Celebration of God's Judgement (2)
Romans • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Summers @ the Beach launches this week!
I like thinking back on all my days at Summer camp.
So many good memories
One camp song I learned and I sang it a lot was Revelation 21:8.
It goes like this and I hesitate to teach it to you.
(Song)
You have sing the law part of liars go to hell real nice and make it sound all sweet then you have to emphasize the burn burn burn part. Make them feel real guilty.
At the end of Romans 1 he describes those who have turned to worthless idolatry.
28 And because they did not think it worthwhile to acknowledge God, God delivered them over to a worthless mind to do what is morally wrong.
29 They are filled with all unrighteousness, evil, greed, and wickedness. They are full of envy, murder, quarrels, deceit, and malice. They are gossips,
30 slanderers, God-haters, arrogant, proud, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents,
31 undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, and unmerciful.
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.
When you get in to Romans 2 there is this sense that some are clapping and cheering at the coming judgement on those who do such things in chapter 1.
Then Scriptures says...
1 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.
2 We know that God’s judgment on those who do such things is based on the truth.
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?
4 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?
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.
6 He will repay each one according to his works:
7 eternal life to those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor, and immortality;
8 but wrath and indignation to those who are self-seeking and disobey the truth but are obeying unrighteousness;
9 affliction and distress for every human being who does evil, first to the Jew, and also to the Greek;
10 but glory, honor, and peace for everyone who does what is good, first to the Jew, and also to the Greek.
11 There is no favoritism with God.
12 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.
13 For the hearers of the law are not righteous before God, but the doers of the law will be declared righteous.
14 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.
15 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
16 on the day when God judges what people have kept secret, according to my gospel through Christ Jesus.
17 Now if you call yourself a Jew, and rest in the law, boast in God,
Pray
I loved singing the camp song and sometimes I sing it to my kids when they lie to me.
My kids are brave and they know their dad. Macy likes to mess with me at times and she will on occasion start singing Revelation 21:8 at me!
I love to sing this song at others but I am not a fan when they start singing it at me.
1 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.
2 We know that God’s judgment on those who do such things is based on the truth.
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?
When you judge, you are without excuse because you the judge do the same things you are judge others for.
In my mind, its that sickum or getum moment. Yes go get them. Get after them tell them how it is. Then scripture says if you are judging others then you are without excuse because you are judging others for what you yourself are doing.
They are filled with unrighteousness, evil, greed, and wickedness. Full of envy, murder, quarrels, deceit, and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, arrogant, proud, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, and unmerciful.
Paul here in Romans does what Jesus does.
We sometimes read the law “thou shall not steal” and look at only the external behaviors. We say because we did not steal then I am not so bad.
The late great theologian Tim Keller says it this way
What Paul does, and what Jesus does in the Sermon on the Mount, is what we all should do. The law of God is getting at a kind of person, a kind of heart. When you read the law, you need to actually be reading through it, because the law of God is actually an outline of the kind of beautiful character, kind of incredibly beautiful heart we should have, and the law of God is getting at it.
It is absolutely wrong of us to read the law in the most self-justifying way. “Oh, I don’t kill. That’s one law I’m not breaking.” When you get to the Sermon on the Mount, you’ll see Jesus does exactly what Paul does here. What does he do? For example … listen … Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount actually expounds the Ten Commandments but shows the kind of heart and the kind of spirit the commandments are getting after.
Let me just give you one case. Jesus says, “You’ve heard it said, ‘Thou shalt not kill,’ but I say unto you anyone who looks at another person and says, ‘Raca,’ has broken this commandment.” What does raca mean? Does it mean, “You fool. You imbecile”? Is it an insult? No, it’s actually a word that means nobody. It means, “You nothing. You nobody.”
What Jesus is saying is if you look at any other human being and feel like this person isn’t important … in fact, you can barely pay attention to them because they’re nobody … if you look down your nose at anyone and disdain them or are indifferent to them or don’t treat them with importance, he says that’s like breaking the commandment.
This is consistent with other scripture
It parallels the Older son in the parable of the Lost Son in Luke 15.
The younger son as for his inheritance early while his dad is still alive. He goes and spoils the inheritance.
Returns home
The older son
25 “Now his older son was in the field; as he came near the house, he heard music and dancing.
26 So he summoned one of the servants and asked what these things meant.
27 ‘Your brother is here,’ he told him, ‘and your father has slaughtered the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.’
28 “Then he became angry and didn’t want to go in. So his father came out and pleaded with him.
29 But he replied to his father, ‘Look, I have been slaving many years for you, and I have never disobeyed your orders, yet you never gave me a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends.
30 But when this son of yours came, who has devoured your assets with prostitutes, you slaughtered the fattened calf for him.’
31 “ ‘Son,’ he said to him, ‘you are always with me, and everything I have is yours.
I’m ok and you’re not ok is moralism. I can keep the law but you can’t keep the law and because you can’t keep the law then you need to be done away with. This is a form of elitism.
Here Romans says we are all sinners and in need of a Savior.
4 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?
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.
God why are you delaying judgement? God why are you taking so long to com put the world to the rights?
Answer: God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance
Paul is not advocating for Salvation by works. For Paul over and over writes about Salvation by faith, but our faith leads us to good works.
God’s kindness leads us to obedience.
v.5 Where do things come from
Jesus says in Mark 7:20-23
20 Then He said, “What comes out of a person—that defiles him.
21 For from within, out of people’s hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immoralities, thefts, murders,
22 adulteries, greed, evil actions, deceit, promiscuity, stinginess, blasphemy, pride, and foolishness.
23 All these evil things come from within and defile a person.”
6 He will repay each one according to his works:
7 eternal life to those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor, and immortality;
When does eternal life begin?
Do good now! Seek glory, honor, and immortality (that which brings life) Now!
Do the things that bring life now by doing good.
8 but wrath and indignation to those who are self-seeking and disobey the truth but are obeying unrighteousness;
9 affliction and distress for every human being who does evil, first to the Jew, and also to the Greek;
10 but glory, honor, and peace for everyone who does what is good, first to the Jew, and also to the Greek.
11 There is no favoritism with God.
Officiating wrestling my mind will wonder before a match starts and on occasion in my head I think I bet this kid is going to whip up on the other kid. I will make a judgement based on shoes or how they approach the mat.
Guess what happens.
The kid I thought is going to win starts getting beat.
At the end I will say I was dead wrong.
In life we make judgement calls, sometimes we are wrong in those calls. It reminds us to be thankful that we are not the judge.
Who is the Judge?
Jesus! God the Father sent his only son to take our place in the judgement seat. He who is the judge was judged on our behalf.
What beauty that is!
Father thank you for being the judge and being judged on our behalf.