Romans chapter 2. Romans chapter 2. And I'll begin reading in verse
11. For there is no respect of persons
with God. For as many as have sinned without
law shall also perish without 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 in their thoughts, the meanwhile accusing
or else excusing one another. In the day when God shall judge
the secrets of man by Jesus Christ, according to my gospel. Behold,
thou art called a Jew, and restest in the law, makest thou boast
of God, and knowest his will, and approvest the things that
are more excellent, being instructed out of the law, and art confident
that thou thyself art a guide of the blind, a light of them
that are in darkness, an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of
babes, which has the form of knowledge, and of the truth in
the law. Thou, therefore, which teachest
another, teachest thou not thyself? Thou that preachest that a man
should not steal, dost thou steal? Thou that sayest a man should
not commit adultery, dost thou commit adultery? Thou that abhorrest
idols, dost thou commit sacrilege? Thou that makest thy boast of
the law, through breaking the law dishonorest thou God. For the name of God is blasphemed
among the Gentiles through you, as it is written, for circumcision
verily profiteth if thou keep the law. But if thou be a breaker
of the law, thy circumcision is made uncircumcision. Therefore,
if the uncircumcision keep the righteousness of the law, shall
not his uncircumcision be counted for circumcision? And shall not
uncircumcision, which is by nature, if it fulfill the law, judge
thee, who by the letter and circumcision does transgress the law? For
he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly, neither is that circumcision,
which is outward in the flesh. But he is a Jew, which is one
inwardly, and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit,
and not in the letter, whose praise is not of men, but of
God." We continue to look at this part
of the letter of Romans in which the apostle Paul is declaring
and showing how that All the world is guilty before God, the
Jews as well as the Gentiles. And he does this, no doubt, to
convince all men that there can be no justification based on
human merit. He's going to come to that in
the next chapter, and we'll look at that, the Lord willing. But
there can be no justification. What is justification? It's a
legal term. a forensic term, they call it.
It's God declaring a person to be righteous. It's God declaring
a believer, one who believes by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ
to be righteous, absolutely righteous before him. Now, there are three
things that I want to point out to us tonight in these verses
that I read. First of all, A judgment day. A judgment day. If you notice
in verse 16, the apostle said, in the day when God shall judge
the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel. Let me mention to us three things
that we know about the judgment. Scripture says, for it's appointed
unto men once to die. but after this, the judgment. But here are three things that
we know about the judgment. First of all, the Lord Jesus
Christ is going to be the judge. The scriptures are very clear
about this. In fact, in John chapter five,
for the father judgeth no man, but committed all judgment unto
the son. The God-man, the mediator, he
will be the judge. As that scripture, those are
the words of the Lord Jesus. For the Father judges no man,
but committed all judgment unto the Son. When Paul was preaching
on Mars Hill in Athens, That's one of the points that he made
in his message. He said, because he hath appointed
a day, that is God has appointed a day in which he will judge
the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained,
whereof he hath given assurance unto all men and that he hath
raised him from the dead. God has given assurance to all
men. that there is going to be a judgment. And that assurance that God has
given to all men, he gave by raising his son, the Lord Jesus
Christ, from the dead. When we think about the Lord
Jesus Christ as a judge, this is just another testimony to
the truth that he is God. He is God manifest in the flesh. He will judge, the scripture
says in 2 Corinthians 5, for we must all appear before the
judgment seat of Christ. And this scripture here, again,
if you look there in verse 16, in the day when God shall judge
the secrets, in other words, the things that have gone on
in our mind that no one else but us know about and God, It
shows the deity, the fact that the Lord Jesus Christ is God
who is omniscient, who knows all things, who will be a competent
judge to judge the very secrets of men. And in 2 Corinthians
5, Paul said, for we must all appear before the judgment seat
of Christ. So we know that about the judgment
seat, that Christ is going to be the judge. Robert Haldane,
in his book, his commentary on the book of Romans, made this
comment about the Lord Jesus Christ as the judge. And I want
to mention it to us tonight because it shows us how the Lord is going
to be glorified. When you think about Jesus Christ,
he's going to be the one sitting upon the white throne, and all
men and women will come before him, all men, no exceptions. Robert Haldane said this, in
the economy of Jesus Christ, there are two extreme degrees,
one of abasement, the other of exaltation. The lowest degree
of his abasement was his death and burial. The opposite degree
of his exaltation will be the last judgment. In his death,
he was covered with reproaches and pierced with the arrows of
divine justice. He was exposed on the cross as
a spectacle to the whole city of Jerusalem. In the last judgment,
arrayed in glory and majesty, He will appear before the whole
universe in the glory of His Father. Those two extremes, His
extreme abasement when He was made to be sin for us, when men
spit in His face and men drove the nails through His hands and
His feet, pierced His hands and feet, and pierced His side. Extreme
abasement. Crucifixion on a cross was reserved
for slaves and for the worst of criminals. And here we have
the Lord Jesus Christ in the place of his people being crucified. Extreme abasement. But now, in
that day, in that day on the throne and all the world, before
Him, and He appears in the glory of His Father, the Majesty. What did Paul say in Philippians
chapter 2? That God hath given Him a name
which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee
shall bow, and every tongue shall confess that He is Lord to the
glory of God. So that's the first thing we
know about this judgment. The second thing is, this judgment
day is fixed. It's referred to as a day. Now
we know with the Lord a day is as a thousand years, and we're
talking about an eternal day here. an eternal day. But this day is fixed, and the
time of this judgment is not revealed. It's just like our
Lord's second coming when he comes again. God has reserved
that knowledge to himself. No man knows when he's going
to come a second time, when he's going to appear in glory with
all the holy angels. But we know he's coming. He's
fixed the day. And that day is marked on God's
calendar, isn't it? And it's just as sure as sure
can be. We know that. We know that there
is going to be a judgment and the day is fixed. The judge is
presented to us as the Lord Jesus Christ. And the third thing that
we know, and really before this, if you look back in verse two,
I'll just remind us of this. We saw this previously, but in
verse two, but we are sure that the judgment of God is according
to truth. We know that about the judgment,
don't we? That Christ is going to be the
judge, the day is fixed, and his judgment is going to be according
to truth. You can stand before a judge
in this world, and he's a man, that's all he is. He's not omniscient. And people sometimes can deceive
a judge very easily, but not God, not him, because His judgment
shall be according to truth. And the last thing, the third
thing, all men will be there. There will be no exceptions.
In Revelation chapter 20 and verse 11, we read, I saw a great
throne, a great white throne, rather. I saw a great white throne
and him that sat upon it. And I saw the dead, small and
great, stand before God. Small and great. There's no missing
this judgment. We all will be there. All of
us tonight, we're going to be there one day. All men, Jew and
Gentiles, those who had the law, that's what Paul is bringing
out, those who had the law, Like the nation of Israel, the law
was given unto them and those who didn't, the Gentiles, pagans
who lived in extreme darkness and wherever it may have been
in this world, but all men are going to be there. And that begs
the question and people sometimes use this kind of like an argument
against it, but they say, well, the Gentiles, men who didn't
have the law, Will they be there? They didn't have the written
law. Will they be at that judgment or will they be excused? No. Notice what the apostle says
in verse 12. For as many as have sinned without
law. Now, when he says without law,
he's talking about the law of Moses, isn't he? Those who have
sinned without law shall also perish without law. They did not have the written
law. This is a point the apostle is making. They didn't have the
written law like the Jews did, but they did and do, oh men,
have a conscience. A conscience which shows, it
shows to us what is left. Remember God created man in his
own image. And that was a moral image. Created in the image of God.
And that moral image has been marred, no doubt about it, because
of sin. But there's still vestiges of
that moral image in the heart, in the conscience of all men.
And people know what's right and what's wrong. And you see
this in nations, nations that had never had the law of God,
but they passed laws against certain things. against stealing. I mean, they didn't have the
law of Moses that said thou shall not steal, but still they knew
it was wrong and they passed civil laws against stealing and
against other things as well. Will the degree, here's a question
to consider. Those as many as have sinned
without law shall also perish without law, yes. But will the
degree of their punishment be the same as those who had the
law? And of course, the scriptures
answer that. If you look in Luke chapter 12,
the Lord Jesus Christ, he answered this question. You see, the more
life that a person has, the greater the responsibility. You and I, I've said this many
times, but we live in a place where you can get a Bible for,
what, $4.99 or $9.99 or maybe a little bit more, maybe a little
less. Everyone can. There's churches around this
church building right here. There's hundreds of people, thousands
of people who could be here. They could be under the gospel.
And the more light people have, the greater the responsibility. Here in Luke chapter 12 and verse
47 and 48, the Lord Jesus said, 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. In other words,
his punishment is going to be greater. He knew God's will,
but he did not do God's will. But he that knew not had no ability
to know. He lived in a place and in an
age and at a time when he didn't know. and did commit things worthy
of stripes, yes. In other words, if a person is
living in a place where the gospel has never come, where the word
of God has never come in extreme darkness, when he does wrong,
it's still sin, right? As well as if a person is living
where there is extreme light, where the gospel is preached
and where the word of God is abundantly brought forth. The fact that the man's living
in darkness doesn't mean that what he does is not sin. That's
the point I'm making. That when a man disobeys God,
it's sin, no matter if he has the law or doesn't have the law.
But he that knew not 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 the more. So that's the first point
I wanted to bring out of these verses tonight, a judgment day. Christ will be the judge, the
day is fixed, and all men shall appear. My second point in verse
17, a resting a resting in a name and in the
law. Verse 17. Behold, thou called
a Jew, called, that's your name, thou called a Jew, and rested
in the law. We see here Paul accuses, and
he's dealing mainly with Jews through this chapter, we understand
that. Paul accuses the Jews of resting in a name, in a name. They trusted in the fact that
they were descendants of Abraham. They boasted, Abraham is our
father. And when the Lord Jesus Christ
came into the world, the Jewish understanding and belief was
that that's all that counted. If you were a physical descendant
of Abraham, you were sure for heaven. That was it, just to
be descended from Abraham. They trusted in a name. Abraham is our father. Remember
they told the Lord Jesus, well, we've never been in bondage.
They were in bondage at that time. They said the Jewish nation,
they were under the rule of Rome when they told the Lord Jesus
Christ, we've never been in bondage. Well, they were in bondage. Abraham is our father. And you
remember what the Lord said? If Abraham were your father,
you would do the works of Abraham. One of those things he mentioned
was, you would love me. You would love me. If being a
descendant of Abraham, being a spiritual child of Abraham,
if you were, you would love me. Because he saw my day and he
rejoiced. Abraham did. When did Abraham
see the Lord's day? Was it when he took Isaac up
on that mountain? The Lord told him to sacrifice
his son, his only son. And he pulled that knife ready
to sacrifice. And the Lord stayed his hand
and pointed, there's a ram over there. Did he see the Lord's
day? Is that when he saw the Lord's
day? There's a substitute. There's a sacrifice caught in
the bushes there. Your son doesn't have to die.
And don't you know he rejoiced if that was the day? Don't you
know he rejoiced? Praise God, hallelujah. When
he went home that day with Isaac, don't you know that was a joyous
time? Had to be, had to be. Paul declares
that a Jew, if you notice down in verse 28 here in this chapter,
Paul declares that a Jew is one inwardly. For he is not a Jew,
which is one outwardly, neither is that circumcision, which is
outward in the flesh. So the first thing Paul shows
is they rested in a name, and second, they rested in the law. Look at that verse again, verse
17. Behold, thou called a Jew and
resteth in the law. A resting, This is what he means,
of course, they were resting in the fact that they were given
the law and the Gentiles weren't. But they should have known this,
it's not the hearers of the law that are just before God, verse
13. It's not the hearers of the law
that are just before God, but it is rather the doers of the
law shall be justified. It's not having the law. Every
one of us, we have the law. It's not memorizing the law.
It's not buying plaques that have the Ten Commandments and
putting them on your house. It's not having the law, memorizing
the law. It's doing the law. That's the
thing people miss, isn't it? People are, they don't realize
it's not just having the law. They rested in the fact that
But we have the law, and we're special. We have the law. Gentiles
don't have the law. Well, it wasn't having the law,
it was keeping the law. And keeping the law, we know
it's perfectly, if God is going to accept it. Once again, we
are reminded that the law is spiritual. It's not only the
outward observance of certain do's and do not's. but it is
rather the thoughts, even, and the desires of the heart. And they considered themselves,
Paul points out, you consider yourselves to be teachers, to
be a light to those who sit in darkness. Guides, you consider
yourself to be guides because you have the written law. They
could teach others what they should and should not do, but
they didn't teach themselves. They taught others that they
should not steal. Do you remember what the Lord
Jesus Christ said about the religious Jews, the leaders, when he was
here? He said, woe unto you, scribes
and Pharisees, religious leaders, taught the law, taught thou shall
not steal. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees,
hypocrites, for you devour widows' houses, and for pretense make long prayer. Therefore you shall receive the
greater damnation. They taught others a man should
not commit adultery. Do you remember when they brought
that woman? This is in John chapter eight. They brought that woman
to Jesus who they said, was in the very act of adultery. When
our Lord said, let him that is without sin cast the first stone,
why did those men, beginning at the oldest, began to move
out of the situation? Because they were all guilty
of adultery. It was very common, very common
thing in that day. And they did abhor idols, as
Paul says to them. Look there in verse 22. Thou
that sayest a man should not commit adultery, and dost thou
commit adultery, thou that abhorrest idols. Now that was true. They
did abhor idols. Had not always been the case.
No. In fact, that's the reason the
nation of Israel, God sent them into captivity for 70 years.
When they went into Babylon, it was because of idolatry. Remember, they wanted to be like
the nations around them. The first thing we see about
that, they wanted to have a king. God was their king. We want to
be like the nations around us. But that wasn't all. They wanted
to worship like the nations around them, and they worshiped all
kind of idols. You read in Ezekiel, for instance,
the first few chapters of Ezekiel, and God took the prophet to Jerusalem
in vision and showed him what Israel was doing, what they were
doing in the temple there in Jerusalem. They were worshiping
creeping things, just like he said in Romans chapter one about
the Gentiles. and they were worshiping a female
deity, and they were worshiping Baal, evidently, that idol of
jealousy. They were guilty of idolatry,
but let me say this, their time spent in Babylon cured them of
that sin. When Paul said, you abhor idolatry,
that was true. They had learned their lesson.
But, he said, you're guilty of sacrilege. Now, what does that
mean? It means that they were adding
to, they made void the word of God by their traditions. Look
with me in Mark chapter seven. Mark chapter seven. Verse six. Well, let me read. Yeah, verse six,
he answered that is the Lord Jesus and answered and said unto
them, well, have he says prophets out of you hypocrites that is
written. This people honors me with their
lips, but their heart is far. from me. Howbeit in vain do they
worship me." Here it is, teaching for doctrines the commandments
of God. For laying aside the commandment
of God, you hold the tradition of men." And here was what they
were accusing the disciples of eating with unworshipped hands.
And they had the tradition, certain ceremony that they would go through
after they had been in public and maybe had been rubbed up
against some Gentile, and were contaminated. You know, they
came home, they had a little ceremony they went through, washing
their hands up to their elbows. But they did that, that was tradition. But they laid aside the commandment
of God, honor thy father and thy mother. And what they did,
they said, well, to their father, Carbon. That ended it, carbon. However you could have been profited
by me, that's now dedicated to God. And so they made void the
commandment of God, sacrilege. That's what we're talking about
here. If you go back to Romans, just a moment, they failed to
say that Christ is the end of the law for righteousness. We
don't want to get ahead of ourselves, but if you look in chapter 10
of Romans, Paul is here talking about his countrymen, that is,
Jews. Brethren, my heart's desire and
prayer to God for Israel is that they might be saved. For I bear
them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to
knowledge. For they being ignorant of God's
righteousness, that is, that righteousness of Christ that
I spoke about this morning, being ignorant of God's righteousness
and going about to establish their own righteousness, have
not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God. For
Christ is the end." That word end means the goal, the goal,
just like a goal post, you know, when you're playing football,
you're trying to move that That boiled down to the goal. So Christ
is in the goal of the law. That's the reason the law was
given in the first place, to point us to our need of Christ,
of a savior, a schoolmaster to lead us to Christ. They didn't
see that. They rested just in the fact
they had the law. They boasted of that. All right,
here's the last thing. They also trusted in an outward
mark. in verses 25 through 29 for circumcision. One writer pointed out that here,
Paul pursued the Jews into their last stronghold, circumcision. We are the circumcision. This was their last stronghold. I mean, they had to be right.
with God because they had that mark in their flesh. Well, this
was an outward mark that God had given to Abraham long before,
by the way, long before God gave the law through Moses. He'd given
this outward mark and it did distinguish the Jews from those
around them, the nations around them. But Paul shows that if
it were possible, and this is a hypothetical here, if it were
possible that an uncircumcised man kept the law perfectly. Again, this is hypothetical.
He's not saying that any man can keep the law perfectly. But
if a man did and he was uncircumcised, his keeping the law perfectly
would make him, it would be counted for circumcision. A person is
a true Jew, not by the outward marks, but by inward sanctification,
inward sanctification. He has, the true Jew, he has
the law written upon his heart, not upon his doorpost, on his
heart. Look with me in Philippians chapter
three and I'll close. To me, this is the greatest definition
of a true Jew right here in Philippians chapter three. He refers to us
as a circumcision. Three marks, not in the flesh,
they're not outward marks. Philippians 3 and verse 3, for
we are the circumcision, here it is, which worship God in the
spirit. Remember what our Lord told that
lady of Samaria, the hour cometh and now he is where the true
worshipers shall worship, neither in this mountain nor in Jerusalem,
but they that worship God must worship him in spirit and in
truth. For we are the circumcision which
worship God in the spirit. Number two, we rejoice in Christ
Jesus. And number three, we have no
confidence in the flesh. Not my flesh, your flesh, or
any other man's flesh. Man at his best state is altogether
vanity. That's true of me, it's true
of you, it's true of everyone. If we're believers and children
of God tonight, we all say the same thing, I am what I am by
the grace of God. There's not a lick of difference
between us and any other person in this world as far as our nature
is concerned. We come into this world with
a fallen nature. And anything, any other person
has done, any gross, wicked, evil, detestable sin that any
man or woman has ever committed, we could have committed that
same sin, but by the grace of God. We have no confidence in
the flesh. I was thinking about this, I
rested in the name and in the law, How many people today are
resting in some outward distinction? I'm a Baptist. Well, I'm a Methodist. I'm a Roman Catholic. Resting
in some outward distinction. I'm a Calvinist. I'm an Armenian. I'm a King James Version only
person. Resting in some outward work. No, our rest is or must be in
Christ alone, who He is and what He has done for His people. May
the Lord bless this word.