The Judgment of God will be just, inescapable, severe to the unrepentant, and usher us into an everlasting joy or misery!
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The Judgment Of God – Part 1
Romans 2:1-16
The great evangelist of the 19th century, D. L. Moody was asked to preach at a church where some of the people were in the habit of leaving before the sermon was over. When Mr. Moody rose to begin his sermon he announced, “I am going to speak to two classes of people this morning – first to the sinners, and then to the saints.” He proceeded to address the “sinners” for a while, then said they could leave. For once, every member of the congregation stayed to the end of the sermon!
Human nature is such that it seems that none of us want to class ourselves with “sinners.” If the truth were known, “sinners” are all those other people that are worse than me. Will Rogers used to say, “I always like to hear a man talk about himself, because then I never hear anything but good!” There is a tendency in all men to criticize what is bad in others, and exalt what is good in ourselves. That is exactly the kind of man Paul speaks to in our passage today.
In Romans 1:18-32, we saw that God’s wrath is being revealed against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men. Paul writes about people that God has given over to sexual impurity, degrading passions, and a depraved mind. They practice idolatry and homosexuality. He is referring to the Gentiles. We know that because when Paul says that God made His truth evident to them, he says that God did it through creation. As the heathen look around at nature, it is obvious that there is a Creator. The people Paul was writing about in chapter 1 did not have the Scriptures. All they had was nature to know about God. However, in chapter 2 Paul is writing to a different group of people. Notice how he begins in 2:1, “Therefore you have no excuse, everyone of you who passes judgment, for in that which you judge another, you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things.” The people Paul is writing to here are those that are judging the wicked practices of the heathen.
So, exactly who is Paul writing to in chapter 2? I believe he is writing to the Jews. Why do I think so? There are two reasons.
First, it is because he speaks of Jews and Greeks in verse 9 and 10. He also brings up those who are under the Law in verse 12, who can be none other than Jews.
The second reason I believe Paul is writing to Jews here is because of verse 17. There he says, “But if you bear the name “Jew.” He explicitly mentions that they bear the name Jew. And it doesn’t seem like he is shifting from one audience in verses 1-16, to the Jew in verse 17. It seems like he has the same audience in mind the whole chapter.
So, as Paul picks up his pen to write to these Roman Jews, he gives them a lesson on the Judgment of God. It is obvious that God’s judgment is the focus of this passage. Paul mentions it in verse 2, 3, 5, and 16. So, as we move through this passage, we are going to be looking at various principles of the judgment of God. There is much we can learn about the final judgment here. I’m going to give you seven principles that help us understand the judgment of God.
1. The Judgment Of God Will Be Just
Justice is one of the attributes of God, and it shows up prominently when he judges all men. Verse 1 says, “Therefore you have no excuse, everyone of you who passes judgment, for in that which you judge another, you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things.” Paul says they are without excuse. Some Jews were hypocrites. They self-righteously judged the Gentiles, but were doing similar things in their own secret lives. They were without excuse. Now, when we tell our children that there was no excuse for what they did, why do we tell them that? We tell them that so that when their punishment is given, they will know that it was just. They had it coming. Paul said that the Gentiles were without excuse in Romans 1:20. Now he says that the Jews are without excuse.
In verse 2 Paul says, “And we know that the judgment of God rightly falls upon those who practice such things.” Literally he said, “we know that the judgment of God is according to truth against them which commit such things.” That is how the KJV translates it, and it is quite literal. God’s judgment will be according to truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.
In verse 5 Paul speaks about “the righteous judgment of God.” The word “righteous” means “just.” God’s final judgment will be right and just. Because God is a God of justice, so will his judgment be.
In verse 11 Paul says in the judgment there will be no partiality. Jews and Gentiles will not be judged according to their ethnic or religious advantages. God will not go easy on the Jews because they were His chosen people in the Old Testament, and severely judge the Gentiles. All men will be judged on the same basis – do their actions give evidence of their faith. That’s it. The Jews will be judged according to whether they obeyed the Law. The Gentiles will be judged according to whether they obeyed the law written on their hearts. The Gentiles will not be judged because they didn’t have the Law. All men will be judged by whether they obeyed the light that they did possess.
Sometimes our human courts make mistakes. Sometimes they condemn the innocent, and let the guilty go free. I made many mistakes when my two boys were small. I didn’t know all the facts. Each boy had his own story. I never knew for sure what the truth was. Not so with God! So, the first principle we must see is that God’s judgment will be exercised in absolute justice.
2. The Judgment Of God Will Be Inescapable
Verse 3 says, “But do you suppose this, O man, when you pass judgment on those who practice such things and do the same yourself, that you will escape the judgment of God?” The obvious answer is “of course not!” No one will be able to escape this judgment.
Notice verse 5, “But because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God.” Notice how sure Paul is about this. You are storing up wrath. There are no “ifs”, “mights” or “maybes” here.
Notice verse 6, “who will render to each person according to his deeds.” Or, verse 12, “For all who have sinned without the Law will also perish without the Law.” This is something upon which we should have no doubt at all. The Bible is dogmatic about it. God’s judgment is unavoidable, and inescapable.
Sometimes criminals escape judgment today. Either they are never caught, or when they are brought to trial they are not convicted because of some technicality. Not so then! No one will escape. Josef Mengele, the man in charge of Nazi doctors, was known for performing deadly human experiments on prisoners. He sewed two twins together back to back to try to create conjoined twins. They died days later from gangrene. He would intentionally infect a child with typhus or some other deadly disease, or perform needless amputations. After a few weeks of experimenting on these children, they would be sent to the gas chambers. However, Mengele was never caught, tried, and executed. He was able to get out of Auschwitz before the Red Army arrived, and fled to Argentina and Brazil. There is something that rises up in us that screams, “Justice!” But, my friends, judgment day is still coming. Mengele will face God and receive his sentence for what he has done.
Hebrews 2:3 says “how will we escape if we neglect so great a salvation?”
There will come a day in which every man will say to the mountains and the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the presence of Him who sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb; for the great day of their wrath has come, and who is able to stand?” (Rev. 6:16-17). Men may want to hide from God and Christ. They may look to the mountains and rocks to hide them, but in that day there will be no escape!
My friend, do you suppose that you will escape the judgment of God? Do you think that somehow you are immune to the wrath of God? The only way to escape God’s wrath is through a thorough conversion to Christ, and finding shelter in Him. If you are outside of Christ, you will not escape! Mark God’s words – you will not escape. Flee from the wrath to come today!
3. The Judgment Of God Will Be Severe For The Unrepentant
Notice verses 4 and 5, “Or do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and tolerance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance? But because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God.”
Paul’s point is that God is delaying His judgment temporarily. Why? Because of the riches of His kindness and tolerance and patience. The word “patience” is literally “longsuffering.” God patiently endures the wickedness and rebellion of man. My friend, it was God’s kindness that you woke up in your own bed, rather than in Hell. God would have been perfectly just to cast you and me into Hell the moment we sinned. But he has waited, patiently, tolerantly, kindly. And why all this delay? The incredible kindness of God to restrain Himself from exercising wrath upon sinners should cause every person in the world to repent and throw themselves on the mercy of God. My friend the water is rising higher and higher and higher. That dam won’t stand forever. One day, it is going to crack and all come crashing down, and the wrath of God will pour over the lost of this world like a great tidal wave.
But notice the emphasis in our text on repentance. Verse 4 says that God’s kindness should lead people to repentance. Then in verse 5, we discover that it is a stubborn and unrepentant heart that is storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God. Do you see Paul’s train of thought? Here we are told that if a person does not repent they will face the wrath of God. If they do repent, they will escape the wrath of God. Now, in light of this plain truth, how can anyone say that you can be saved without repenting? Some say all you need to be saved is simple faith. They say if you add repentance as a requirement, you now have a gospel of faith and works. I would just want to ask one thing – what does Romans 2:5 teach about the necessity of repentance? It absolutely teaches that an unrepentant individual is storing up wrath unto the day of judgment! There can be no eternal salvation without true biblical repentance.
So, just what is repentance? It is a turning away from our evil ways to God for mercy. Repentance starts in the mind and heart. We stop loving our sin and start hating it. We want it out of our lives. When that happens, your life will show the fruits of repentance. Actually, true repentance is conversion. There are a lot of false forms of repentance. Judas never repented. He was remorseful, but not repentant. There are a lot of religious people and gifted people, who have never repented. You will know you have truly repented because your whole life is now on a different trajectory. Knowing, loving, and pleasing God now becomes the focus of your life. Yes, you still sin, but when you do, you repent, and turn back to God.
My friend, have you ever truly repented? Are you still in love with your sin? Are you still a slave to your sin? The Scripture teaches that the person who is born again hates his sin, has been freed from his sin, and loves righteousness. Be honest in the depths of your soul. Have you repented, and are you continuing to repent? That is a very important question to answer.
4. The Judgment Of God Will Usher Us Into Eternal Happiness or Eternal Misery
Let’s think carefully about verses 7-10: “to those who by perseverance in doing good seek for glory and honor and immortality, eternal life; but to those who are selfishly ambitious and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, wrath and indignation. There will be tribulation and distress for every soul of man who does evil, of the Jew first and also of the Greek, but glory and honor and peace to everyone who does good, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.”
Now notice what the two destinations are that come from this judgment of God. Verse 7 mentions eternal life. Verse 8 mentions wrath and indignation. Verse 9 mentions tribulation and distress. Verse 10 mentions glory and honor and peace. So, let’s put all of these words from verse 7 and 10 together: eternal life – glory and honor and peace. Then, let’s put all of these word from verse 8 and 9 together: wrath and indignation – tribulation and distress.
Here are the two destinations: eternal life which consists of glory and honor and peace, or the wrath and indignation of God which consists of tribulation and distress forever. To put it bluntly, the judgment of God will result in everlasting happiness or everlasting misery. Folks, do we really believe that? I’m afraid we really don’t. Why don’t we? It’s not because this is unclear. It must be because we are asleep. If every day we felt that our soul was drawing closer and closer to everlasting happiness or everlasting misery we would live every day with such purpose! Our life on earth is so important. It is preparing us for Heaven or Hell. What we do during this so very brief life, will count for eternity. If we really believed this how could we care so little about those all around us that are headed for wrath and indignation, tribulation and distress?! And if we really believed this, how could we care so little about our own everlasting happiness? If we really believed this we would be much more like Christian in Pilgrim’s Progress. When his family pled with him to stay with them in the City of Destruction, he put his fingers in his ears and cried, “Life! Life! Eternal Life!” and ran out of the city. If we believed this, it would make the frivolous and silly serious and sober. If we really believed this it would give a great sense of purpose and urgency in all of our actions every day.
Notice the description of Heaven: glory and honor and peace. That’s what heaven will be like.
Glory – we will share in the glory of God. Our bodies will be glorified. We will be glorified together with Christ. We will experience the freedom of the glory of the children of God. We will see God’s glory in a much greater way than ever in this world. We will shine like the sun in the kingdom of our Father.
Honor – it is a curious but wonderful truth that in the world to come God Himself is going to honor His people. This is what Peter had to say in 1 Peter 1:7, “so that the proof of your faith, being more perishable than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” Jesus said in Luke 12:37, “Blessed are those slaves whom the master will find on the alert when he comes; truly I say to you, that he will gird himself to serve, and have them recline at the table, and will come up and wait on them.” Imagine Christ coming up to you, and serving you! It seems completely backwards doesn’t it? Yet, that is what we find in the Word of God.
Peace – in this world we have so little peace. We experience war, gangs, violence, quarreling and fighting in marriage, and sometimes in the church. Heaven will be characterized by peace. There will be nothing to fight about! Everyone in that place loves the King and His will, and all align themselves with it. There will be no selfishness in heaven. Selfishness is what causes so much conflict and unrest and turmoil in this world. But heaven will be a world of love, which will result in glorious and blessed peace forever.
Now, that’s where we are going to leave off today. I have three more principles about the judgment of God that we will cover next Sunday. But before we conclude, let’s draw out some practical applications
Conclusion
My friend, there is no escaping the coming judgment! You will be there. I will be there. Every man, woman and child who has ever lived will take his place to be judged by the Lord Jesus Christ. So, if you can’t escape it, wisdom dictates that you prepare to meet your God. What are you doing to prepare for this judgment? Hebrews 2:3 says, “How will we escape if we neglect so great a salvation?” Are you neglecting this great salvation? Are you neglecting to prepare to meet God on judgment day? How does a person prepare to meet God? The very first thing he must do is get right with God. The Bible calls this repentance. My friend, have you ever truly repented? Remember that the judgment will be severe for those with stubborn and unrepentant hearts! Have you been converted? Are you still the same person you have always been, or have you experienced the new birth? Conversion involves repentance, faith, and surrender to Christ as the Master of your life. Has that happened?
If you have been converted, you can go further to prepare for this judgment. You must learn to live every day in light of eternity. You must learn to surrender all of your choices, attitudes, time, money, and possessions to Him, and seek to bring Him glory in all things. Everything you do for His glory and pleasure, no matter how small, will receive a reward in that day. Jesus said that if we give a disciple a cup of cold water in His name would not lose his reward. If we do our common every day work for the Lord rather than for men, we will receive the reward of the inheritance. My friends, you are either accumulating eternal rewards every day, or forfeiting them. Those things you do for yourself, and your glory are lost rewards. Those things you do for His glory and pleasure will receive a reward. “Only one life, will soon be past, only what’s done for Christ will last!”
My friends, eternal happiness or eternal misery is right around the bend. The sands of our hourglass are quickly slipping away, and they will all be gone far sooner than you think. Now is the time run the race. Now is the time to live for Christ. Now is the time to bear His reproach. Now is the time for self-sacrifice for the cause of the gospel. Now is the time to tell others of the gospel of Christ. Now is the time to lay down your life for the brethren. In eternity, there will be no suffering, no reproach, no witnessing to the lost. Give your life to those things with zeal now. Judgment Day is speeding on its way! Let’s give our lives to love one another and advance the kingdom of Jesus Christ.
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