapable Look at verse three I want you to find the word escape, circle it in your notes paul uses what’s called a rhetorical question. Have you heard that before? A rhetorical question. A rhetorical question either begs a positive or a negative answer based on the way it’s worded, this one begs a negative answer.

Do you suppose that you’re going to be able to escape god’s judgment? Kind of sarcastic? Remember i told you about that person that’s been going get him, paul, you’re right. Those gentiles are pagans. they’re so bad. And then all of a sudden you get wait a minute. Wait a minute. You who are judging other people. Do you think you’re going overboard? God’s judgment? I think you’re going to escape what’s the answer. You will not escape it. That’s the answer that’s what he’s saying, do you suppose that you’re going to escape? No god’s judgment is inescapable.

He starts in verse one of chapter two. Therefore you have no excuse. Who is you? You the self righteous he’s going to define that as he moves forward. You have no excuse now he told the people last week. Chapter one those who they don’t have the gospel. But they do have the creation, and they have the conscience of nature that he’s put inside of these two testimonies, which theologians call natural revelation or general revelation. Everyone has that you have that, so you’ll be judged according to that, and you’ll be without excuse, because you haven’t even been able to live up to your own conscience. That was last week.

Now, this week, it’s now there’s people who are doing pretty good. They haven’t fallen apart like that group last week. This group, all right, i don’t need church. I don’t need god, you’ll go ahead. I’ve seen you. Most of you are worse off than i am i’m good. I don’t need I didn’t ask jesus to die for me. And he says to that person, you have no excuse, oh man when he says, oh, man, he’s, talking about men and women he is talking about humanity. ( ) is in the greek here, its humanity. he’s talking to that person who was applauding last week, the self righteous, judgmental type of people, the people that are always get him god, as long as you’re not getting me and they judge other people harshly, and they judge themselves gently. They point like this and they never see the other three fingers pointing back at themselves.

He says, you better watch out. You have no excuse for it excuses an apology, in the greek it’s, where we get the word apologetics, which means to give a defense like if you’re studying christian apologetics, then you’re studying how to defend christianity, he’s saying you will have no defense when you stand before god, your righteousness and your judgmental nature. I will not defend you now. He’s moved from gentile pagans in chapter one they need the gospel now he’s moved to jews and gentiles. You heard him say that a couple times jew and gentile first of you, then the gentile because in both of those groups there are people who think my righteousness is sufficient to stand before god. I’m good enough, it’s not just people who are religious that can be good. I mean, we look around us.

Have you ever said a thing like this? That person would make the best christian here’s, another that person needs to get saved that would be the best christian in our church because he is so good. I mean, that it’s such a stupid statement because you’re basing it on some external judgment that you’re making and you’re thinking, well, you know, they have a good job, they seem happy, they’re raising their kids, basically, what they’re doing is they’re following the morality of god without worshipping the god who gave it to them. And guess what? If you follow even intuitively, then you get the blessing of protection of following god’s law. But that doesn’t mean that you are righteous and so that person is fooling themselves. There’s no defense.

Okay, so he says, therefore, you humanity, who’s judging others, in fact, for him passing judgment. So this kind of judgment is not the kind of judgment where your discerning that, you know, i prefer coke over pepsi or something like that. we all have to make judgment calls, and we have to have discernment, he’s not saying that’s wrong. What he’s saying that these people are passing judgment. In other words, they’re sentencing people. They’re condemning people. They’re saying, you deserve it, they’re condemning, and he says, don’t you know that you practice the very same things, that word in the greek, same there’s, two greek words for same one means of the same kind, and the other means of a similar kind. And this is the one that means of a similar kind.

So he’s not saying that these moral people are doing the same things that the group last week was doing, but they’re doing stuff that is just as bad, that’s what he means not doing the very same things, like the identical things, but things, they’re just as bad. And so you have these suppositions.

Verse three do you suppose verse two says, don’t you know that the judgment of god rightly falls so he’s going to judge right on those who are judgmental and self righteous? And then verse four says, do you presume? Okay, so here’s your second rhetorical question somebody asked me the other night does god’s word, you know, does God ever use sarcasm what paul does, and paul speaking from the power of the holy spirit, he’s being a little sarcastic right here, he’s like, do you suppose that you’re going to escape? Do you presume that the reason that you’re experiencing the blessing and riches of the kindness of god right now that’s just going to keep on going on into the future like i’m good? I’m good just the way i am, i don’t need any help, you know,

the hardest person to reach with the gospel is an american who’s already got their house and their two and a half kids and their two car garage and the fenced in backyard i’ve already started, you know, a 401K and their whole goal in life is to retire early so they can play golf or retire early so they can collect seashells down by the seashore. I mean, what a waste of your life.

But, you know, god made you to live for eternity. He didn’t make you so you can retire. He made you so you can live. It’s that person who is hard to reach with gospel because they think i got this, you know, i’m good, i’m good and here’s paul saying, do you suppose that’s going to keep going for you? What don’t you know that the riches and the blessing of the kindness of god he’s doing that so you’ll know how much he loves you, and so you’ll repent of your old hard heart. This is not showing you that god’s not going to judge it’s, showing that in this season he’s showing you kindness. But that does not mean that he will not judge someday, because if he is a righteous god, then he will also judge unrighteousness

repentance means to change your mind and go in the opposite direction. In the military, it means about face you were going this way, but you have repented and now you’re going that way. The reason he blesses us is not to throw us off that somehow he’s not a god that will judge, but so that you’ll come to repentance. The self righteous will not escape judgment if they neglect the salvation found only in jesus,

the book of hebrew says. How shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? I don’t know if there’s a person in america. Three hundred million people who could say they haven’t heard some version of the gospel. America’s at risk, because we think we’re good. We’re americans it’s on every billboard, it’s on the internet. Most people, even if they don’t believe they got five bibles in their house, too. And they’re using two for coasters on their coffee table.

How will they escape? The self righteous mistakenly presume on god’s kindness in the present not believing that god’s judgment is imminent. The book of Acts for he has set a day there’s a day on the calendar that only he knows and it’s set for judging the world with justice by the man he has appointed. Now who is that man? And he proved to everyone who this is by raising him from the dead. Jesus is the appointed judge jesus, who knows man’s hearts? Because he lived here and he walked with us and he was tempted as we are yet without sin. He knows us. He is god’s appointed judge.

Did you know that the father will not judge, the son will judge here’s a glimpse of how jesus, meek and mild i don’t know what your picture of jesus is. You might have a monochrome picture of jesus, but let’s, get a full color one let’s. Get what the bible says about him when he saw those selfish, self righteous, self serving Pharisees he said to them, you serpents, you brood of vipers! How are you to escape being sentenced to hell? You know who he was most angry towards? Those who thought they were good enough. The person that was a sinner he would hate. The tax collector, the prostitute, the alcoholic, they already knew they were sinners , he could work with them, he could tell him, let me help you and they would come to him. They were already broken, but the man who thinks he’s got it all together, sometimes He has to push you right in the face to get you to wake up.

Did he not love the Pharisees? He loved him so much, he loved him enough to try to wake him up. this is love, he’s warning them. Leave judgement to god, judgemental person, those of you that applauded last week when you heard that list of twenty one sins plus one. Why do you pass judgment on your brother, or why do you despise your brother? For we all stand circle the word all we all stand before the judgment seat of god, for it is written as i live, says the lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to god. So then each of us will give an account of himself to god.

Francis schaeffer he has passed away now. But in some of his books, he wrote that god has an invisible tape recorder. If he were alive today, i think he would write. God has an invisible video camera. Maybe you’ve seen on facebook in recent days, we’ve been showing a time elapsed progression of the children’s playground being built. Have you seen that on facebook? When i first saw it, i knew jonathan mentor posted this. He posts that man. How’d you do that, like one of you guys, like, stand up there because it’s, like it goes from zero to being built, you know, and he goes, and we have a security camera on the side of the building there i was like, oh, yeah, that’s, right? I remember now because, yeah, just speed it up and put it on. Yeah, never mind. It would’ve been strange, somebody there with a tripod for days on the roof. Yeah, we have security cameras around the building, and we’re just humans, and we can tell what’s going on out there.

A couple years ago, some guy on a bicycle drove up behind the church, and i guess somebody left out of that door, and they didn’t close it good, so he pulled up on the bicycle and you can see him on the camera, looks around, jams the door, and he comes in. He stole a couple of guitars himself. Can you see him going down the road, two guitars on a bicycle, it’s, ridiculous. We saw it with the cameras and we are like, ugh , there they went. We had physical evidence.

god sees not only the physical, outward things we do, but he has a video camera that is recording your inner life. That’s terrifying, isn’t it to consider? I don’t want my wife, i don’t want my children. I don’t want anybody to know what’s in here i’m glad i got jesus, because god’s judgment is inescapable. Who do you think you are? Maybe you think you’re maybe you’ve learned from the way we can dodge human laws like the first way you can dodge, there are ways of escaping judgment on planet earth. The first way is don’t get caught! Don’t get caught that’s the first way

i was four years old, my aunt Theda my father’s sister was keeping me that day she took me grocery shopping at giant supermarket in bristol, tennessee. She actually was a cashier there, so she was proud of me. She would say this is my nephew. Look at him. He looks like his dad. And then we go through the impulse section to check out it’s called the impulse section because they charge more for that stuff than any other thing in the store. I used to run stores and that’s where they make their profit. They want the kids to put stuff in your cart right there. I didn’t put it in the cart I took some juicy fruit and put it in my pocket like that, and we went out to the car, and i was like, i got away with that. It climbed in the back seat, and i laid down in the floorboard of my Aunt Theda’s car and put it in my mouh , and she heard the papers rattling. cake. She said Gary Wayne. What do you have? Nothing; it’s t what you say when you don’t wanna get caught and she goes what’s that in your mouth? You know, she marched me back in the store. We’d already pulled out, she turns around, goes back and marchs me up to the store manager , her boss, and said, my nephew stole some juicy fruit lord, i cried. I thought i could get away with it. If my aunt Theda can keep up with me, you think, god, you think you’re going get away with it.

The second thing we try to escape beyond the jurisdiction of the court. In other words, we escape to canada. We think maybe if we get to canada we could escape. But how did you escape the one who’s in charge of the universe?

The third way is that maybe we get arrested, but we get off on some technicality like they forgot to read us our rights or something. Yeah, i don’t see that happening. You’re not gonna get off on a technicality The final way, is well, okay, they put me in prison, but i escaped and hid and there’s the four ways that we try to escape man’s laws, none of them listen, think about it. None of those are going to work .

Do you understand that god’s judgment is inescapable? Everyone will stand before god and give an account. The book of hebrews says it very clearly. It is appointed unto man once to die, but after this the judgment. That’s number one that’s. The first reason my self righteousness will not be defensible before a holy god hears a second

because god’s judgment is righteous. God’s judgment is righteous, it’s, inescapable and it’s righteous. Look at verse five this is where we got the title as well but because of your hard and impenitent heart you’re storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when god’s righteous judgment will be revealed, god’s judgment will be revealed soon

last week god’s wrath is being revealed. We said this is what we learned last week in the present ever since adam and eve failed. Death entered in and god took his hand off. He took his hand off of holding back sin and he’s let it get whatever it deserves. He let go of it. And we talked about last week how that it’s like what the prodigal father did with the prodigal son, if you will, of the father he said, i wish you were dead. Give me my retirement, you know, give me give me the stuff you’re going to give me when you die. And this crazy father does it? He blesses him and lets him go. Then chase after it lets him go and he goes down, down, down. That is what happened last week with that group? They went down, down, down and they hit bottom. Swindalls calls it judicial abandonment. He let go and let us get what we deserve. In other words, you want to see him go ahead. But you’re going to get what comes with it. Because last week, okay, when you let go this week, he’s not talking about that kind of wrath. That’s the present wrath of god, that’s, the present judgement of god, which is really he is just letting us have what we asked for. And really that was kindness. Because if you look at the story, the prodigal son when he got in the pigpen, they got neck deep in mud and he started liking the way the pig food looked. He looked up, remember and went back home.

God lets us get what we deserve because he wants us to wake up and come to him. But now, he’s talking about the older brother because the older brother stayed home and asked for the stuff. He’s a good boy. But when the younger brother came home he’s judgmental he said what? Wait a minute. You know, you have thrown no party for me, you’re not putting a special ring on my finger and the father goes see everything i have is yours, shouldn’t wecelebrate that my son, who was dead is now alive and he came home You see , now this is who he’s talking to he is talking to the older brother, the self righteous brother who thinks he’s good enough he thinks he’s earned his place, but he reveals his own heartwhen he’s judgmental when he thinks the kindness of god is somehow made him worthy.

And so we’re looking here and as we look at this he’s righteous, but he says for that person who won’t repent, they’re storing up wrath, storing it up ok, so they’re not seeing it in the present like last week because they’re living a pretty good life and so they’re experiencing a lot of blessings in their life. They don’t believe in god or if they do, it’s just lip service. But they’re living a pretty good life and they think i don’t need to get too crazy about the god thing or anything, because i’m doing, i’m all right. I’m doing good here and that’s a lot of people in america , isn’t it?

In europe, in the western world, you know, we’re doing pretty good here, you know, they don’t realize they’re storing up wrath for that future. Now, we’re talking about that future day, which is not this passive judgment, which is god’s released in the present, but in the future. There’s, this appointed day coming where you’re storing up wrath. Now, i don’t know if you know this, but if you don’t pay for your credit card payment in full, they charge you interest. young people you know, the credit card will get you. The credit card is the devil. It’s a device of the evil one there’s, this thing called interest god calls it wrath, it’s the same thing, and if you don’t pay this month and they put interest on and if you fail to pay next month, then they put a service charge, and they charge you interest on your interest. And then the next month, they charge you interest on your service charge and another service charge, and it keeps accumulating paydays coming. The payday is coming, and it just keeps accumulating.

That’s what god is saying, you’re storing up interest, your storing it up. Oh, yeah, nobody’s coming to get me, I am good, and and you know, i just don’t see god that way. I just think, god knows, i’m good. Now you’re stalling, oppressed because you’re not. because he’s got that security camera running all the time on you. He knows what you’re like when you’re not in front of other people. He knows what’s on the inside of you. You’re not good

The prophet, isaiah said, that our righteousness is as filthy rags before the lord. You’re not good; only God is good. God’s judgment is righteous because it’s, according to truth, it rightly falls and nothing is hidden. He has an invisible security camera running all the time and friends, i think there might be a day coming. Well, i know there is a day coming, but i don’t know if it’s a twenty four hour day. I don’t see how it can be. The bible says a day is that of a thousand years and a thousand years as a day, that’sjudgment day, i think, is gonna be one of them longer than twenty four hour days, because if he just does the people in this room, and we’re all going to have to sit there and watch the video first of all on you and then on you and then on you, we’re all going to be crying just on watching the first one, because we’re going to go. I’m next. Everyone will give an account. Judgment day is really paydays coming someday, he says. Wrath if you don’t repent, listen, if you don’t repent and turn to christ and receive him, you’re storing it up. You don’t see it yet, but you’re storing it up for the day of wrath, which is another way of saying judgment day.

And so you’re storing it up, and it will be according to works verse six let’s, touch that for a second, because that’s a difficult verse difficult, because it’s hard to render what he’s rendering here he will render each to each one according to his works. Now either the brilliant paul has lost his mind. And he wrote us a book about how the gospel reveals the righteousness of god to us, so that we can be made righteous by faith, by faith alone. Or we have to work our way to heaven. Which is it did paul have a breakdown mentally here no he’s talking about something different.

Salvation is by faith, but judgment is by works. Salvation is by faith. You can’t be saved by works, but judgment is by works this is a public arena, and god will be vindicated so that everyone knows that no one is good, but god, everyone, god will be vindicated. He will render each according to his works to those who by patience in well doing seek for glory and honor and immortality he will give eternal life. he’s saying, if you can somehow get eternal life on your own what he’s really saying here is the only way you’re going to want god’s glory, god’s honor and god’s everlasting life is if he has saved you he’s, describing the works that will come out of you after you’re saved and then he’s describing the self serving one in verse eight self seeking in other words, your righteousness is based on yourself, it’s, because you want your own glory. You want your own honor, you’re not obeying the truth, there will be wrath and fury. There will be tribulation in distress. It doesn’t matter if you’re jew or greek, he shows no partiality this is what he is saying here

You know when god visited abraham, he said, should i keep a secret from my friend? You know, he’s, my friend, i’m not telling, we’re getting ready to go. I’m sending some angels down to Sodom and Gomorrah because the stench of their sin has risen to my nostrils and i’m going to go see if it looks as bad as it smells and and then abraham remembers his nephew lot and his daughters and wife. They’re down there lord. Surely you will not kill the righteous with the unrighteous. I mean, you won’t judge the righteous with the, and he says this in genesis eighteen, twenty five should not the judge of all the earth do what is right. If there are fifty righteous he said No, i won’t do it there’s, fifty righteous Well, don’t want to test you too far here, but what about forty? no, for forty righteous Well, what about for thirty for thirty righteous for twenty lord, be patient with me. What about for ten? If you find ten for ten sake, i will preserve it. I will not judge it and he couldn’t find ten. He had a hard time finding one, and so Sodom and Gomorrah came under the wrath of god’s judgment. And to this day, you can find no evidence of it except salt.

Will the judge of all the earth do, right? Isn’t this the question that the self righteous asked, see, we judge others, we don’t judge ourselves, or if we do, we judge ourselves lightly and then we judge god, if there was a good god, if he was really good, why was there a hitler Why are there starving children in africa? If there’s a good god, why did hurricane Florence come, and then immediately after hurricane matthew and all those people lost so much worse, where is god in that. Will not the judge of all the earth do, right? Maybe there’s. No judge. Or he’s, not righteous. These things we ask when we stand in the place of god, and we claim to be righteous on our own behalf.

But what paul’s teaching us is the reason bad stuff is happening on planet earth is because god, when we decided to go our own way instead of god’s way, he let go, and his wrath is present in this world, so that the earth creation itself groans, waiting for the day of its redemption. And so does those of us who love the lord. Our bodies groan; I am sixty years old now. i understand that verse better every day. I am waiting for the day when we get a new body. They’re seeing equal suffering why is there suffering in the world. It’s. Not because god’s, not good it’s, because god is letting the suffering happen, because he loves us enough to let us have the pigpen. So we’ll look up. And come back home and say, in my father’s house, there’s. Good food. Our god, judges with righteousness and equity the psalmist says. He is coming to judge the earth with righteousness. He shall judge the world and the peoples with equity. God is righteous. God alone is good. Your self righteousness will not satisfy. It will be indefensible.

Here’s, the third reason that it’s so, because god’s judgment is impartial, it’s, inescapable, it’s, righteous, it’s, impartial look at verse eleven. It’s plain, isn’t it, for god shows no partiality. He doesn’t care if you’re rich or poor, red or yellow, black or white, american or saudi arabian or egyptian or ugandan or guatemalan or indonesian, he says, i want you to go to all those places because there’s people there that want to hear the gospel. He shows no partiality and cared for the greek or jew are the chosen people. Yeah, he chose them to bring the messiah so he could give us the messiah to the whole world, to give us the christ he’s going to judge them by the same thing, he’s going to judge all of us the same what did you do with jesus, what did you do with my son,

let’s, look at this. He shows no partiality verse twelve, he says, there’s. Some people who have the law and some people who don’t have the law, the gentiles didn’t get the law and what laws you’re talking about? He’s talking about the old testament, they didn’t get the ten commandments, but yet, even though they didn’t get it, they have a conscience, and they were born with a moral shape to them.

The evolutionist the atheist has no explanation for this in philosophical discussions. This is one of the problematic areas. Where does the morality come from? Because if there’s no absolute, then there’s no morality, and if there’s no truth, then whatever argument you’re making now is irrelevant because your lieing because there’s, no truth and it’s no basis and so everything breaks down. But he says, there are gentiles, people who don’t have the law, who keep the law without knowing it because it was by nature they knew it, okay, he says , i will judge them according to the amount of light that they had, and they will come up short because of their own conscience

look at verse fifteen. They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse so that they can’t keep their own rules you know this every january. First you make a new resolution I will lose twenty pounds this year. And somewhere around march, ugh well I meant to, but because we’re so easy on ourselves, you know, i tried really hard, but that chocolate or somebody last week said, gary, go ahead and be honest, it was that cheesecake, you know you never named cheesecake last week is something that’s getting you down, and i said, well, i don’t think i’ve eat cheesecake in a week, and then one of them said, i saw a picture, of you on facebook eating a slice of cheesecake, i went, i forgot about that.somebody in the church sent that to me for pastor appreciation? I had to eat that slice. And by my own lips, i condemned myself because i’m very forgetful about my own sins. But i’ll remember yours every time, and you’re just like me and you know you are.

But love keeps no record of wrong. He’s impartial. He treats the gentile according to the amount of light, but to the jew who had the law and to you and i, who have not just the law, we have the whole book, to whom much is given, much is required. We have the full light and your are judged according to that. And if you don’t feel chills up your spine right now, there’s. Something wrong with you, he’s god, you’re not, and he is righteous. His judgment is righteous and it’s impartial.

Now, this verse sixteen, i want to close on verse sixteen for some stuff here , he says on that day. What day judgment day that’s the topic because coming judgment, that hasn’t happened yet, it’s coming. The longer god waits, the more we think it’s not coming, but it’s coming. He’s, letting the wrath reach its limit he’s, letting it store up to the full. Then he’s coming he’s letting the gospel go to all the nations so that every ethnos has heard then he’s coming oh he’s coming and his judgment will be by the son looking at verse sixteen on that day. What day? Judgment day? The day of wrath according to my gospel what i thought, paul, are you claiming that you wrote the gospel? Did the gospel originate with you, paul? Are you claiming that you somehow edited it and made your own version? Why does he call it my gospel? That’s a troubling phrase.

Well, first of all, he’s not calling it that because he wrote it or because he edited it it’s because it became his because he holds it so dearly . Like what he says in galatians we studied this last year for i would have you know, brothers that the gospel that was preached by me is not man’s gospel for i did not receive it from any man. Nor was i taught it but i received it through a revelation of jesus christ. Why does he call it my gospel? Because jesus gave it to him. Now. It’s his. My gospel now, man jesus wrote it, and he gave it to me, and he paid for with His blood and i took it. He held it out, and i received it My gospel

pastor spurgeon, he says, paul says it’s, my gospel as a soldier speaks of my colors, or of my king. He resolves to bear this banner to victory and to serve this royal truth, even unto death. There’s my gospel. And he says, according to that gospel god, judges the secrets of man by who, by christ jesus. By christ jesus. Certainly that means that christ is the one who is the judge.

I find this interesting, don’t you? For the one who has not received the gospel, christ is the judge who better than he knows what’s in a man He knows what he paid to save a man to save man and woman, but for the one who believes in jesus and has received him, the bible says he’s, our advocate, You’re our attorney, he’s, both judge and advocate that’s, who we have when you receive jesus, when you appear before him, i believe they are two judgment seats.

there’s, the bema seat, which is the seat of reward. All believers who have christ as their advocate, will then stand before him and give an account. For what they’ve put in their little red wagon going through life, all your works and all the things you put in there by faith, according to first peter, it’ll pass through the fire of judgment, and some of it will burn up like hay and stubble . But everything you put in there by faith will be like purest gold. And there they say, you can’t take it with you. But it’s not so all the things you do by faith there’s, nothing lost. Nothing lost that you do for jesus it’s all like putting it up in heaven. Everything down here is futile and thieves break in and steal. But whatever you put up there, you save for eternity and there’s a bema seat he’s going to give out the crown of life in the crown of righteousness. And then when we get crowns and rewards, whenever jesus gets upon the throne and they start singing the holy, holy holy, we got something to throw at his feet. And so i want to reward i want to seek glory and honor and immortality not through self righteousness, but serving my master king jesus! So that i have something tocast of his feet and so there’s a bema seat.

But then there’s, a great white throne where all those who have ever lived from adam and eve to the present and even into the future. And there will be on account given, and books will be opened. Now it’s something to consider. All the secrets of men will be revealed, and christ will be the judge, and then they will be judged by christ but also through christ.

What does that mean? Because i think it means both, i think, through christ means what john writes in first john five he says, whoever has the son has life, whoever does not have the son of god does not have life. I write these things to you believe in the name of the son of god, that you may know that you have eternal life, god is impartial, he doesn’t care about race, religious background, gender, nationality, richer, poor. He wants to know the answer to one question would did you do with my son? I poured out my wrath and judgment on him. We see on the cross god’s, love and righteousness and judgment intermingled, so that christ took my sin. He took my death. He took my separation, and he offers his eternal life, his righteousness and his oneness, his sonship with the father.

His judgment is impartial. He cares only what you did with jesus, in the book of acts peter opens his mouth and he said, truly, i understand that god shows no partiality. But in every nation, anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable.

Did you applaud last week’s message and say, those people had it coming? God help you, you think you’re good enough, you’re not. None of us are for all have sinned and fall short, that’s. Why we need jesus

one day you’ll stand before a holy god. Perhaps He will say something like this. Why should i let you into my heaven? What will you say? I tried to be good. I’m didn’t kill anyone. He’ll say, depart for me. I never knew you. There’s only one answer that will suffice . We will be judged the secrets of men by christ Jesus. What’d you do with jesus, what’d you do with jesus, what did you do with jesus.

Here’s the gospel, it’s mine, it’s mine, because someone gave it to me. Someone jesus gave it to paul and paul gave it to those romans, and somebody there gave it to somebody else. And after two thousand years of people handing off the baton of the gospel, my mother and my grandmother, those are the two women who gave it to me, those two women taught me the gospel every day of my little life, when i was a little boy and i finally received it when i was eight years old, that’s mine. But i’ll let you have it. Not that you could take it from me, but it just grows and grows as i give it out.
Is it your gospel? Is it your gospel It’s my gospel? It’s, paul’s, gospel, christ paid for it, your gospel.

Let’s, pray. Oh , god, you alone are good. You alone are righteous. Your judgment is coming. Forgive us, lord, that we waste our days. Forgive us that can say we have the gospel, that we don’t share it every day. Forgive us, forgive me. Give us a fresh burning desire not to be judgmental of those that are hurting. not praying that you would somehow strike them dead, or kill them but that you would save them because you love them. Lord, i pray for that person that’s here this morning. That’s like that. You’re here today; you came in without him, but you would leave with him. Is that you, right in your seat right now, you can pray right now. You can ask he’s listening there, lord jesus, say it, dear lord jesus I am a sinner would you come into my life? I believe you died on the cross, that you were raised from the grave, that you live today, that you died for my sins. Would you forgive me of my sins? I pray that you would save me. I want to be a child of god. I pray that you give me your righteousness and make me right with god. So that on that day that day, that’s appointed unto man, every man and woman that on that day we will say, i got jesus. If you prayed that right now, believing he will save you. Others are here and, you know christ. Would you just remember that we’ve been called the live for him? That’s. Why we’re here, lord. Thank you. Thank you for the gospel. Amen.