All right, brethren, if you will,
open your Bibles to Romans chapter 2. Romans chapter 2. I hope tonight
we can look at the answers to a few questions. I want to keep
these in my mind as I'm preaching to you, and I hope you can keep
them in the back of your mind as I'm talking. But what happens
when men and women are judged during that final judgment outside
of the law. What happens to men and women
when they're judged under the law, by that law? Who will be
that judge in that last day that's coming? It is coming. What will that standard of judgment
be? What comfort do we have? What is our good news? What is
my good news? What's your good news? In Romans chapter 2 beginning
in verse 12, Paul is proving in our text that the Jew has
no advantage being under that law. They have no advantage over
the Gentile who has the law of nature, the law of nature over
them. He's declaring that justification is by Christ alone, not the law. Let's read our text first. Romans
2 beginning in verse 12. For as many as have sinned without
the law shall also perish without the law, and as many as 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, their conscience
also bearing witness, and 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." We begin
there looking at being judged without the law. Verse 12, Paul
writes, for as many as have sinned without the law shall also perish
without the law. Who's that talking about? Someone
that's never heard of the Bible. Someone that's never heard of
this good news that Christ has done it all. They're still responsible. It's written in their hearts
that God is the Almighty God. If they did not turn from themselves
and bow to the Lord of all, they will perish for eternity. But
it won't be as bad for them in judgment than the ones who heard
it and did not bow to Christ. Turn over to Luke chapter 12. Luke chapter 12, again in verse
42. And the Lord said, Who then is
that faithful and wise steward, whom his Lord shall make ruler
over his household, to give them their portion of meat in due
season? Blessed is that servant, whom the Lord, when he come,
shall find so doing. Of a truth I say unto you, that
he will make him ruler over all that he hath. Sorry, I lost myself. Luke 12, 45. But, and if that
servant say in his heart, my Lord delayeth his coming, and
shall begin to beat the men's servant and maidens, and to eat
and drink, and to be drunken, the Lord of that servant will
come in a day when he looketh not for him, and at an hour when
he is not aware, and will cut him in sunder, and will appoint
him his portion with the unbelievers verse 47 and that servant which
knew his Lord's will and prepared not himself neither did according
to his will shall be beaten with many stripes but he that knew
not the ones that didn't know the Lord's will and did commit
things worthy of stripes shall be beaten with few stripes for
unto whomsoever much is given of him shall be much required
And to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask them
more." Many say, well, that isn't fair. We were not told what our
Master wanted. Those men weren't told what they
wanted. They should have been forewarned, shouldn't they? They
didn't know He was coming. Yes, they did. We know our Lord's
coming, don't we? Every man and woman on the face
of this earth knows that the Lord's coming. They may not want
to admit it. They may push it down. They may
deny it. They look out over creation and they know. They see God's
power and majesty shown to all men. The old writers called this
the law of conscience. It's a law written in our hearts.
Turn over to Romans chapter 1. Romans 1 verse 19. Looked at this before. Because
that which may be known of God is manifest in them, for God
hath showed unto them. For the invisible things of him
from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood
by the things that are made. The Lord made us and he made
the rest of this world, we understand that. Even his eternal power
and Godhead, so that they are without excuse. Men and women
know what right and wrong is in their heart. I don't need
a a constitution to tell me that I just can't come into your house
and take everything you own. I don't need a piece of paper
written to tell me I can't just go take another man's lot. We
know these things. Everybody in the world knows
these things. Romans 2.14 says, For the Gentiles, which have
not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law.
Having not the law are a law unto themselves and it shows
the work of the law written in their hearts and their conscience
also bearing witness. These Gentiles have never received
the law of Moses. They never received the Levitical
law. They didn't have those things.
But they still had a law in their heart and that's proof that the
Creator gave it to them. He manifested that in them, didn't
he? In this nation we do the same thing. Maybe not in this
state. I wrote this and I just thought
about that. North of here, maybe not. But
the rest of this nation, you can't just go to the bathroom
anywhere you want to. We know that. My children know
that. Small children know that. There's
rules against that, isn't there? You know that's Levitical law?
And the army would call that field sanitation. That came from
Moses. We're required by God Almighty
to do those things. We're not even aware of that.
But we make it a law, because that just makes common sense,
don't it? We say, well, those things should be done. Let's
make that a rule. Just Gentile folks. And we think
we've come up with something good. And a lot of people say,
well, many laws are just common sense. That's right. It's common,
isn't it? The Lord commonly put it in every
one of our hearts. He manifested it there. And when
it appears even that it's our own law, That's something that
man came up with out of our wisdom. We still break those laws. I'll go up and down the highway
and I'll set cruise control on the number that I've got a pretty
good feeling I won't get pulled over with. You all probably don't
do that, but that deserves an eternity of damnation. It does. Broke the laws of man, didn't
I? That's our laws. And we know that we break those
on purpose. But being outside of the law,
being a Gentile that wasn't given the law, it does not matter if
you're outside of Christ. If you're not in Him, it won't
help you one bit. You have no excuse against not
having the law. Romans 2.13 says, for not the
hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law
shall be just before God. Just hearing that law won't do
you any good. Man must be a doer of the law to be justified. Now,
am I saying that we need to physically do the law? No. If we only physically and outwardly
perform that law, it would be of no benefit to us. We have
to inwardly perform the law. On the inside, we have to, with
a pure heart, complete Lord's holy law. And if by physically
doing it, then we'll be judged by the law. And verse 12 says,
for as many as have sinned without the law shall also perish without
the law. And as many as have sinned in
the law shall be judged by the law. We just saw that law of
conscience in the Gentiles. Here's the law of covenant. This
is the law that was given to physical Israel. And Christ gives
us the true sense of these in Matthew chapter 5. He says, Ye
have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt
not kill, and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the
judgment. But I say unto you that whosoever is angry with
his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment. That's not the way I would read
that out of Exodus as you. The Lord said, My ways are not
your ways. My thoughts are not your thoughts. That's the way
God just said it. It's in the heart. He goes on
to make clear through Matthew 5 what adultery is, what divorce
is, swearing, retaliation, what loving your enemies is. Makes
that clear. The cross shows us it is the
law that's not just outwardly but inwardly. Cleaning the outside
of the cup does nothing if the inside is dirty. It's not what
comes into a mouth that defiles man, it's what comes out of the
mouth. What's in the heart is what spews out. We are told that when we try
to work to indebt God, we are stealing His glory. If that's the case, we're in
much deeper trouble than we think we are. When we're told that
adultery is what's in the heart, and we lust after this flesh,
that prostitute of man-exalting religion. If that's true, we're
in much deeper trouble than we think we are, aren't we? Mankind
is. If someone wants to attempt to
keep the law, they must keep the whole law. You've got to
keep every jot and diddle. Paul wrote this to the Galatians,
For I testify again to every man that is circumcised, he is
a debtor to do the whole law. If you're relying on that, on
that circumcision, that baptism, any ism that man does, if you
rely on that, you're in debt to do the whole law. You've got
to keep all of it. I'm not drinking alcohol, I'm
good at that. Well, okay. You do well. Now you have to
keep the rest of it. Is Paul the only one that drove that
home? James said it too. James 2 says, For whoever shall
keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of
all. For he that said, Do not commit adultery, also said, Do
not kill. Now if thou commit no adultery,
but yet if thou kill, thou art become a transgressor of the
law. If we violate one of these principles,
we're in debt to the whole law. If we try to keep one of them,
now it's keeping the whole law and that point that if I try
real hard, that doesn't count. Is that just a New Testament?
Is this just since Christ arrived that this is true? Did things
change in time that what the Lord decreed beforehand in the
Old Testament and what He decrees now in our day, this year of
the Lord? Deuteronomy 27 says, Cursed be
he that confirmeth not all the words of this law to do them.
Not only not to do all the law, but to agree with it. In Romans 2, it says, the ones
without the law will perish, but the ones with the law will
be judged by the law. That's a straight stick. We saw
it several times here in the last few weeks that the purpose
of God's law, to show the Lord's holiness, to declare that Messiah
that was coming and to show us what we are, our transgressions,
reveal sin in us. Now by that, We always say all sin weighs
the same. To commit the slightest error
is to be guilty and deserving a damnation for eternity. That's
true. But there are degrees to hell. We can look at that. Scriptures
are very clear on that. But we can relate to that also.
In this country we have prisons. And in those prisons, everyone
in prisons, in prison. We can understand that. But inside
of there, there's harsher conditions for different people. There's
solitary confinement and less privileges and more punishment
to those criminals that are greater. So there's different degrees
to that. Turn over to Luke 10. Luke 10 and verse 13. Woe unto thee, Chorazin! Woe
unto thee, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works that
had been done in Tyre and Sidon, which had been done in you, they
had a great while ago repented, sitting in sackcloth and ashes.
But it shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the judgment
than for you." The person who never hears of God, never hears
this written word, he never hears of Christ the Word, or is visited
by the Holy Spirit, they will be guilty. The person who hears
these things, they hear of God's holy law, and they attempt to
approach God through that law, I'm going to do something for
him. I'm going to keep that law. They will be more accountable,
but they'll still be found guilty. And the person who tells men
and women, that's the way you approach God, you have to do
something. It'll be a harsher sentence for
those people. That terrifies me standing here
talking to you. It makes it a little easier to
get up early and study. Makes for I'm telling you the
truth, telling you who the truth is. And that false prophet will
also be found guilty. But being under that law, not
being under the law as a Gentile, does not profit you. Being under
the law, it does not matter. if you're not in Christ. We have
to be in Him. Now, who's going to be the judge
of these people? The ones under the law, the ones not under the
law, and this final day, who's going to be that judge? Christ
will set in judgment of all men. We will be judged by Christ. That straight stick of His righteousness
is what will be the determining factor. He will be the one making
the judgment. And his perfect holiness will
be what will be judged to his keeping of the law. Judgment
requires perfection to the law and Christ satisfied that law. To enter into glory, you must
be as holy and as blameless as Christ. Whenever a man or a woman
says, I'm going to keep the law, I do good. I'm going to do good
things. You're saying I can do a better
job than Christ can. That's pretty blunt. That's true. As believers, do we disregard
that law? We're free from it. It has no
bounds on me. I'm dead to that law. And you
know what I want to do? I want to honor the Lord. I want
to honor the one that freed me from it. I don't want to bring
reproach on this gospel. I don't want to bring reproach
on Him. I want to respect that law. That's the law that Christ
honored, that He helped He kept. I respect that law. People say
I don't care about the law. That hurts. I don't know whether
to cry or choke them. Alright, back to our text. Romans
chapter 2. We're going to read verse 12 and then verse 16. Verse 13 through 15 there is
in parentheses. That means, in parenthetical
notation, you can pull that out and not do any harm to the text.
Romans 2.12, for as many as have sinned without the law shall
also perish without the law and as many as have sinned in the
law shall be judged by the law. In the day, verse 16, in the
day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ
according to my gospel. God is going to judge the secrets
of men. That's referring to the secrets
in the heart Not just that outward sin that I can see, that you
can see, those outward weaknesses, but it's those things when you're
by yourself, quietly. The Lord knows what's in our
hearts. And all men know that. As Don
said, if you don't believe that, get up here and tell your wife
everything you thought today. Tell your children everything
you thought today. We wouldn't do it, would you? That means the bad motives and
the desires that men have no clue of. There's many things
I've been guilty of and I didn't know. I looked at it last time.
If I was speeding and the law shows me I was breaking the law,
whether I was aware of it or not, I'm still guilty. But it
shows that those things we have no clue of, it's a secret to
us. But thanks be to God, thanks
be to Christ our substitute, it also means the secrets are
good. the good things that we've done that we're not aware of.
Turn over Matthew 25. Someone told me all the good
things they've done and the good things in their heart. I wouldn't
be too impressed by that. But most of the people I know,
they're humbled. The Lord's humbled them, brought
them down, and that's there's no good in me. They've done countless
good things for me. Matthew 25 31 when the son of
man shall come in his glory and all the holy angels with him
then shall he sit 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,
Come, ye blessed of my father, inherit the kingdom prepared
for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungered,
and you gave me meat. I was thirsty, and you gave me
drink. I was a stranger, and you took me in. Naked, and you
clothed me. I was sick, and you visited me.
I was in prison, and you came to me. Then shall the righteous
answer him, saying, Lord, When saw we thee and hungered and
fed thee, or thirsty and gave thee drink? I've never seen you
that way, Lord. When saw we thee a stranger and
took thee in, or naked and clothed thee? Or when we saw 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 one of least of these my brethren, ye have done it
unto me. I try to drive home, and it's
a hard thing to comprehend. We're one with Christ. And the
brethren we have on this earth, our true brethren, crossed in
them, crossed in me, that's the closest we'll ever have on this
earth to being with our Lord. And how we treat one another
is how we treat Him. And we don't know who His children
are, do we? That gives you heart to be kind. That might be one
of the Lord's sheep. It says the secrets of man will
be judged by Christ. The beginning of Matthew 25 we
just read says the Son of Man shall come to judge. Christ is
going to be the judge. Turn over to Acts 17. Acts 17
verse 30. In the times of this ignorance,
God winked at, but now commandeth all men everywhere to repent,
because he hath appointed a day in the which he will judge the
world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained, whereof
he hath given assurance to all, that's to all believers, the
Lord gave us assurance, in that he hath raised him from the dead,
He comforts the Lord's people because Christ as that judge
is coming and he's risen. Christ is worthy of judging men
concerning the law. Not only did he give it, he fulfilled
it. But Christ judging men is both a reward of his sacrifice
and it's fitting because he is both the God and the man. He's
the God man. Who can approach him and say,
well, You're God. You can do this and I can't."
He said, I was a man. He was as fully man as he was God and
as fully God as he was man. He was counted with the transgressors,
wasn't he? What's our proof? What's our comfort in that proof?
It's that he's risen from the grave. Turn over to John chapter
5. John chapter 5 verse 21. For as the Father raiseth up
the dead, and quickeneth them, even so the Son will quickeneth
whom he will. For the Father judges no man,
but hath committed all judgment unto the Son, that all men should
honor the Son, even as they honor the Father. He that honoreth
not the Son honoreth not the Father which has sent him." Barely,
barely. It's truly Truly, I say unto
you, he that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent
me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation,
but is passed from death to life. Verily, verily, I say unto you,
the hour is coming, and is now, when the dead shall hear the
voice of the Son of God, and they that hear shall live. That
hour is now. The dead will hear his voice.
dead sinners, men and women, will hear the Lord speaking.
Are you dead under God's law? Is your flesh dead? Have you
heard that voice saying that all flesh is grass and worthy
is the lamb that was slain? Do you believe that? Do you believe in God's Son? If so, you have life and you
have no fear of judgment. There's no fear of condemnation.
The one that died for you will be the judge. Are God's sheep justified by
faith or works? That's the theme then and that's
the theme now. It's been the theme from creation,
hasn't it? The answer is they're justified
by the faith of Christ, by His faith given to us. The law cannot
give life. The Lord gives life. He gives
life and He gives righteousness. Romans 8.3 says, For what the
law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, our
flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh,
and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh, that the righteousness
of the law might be fulfilled in us. The righteousness of the
law is not fulfilled by us, it's fulfilled in us. It's work that
was done, completed, and then put in us. What do we do after
it's fulfilled in us? We walk not after the flesh,
but after the spirit. We don't follow those things
we're dead to. We follow the one that made us alive. So if
someone comes to that throne of judgment with their own righteousness
outside the law, they'll face an eternity of damnation. If
they come to that throne of justice and judgment with their own righteousness
under the law, they'll face an eternity of damnation. If we
approach that throne of judgment with only Christ's robe of righteousness,
His holiness, His finished work, we will enter into bliss with
Him. Like we were just saying, I dropped the hymnal as I went
to look at it. He's our joy. He's our destination. Everybody wants to go to heaven.
Nobody knows what heaven is. It's a person. It's wherever
Christ is. I don't think they want to go.
They don't like Him. That's my Savior. He came here and died
for me. I want to be where He is. If
it looks like Kentucky or it looks like the desert, I don't
care. Where's He at? That's where I want to be. Paul says there in the text,
Jesus is going to judge according to my gospel. Can you say that
with Paul? Is this your gospel? This is
your good news. Christ came to the earth, made
under the law, made of a woman. He fulfilled the law. He died
bearing my sin and my shame. He was risen by the Father. He
sits right now on the right hand of the throne, performing everything. His hand in providence, ruling
all. And He will return and He will
judge according to His righteousness. That's my gospel. Eusebius was a historian back
in 300 AD. It took me about 15 minutes to
say his name. He wrote that Paul would refer
to Luke's gospel as my gospel. Talk about Luke's letters, Luke's
gospel. Paul would say that's my gospel.
He wasn't saying that Luke was his scribe. That was argued over
1,500 years ago. But he was saying that that truth
that was preached and witnessed by those other apostles, that
was the same that Paul had experienced. It was the same one that Paul
loved. It was the same truth given to him to preach. Nothing
had changed between Luke and Paul. It was the same truth that
saved both of them, wasn't it? That was Luke's gospel. That's
Paul's gospel. That's my gospel. That's your gospel. Same good
news to each of us. Turn over to 2 Corinthians 3. Verse 5, not that we are sufficient of
ourselves to think anything as of ourselves, but our sufficiency
is of God. When Paul was saying my gospel,
he wasn't saying he was the author of that gospel, but that was
the message given to him, wasn't it? Verse 6, who also hath made
us able ministers of the New Testament, not of the letter,
but of the Spirit. For the letter killeth, but the
Spirit giveth life. If a man's preaching that all
glory is to Christ alone, turn from the law and turn to him.
That's a sure sign that the Lord's made him able. Verse 7, But if
the menstruation of death, that law, written and engraved in
stone, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could
not steadfastly behold the face of Moses for the glory of his
countenance, Which glory was to be done away? The glory of
the law was done away with when Christ fulfilled it. And all
the glory is His. But if those stone tablets Moses
brought were so glorious that he glowed. Verse 8, How shall
not the menstruation of the Spirit be rather glorious? How much? And that word rather means much
more. If Moses glowed 24 hours a day whenever But I'm made like Christ and
I got to see with Him. How much more glorious will that
be? How much more glorious was it that spirit in me when the
Lord created life and said you're dead to that law? Well that was
wonderful wasn't it? I had that first love, that new
love. It wasn't my love to Him, it was that He loved me. That was glorious, much more
glorious than that dead law that does nothing but kill. But if
that law written of God's holiness and perfection, how much more
so is that spirit that ministers peace, that ministers mercy,
and ministers grace to us. That's more precious, isn't it? Christ will, in that last day,
be both the judge and the standard that all are judged by. And to
the sinner, standing by themselves, that should be absolutely terrifying. And to the saint, those sanctified
of the Lord, that's what saint means. That should be comforting. He said, no fear. When that day
comes, it's coming. I've said this a couple times.
I don't know anybody that's died that's still here. Everybody
from a thousand years ago ain't here, are they? Bones might be.
That judgment's coming. And a believer, if we look to
ourselves, we look to that law, look to the flesh, that menstruation
of death, we'll be afraid. But if we look to that judge
that died for us, that saved us, there's no fear to be had. Condemnation's over. Tell Israel
her warfare is complete. We have no more fighting to do,
do we? Our prayers are blessed to you. Let's pray together. Father, thank You and Your Word
for reminding us often and thoroughly, not to look to ourselves, not
to look to what to do. Thank you for providing your
son that's already got it done, that's already accomplished it,
that was effectual. Lord, keep us always looking
to him and not to ourselves. Be with our brethren everywhere.
Keep them turned to Christ. We must be kept, Lord. We're
like sheep. Prone to go astray, keep your
firm hand on us. We're thankful for the forgiveness
that you've given us, Lord. We're so rich in mercy and so
rich in grace, abundantly. Thank you for the trials that
you send, Lord, to correct us and keep us in our place. Be with our brethren that's suffering,
Lord. weak just like we are. You're the only one that can
comfort them and keep them to the end. It's in Christ's name
that we ask it. Amen.