The Surety Of Judgement

[00:00:00] This audio sermon is provided by AnabaptistSermons.com and may be freely copied and distributed. You may not sell or edit this sermon. Our prayer is that you would be blessed by this ministry. We greet you tonight again in the sweet and precious name of our Lord Jesus. This evening I'd like for a message to turn to the second chapter of the book of Romans. If you've got your Bible on your lap tonight, it wouldn't hurt for you to turn to Romans, the second chapter. [00:00:32] Now this is a very, very sobering sermon tonight, and I am not inclined to attempt to scare anyone into the kingdom of God. But I would like to deliver my soul from the burden that God has placed upon my heart this evening. And the title of the message tonight is The Surety of Judgment. The Surety of Judgment. Now, I'm completely and absolutely convinced of a coming judgment. And if you'll bear with me tonight, I'd like to give you three reasons. [00:01:05] I have three reasons tonight why I am completely and absolutely and positively convinced of a coming judgment. And that will be the content then of the message this evening. Now we're looking at the second chapter, the book of Romans, and we're breaking in at verse 1. I say breaking in at verse 1 because it begins with therefore. And usually when you see the word therefore, it's referring to the verses above that. We've got considerable ground to cover tonight, so we're just going to begin at chapter 2 and verse 1 and read some verses here, down to verse 16, and we'll use that as a launching pad to get us started on this very serious and very sobering message. [00:01:59] Therefore, thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest, for wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself, for thou that judgest doeth the same things. But we are sure that the judgment of God is according to truth against them which commit such things. And thinkest thou this, O man, that judgest them which do such things, and doest the same, that thou shalt escape the judgment of God? [00:02:33] That's a question. Verse 4 Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance? But after thy hardness and impenitent heart, treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, who will render to every man according to his deeds, to them who by patient continuance and well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality eternal life, [00:03:17] But unto them that are contentious, and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation, and wrath, tribulation, and anguish upon every soul that doeth evil, of the Jew first and also of the Gentile. But glory and honor and peace to every man that worketh good, to the Jew first and also to the Gentile For there is no respect of persons with God [00:03:48] Did you see that? For as many as have sinned without the law shall also perish without the law And as many have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law For not the hearers of the law are just before God But the doers of the law shall be justified For when the Gentiles which have not the law Do by nature the things contained in the law These having not the law are a law unto themselves Which show the work of the law written in their hearts [00:04:22] Their conscience also bearing witness in their thoughts The meanwhile accusing or else excusing one another In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel. Now, truth. Obeying the truth, verse 8. Tozer used to say years ago that if he has a choice of hearing truth [00:04:59] And hearing what tickles his fancy and makes him happy, he says, I choose to hear truth. We'll have plenty of time to be happy later. Tonight, we choose truth. The goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance, and that's truth. Judgment is truth. These words are truth. Now, as I mentioned, I have three reasons tonight why I am completely convinced in a coming judgment. [00:05:36] Would you like to hear them? I have three reasons. Number one, here it is, very simple, is that our inner sense of justice expects it. Justice expects it. Now there's something in us, there's something in mankind, not only redeemed mankind, but also in unredeemed mankind that rejoices when the wicked are brought to justice. [00:06:12] There's something in us that rejoices. I had to think of that back when Saddam Hussein was tried and he was in the newspapers and his vile acts were tried and the judge sentenced him and he was sentenced for vicious and animal-like behavior and wicked behavior and they sentenced him to death. And when they done that, the world said amen. [00:06:44] So be it. There was something in mankind that expects justice. Whenever a great crime is committed, some great wickedness is committed, there is something in us that says this cannot be. This cannot be. What is it when we read the book of Esther? [00:07:16] And there stands old Haman. And he has Mordecai, he has a plan to eliminate Mordecai, to get Mordecai off the scene. He's visiting the king one morning. Well, backing up in the story, the king could not sleep the night before. Maybe he ate too much pizza, I don't know. But he couldn't sleep. And so, the king, obviously a little bit like me, I have some books beside my bed, some boring books. Whenever I can't sleep at night, which is not often, I'll pick up one of these boring books. [00:07:51] And I'll start reading it and trying to read it, and the next thing I know I'm sleeping. Well, the king had this book here, it was a history book, and he noticed that in this history book there were two thugs that had tried to assassinate him. And this assassination was found out by a man called Mordecai. And something clicked. He said, you know what? In his mind, he said, you know what? I don't think that Mordecai, I don't think that this man was ever rewarded. [00:08:25] And it was on his mind that morning when he heard the knock on the door and he bid Haman to come in. And Haman, proud man as he was, and the king asked, Haman, what would you say, how should the king honor a man who he would really like to honor? And Haman, proud man that he was, thought the world circulated around himself. And he, of course, thought it was him. [00:08:57] I think that's the way a proud man is. I think the world circulates around him. And he said, and he listed off some things that he really would have liked to enjoy himself. He said, let's get him the king's robes and the king's horse and lead him around the city and cry out, you know, this is a man who the king wants to honor. And the king said, wonderful idea. Do that to Mordecai. There's something in us that's awful satisfying to us, isn't it? [00:09:28] That's our sense of justice, see? We have our sense of justice says, Amen. And as I mentioned before, sometimes there are crimes so devilish, they sicken our hearts, they stagger our imagination, and for some reason these people escape justice. But in our hearts we're saying, oh, one day, some day, the old saying in the south, [00:10:03] some day the chickens are going to come home to roost. Some day the chickens are going to come home to roost. Some day these things are going to be leveled out. Some day things are going to be found out. There's something in man that expects justice. And even in, not only in Christians, but even in the unredeemed world I remember an old hillbilly song years and years ago Something went, and I don't know why I think of it at this time [00:10:35] But every puppy has his day Everybody has to pay Everybody will meet their Waterloo, was the old hillbilly song And there's something in us that expects that There's something in mankind that expects that judgment someday will be meted out. Now that's the first point, and that's perhaps the easiest one. The second point of this is that not only does our sense of justice expect it, but listen to this. The creation expects it. [00:11:08] The creation expects it. And I invite you here in Romans 2, if you were following along in our initial text, If you just flip over a few chapters, there's quite a bit of groaning going on in Romans the 8th chapter. I don't know if you've ever noticed that. I expect you have because you're Bible scholars. You've read this. But in Romans the 8th chapter, you have three groanings going on. You have the first one in Romans 8, verse 22, the whole creation groaning. That's one we want to talk about. [00:11:40] In verse 23, you have the redeemed community groaning. and in verse 26 you have the spirit of God interceding and groaning for us. But let's go back to the first one there. It says in verse 22 in Romans 8, For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. Now, if you would back up to Romans 5 verse 12, you could see there that the consequences of Adam's sin, what it had on humanity, [00:12:13] And that was death. Adam's sin brought about death to the human family. But in this portion, in Romans 8, verse 22, we can read that Paul said that man's fall and Adam's sin also had an effect on creation. And that it's groaning now. Now what's he basing that assumption on? Perhaps in Genesis 3.19 when the Lord said cursed after Adam and Eve had sinned and the Lord said cursed is the ground for thy sake. [00:12:53] And I believe that the physical earth came under the curse because of Adam's disobedience. Genesis 3.19 Thorns and thistles shall it bring forth to thee. Jeremiah 12 verse 4 and 11 I'm trying to establish a thought here that creation is groaning and creation is expecting a climax And I'm trying to establish that [00:13:26] Now if you would look at Jeremiah 12 verse 4 and 11 I'll read it quickly, I think I have a marker in mind where I can turn to it But I would like to read to you some verses that would suggest that creation is groaning, creation is waiting for something. Jeremiah 12 and verse 4. How long shall the land mourn? The land mourn? That's what it says, doesn't it? And the herbs of every field wither, for the wickedness of them that dwell therein. [00:14:00] The beasts are consumed, and the birds, because they said, He shall not see our last end. And now we drop down to verse, where is it at, verse 11. They have made it desolate, and being desolate it mourneth unto me. The whole land is made desolate. Now if you would turn to Joel, verse 1, chapter 1, verse 18, it says there, Joel exclaims, how the beasts, the beasts do groan. [00:14:35] Now, have you ever heard creation groan and travail? Now, we may not be able to identify it, but just because we can't identify it doesn't mean it's not doing it. I believe that it is groaning in a language that only God can understand. I believe that creation is groaning for a climax. Now, somebody has suggested, well, I was just listening the other night to a whippoorwill outside our window. [00:15:06] On and on and on it went, late or early in the morning. There was something melancholy about that. There was something plative. There was something pensive, I think would be another word, about that call. And on and on it went. It made me sad. It made me sad. Now somebody has suggested, and I don't know if this is true or not, that they said nature sings in a minor key. Nature sings in a minor key. The wind blowing through the mountain, the ocean surf. [00:15:44] Now I stood on the beach in Florida this year and I closed my eyes and just on and on and on. There was something, I'm not sure how to explain it. Waterfall in the forest. Nature sings in a minor key, somebody suggested. But there is, oftentimes the sounds of nature are a bit melancholy. They draw you to thoughtfulness. They make you think. And sometimes, like they did me, they may even make you sad. [00:16:21] And so Paul sees, Paul is suggesting here that not only did the curse affect the human family, but also that it affected the created world. and that the whole creation is groaning, he says in verse 22 of chapter 8, groaning and travailing and longing for a, I think, a liberation that the curse of mankind's sin had brought upon. [00:16:55] Now, as I said, number one, our sense of justice expects it and secondly, creation is groaning for it And number three is that the scriptures declare it firmly, not once but many, many times. Now, among Christians, there is some difference in opinion on the judgment of God. Now, I personally believe, and I want to stick my neck out here, I personally believe that there will be one general judgment. [00:17:34] Now there are other brethren, just as sincere as I am, who believe that the scriptural accounts of judgment are too varied to be at one setting, and they feel that there's going to be a judgment for the saved, and another judgment for the lost, and so on, and I think we can be charitable. I remember one time when I was a young preacher, I didn't know any better. I didn't know you weren't supposed to stick your neck out about this thing of eschatology. And I was down in Florida and I attempted to preach a sermon on the second coming of the Lord. [00:18:11] I got a letter when I got home several weeks later, and this was a pretty warm letter. And it said that I should not attempt to speak on things that I don't know much about. And then this dear brother, and I certainly won't say his name, had it all lined out how the Lord's programmed for him there. And I just mentioned to my wife that I ought to just share with this, brethren, by the looks of things, he is on the planning committee for the return of the Lord. [00:18:48] But I didn't. My wife would not have let me do that. But I, all Christians, and even non-Christians, as I mentioned before, feel sure that there's a coming judgment. and that each individual is going to stand before the Lord and be judged by the Lord God. The Scriptures declare it and to deny this fact would be ignoring the Scripture. Now, let's just take a walk through the Scriptures this evening and we're going to note some things about the judgment [00:19:24] and we're going to attempt to be very scriptural tonight in noting this thing of the judgment. It is an appointment that we will make. Hebrews 9 verse 27 calls it an appointment. It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment. Now who will be our judge? Well if you would go back to our original text in Romans 2 verse 16, the text tells us and leaves us no doubt who is going to be the judge. [00:19:58] In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel. That's one place, John 5, verse 22. The Father judges no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son. 2 Timothy 4, verse 1. The Lord Jesus Christ who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom. Now, God has chosen Jesus to judge the world. [00:20:32] Jesus, who is the God-man. No one will be able to say on that day that our judge is too austere. Our judge does not understand. He simply don't understand. We cannot say that, because our judge was not only God, but he is the God-man. He came to this earth. He knew what it was to be hungry. He knew what it was to be thirsty. He knew what it was to be rejected. [00:21:06] He knew what it was to be tempted in all points as we are, yet without sin, the scripture said. He understands us completely. He is completely aware of our weaknesses. He is not only is aware of our weaknesses, but he has promised to help us and he will help us and he does help us. So no one will be able to say that our judge does not understand because he does. He does, does. And he is, as I mentioned, Hebrews 4 verse 15 was in all points tempted like as we are and he understand. [00:21:42] And you know, sir, something as I thought about that and meditated about that this afternoon, there's something very, very sobering about that. Our Savior, our Savior, the Lord Jesus, if our Savior condemns, who will plead for us? Did you ever think of that? that if our Savior condemns, there will be no further appeals, no further mediation, no further intervention. In the Luke, the 13th chapter, there's a little unusual parable there, I think, [00:22:15] and it tells a story about a man who had a vineyard, and he was minded to cut down a tree that was unfruitful. And the caretaker said, oh no, and he pleaded for this tree. He said, let's give it another chance. One more year. Let's give it another year and I'll dig around it and I'll fertilize it. But what will happen when the caretaker himself says, it's no use. Cut it down. By the same token, what will the Lord Jesus, the God-man, our interceder, our mediator between God and man [00:22:56] He will become our judge And there will be no one to call us back Now, who will be judged? Well, again, let's be scriptural. Acts 17, verse 31. God hath appointed a day in which he will judge the world in righteousness. And now, according to the scriptures, that God is going to judge the world. [00:23:28] Acts 10, verse 42. He speaks there about judging the living and the dead. Romans 14, verse 10. We shall all stand, all stand before the judgment seat of Christ Now in Matthew the 11th chapter there's something very interesting there That I took note of this afternoon as I was studying this little topic And that the Lord Jesus specifically mentioned some cities that are going to be involved there in the judgment [00:24:02] Matthew 11, verse 21 Woe unto you, Chorazin! Woe unto you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. But I say unto you, it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the day of judgment than for you. And he mentions another city, Capernaum, which are exalted into heaven to be brought down to hell. For if the mighty works which had been done in thee had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. [00:24:37] But I say unto you that it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment than for thee. Now he mentions there are some cities there, but the one that I took note of especially was the one of Sodom. Now the city of Sodom was destroyed by fire. The people of the city were cremated by fire there. Now, and that brings us to another thought. That cremation will not keep us from judgment. [00:25:11] It's interesting to me to note that there's an upsurge of interest in this cremation thing today. There's an upsurge of interest in it. And I don't know why. I expect some of it may be unconsciously, there may be a thought that I'm going to do away with my body. And perhaps there's a thought that if I do away, if I have my body burned and my ashes scattered across the Atlantic Ocean or in the, as one man wanted it, in the Mammoth Cave in there in Kentucky, [00:25:50] ah, the Lord will never be able to put me together and bring me before to judgment. I say this, surprise, surprise, surprise. It'll be no more of a problem for the Lord God to assemble that body than he did on the day when he assembled Adam and Eve from the dust of the earth. There'll be no more problem. 2 Peter 2 verse 9 [00:26:22] The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptation That's a blessed thought But listen And he knoweth to reserve the unjust until the day of judgment to be punished Now the tenor of the judgment will be very different for the redeemed community And the unredeemed sinner The tenor will be very different And I think we should just read an account there in Matthew 25. I'd like to read that quickly to you, just to notice the tenderness, and then on the opposite side, the sternness that you see in Matthew 25. [00:27:05] And we'll read verse 31. When the Son of Man shall come in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then shall He set upon the throne of His glory. and before him shall be gathered all nations and he shall separate them one from another as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats and he shall set the sheep on his right hand but the goats on the left then shall the king say unto them on his right hand [00:27:35] come ye blessed of my father inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation for the world for I was unhungered and you gave me meat I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink. I was estranged, and ye took me in, and naked, and ye clothed me. And I was sick, and ye visited me, and I was in prison, and ye came unto me. Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee, and hunkered, and fed thee, and thirsty, and gave thee drink? And when saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in, or naked, and clothed thee? Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? And the king shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me. [00:28:21] Then shall he say unto them on the left hand, Depart from me. Notice the difference in the tenor of the words here. Depart from me, and ye curse it into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat. I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink. And I was a stranger, and ye took me not in. Naked, and ye clothed me not. Sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not. Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee in hunger, or in thirst, or a stranger, and naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee? [00:29:02] It's as if they were saying, Lord, if we would have known it was you, we would have done something. Then shall he answer unto them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as you did it not to one of the least of these, you did it not to me. And these shall go into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into life eternal. Now let's go back again to our text and establish what will be judged. We've noticed who will be judged. [00:29:32] Now let's notice what will be judged. And back to our text in Romans 2 verse 6. Now keep your finger or pencil there because we're always going to end up there. First, what will be judged? Romans 2 verse 6. who will render to every man according to his deeds. I think our deeds and our work shall be judged. Now, we're living in a day there's a lot of emphasis on the heart. And yes, yes, I think our deeds come from our hearts. [00:30:08] But it specifically mentions here that we're going to be judged according to our deeds. Here's something else. Matthew 12, verse 36 and 37. This is very, very sobering here. Jesus said in that scripture, Matthew 12, 36 and 37, that every, listen to this, every idle word, every idle word that men shall speak. Now, it's going to be brought into judgment. [00:30:41] I do not think that because of this verse that we ought to fear every word we ought to fear. And with this thought, no, I do not think that an honest and an encouraging conversation is an idle word. I think that we ought to enjoy gathering together and we ought to talk about the things of God, but I don't think it's an idle word to ask the brother, how's the ducks doing? [00:31:13] How's your work going? I think we ought to be concerned and be interested in the affairs of others' lives. I do not think those are idle words. I do think idle words are unproductive words. I think those spiteful words, those are idle words. I think words that do nothing but tear down, that tear down are idle words. I think focusing on negative things and hateful things are idle words. [00:31:44] Why do we want to talk about negative things when there's so much good that's happening? There's plenty of negative things going on, no doubt. But God is also working and God is moving in the lives of people. And there's plenty of positive and good things to talk about. Every idle word the Lord says that men shall speak is going to be brought into judgment. Now listen to this. What else will be judged? Hidden things. Ecclesiastes 12, 14. God will bring every work into judgment with every secret thing, whether it be good or whether it be evil. Secret offenses. [00:32:30] Those wicked sins of the night. Those things that you thought no one would ever be found out. I just got done filing my taxes and there have been people who have paid me with cash and there is no earthly way. There's no way in the world that the IRS and Uncle Sam would ever know, would ever know that I could not write those things down when I've been paid with cash. I could hide that. There's no earthly way they would know it. [00:33:07] Now, now, but every hidden thing, whether it be good or whether it be evil, brought into judgment. You know, on the positive side, it's going to be a very blessed thing to see believers brought before judgment and to see, oh wonderful, we didn't know that he was giving that, we didn't know he was supporting that mission. [00:33:41] We didn't know he was supporting that widow. Wonderful, what a wonderful man, what a wonderful way that the Lord has inspired him to give of himself. We didn't know that. Isn't that going to be a wonderful thing to think about? God will bring every work into judgment with every secret thing whether it be good or whether it be evil now several years ago I was building a house for a banker [00:34:13] and this banker one day I was trimming the house out and here comes a white Cadillac and with a stepladder sticking out the back, pulling in and parked there in front and out stepped a man with white hair and white bib overalls and a white shirt and white shoes. And I said, who's that? And he said, that's the paper hanger. And about then, here comes the banker out of the house next door where he lived in his old house [00:34:49] And he come over to me and he said, Jim, would you like to meet a bank robber? I said, yeah, I'd like to meet a bank robber. And he said, I want to introduce you to a bank robber. He said, that man in the white car is a bank robber. And this banker tended to be a bit of a joker, and so I just kind of dismissed it. Well, at lunchtime we were sitting together and the banker came back out and he got us together there, this man in the paper hanger and I, and we were in the same room together and sitting there. [00:35:29] I think we were eating our lunch and the banker said, I forget the man's name, but he said, how many banks have you robbed? And he said, I got caught twice. Now he said, that's not what I asked. He said, how many banks did you rob? And he just smiled. He said, I told you, I got caught twice. As if to insinuate there's some things, there's some banks that no one knows about. [00:36:06] God, that he's robbed and has not been found out. Now there's a hymn that we sing at home. Lord, thou hast searched and seen me through. Thine eye commands with piercing view. Y'all sing that? Now, I tell our young people at home, if they have a desire ever to sin, [00:36:42] I'd like to put one stipulation before they sin. Choose a place to sin where God cannot see you. You can find that place, the scripture that that little psalm says, based on Psalm 139. It ends up by saying this, Nor let my weaker passions dare consent to sin, for God is there. [00:37:16] We fool no one. We hide nothing from God And sin covered up tonight If you're sitting in here with a sin that's covered like aching in the tent floor You can be sure that somewhere, somehow In this life you may cover it up But in judgment that thing's going to come up and stand beside you [00:37:46] What will be judged are hidden things, something else, secret things. What we do when we know people are going to be aware of it is not an accurate indicator of our character. Now how I act tonight, and I'm standing before you tonight, is not an accurate indicator of my character. [00:38:21] What is an accurate indicator of my character is where my thoughts go when I'm in that little room down in the basement at Glenn's. An accurate indicator of my character is what I do when I'm on my way home, all by myself, way back to Kentucky. That's the accurate indicator of my character. Something else, righteous judgment will of necessity involve the scrutiny of our motives. [00:38:56] Not only what we do, but why do we do it. Now we have an option, say, oh, it's a benefit option. I never did like those things too much. And we've got a benefit auction. And there's a quilt up here now. And you've got two wealthy businessmen bidding on this quilt. And it's $800 and then $900 and $1,000. And finally, one finally gives up and he's, and he's, that quilt is, he's paid $2,000 for that quilt. [00:39:27] And let's give this man a hand. And wait a minute, he's saying something. He's saying, sell it again! And you see, the scrutiny of our motives is not only what we do, but why do we do it. How much is done for self? How much is done for flesh? How much is done to be noticed? How much is done to be well thought of? How much is done to please a holy God? [00:40:02] And that's why in the Matthew where we read, where we had a group then that were just simply flabbergasted. You know, Lord, when did we, when were you in prison and we didn't visit you? And as I mentioned, it's as if they said, if we would have known it was you, we would have done something. And that's another accurate indicator of our character there. What we do or how we respond to those who we feel don't have anything to offer us. [00:40:38] We don't really need them. They're just kind of down here. And what's our attitude toward those people? Something else. Not only will we be judged on our motives, but we'll be judged in our thoughts. Now I saw a chart the other day in the, I wanted to get my eyes checked, and they had a chart on the wall of the different functions of the brain. [00:41:11] And he pointed out the area of the brain that deals with the eyes. And also there's an area of the brain that deals, now listen to this, with memory, not only with our eyes and help us to see and cause us to see, but there's a section of our brain that deals with memory of past sights, of what we see. That was very, I just thought that was so tremendous. I think it's possible to take that old pornographic magazine and look at it and pitch it away, [00:41:58] but a long time later, a long time later, the memory of that sight comes back and we can play that thing in our mind and we can fantasize and we can have that old triple X pornographic movie going on in our mind and no one ever notices it. My friends, I believe there's a lot of adultery committed and the bedsheets, if I may dare be as bold to say this, [00:42:30] and the bedsheets are never wrinkled. What's going on right in here? What's going on right in here? Jesus said it happens. I believe there's a lot of murder being done. And even in our plain Mennonite circles, there's a lot of murder going on. And the bullet never leaves the gun. What's going on right in here? Hatred and variance and strife is going on right in here. [00:43:03] Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount when he raised the bar from the old law, he said, It has been said, but I say unto you, it has been said, but I say unto you, you look at a woman to lust after her, you've committed adultery in your hearts. You can be very sure that judgment is going to be impartial and fair. Again, back to our text. [00:43:34] But we are sure, chapter 2, verse 2 of Romans, we are sure that the judgment of God is according to truth against them which commit such things. Now, in this text, it speaks of the Jews who had the law and the Gentiles who didn't have the law, so there was an obvious difference in privilege, wasn't there? Now, we wonder sometimes, and we struggle with this thing, it just doesn't seem fair. [00:44:05] I expect that most of you here tonight cannot remember the first church service he was in. Can you? No. You were raised going to church. Now there are some people on the flip side of that who have been raised by a prostitute or a harlot in the streets in the slums of Detroit. And they grew up, their role models are drug dealers and gangsters. [00:44:41] Now what's the difference? We struggle with that. I believe the scriptures indicate, Luke 12, verse 47 and 48 and others, that we're going to be judged according to privilege and opportunity. Mark 12, verse 40, it speaks of it as well. They shall receive the greater damnation. Now, let's notice something else that I did not mention and I thought I was going to and that I forgot it. And I think of it now in verse 5. [00:45:14] And it speaks there about the, verse 4 speaks of the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance. But after this, now follow along. After thy hardness and impenitent heart, treasurest up unto thyself wrath, and against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God. Now I caught that word there, treasurest up. Treasurous up. Now we have a 6,000 acre lake that we can see the steam of it in the spring when the water is cold and the temperatures are warm. [00:45:52] The steam rises, it's within a half a mile of our place. 6,000 acre lake and they have a dam across the river. And they raised that dam and the water came up. And they raised that dam and the water came up. and they have treasured up water. In the wintertime when they let the water out, that thing goes down to about 2,000 acres. That lake goes down to 2,000 acres. In the summertime they bring up the water pool. [00:46:25] It's called a watershed lake. They raise that dam, that bar in the dam and they treasure up water. And if they could get some bulldozers in there, some caterpillars, and build that dam ten feet taller and raise that dam higher And probably another thousand acres would be treasured up of water Now why am I saying that? I am saying that every opportunity we have makes us more accountable [00:46:59] Every opportunity that we spurn the goodness of God When He calls us to repentance, the account against us grows And if God is speaking to our hearts and we turn our backs upon God Not only does our conscience become harder, but I believe that hell gets hotter for us Treasures up. Treasures up. The account against us. [00:47:31] Isaiah 59 verse 2 would give that same thought. But your iniquities have separated between you and your God. Now in the Hebrew, the verb used there would indicate a continuing action. In other words, your iniquities, continuing in your iniquities, the gap is getting wider between you and God. It's a treasuring up, as Romans 2 verse 5 said. And so they are without excuse. [00:48:04] Romans 1 verse 20 said, Now who is it that was without excuse? This was not in our text. It was the heathen who had overlooked creation evidence. And the scripture says they are without excuse. And that raises a question then. In fact, someone came to Spurgeon one time and someone said, it was lamenting, Oh, those poor natives over in the Congo, those who've never had the gospel presented to them, [00:48:37] what about them? Are they going to be brought before judgment? And Spurgeon said, that's not the big question. The big question is, what about you? What about you who have had every opportunity? And what about us who have had every opportunity for the gospel to say, how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation? That's the bigger question. That's the bigger question. We are going to give an account of ourselves and we are responsible for the privileges we enjoy. [00:49:13] Now here's something else. We are going to be responsible for our influence that radiates out from us. And Luke, the 17th chapter there, Jesus says, talks about, takes these little ones And he said that offenses will happen But woe unto those who offend one of these little ones It would be better if a millstone would be tied around their neck And they'd be cast into the sea Offenses I remember seeing my boys fishing the other day [00:49:47] And one of them slung his line out there and he must not have had the bobber on there right because the bobber went sailing. And so I seen him over there gathering up rocks and he was taking rocks and throwing them on the far side of that bobber. I thought this was pretty smart. Throwing them on the far side of that bobber and was bringing them into shore. And finally, every once in a while he'd misguide and throw it on the wrong side and the bobber would go out. [00:50:22] And so he'd get more rocks and throw it on the far side and bring it in to shore. Our influence, the aura that comes from us, the atmosphere that surrounds us, our influence, we are responsible for. And our influence is either pushing people away from God or toward God. And if our influence is that, that is pushing, is drawing someone away from God, [00:50:55] we're responsible for that to the extent that Jesus said that it would be better for them if our influence is causing a little one to stumble, a little one in the faith. It would be better for them if they'd never been born. Now there was a little squirmish in our church a few weeks ago about the mustache. And there was a Sunday evening topic and a little debate, a little discussion, and there was some warm, like the subject got a little warm, and somebody said it was more heat than light that evening. [00:51:33] And one of the older brethren said something, and it was a bit offensive, and he's a godly man, a good man, but he had to carry it away a bit. And so I come home, I heard about it, I was going for meetings, and I went and visited the brother. And I said, brother, you love the Lord, oh yes. You want to be in heaven, oh yes. You want to take everybody to heaven, oh yes I do. And I said, Brother, I don't know what got said. [00:52:10] I don't know what got said. But some words that you spoke and the attitude which you shared it in was an offense to someone young in the faith. And he says, I'll take care of it. I'll take care of it. And Sunday morning, the first opportunity he had, he stood to his feet. Cleared that thing up. [00:52:42] I said too much. I had the wrong attitude. I said too much. He said, I want to be an encourager. I want to encourage people to heaven. God bless him. Parents, what about your influence? Those children you fathered. Those children you've mothered. What about your influence? [00:53:16] I wonder when they stand at the judgment day, just maybe, I don't know how it will be, but maybe you'll be asked to stand too. Because you've influenced them. I don't know how to be. They're responsible to make their own choices, but who taught them how to choose? Who showed them what's really important in life to you? I told a man one time, a careless man, I told him I was very forthright. [00:53:47] I said, if you want to go to hell, that's your own business. But for the sake of your children, for the sake of your children, please. Something else. Listen to this. Hebrews 13 verse 17. There's so many verses that speak of the judgment. And this is one that I feel that I should read for your leadership's sake here. Obey them that have the rule over you and submit yourselves for they watch for your souls as they that must give an account. How will it be? [00:54:28] When you stand at judgment, perhaps they'll have to stand too in the background because it's their influence, their teaching program, their leadership program. I don't know how it'll be, but we are going to give an account of the influence that radiates out of our life. Now we must rush on. By what basis will we be judged? John 12, verse 48, Jesus said, The word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day. [00:55:00] Now here's something, here's a very familiar verse, but I'm going to read it to you as well tonight. I do not think that there's going to be a lot of surprises on, I believe there's a lot of people deceived, but we need not be surprised that the basis of judgment is going to be the Scriptures. And so follow the scriptures, follow the word of God, and you need not be surprised. [00:55:31] And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God, and the books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged out of those things which are written in the books according to their word. You know, Amos calls the word of God a plumb line, a plumb line. And that is how we must align our lives Not how does everyone else do it in our constituency [00:56:02] That's not how we align our lives Not how everyone else is doing it And something else Neither do we align it by this We've always done it that way Because that's not so But we must align our lives with the Holy Scriptures Amos says, prepare, chapter 4, verse 12, prepare to meet thy God Well, how do we do that? [00:56:34] How do we prepare for judgment? Well, 1 Timothy 5, verse 24 tells us that How do we prepare for judgment? I'd like to read that to you Some men's sins are open beforehand, going before to judgment And some men, they follow after. Now, I read a unique account of something that happened in the early pioneer days. There was a wagon train going toward Oregon. [00:57:07] And they were out in the Great Plains and the Indians set the grass on fire with the hopes of burning out this wagon train. and it would have succeeded but one man had the coolness of thought and he said let's start a backfire and here's this huge fire rushing toward them and flames 12-15 foot high roaring toward them and they started a backfire and the backfire went out and to meet them, to meet the big fire [00:57:42] And there they sat, and the little, the patch of ground that they burned off, maybe four or five acres, they circled the wagon train in there. And there they were safe. And the fire roared all around them and went on past, and the Indians, of course, were disappointed by that, I'm sure. But going before to judgment We can send our sins before us by confessing them, forsaking them [00:58:17] I'm going to read that again Some men's sins are opened beforehand, going before to judgment And some men they follow after You know, we can confess them now Get them under the precious blood of the Lord Jesus now And there's safety in that. There's a firestorm coming. And there's safety in Calvary. And this amusing little thing happened to me the other day. I went out to check a cow. [00:58:51] She was a white one, a charolais and a bit wild. And she had a little calf. And my dog went with me and I was walking out there. I never thought of this. And here this cow seen this dog. And she came toward the dog, wasn't worried about me, but came toward the dog. And I was wanting the dog out of there. But how will it be at the day of judgment? [00:59:25] Our unconfessed sins, as I mentioned before, the chickens come home to roost. Those secret things we stand before judgment and here comes our sin and stands beside us. And we want to move away. We want to get out of there. We go over here and there it follows us. Folks, if you're wise, take care of them now. Send them before now. Confess them now. Get them out of the precious blood of Jesus now. [00:59:55] If we confess our sins, that he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Folks, our judge, the Lord Jesus Christ, is not fickle and unloving and cold and hard. He's not temperamental. I read in Hitler's Germany, and they were gathering together the Jews and bringing them in. [01:00:27] and some of them, the weaker ones, they were assassinating and putting them into the ovens. And the stronger ones who they felt that they could get some work out of, they would put them into a room and ship them off to some camp, to some mines and so on, or some hard physical labor until they died. But there sat the old Jenner on a chair, and he was bored. and in would come a train load of Jews and they would file in down toward him [01:01:02] and he would look them over and some he would send to the furnace. And some who didn't like their looks, furnace. Hard labor, furnace. Their life on earth was determined by a fickle, hateful judge Our Lord is not like that [01:01:33] In fact, the Lord only judges us on judgments that we have made On judgments that we have made I'd like to take the scriptures I simply, I cannot, I don't have time But judgments that we have made Tears or wheat? Is our life a life of tears, of seeds, of ugliness, or is it of useful wheat? [01:02:07] That's a judgment that we have made, what our life will be. Which one? Are we sheep or are we goats? That's a result of judgments that we have made. So God only judges us upon judgments that we have made. Light or darkness? Is my life, is it light or is it full of darkness? And again, God judges us only on judgments that we have made. [01:02:44] Does that make sense to you? and as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment. Now I said I had three reasons. I'll rehearse them again. Number one, because you say it. What was the first reason? Our sense of justice expects it. Second one. [01:03:18] Creation expects it. The third one, the scriptures declare it time and time and time again. And let God be true and every man a liar.