Good Morning Beloved,
I'm so grateful for each of you joining us today
thank you for joining us
Heavenly Father,
As good and gracious as You are,
You have in Your Word given us all
such a beautiful gift, we thank You for that
and I thank You for those You have entrusted me with
Father I thank for You for the ability to read and study it
and the gift of discernment, through the Holy Spirit
thank You for the gift of understanding, I am so grateful to You
Father, I pray that You will open the hearts and minds
of every hearer of Your Word today, that they to would receive Your truths
and Your message for each of us, help us, help us to not just hear it
but teach us how to apply it to our lives.
I thank You Father, in faith believing, it will be done
I am grateful
In Jesus' precious name
Amen
"Therefore, any one of you who judges is without excuse. For when you judge another, you condemn yourself, since you, the judge, do the same things. We know that God’s judgment on those who do such things is based on the truth. Do you really think—anyone of you who judges those who do such things yet do the same—that you will escape God’s judgment? Or do you despise the riches of His kindness, restraint, and patience, not recognizing that God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance? But because of your hardness and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath, when God’s righteous judgment is revealed. He will repay each one according to his works: eternal life to those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor, and immortality; but wrath and indignation to those who are self-seeking and disobey the truth but are obeying unrighteousness; affliction and distress for every human being who does evil, first to the Jew, and also to the Greek; but glory, honor, and peace for everyone who does what is good, first to the Jew, and also to the Greek. There is no favoritism with God.
All those who sinned without the law will also perish without the law, and all those who sinned under the law will be judged by the law. For the hearers of the law are not righteous before God, but the doers of the law will be declared righteous. So, when Gentiles, who do not have the law, instinctively do what the law demands, they are a law to themselves even though they do not have the law. They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts. Their consciences confirm this. Their competing thoughts will either accuse or excuse them on the day when God judges what people have kept secret, according to my gospel through Christ Jesus."
Romans 2:1-16
Today's Message: Slave or Sinner - Part 2
Today as we continue to look at the Word of God, we are again in the Book of Romans.
Specifically, we're continuing to be examining chapter 2, verses 1-16. Romans chapter 2:1-16
We are still discussing, the Principles of Judgment. The Principles of Judgement, according to God, as they appear in Romans 2. If you all please open your Bibles, so that you can follow along, as we take a closer look at how God is going to sit in judgement, especially of those who may believe they are somehow exempt.
As we previously discussed. the Bible is very clear, that the wages of sin is Death. And, it's no secret, that Scripture teaches Jesus died for our sins. Through His death and resurrection, He satisfied the requirements: He satisfied His love, He died in our place; He satisfied His law, He died for sin. For those who have come to Christ, and accepted His sacrifice, taking upon Himself, the judgment that each and every one of us deserve, Christ has taken it on our behalf, we are so unworthy of such a sacrifice, so unworthy. It is beyond my comprehension, why anyone, would not want to accept it, yet there are many, who have chosen not to do so.
We learned, the last time we were together, that man’s judgment is hopelessly distorted, that man is unable to properly make an evaluation, that, despite what man thinks, he does not make the right judgments. We also learned that this is essentially due to that reality, that man lacks sufficient knowledge of the truth. I know that is likely a very shocking revelation for many preachers, who think so highly of themselves, having exceptional knowledge. No man. We simply do not posses sufficient knowledge.
However, God has provided each of us, through His Word, the opportunity to come to a better understanding. Because God, is such a loving and caring Father, He has done that for each of us.
We do have to, however, study the information He has given us. That responsibility does, fall upon each and every one of us. We have no sufficient excuse.
So today, let's take that opportunity and begin.
But before we get started, I know some of you may have plans for after service, I'll do my best to be mindful and aware of the time today. However, allow me to add this addendum, more importantly than the time, though, is not the time but the message, it's about the message. Because I believe God has a very special message for each of us, as we continue to again examine the first 16 verses in the second chapter of Paul’s letter to the Romans.
This is really an extensive look at the first 16 verses, because these powerful verses, give us the principles by which God will judge all men. These are the principles of judgment. Now, we know the Bible tells us that God will judge all men, which includes all of us and that He will judge all men through Jesus Christ. That is the divine plan of God. And though we will be judged differently, than those to have not come to Christ, we will be judged. Scripture tells He has appointed a day, in Acts 17:31, in which He will judge the world in righteousness by the man whom He hath ordained, Acts 17:31. And we can each know, that someday God will indeed judge all men through Jesus Christ. Christ, Who is perfect, is the agent of judgment.
As many of you may or may not know, one of the most important passages on this teaching, is found in John, chapter 5, where we're told there in verses 22-23: "The Father, in fact, judges no one but has given all judgment to the Son, so that all people will honor the Son just as they honor the Father. Anyone who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him."
Just a few verses later, in verse 27, we're told: "And He has granted Him the right to pass judgment, because He is the Son of Man." And then we are told, in verse 30, "I can do nothing on My own. I judge only as I hear, and My judgment is righteous, because I do not seek My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me."
God, has provided within His Word, the Holy Scriptures in the Bible, everything that we need, to know and understand, what is coming.
In John 12:48, it says, "The one who rejects Me and doesn’t accept My sayings has this as his judge: The word I have spoken will judge him on the last day." There are many other passages that tell us that someday men will be judged by God through the Lord Jesus Christ.
This fact, is very well-known in the Bible. So much so, that even the pagans know that they too will be judged. It is at the end of verse 32, Romans chapter 1 in verse 32, "Although they know full well God’s just sentence—that those who practice such things deserve to die—they not only do them, but even applaud others who practice them." It clearly says that they know the judgment of God. Men are aware not only through the Scripture but through their own conscience and through what they can see and hear around them that God judges evil. The question that we find answered in chapter 2 is: What is the standard for such judgment or on what basis does God judge? What is the criterion for judgment? Or the plural, which is criteria. In the first 16 verses, I believe that Paul tells us in the first 16 verses of this chapter that there six different specific elements which is the standard by which God judges, or six different facets that are used, in His divine judgment. Now, before we get moving forward in our study of these important, critical six elements, you have to remember one thing: Which is the particular focus of Romans 2:1-16, the principles of judgement as applicable to the moral person.
I believe, this would be easily and rather quickly identified since Paul is speaking with the self-righteous, religious Jew. Back in chapter 1 verses 18 to 32, we saw the condemnation of God’s wrath being brought against ungodliness, specifically, we were looking at God condemning the pagan, heathen, immoral world, and the moral, religious person would sort of join in with that condemnation because they say, "That’s right, they had ought to be condemned." However, the moral person, the religious person, the self-righteous Jew or today, the self-righteous contemporary church member. Those who might find themselves saying, "Yes, I agree, they certainly had ought to be condemned" and then when speaking about oneself, feeling they are exempt from such standards of condemnation, as it does not apply to them.
So now, we're here in chapter 2, where the apostle Paul draws into the purview of judgment the moral, self-righteous, religious person. Or as they used to be referred to, back in the day, the holy than thou Christians. Those that thought they were well above the standard of rule, because they were good, pure and otherwise, more religious than others.
Now, we saw that God’s wrath was already at work on the immoral, sinful, pagan idolaters and purveyors of vice, in Romans 1:18-32. The wrath of God was already at work as the consequence of their sin worked its way out in their lives. But now, as we begin to examine chapter 2, we see that the wrath of God, so to speak, is being stacked up or quietly awaiting the day when it breaks, even on those who are moral and those who were self-righteous, appearing to be outwardly righteous but who were not inwardly righteous. The moral majority, if I may borrow the term, for this illustration. Those who are always eager to condemn the debased and the debauched people in society who are not so eager to look at their own life and see if they in fact are any better off, than those they condemn. People who are religious, people who believe in God, people who go to church or people who get involved in anything like that usually feel that because they keep certain religious standards and they go through certain sacraments or whatever, the things that make them exempt from condemnation and the judgment of God, which in fact, is not the case.
There are those people, in most every sect of religion who think, "God would never do that to us, because obviously, we’re the good people." I'm sure we are familiar with the type, "Excuse me? I don't think so, we’re the guys with the pure as snow, white soul. We believe in God!," kind of people. However, for these so called moral people, the self-righteous people whose morality is only a mere facade, those who are falsely secure in their status, who may outwardly attached to the right religion but do not hold God's truth in their hearts, they need to know also that they’re also in the line of fire, for God’s wrath, as much as any pagans or anyone they condemn.
So now, Paul sets forth the true bases of judgment, as they apply to everybody, but in particular, he zeroes them in on the self-righteous the moral person, that is the outwardly moral, the outwardly religious person who would never want to find himself in chapter 1, along with the reprobates of paganism. As Paul, begins to unfold these principles, there are six critical elements in divine judgment that he lists here in chapter 2. These truths, on God judges, are the basis of these six features. First, He judges according to knowledge. Secondly, according to truth. Thirdly, according to real guilt. Fourthly, according to deeds or works. Fifthly, according to impartiality, and lastly, the sixth, according to motive, and we’re now working our way through those very important elements of God’s judgment.
I'm pretty sure by the end of this, when the entire message is finished, regardless of how may parts, you will see, that it would have been just as easy for me to entitle our lesson, "How we have abused the Goodness of God." Oh, how we have all so tragically, abused His loving Goodness. Remembering that unambiguous verse, "As it is written: There is no one righteous, not even one."
first we learned, that God judges on the basis of knowledge. In verse 1 and let’s quickly review that but I don't want to spend too much time going backward, however, I must to make sure, we all really get this, it's important. "Therefore, any one of you who judges is without excuse. For when you judge another, you condemn yourself, since you, the judge, do the same things. We know that God’s judgment on those who do such things is based on the truth." This simply tells us that God judges man on the basis of his knowledge, so what he is saying in that verse is this: If you know the rules enough to judge somebody else, then you also are shown that you know enough to be held responsible for everything you do. So if you can sit in the seat of judgment, while pointing your finger, condemning the heathen for what they do, then you’re going to wind up in those very same terms condemning yourself when you do the same thing. So, be careful how you judge others. Because God will use that same standard for you. And as you might expect, the Jew, as with anyone of us, did not like it, when the same standards of condemning, is turned back around on them, who judge.
Because, we have become so crafty in discreetly disguising our flaws from the view of others, so maybe we don’t do it as flagrantly, or as outwardly, maybe we don’t do it as proudly, or as publicly, maybe we don’t flaunt it like they do, but when we do it, even in your heart or we think it in our hearts or do it in secret or do it as privately as we can and the people in the religious atmosphere don’t even know about it, we nonetheless betray our sinfulness and we will find ourselves judged on the basis of your knowledge. In other words, if you can condemn others because you know the law of God, then you’re self-condemned by that knowledge as well. God will judge moral people on the basis of their knowledge.
Then, secondly, we learned that He judges on the basis of truth. Truth in Verse 2: "We know that God’s judgment on those who do such things is based on the truth." In other words, it fits the facts against them who commit such things. God’s judgment is perfect, appropriately fitting the facts. As it said at the end of verse 27 in chapter 1, "The males in the same way also left natural relations with females and were inflamed in their lust for one another. Males committed shameless acts with males and received in their own persons the appropriate penalty of their error." They received a recompense of their error which was fitting or was appropriate. God always rightly fits the judgment in accordance to the facts. As Deuteronomy 32:4 says, "The Rock—His work is perfect; all His ways are entirely just. A faithful God, without prejudice, He is righteous and true." God’s holy nature will not allow Him to do anything that isn’t right, or just and as I mentioned to all you previously, the hope of the hypocrite, the hope of the self-righteous religious phony, is that God will not judge on the truth but He will judge on the superficial profession. And I have to say, that is so absolutely ludicrous for anyone to assume that you’re going to get away with some sort of a masquerade before God. God will not judge that way but we must all consider ourselves to be warned, He’ll judge on the facts.
Okay, so then verse 3, "Do you really think—anyone of you who judges those who do such things yet do the same—that you will escape God’s judgment?" You want to judge everybody else and that proves you know the law and so you’ll be judged on that knowledge, and if God judges according to the facts, in truth, does anyone of us think we’re going to get away with anything more than they are? Allow me to just clear that up; There's not a chance! God will judge accurately and He will judge truly and He will judge according to facts.
And it is my belief that this is exactly right where we find the people in Matthew 7:21-23, "Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord!’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of My Father in heaven. On that day many will say to Me, ‘Lord, Lord, didn’t we prophesy in Your name, drive out demons in Your name, and do many miracles in Your name?’ Then I will announce to them, ‘I never knew you! Depart from Me, you lawbreakers!" They lay out the facade of religious external stuff. They lay out all of the surface religious activity, which they think will exempt them and then He says, "Depart from Me, I never knew you."
Obviously, Paul has that same thought in mind, I Thessalonians 5:2-3 when it says, "For you yourselves know very well that the Day of the Lord will come just like a thief in the night.
When they say, “Peace and security,” then sudden destruction comes on them, like labor pains come on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape." Now he is looking to a future event but nonetheless, it’s the same concept. Men think they’re secure and everything is going to be just fine, and then like a bolt of lightening, comes the judgment of God upon them. There will be no escape. God has the books and in those books the perfect record of the true thoughts, the true words, the true deeds of every human being, and that becomes the source of data by which God renders the ultimate verdict in divine judgment. So God will judge men on the basis of knowledge and on the basis of truth. Those are very poignant powerful passages.
And, my, this is a tremendously interesting particular point. He judges men on the basis of guilt, true guilt, verses 4 and 5. Now, here in these two verses, God affirms that the moral man, the religious man namely, in Paul’s day, the Jew is guilty of sin and can in no way escape judgment, and two verses show how really profound man’s guilt is. Look at verses 4 and 5. "But because of your hardness and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath, when God’s righteous judgment is revealed. He will repay each one according to his works."
Now, we’ll stop there, and I just want to take those two verses, and that’s really more than you could even handle in one time, so profound is it.
Verse 4 says God has been good to you, all of you, across the face of the world. God has been good to you, and His goodness and His forbearance and His long suffering had as its goal to lead you to repentance. And when it did not lead you to repentance, conversely, because of your hard and unconverted heart, you were just storing up wrath that would ultimately break loose at the final judgment. That’s the essence of what these verses are saying. God has been leading men to repentance, but men have been going to judgment instead, and men are piling up a pile of guilt, a storehouse of guilt, that is going to come back on them in judgment.
There is guilt all right and guilt for all sins but guilt for the worst sin and that is the most heinous crime of all against God and that is to reject what God has done, and man is guilty of that. Man is guilty of rejecting God’s goodness, of abusing God’s mercy, of ignoring God’s grace, of spurning God’s love, of mocking His kindness.
Matthew Henry, a commentator of old who has given so many helpful thoughts and insights in his commentaries on the Scripture, once said, "There is in every willful sin a contempt of the goodness of God." And that’s right. Think about that.Whenever you or I sin, we are showing contempt for God’s goodness.
In Hosea, the 11th chapter and the first verse, No need to turn to it, I'll just quickly read these to you. God says, "When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called My son." That sets the tone for the thoughts in the chapter. Now, let me read verse 4: "I led them with human cords,
with ropes of love. To them I was like one who eases the yoke from their jaws; I bent down to give them food."
So, in other words, it's saying, I didn’t have a bit in their mouth, I fed them and I led them gently and I drew them with love. Then in verse 7 it says, "My people are bent on turning from Me.
Though they call to Him on high, He will not exalt them at all." Just think about this, just stop and think. I mean here was God with love and tenderness and graciousness and kindness and mercy, reaching out to draw Israel and they were just slipping away from Him.
How we grossly underestimate the significance of something, in God's Word. There is an utter failure to assess there true worth. A deliberate act of making light of the riches of the goodness of God, and I believe, this is one of the darkest of sins. The worst sin is God's mercy despised.
In Hosea chapter 11, they failed to evaluate, they failed to see the true worth of the riches of God’s goodness. They didn’t see how valuable it was. And do you want to know something? We still don’t know today. Literally, every person who is alive in the entire world today has to some extent, experienced the goodness of God. And that bears repeating, so that we begin to get it. Literally, every person who is alive in the entire world today has to some extent, experienced the goodness of God.
We all experience His goodness with every breath we take and in many ways, not the least of which is that the Lord makes the rain to fall on the just and the unjust and the Lord gives them food to eat and the Lord gives them a fire to keep them warm and the Lord gives them water to refresh their thirst and the Lord gives them food to fill their hungry stomach and the Lord gives them a blue sky and a warm sun and the Lord gives them green grass and beautiful mountains and whatever it is, and the Lord gives them people to love. In every way, in every situation and circumstance, God has continuously demonstrated His goodness to every person on this planet. How we have failed to see the true worth of the riches of God’s goodness.
It's important to note, that the word "goodness" here is a very important word, the word chrstots or word chrestotes which really means to show kindness, kindness. God shows His people kindness. And in Galatians, chapter 5, it’s translated kindness. In Galatians 5 in the list of elements of the fruit of the Spirit. It speaks of God’s benefits, His kindnesses to men, and then the word "forbearance" or anoch, which is the word for truce. It is the word used for the cessation of a hostility. It’s the word for the withholding of judgment. So God pours out blessing and He holds back His judgment. God is saying, "Okay, I offer a truce, with no hostility, I’ll just be kind to you and I’ll withhold My judgment." And the word "long-suffering", which is the word makrothumia means patience. A word that signifies one who has the power to avenge but chooses not to exercise it. It’s a great characteristic of God, He’s so patient with us. So patient.
In Closing...
Over and over and over again, all throughout the Scriptures, we read about the patience of God, How He has constantly demonstrated His patience with humanity. God is not willing that any should perish. God is long suffering because of it toward us, He’s not willing that we should perish. That none should perish. And yet, many continue to reject God's goodness, His kindness, His patience, His mercy. Yet, day in and day out, we fail to recognize His kindness, patience, His forgiveness, forbearance and long suffering. So we continue in our sin, taking these all for granted. Every single one of us. All the while, passing judgement on others who sin. In some way, regardless of how big or small, we all do it.
And that's really something for each and every one of us to think about isn't it? We need to all think about that..
Let's all stop and think about that. Until we meet again next time, when we'll continue our study in the book of Romans 2. I know I certainly will.
And now may the Lord bless you and keep you;
The Lord make His face shine upon you,
And be gracious to you;
The Lord lift up His countenance upon you,
And give you peace.
Now and forever, in Jesus' name
Amen
Brian Monzon Ministries