Romans chapter 14, our text will
be found in verse 10. The title of the message is Three
Sure Things. Three sure things about judgment. The Apostle says, "...but why
dost thou judge thy brother? or why dost thou set it not thy
brother? For we shall all stand before
the judgment seat of Christ, the judgment seat of Christ. Now here in this passage, the
Apostle Paul is speaking to believers in Christ and exhorting them
not to judge or rather condemn our brother based on things like
meat and drink. Non-essential things concerning
the gospel that make no difference in a man's salvation And this passage, we know this,
that in the church of Rome, that there were not just Jews, but
there were Jews and Gentiles in this church. And these Jews,
that they were raised under the law, and this law was so ingrained
in them, that surely when they came to Christ, they recognized
that Christ is the end of the law for righteousness, yet they
brought along so much of that baggage, so much of that remembrance
of dates and eating of meats. Even Peter, you recognize that
he did that. Even after the Lord had risen
from the dead, this apostle still struggled with that thing about
eating unclean meat. And so the apostle, recognizing
this struggle, that the Gentiles never had. They knew the law was a schoolmaster
to bring them to Christ, but they were never ingrained in
them as much as it was the Jews, and so they had many troubles
with this. So these Jews who believed that
they were free from the law, yet out of reverence, they observed
days and refused to eat certain meats. Now these that held these rules
that were not imposed by Christ, but of their own making. Touch
not, taste not, handle not. But this is, we're all prone
to this, aren't we? We're all prone to our little
peccadillos, those things that we, you know, grew up as a kid
and your parents told you how bad it was and though it's not
bad in and of itself, yet we still have these things. We still
hold to these things, days and weeks and celebrations. These were the ones taught that
one day was holier than another, or if they ate certain meats,
if they refrained from eating certain meats, that they would
be closer to God. How many people, even believers,
think about, well, if I fast, or if I do this, or if I hold
this day holy, that makes me closer to God. Now, Paul called these weaker
brethren. Now, outwardly, wouldn't they
seem more holy? Wouldn't they seem more pious with these things?
But yet, they're not the stronger brethren, they're the weaker
brethren. But the stronger brethren are saying this, that all things
are lawful. for me. All things are lawful
for me to eat, and there is no certain day. We worship on Sunday. We worship, this is the first
day of the week, the day that the Lord Jesus Christ rose from
the dead, but we're not constrained to one specific day to worship. But no matter where you stand,
where you are, strong or weak at this point, the point of the
apostle is, You're not judge. You're not the judge. We're not
the judge on these things of insignificance. Paul says in
Romans 12, he says this, let love be without dissimulation. That word's hypocrisy. Let love
be without hypocrisy. Abhor that which is evil and
cleave to that which is good. Be kindly affectionate one to
another with brotherly love, honor, listen, preferring one
another. That's something, isn't it, that
believers should do. We should prefer one another
above ourselves. Let us not judge our brother
and sister, but let us rather love and be kind to them Or is our human nature always
to set ourselves above others, isn't it? To try to find something
in a person that's wrong, that we don't do, so as to make ourselves
above that person, or set ourselves at a higher... That's not brotherly
love, that's hypocrisy. That's hypocrisy, because you
and I both know this, we both are sinners. We both are saved
by the same grace of God. If we're both believers in Christ,
we are saved by the same grace, we have the same Lord, the same
Spirit, and listen, we will receive the same reward. We'll receive the same reward,
eternal glory in heaven with Christ. And so then, Paul says
in verse 4, Now again, I want you to know, this is not talking
about gospel truths, this is not talking about the essential
gospel of Jesus Christ. Those things we do not move. We do not move from the gospel
of Christ. But in these lesser things, we
must see this. If we see one that is weaker
in these things, Paul says we are to help them. How? By not flaunting our liberty
in front of them. If you take a bottle of whiskey
and you set it on the table over there, then that bottle in of
itself is not evil, is it? It doesn't do anything. It doesn't
sin. It doesn't do anything. But to one man, it is evil if
he drinks. And to another man it is not.
So that if I say I am allowed to, if I have liberty to, in
moderation, and the other person doesn't, what am I to do? Flaunt
my liberty in front of them? No. Paul says if my meat offend,
then what am I going to do? I'm going to stop eating. I'm
not going to offend my brother over these frivolous things.
Why? Because that man is a servant of Christ. And he stands and
falls to his own master, and I'm not to try to make him submit
to those things. And so that's the context here,
but this is what I want to focus on. I'm not focusing on that.
I have a greater subject here than this, and this is this.
We shall all, in our text, we shall all stand before the judgment
seat of Christ. Now this is where it's all going
to be laid out in you. everything open and exposed truth
will be revealed in full glory now there are many things that
i don't know about this judgment i don't know when it is i hope
it soon but i don't know i don't know when it is but there are
three things here that we do know about this judgment seat
about this judgment seat First of all, there are three sure
things here. First of all, all men shall appear
before the judgment seat of Christ. All men. All men. Every one of
you and myself, under the sound of my voice, and men who don't
know it all. Every man will appear before
the judgment seat of Christ. The second thing is, all men
will bow to Jesus Christ at this time. All men will bow to Jesus
Christ in the judgment. And the third thing is, there
will be a great separation. On this day, when He comes and
judges all men, He will make a great division among all men. Now then, first let's see this,
that all men will appear before the judgment seat of Christ.
It says, that's what it says in our text, for we shall all
stand before the judgment seat of Christ. All men that ever
lived, that are living now, and shall ever live, will stand before
this judgment seat. Now then, I want you to see this,
that this judgment is divided into two specific things. There is a judgment before the
judgment. There is a judgment before the
judgment. What I mean by this is that every
man at his death will be judged of Christ. Every man will be
judged of Christ at his death. Where do we see that? Hebrews
chapter 9 and verse 27. As it is appointed unto men once
to die and after that, what? The judgment. The judgment. Now you remember, I'll just give
you an illustration, you remember the Lord talking of the rich
man and Lazarus. The rich man and Lazarus, that
rich man fared sumptuously all of his life, and Lazarus, a believer
in Christ, begged at the gate, being full of sores and the dogs
licking his wounds. Now what happened to both of
these men? They both died. Lazarus was carried by the angels
into glory, and the rich man died, opening up his eyes, being
in torments." Now what is that but judgment? Judgment. Lazarus was judged to be righteous,
and the rich man was judged to be wicked. And both received
a just recompense of reward. Both men did. And this day of
death is fast approaching us all, friend. It is moving quick.
You that are older, how fast did it go? How fast has our lives
gone? One day we were young and then
we were old. And the older we get, every day
approaches faster and faster, it seems, that we are approaching
this day of our death. And therefore, because of all
men, the sin and curse of death, all men are going to die. You
won't escape this, except the Lord come, you will not escape
death. Physical death. We all must walk
this, the banks of chilly Jordan, and cross over, just as our Lord
Jesus had showed us, didn't He? Didn't He show us by His death
that we should die? And after this, what? The judgment.
the judgment. You read in your newspaper every
morning some guy 20, 25, 30 years old going out having fun. All the plans in the world, all
of his goals and dreams set before him. He's got his life set, he's
got it planned in his mind and the next day he's dead. Next day he's dead. Why? It is appointed. Do you realize
you can't move that date? You can't. That date is set. It is set and God set it. Who's going to move it? We take
care of ourselves as best we can, right? We go to the doctor
and we do all these things. We get sick. We get a cold. Who
do you suppose heals you every time? It is God. Why? You realize you can't die
until that day? It's impossible for you to die
until that day. That day is set. It was set before
our birth. It was set before the world was
framed. It was set and judgment was set. Now you listen, we live in the
day of grace. Today is the day of grace. Today
is the day of salvation. We live in the millennial reign
right now. We are living in a time where
the gospel is preached, the gospel goes out according to the will
of Christ, and He saves whomsoever He will. This message of sin, righteousness,
and judgment is preached to all. And we say this, believe on the
Lord Jesus Christ. When? Tomorrow? No. Today. Now. Why? Judgment's coming. Judgment's
coming. Whosoever believeth on Jesus
Christ shall be saved. He that believeth not shall be
damned. Any clearer than that, you can't
make it. Just plain. Simple. But men refused like
Felix. You remember Felix. He said,
I'll hear him another day. I'll hear him another day. Do
you realize that day never came for Felix? That was the last
time he heard the gospel. And he went away and died in
his sins. I know you young people think
you've got all the time in the world. No, you've got till God
says to go. That's all you've got. It could
be today, it could be tomorrow, it could be eighty years from
now, I don't know. But I tell you this, what shall it profit you if you
gain the whole world and lose your own soul? Or what will you
give in exchange for your soul? It is appointed. It's set. And no man can move it. After
this, the judgment. After this, the judgment. This
is sure. Listen, grace and mercy are only
for the living. Grace and mercy are only for
the living. But at the day of one's death,
all grace and mercy will cease to be offered. Judgment will come. And if you
are filthy now, you will be filthy then. If you are righteous now,
you will be righteous then. You'll be righteous then. And we all must face this judgment
of God, both righteous and unrighteous men. For the Scriptures are clear
that all men must be gathered. Do you realize this, that all
men know that there's a judgment coming? that all, even the wicked,
even those that are lost, have a natural understanding of the
judgment of God. Paul says this of them in Romans
1, 32, he says, knowing the judgment of God. Well, how do you know
they know the judgment? Because they themselves judge,
don't they? They judge between right and
wrong. This is part of their nature. They know that God must
come and must judge, and all men know that God will judge,
but because of the blindness of their hearts, they think God
should pass them by. They think that God will pass
them by. Over in Isaiah chapter 28, we read of such men. God says, The scornful man he's
talking to, the scornful man who scorned the word of his son,
he says, because you have said, we have made a covenant with
death and with hell, we are at agreement. When the
overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come upon
us. For we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have
we hid ourselves. And you know then, that's when
God tells them of Christ, I've laid that foundation, that stone,
that tridestone, that cornerstone. I will lay judgment to the lion.
Anyone on him shall be saved. Anyone off of him will be cut
off. And He says, your covenant at
that time with death shall be disannulled, and your agreement
with hell shall not stand, and the overflowing scourge shall
pass through, and when you shall be trodden down by it." Morning
and night and day will go and pass over you. He's talking about
hell and judgment. Now, the soul at this judgment
goes to his final place, whether righteous unto eternal life or
guilty unto eternal damnation. But then, where are their bodies? Where are the bodies? Their bodies
are in the ground. That rich man and Lazarus, where
are their bodies today? They are still in the ground. They have been judged, yet their
bodies are still, not yet, united with their souls. But so then there is another
judgment. There's not going to be any different
result at this judgment. But it's going to be a final
judgment, a day in which the bodies and souls of men should
be reunited and gather themselves in front of the Lord Jesus Christ,
so as to be finally judged body, soul, and spirit, so that they
should forever be in their place. Go to Matthew chapter 25. Matthew chapter 25. Look at verse 31. Our Lord tells
us of this judgment that is to come. He says this, "...when the Son
of Man shall come in His glory." That doesn't say if, does it?
It just says when. It's sure to come. When the Son
of Man shall come in His glory, listen, with all His holy angels
with Him, then shall He sit upon the throne of His glory, and
before Him shall be gathered all nations. All nations. That is, all people. This is vividly described in
Revelation chapter 20 when John said, I saw the dead, both 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 that were
written in the book according to their works. The sea gave
up their dead that were in it, death and hell delivered up their
dead which were in them. See, that's where the rich man
is. He's in death, he's in hell, but yet he is now delivered up
before Christ. And they were judged, every man
according to his works. In other words, all types of
men, kings and peasants, garbage men and presidents, the greatest
of Christ's saints and the devil himself shall gather at this
place to be judged of Christ. All nations shall be gathered
before him, before Christ, the judgment seat. That's what we're
sure of. Are you sure of that? Do you know that? But you will
be judged at death, and you will be judged at the final judgment. And all of us will be there.
The second thing we are sure about this judgment is this.
Every knee shall bow to Jesus Christ. Every knee. Every knee
shall bow to Jesus Christ. That's what Paul says back in
your text. Hold here Matthew 25 because we're going to go
back there. But that's what Paul says in his text in verse 11
in Romans 14. It says, as it is written, as
I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me. and every
tongue shall confess to God." That's what he said in Philippians
chapter 2, that the name of Christ, that every knee shall bow and
every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory
of God the Father. You see here in that place in
Romans, do you realize what God says? He says, as I live, In
other words, God says, as I am God, this is surely going to
happen. As sure as I am the only living
and true God, this is going to take place. God has decreed it, and it will
come to pass. Is there anyone then to stop
it? Men can defy it all they want
to. They can kick at it as long as they please in this world,
but surely it's coming to pass. You mark this down, everyone
will bow to Christ. Everyone will bow the knee to
Jesus Christ. Why? Because God worketh all
things after the counsel of his own will. That heathen king understood
this. He said, all the inhabitants
of the earth are reputed as nothing. He doeth according to his will
in the armies of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth.
Who can stay his hand? Or saying to him, what doest
thou? And as sure as God liveth and ruleth over all things, he
has decreed this, that every knee shall bow before Christ. From the greatest believer to
the devil himself, they will bow and acknowledge the Lordship
of Christ. Now, there are many upon the
earth who profess to believe in Christ. Many. Yet, they deny His Lordship. They believe salvation is a cooperative
effort. It's a mutual agreement between
Him and Christ that they each have their part, they each have
some sovereign thing that they have to do in order to make this
work. No, Christ is not your equal. He is your God. He is your King. If anyone professes to believe
in Christ but does not bow to Him as Lord, That man does not
know Christ. Jesus said, "...not everyone
that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom
of heaven, but he that doeth the will of my Father." Which
is what? To believe on Him. To trust in
Him. What is the will of the Father?
It is to bow to Christ. You realize faith in Christ is
nothing more than absolute surrender? It is absolute surrender. It
is kneeling down before Christ. And yet, at this day, all men
will bow. A great sea of humanity. Can you imagine it? Can you picture
it? A great sea of billions of people bowing down at His feet,
worshiping Him. You have those Jehovah's Witnesses.
They say they believe, but yet they won't acknowledge His deity.
That day they will. They'll see His deity in full
display. You have those who are atheists who will not bow to
the existence of God. In that day they will see His
full existence, and they will bow. They will bow. You see the
free will works religion denying the sovereignty of God now? In
that day they won't. In that day they will see it
on full display, the sovereignty of Christ. And I'll tell you this, they
will bow, but so will I. So will I. We who believe on Christ alone,
do we not already? Is it not already our desire
to bow before Him? I bow before Him. I acknowledge
His deity. I acknowledge His sovereignty.
I confess my sins and my inability to save myself. I acknowledge
He is the only true and righteous Savior. I acknowledge. Not only
do I acknowledge, I believe it with all my soul and bow with
all my being before Him. That's the heart of every believer.
we give up everything to bow before him we gladly freely forsake
all and follow him and don't you realize this in
this day when he comes that we're going to be doing then what we
do now only in fullness Right now, I
want to bow in fullness of my being. Only then, in that day,
will I be able to bow in fullness. You remember, in Revelation 5,
John was weeping. He saw that the book was sealed,
and they said, Weep not, for the Lion of the tribe of Judah
hath prevailed to open the book. and loosed the seals. And lo,
in the midst of the throne and the four beasts, in the midst
of the elders, stood a Lamb, having been slain, having seven
horns and seven eyes, all power and all omniscience. And the
seven Spirits of God went forth into all the earth. And He came
and took the book out of the right hand of Him that sat upon
the throne. And when He had taken the book, the four beasts and
the twenty-four elders fell down before Him, before the Lamb,
having every one of them harps, golden vials, full of odors,
in the prayer of the saints. And they sung a new song. Worthy
is the Lamb to take the book and loose the seals thereof,
for Thou hast slain and has redeemed us to God of every kindred, nation,
tongue, and people." And listen, that's our song now, isn't it?
That's our song now. Worthy is the Lamb. Worthy is
the Lamb. But then, He says in verse 14,
He says, And every creature which is in heaven, and upon the earth,
and unto the earth, and unto the sea, and all that were in
them, I heard saying, Blessing, and honor, and glory, and power
be to Him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb, for
ever and for ever. And the four beasts said, Amen.
The four and twenty elders fell down and worshipped Him that
liveth for ever and ever. What are we going to be doing?
Same thing we're doing here, only better. See, this day that's
coming is not going to take us by surprise because we're already
doing what we'll be doing there. If you believe in Christ, this
is what heaven is. What we're doing now is only
a foretaste of what we shall have in that day when He comes
again. And so when we bow, we'll bow
just like we do now. We'll bow before Him gladly,
sweetly will we fall before His feet and worship Him. So, ours
is our song now, worthy is the Lamb. What's our song then? Worthy
is the Lamb. Same song. Only then better. Only then fuller. So then we
see this, all men must, there will be a judgment of all men.
We are sure of this, that all men will bow before Christ. And
the third thing we are sure about is this, in that day there will
be a great separation. There will be a great division
made. Go back to Matthew and see this. Matthew 25 again. Our Lord told us that He was
coming, that when the Son of Man shall come. What is He going
to do when He comes? Look at verse 32. It says, "...and before Him shall
be gathered all nations." And listen, "...and He shall separate
them one from another, as the shepherd divided the sheep from
the goats, And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but
the goats on his left. Now friends, I have trouble getting
my children to get into the car. Do you not see the power of this?
That he separates men as easily as a shepherd would remove his
sheep from goats. Do you not see this? There'll
be no obstinance. There'll be no objection. His word is law,
and when He says, you hear, you hear. It's going to happen. He will separate all men just
as easily. You know how He made the heavens?
The scripture says, as a man throweth open a curtain. That's how easily He's expanded
the universe. And so when this man speaks,
He will separate, and there will be a division. It is sure that right now we
are all mixed upon the earth. And even in the church, the wheat
grow up with the tares, the sheep and goats graze together, But
in this day, Jesus will separate His children from the children
of Satan, the elect from the damned, the righteous from the
unrighteous. And listen what He shall say.
In verse 34, And the king shall say unto them on his right hand,
unto his sheep, Come, you blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom
prepared for you from before the foundation, from the foundation
of the world. See this day of judgment. For
these is not a day of dread or fear, but rather a great day
of rejoicing. For these sheep it is a great
day, a day much longed for, a day we all look forward to. The scripture says in 1 Thessalonians
that this day is going to come as a thief in the night. For
who? For the lost. For the lost. But you, brethren, are not in
darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. That's
what Paul said. This is not coming to take anything
away from you. This is coming to give you what
God has already prepared for you. Isn't that something to
think about? When you think about His coming, remember, He's not
taking anything when He comes and gets you. He's giving you
everything. So when one of us dies, a believer
dies, why do you think the Lord says, precious are the death
of his saints in the sight of the Lord? Why? Because in that
day, He gives them everything. He doesn't take anything from
them. He gives them life. He doesn't take their life. He
actually gives them life. They begin then to experience
what real life is. For those that are lost in that
day, it will be as a woman travaileth in labor at pain comes quickly. But for those who are saints,
it will be a great day of rejoicing. And so then what should we say?
Even so come, Lord Jesus. Should this be our heart? Shouldn't
this be our heart? Even so come now. That's what
John said. I want you to come now. Don't
wait. Don't tarry. Take me now. And so then these sheep that
are divided on his right hand, I want you to see this. They
are chosen. He said, this kingdom that you are to inherit was prepared
for you. before the foundation of the
world. These were chosen, predestinated to inherit the kingdom of God.
These are the ones who believe on Christ alone. Christ alone. I praise God for His sovereign
election of grace. I do. You realize without election,
there would be no salvation. Election is not salvation. Election
is unto salvation, but I tell you this, without it, no one
would be saved. Without it, no one would have
come to Christ. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ, who put us in Christ before the foundation of the
world, that we should be holy, that He should be our surety
and Redeemer, for by Him are all the elect made holy and without
blame before Him, and by Him alone has He satisfied the justice
of God on our behalf. You see, believers, we're not
getting away with anything, are we? We confess our sins. We confess that there was no
difference between us and them. Naturally, no difference. Who
maketh thee to differ from another? It is Christ that made you to
differ. It is Christ's blood that was shed on your behalf,
so that you should be without spot, or blemish, or wrinkle,
or any such thing as you appeared before Him. By grace and by divine
revelation, we were exposed to be sinners having no merit to
please God. Therefore, as the elect sheep
of God, we have fled to Christ for refuge. In Him we hope. In Him we trust. In Him alone. And what is the reaction of these
sheep as they hear of their righteousness? You know, the Lord tells them,
He said, when I was hungry, you fed me. When I was sick, you
visited me. When I was in prison, you did all these things for
me. And what is their reaction to that righteousness? Listen. Listen to what the Lord calls
them in verse 37. Then shall the righteous answer. He says
they're righteous. This is the answer of the righteous.
Lord, when saw we thee and hungered, and fed thee, or thirsty, and
gave thee drink? When saw we thee a stranger,
and took thee in, or naked, and clothed thee? Or when saw we
thee sick, and prisoner came to thee? When did we do any of
this? We confess no righteousness of
ourselves. We confess only our filthy rags, Those who rest in Christ will
stand at the throne of judgment. We will bow the knee to Christ,
even as we bow now, but in this day there will be a difference.
He shall say, come, inherit the kingdom prepared for you. Prepared for you. Purchased for you. promised to you. Now it's time for you to have
it. It's yours. Because of Christ and His righteousness. Christ and His righteousness.
Because we that believe on Christ never sought our own merit, but
only that which is by Christ, His blood, His righteousness. So then who shall separate us
from the love of God in Christ? Who? In this day, when Christ
judges, what will be His judgment of you? Holy, holy, holy, holy. Come on in. Righteous. Why? When? When He did it, you
did it. You did it. Wherefore we are
commanded, Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith the Lord.
Speak comfortably to Jerusalem. Why? Her warfare is accomplished.
For the Lord hath received double for all her sins. Double payment. But there is
a second group. And this second group, when it
comes to the judgment seat of Christ, they will be the goats,
the chaff, the pretenders, the foolish virgins who have no oil
of the Holy Spirit. Those profane persons who sold
Christ for the things of this world. Now listen to me. Today,
if you will not believe, I want you to understand this. You have
sold Christ for the things of your flesh. You will not come
to Christ because of your own lusts. your own passions, your
own desires, you have sold him for those things. And in this day, if you continue
in this path, in this day, Christ will confess this, depart from
me, you that work iniquity, I never knew And we see that judgment is then
to be greatly feared by these. This is a day of lamentation,
a great day of judgment for the guilt of sin. And those on the
left are those unbelievers who would try to mix their works
with Christ, or would not come to Christ. These people thought God much
like themselves. They thought that God would surely
pass over them. And we know this because of their
answer. They said this in verse 44, What were these people trusting
in? They were trusting in what they
did for Him. That's what they're trusting
in. Their attitude, as the goats
trusting in their own works, their own will, those who mix
their works with Christ's, in this day they'll be damned. Now
preacher, do you mean all those who believe in Jesus and do all
these wonderful deeds and feed the hungry, clothe the naked
and give money to the poor, that they'll go to hell? Listen, if
they put their hand to Christ's work, they will. Like Uzzah,
that man who put his hand to the ark, he was killed. You put
your hand to the work of Christ and you will be damned. That's
sure, I'm sure of that. Our Lord is telling us this. Paul said this, if you be circumcised,
Christ shall prophet to another. He had one thing, one thing. My friend, this will surely be
a great day of separation. Seeing then that judgment is
sure, Christ will come. You will be judged at your death
and you will be judged in this great day. All men will bow to
Christ, that is a sure thing. And in that day he will separate
all people, his sheep, his elect, from the vessels of wrath fitted
from destruction. Where will you be on this great day? What will the righteous judge
judge of you. If you are in Christ, you have
nothing to fear. You have everything to gain. If you are outside of Christ,
you have everything to fear and everything to lose. Now you pay attention, I am sure
of that. I am sure. Are you? May God the Holy Ghost
give you an understanding of these great things.