full
"Only" God Can Judge Me (Romans 2:6-16) | Louis Azuma
00:00 Introduction to Romans Chapter Two
01:56 Facing God's Judgment
03:01 Understanding God's Just Judgment
04:25 Two Categories of Judgment
09:14 The Reality of God's Wrath
11:11 Christians and Accountability
15:45 No Favoritism in God's Judgment
19:20 Assumptions About God's Favoritism
21:10 God's Impartial Judgment
24:09 The Fate of Those Who Haven't Heard the Gospel
33:34 Universal Sin and God's Mercy
36:29 The Gospel: Mercy and Grace
Transcript
Romans two.
2
:We're continuing on in Romans chapter two.
3
:So something that, um, I
went, I went to school to, uh.
4
:To do pastor stuff.
5
:And, uh, one of the things that I, I took
a class on how to preach a sermon and,
6
:uh, one of these classes actually Pastor
PJ was, was helping teach this class.
7
:And we did these things, they
call them sermon reviews.
8
:And in a sermon review, what you
do is you sit down with like.
9
:One of the pastors, so like, it'd be,
it was like me and Pastor pj, and we
10
:sit down and we just watch one of my
sermons, and this is like one of the most
11
:awkward, painful things you can imagine.
12
:Like, imagine watching a video
of like, like you, have you
13
:done a presentation at school?
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:Or like, something like that.
15
:Imagine someone sits down with you and
you guys watch that presentation together
16
:and they're like, why'd you say that?
17
:Why'd you do that?
18
:Wait, what?
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:How did you, how did you make that point?
20
:What was that?
21
:Why'd you say that?
22
:So I was, I was doing this, this sermon
review with Pastor PJ and he pauses
23
:it three seconds into my sermon and he
goes, what's wrong with this picture?
24
:I was like, what?
25
:What?
26
:It's been three seconds and I'm
already doing something wrong.
27
:It was crazy.
28
:So the prob, there was a lanyard in
my pocket and it was like hanging.
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:And apparently it was distracting.
30
:So if you notice, I never have anything
in my front pockets when I preach
31
:anymore, because I'm scarred for life
from that moment because I'm scared
32
:that he's gonna watch the sermon
and be like, what are you doing?
33
:Why do you have something in your pocket?
34
:So anyway.
35
:But sermon review was scary, right?
36
:Sitting down with, with pastor pj.
37
:Imagine if you had to sit down with,
with like your teacher, or maybe
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:if you're, you play a sport, right?
39
:You watch film, like imagine you
watching film of, of your swing
40
:or, or of your concert with someone
who's like a professional, right?
41
:Someone who's really good at their
job and they're gonna evaluate you.
42
:They're gonna be like, all
right, why'd you do that?
43
:What was that for?
44
:How'd you do that?
45
:That wasn't very good, right?
46
:What if you did that with someone
that was really good at their job?
47
:That's what happened to me.
48
:And see, here's the thing, is every
single one of you and every single one
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:of us, like me, myself, included, one
day, every single one of us is gonna
50
:sit down before God and he's going to
judge us according to what we've done.
51
:He's, we, we are gonna be accountable
to God for everything We've done,
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:everything we've thought, right?
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:Imagine all of the things you ever
thought, all the things you ever
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:said, all the things you ever felt.
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:You are gonna have to
give an answer to God.
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:Why'd you do that?
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:Why'd you think that?
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:Why'd you say that?
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:Why'd you feel that you're
gonna be accountable to God
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:for all of those things?
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:God is going to judge every
single one of us one day when you,
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:when you meet him face to face.
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:And that is either gonna go really well
or, or really bad for, for some of you.
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:So our main point tonight is that God
gives people exactly what they deserve.
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:God gives people exactly what they
deserve, not more and not less.
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:So turn your Bibles to Romans chapter
two if you're not there already.
67
:And look with me, we're gonna be looking
at verses six all the way down to 16.
68
:All right, so let's
start here in verse six.
69
:God says, or the apostle Paul's
writing this letter, he says, God will
70
:render to each person, he'll give to
each person according to his works.
71
:So God will give proportionately
to someone's works.
72
:He'll judge people based on their works.
73
:Verse seven, to those who by patience
and well doing, seek for glory and honor
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:and immortality, he'll give eternal life.
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:So that will go really
well for them, verse eight.
76
:But for those who are self-seeking
and do not obey the truth,
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:but obey unrighteousness.
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:So if you're selfish, if
you're obeying unrighteousness,
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:there will be wrath and fury.
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:God's white hot anger towards sin.
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:We talked about that a
few weeks ago, right?
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:And then he goes on to say
some of the same things.
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:Verse nine.
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:There'll be tribulation and distress
for every human being who does evil.
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:The Jew first and also the Greek, right?
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:The people who don't have
God's word at this time.
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:But verse 10, glory and honor.
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:And peace for everyone who does good.
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:The Jew first and also the Greek.
90
:We'll talk more about what that means.
91
:Verse 11.
92
:For God shows no partiality, right?
93
:God is a good judge.
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:God gives people exactly
what they deserve.
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:He doesn't show favoritism.
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:This paragraph right here
really only shows two outcomes
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:of this judgment, right?
98
:There's only two categories
of people, right?
99
:Look, look with me at these verses here.
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:God's gonna judge every single person
according to their works, right?
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:One category, I'm scared to erase this.
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:Will I get in trouble if I erase it?
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:Okay.
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:Verse seven.
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:There's one category, right?
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:People who get judged and
it goes well for them.
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:People who get judged,
they get eternal life.
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:Another category of person
who are self-seeking, there's
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:gonna be wrath and fury.
110
:There's really only two categories.
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:There's only two outcomes
of this test, if you will.
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:This is pass fail, right?
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:This isn't 80%, 90%, 70%, 60%.
114
:This is pass fail.
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:It's one or the other.
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:Those are the only, only ways
this is gonna go for you.
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:There's not, well, I'm, maybe I'll
just get some of, some of the good
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:stuff and some of the bad stuff.
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:Right.
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:Or maybe, well, I'm not that bad of a
person, so maybe it'll, it won't be,
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:maybe it'll just be like, I don't know.
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:Some consequences, but
not like wrath and fury.
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:Right?
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:Or, well, I'm not a great person, so
I'll just get some good stuff from God.
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:No, it, it is only gonna
go one of two ways.
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:It's a hundred percent or 0%.
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:You're in one of these two categories
tonight, right now, if you died,
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:you would end up in one of these two
categories, eternal Life or God's Wrath.
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:And I hope you know which one you're in,
and I hope you know if you're in this
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:one, that you're in a dangerous spot.
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:So I want you to be thinking about this.
132
:I want you to, to really be
thinking, okay, one day I'm going
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:to stand before God, and one
of two things is gonna happen.
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:I am going to have the best
day of my life, or I'm gonna
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:have the worst day of my life.
136
:I'm gonna either spend forever
enjoying God and and his glory,
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:or I'm gonna spend forever hating
everything about what's going on.
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:There's only two options here.
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:And if you thought about that, man,
I'm gonna stand before God one day
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:and this is what's gonna happen.
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:In.
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:I think that would change a lot about
what you did and what you thought.
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:And I know that would be the same for me.
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:So ignore this slide.
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:But my first point tonight is
to think about God's judgment.
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:Often.
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:Often I think that would change a
lot about us, about what we did,
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:about what we thought was important,
about what we thought was good
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:for us, the decisions we make, the
words we said, the jokes we made.
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:Would change a lot about us
if we just thought, man, I'm
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:gonna stand before God one day.
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:And he's gonna say, why'd you do that?
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:I don't know if you guys still do this.
154
:When I was in high school, this is
how we sound really old, when I was
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:your age, we wrote essays and uh, they
were, we would like peer review each
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:other's essays, you know what I mean?
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:Like, here, this person's gonna grade my
essay and I'm gonna grade their essay.
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:And we're gonna read it and, and
we're gonna mark it up and whatever.
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:And what I realized very quickly about,
you know, these peer graded essays is
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:that no one's honest on these things.
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:You know why no one's honest
on a peer review essay?
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:Because they're scared if they say
something bad about you, that you're
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:gonna say something bad about them.
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:Right?
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:They're like, oh, well this
sentence doesn't make any sense.
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:But you know what, Josh is reading
my paper, and if I write something
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:really, really bad on his paper, then.
168
:He's probably gonna be like, oh, well
since you did that, I'm gonna do this.
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:Right.
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:So a peer, peer graded essay never
really worked because everyone was
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:just really nice to each other.
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:Everyone just was like,
well, uh, I don't know.
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:I'm not gonna say what I normally would
say if it was anonymous, because I'm
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:thinking, I'm thinking about, oh, this
other person is judging me just as
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:I'm judging them, they're judging me.
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:And that thought of, oh, I'm gonna have
to like actually give this back to them.
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:That's why it's easy to say
mean things over text, right.
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:Or on Twitter, because you're not
actually like talking to the person.
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:You don't have to actually like face
a reaction for what you're saying.
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:Same with these, with these peer
review essays, you, you have to
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:actually hand it back to the person.
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:They're like, oh, you wrote that?
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:You, you said that about,
about my intro paragraph.
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:You said that about my thesis.
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:Right?
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:So that thought of judgment.
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:It changes the way you grade the essay.
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:And I think the same thing
should be true of us.
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:That thought of God is gonna hold
me accountable for what I do.
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:That should change the way that we act.
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:That should change the way that we think
the things that we think are important.
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:If you aren't a believer in this room,
if you know, man, I'm, I'm in that
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:second category, I'm under God's wrath.
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:I don't trust Jesus to save me.
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:I, I do want you to think about it.
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:I want you to, to really realize
what you're saying, right?
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:If I died tonight, I
would be going to hell.
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:That's where you sit right now, and I,
it's easy to just hear the sermon, feel
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:bad about it for 30 seconds and move on.
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:You get in the car, you start
talking about something else.
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:You go to sleep, you
move on with your life.
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:It's, it's easy to do that.
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:And I want you to think about,
man, I'm in danger, right?
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:We talked about how God's wrath is.
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:Is being stored up, right?
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:The way you're living is
storing up God's wrath.
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:It's hanging over you.
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:You know, like that lightning cloud
in Mario Kart that makes you go faster
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:and then it zaps you at the end, right?
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:And you're like trying to get
that thing, you're trying to bump
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:someone to get that thing off you.
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:'cause you're like, I'm gonna get zapped.
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:That's you right Now.
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:You're driving around with this
thunder cloud over you that's,
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:that's gonna zap you and you're
just hoping it doesn't zap you yet.
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:I want you to think about that.
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:It's, it's hanging over you and,
and you don't know when it's gonna,
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:when when you're done, right?
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:You don't know when your last day is,
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:and I don't want you to suppress that.
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:We talked about people
suppressing the truth.
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:You, it's easy for me to say that.
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:And you like, oh man, yeah, I
really should become a Christian.
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:Oh, maybe later.
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:And you procrastinate, you suppress it.
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:You say, oh, well, I don't know if
real Bible is really true, or, oh God
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:can't be good 'cause bad things happen.
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:Or, I don't really know if
Jesus is God, or, I don't really
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:know if God would save me.
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:And you just push it back.
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:I'll do that when I'm older.
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:I don't wanna do that right now.
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:It's, it's so easy to do that.
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:And what I'm asking you to do is to
just think about, to realize, man, I am.
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:I am as one famous person.
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:Put it, you're like a spider
hanging over, hanging over a fire
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:by just the little, little web.
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:But if you're a Christian in
this room, you may have not
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:thought about this before, but,
but God judges Christians too.
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:It's not the same.
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:It's not a heaven or hell judgment.
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:But God judges, Christians
here in Romans 14.
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:Later in, well actually we won't get here.
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:Verse stopping at chapter
eight, um, because otherwise
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:we'd be doing this for years.
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:Um, Romans 1412, Paul, right?
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:Paul's a Christian.
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:He says, each one of us will give
an account of himself to God if
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:you're a Christian in this room.
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:You're still gonna be held accountable
for the things that you did.
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:Yes, Jesus will pay for your
sin, but you still have to answer
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:to God for what you've done.
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:God still holds you responsible for
how you use your time, how you use your
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:energy, the, the things that you've
thought about, the things that you've
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:prioritized, and I hope that clarifies
for you what your priorities are.
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:I hope that clarifies for you.
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:Oh man, I'm gonna have to, to
turn my life into God one day.
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:Answer for how I used it.
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:God gave me a life.
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:He gave me a phone, he gave me a car.
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:He gave me a school to be at.
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:He gave me talents.
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:He gave me a voice.
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:He gave me a body, and I'm
supposed to use them for him.
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:So I hope that you think about
that, but also I hope you think
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:about too as, as we looked at in
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:this passage, right?
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:There's, there's good things that
you get from being a Christian.
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:The judgment of Christians is
also one of rewards, right?
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:Christians don't.
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:It's not just, oh, great, you're saved.
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:Cool.
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:No.
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:Christians get things for the
good things that they've done.
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:Jesus talks about this all the time.
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:He talks about rewards in heaven.
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:God rewards some Christians
more than others.
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:God is not communist, right?
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:God is.
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:Capitalist, if you want
to put it that way.
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:God rewards Christians for the,
for the things that they've done,
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:and so you will never do something
for God that's not worth it.
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:Think about that as a Christian,
you'll never, you make a sacrifice
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:that God won't make worth it for you.
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:One.
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:You lose a friend because you share
the gospel with them and they don't
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:like you anymore, or you'd miss
out on that, on that party or that
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:relationship because you know that that's
gonna lead you away from God or you.
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:You don't click on that video or you don't
read that book, or you're not part of that
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:conversation or that friend group anymore.
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:It's gonna be worth it.
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:God will make it worth it for
you one day, maybe not this week,
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:but one day he will, and you can
trust him for that as a Christian.
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:So I hope that's motivating
for you too of man, I could
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:never give up too much for God.
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:God will reward your faithfulness, you,
and even if no one else sees it, right?
297
:Even if your parents don't see it,
even if your leader doesn't see it,
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:even if no one knows about it, right?
299
:You know that God will reward you.
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:That's what Jesus says, right?
301
:Your don't let your right hand
know what your, your left hand
302
:know, what your right hand's doing.
303
:Your father who sees what's going
on in secret will reward you.
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:So I hope that's encouraging
for you as well, if, if you
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:are a Christian in this room.
306
:Now, maybe you're sitting there and you're
thinking, well, I'm not sure, right?
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:I'm not sure if I'm a Christian.
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:I don't know which category I'm in,
and I would just ask you to, to just
309
:do some digging into that, right?
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:You say you're not sure.
311
:Well, don't just sit there and
be like, oh, well, I'm not sure.
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:Oh, well, right.
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:If you're not sure, you're one of your
biggest priorities should be figuring
314
:out whether you are a Christian
or whether you're not a Christian.
315
:So ask some questions.
316
:Why am I not sure?
317
:Maybe it's, oh, well, I keep sinning.
318
:Okay, well ask questions about that.
319
:Why, you know, is, is my sin something
that a Christian is, would, would do, or
320
:something that a Christian wouldn't do?
321
:Am I trusting Jesus or
am I trusting in myself?
322
:Ask questions to see.
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:Okay, read the Bible, right?
324
:There's a book of the Bible, first John.
325
:That's all about whether
or not you're a Christian.
326
:So God has given you things.
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:Talk to your parents,
talk to your leaders.
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:Do some digging and ask questions.
329
:But I want you to think
about God's judgment.
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:No matter who you are in this room,
I want you to think one day I'm gonna
331
:stand before God and I'm gonna have to
answer for everything that I've done.
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:Every Jesus says in Matthew 12, every
word, every careless word you've
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:ever spoken, every text you've ever
sent, every image you've ever seen,
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:every website you've ever been to,
every meme you've ever sent, you
335
:have to answer for that to God.
336
:So think about God's judgment often.
337
:But here's the thing, and what we'll see
that, uh, in this passage is that thinking
338
:about God's judgment won't do you any
good if you just assume that you're fine.
339
:So look with me here at verse 11.
340
:Okay?
341
:So God says, God shows no partiality.
342
:God shows no partiality.
343
:That means favoritism, right God.
344
:God doesn't show any favoritism.
345
:God doesn't treat some people.
346
:Better than other people's just because
oh, well they're from this country.
347
:Right?
348
:And that's what Paul's audience, he's
talking to Jews and Gentiles and the
349
:Jewish people in the audience were
saying, well, you know, we're, we're
350
:Jews, we're God's chosen people.
351
:God gave us the Old Testament.
352
:God sent us prophets.
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:So we must be better off.
354
:We must, God must like us.
355
:Essentially is what these Jews are saying.
356
:God will treat us better than those other
people because we're special to God.
357
:We're God's favorite people.
358
:And what Paul is saying is
God doesn't have favorites.
359
:He doesn't not gonna treat the, the
Jews better and the Gentiles worse just
360
:because, well, you're from Israel, or
you know who Moses is, or you know,
361
:the 10 Commandments or whatever.
362
:Why?
363
:Well, all who've sinned without the
law will also perish without the law.
364
:But all who have sinned under the
law will be judged by the law.
365
:So what's the common denominator here?
366
:Everyone's sinned and everyone who sinned
will perish, will be judged, right?
367
:Everyone's guilty before God.
368
:And then verse 13.
369
:Here's why.
370
:It's not the people who hear the law,
who go to church, who hear sermons
371
:in true North, who memorize Bible
verses who have Christian parents.
372
:It's not those people who are
righteous before God, but the people
373
:who do the law, the people who live
out what God says, those are the
374
:people who are gonna be justified.
375
:Paul is not judging PE or God is
not judging people based on where
376
:they're from or their background
or how much they know God's judging
377
:people based on how they live.
378
:That's what, what.
379
:Paul is saying here.
380
:So for our second point tonight,
don't count on favoritism for God.
381
:Don't be like these Jews who think,
oh, well my sins not as bad because
382
:me and God, me and God are tight.
383
:I'm part of God's special
group, so it's okay.
384
:Or those people over there, they
don't know as much as me, so God
385
:will judge them harsher than me.
386
:So when I was in middle school, I
was in band 'cause I was really cool.
387
:Um, and I was my band
director's favorite student.
388
:Like teachers always say
we don't have favorites.
389
:Teachers have favorite students,
a hundred percent right.
390
:Um, and I was clearly my band
director's favorite suit.
391
:And it was, it was awesome.
392
:It was like the best thing ever.
393
:So I needed to get something in the
middle of class and I went up and got it.
394
:I came back, the person next
to me did the exact same thing.
395
:They needed to get something, the
same thing that I needed, went up
396
:and got it, and they got in trouble.
397
:I was like, this is epic.
398
:I can just do whatever I want.
399
:This is great.
400
:So, which I, I did need it and it did
help me like it was like for a good
401
:purpose, but it was just hilarious.
402
:I felt really bad, but also I was like,
that's hilarious that you got in trouble.
403
:And I didn't.
404
:So I was my band director's
favorite student and so.
405
:Naturally right there, there might
be things that I would think, oh, I
406
:could take advantage of this, right?
407
:Because I'm my band
director's favorite student.
408
:I can, I can mess around, I can get away
with things that maybe other students
409
:wouldn't be able to get away with, right?
410
:I get the special perks of, of being, you
know, the band director's favorite student
411
:I got, for some reason, they let me play
percussion with the orchestra and I got
412
:to go to San Diego with the orchestra.
413
:I was like, I shouldn't be.
414
:We have real percussionists.
415
:They picked the guy who
plays trumpet to, anyway.
416
:It was, it was, it was great.
417
:Um, so I got to do all these
cool things because I was my
418
:band director's favorite student.
419
:Now, some of you and some of us,
I think we, we don't actually say,
420
:oh yeah, God must like me more than
other people, but we kind of assume.
421
:Here.
422
:Here I'll show you some things you
might think that God will be partial
423
:to you, will will be like you're one
of God's favored people, that God won't
424
:be as harsh on you in his judgment
for, for maybe certain reasons, right?
425
:Maybe you think, well, I go to church,
so in implicitly you think, oh, well
426
:I must be a Christian, or, oh, well
I won't, I won't suffer as much.
427
:Of god's of, of God's wrath as
people who don't go to church.
428
:'cause at least I go to church.
429
:Maybe I'm not a Christian, but
I, I know, I know the Bible.
430
:I go to church so I can't be as bad at.
431
:We even talked about a couple weeks
ago, people who really reject God's
432
:even natural design, you think, no,
maybe you're not as bad as those people.
433
:That's you saying that God's
gonna show you favoritism
434
:just 'cause you go to church.
435
:Just 'cause you, you go to the
right church or you have the right
436
:parents, or maybe you assume,
oh, I must be a Christian because
437
:I serve, I serve in kids, men.
438
:I help set up, I, I share the
gospel with people at school.
439
:I, I do religious things and maybe you
think, oh, that must make me a Christian.
440
:I memorized Bible verses.
441
:I know a lot about the Bible.
442
:Maybe you think, oh, I must be a
Christian because I feel bad about my sin.
443
:I feel really bad when I sin,
so I must be a Christian now.
444
:It's a good sign, but.
445
:Guess who else feels felt
really bad about his sin?
446
:Judas.
447
:So doesn't mean you're a Christian, right?
448
:Maybe you think, oh, well, um, I'm
young so God won't, won't really
449
:hold me accountable for my sin.
450
:He only holds like adults
accountable for their sin.
451
:Maybe you wouldn't say it like that, but
that's maybe something you think about,
452
:oh, I can just become a Christian later.
453
:It's not a big deal.
454
:Well, God judges everyone,
not just older people.
455
:Or maybe you think, well, I have like
this moment, this salvation moment
456
:I was at camp and the worst that
music was, was whatever is is great.
457
:And I was crying and I talked to my
leader and I, I prayed this prayer
458
:and that's why I'm a Christian.
459
:Like, well that doesn't
make you a Christian.
460
:Right.
461
:Some experience you had, or I talked
to my mom when I was four years old
462
:and we, we prayed this prayer together
and that's what makes me a Christian.
463
:Experience doesn't make
you a Christian, right?
464
:Just having this this moment
doesn't make you a Christian.
465
:Trusting Jesus is what
makes you a Christian.
466
:So there's a lot of things that maybe
you can just behind the scenes think,
467
:oh, well this must be, I'm, I'm better
off than, than the other people.
468
:That God's wrath isn't really as much
for me as it is really for those people.
469
:Maybe you just think, well, I'm just, I'm
not, you know, I'm not a serial killer.
470
:I'm not a, I'm not a
really bad person, so.
471
:I must not be that bad.
472
:And that's, the Bible is
simply not, that's not true.
473
:There's, there's two categories, right?
474
:There's eternal life
and there's God's wrath.
475
:There's not this, well, you're
a good person, but you're
476
:not a Christian category.
477
:Or you go to church but you're
not a Christian category.
478
:There's, that's not a
real, that's not a thing.
479
:There's two categories, but sometimes
also as Christians, we can kind of do
480
:the same thing and minimize our sin.
481
:I think a lot of us Christians in
the room has said something like this
482
:before, well, God will forgive me anyway.
483
:And so our sin is not as big
of a deal or God loves me.
484
:So now that we've become a
Christian, we don't see our sin
485
:the same way we used to see it.
486
:We see other people sinning and
we're like, oh, that's really bad.
487
:And then we look at our sin, we're
like, well, I'm working on it.
488
:So it's not that bad.
489
:Well, it's still sin, right?
490
:It's still, still God.
491
:God's wrath is still directed at that sin.
492
:Jesus still died for that sin.
493
:Maybe we think.
494
:Other people are worse than us.
495
:All right, well, I've grown a lot, so
that makes my sin better than theirs.
496
:It's like, well, no, it doesn't make
your, I mean, yes, you have grown a
497
:lot that's great, but doesn't make
your sin better than someone else.
498
:So there's, there's even ways
that Christians, we do this too.
499
:We think that our sin isn't as big of
a deal because of, of things about us.
500
:'cause we've grown a lot or because
we've been saved or because God
501
:will forgive us or God loves me.
502
:Or maybe this is, this is for everyone,
but no one knows about it, right?
503
:So you don't think it's a big deal,
or it's not hurting anyone, so
504
:you don't think it's a big deal.
505
:That's simply not true.
506
:Just 'cause your sin doesn't hurt
anyone, doesn't mean it's not that bad.
507
:So don't count on favoritism for
God, for even those kind of things.
508
:God doesn't like your
sin more for any reason.
509
:He's not more okay with your sin.
510
:Even if you are a Christian, he's
not like, oh, well your sin iss not
511
:that bad as long as you're saved.
512
:It's not that bad.
513
:That's not true.
514
:But talking about God's judgment, it
naturally leads us to another question.
515
:'cause maybe you've, you've had this
question in the back of your mind and
516
:maybe when someone asks you about,
about have you become a Christian
517
:or what this is your go-to question.
518
:Well, what about the people?
519
:Who have never heard of God?
520
:What about the people who
don't know who Jesus is?
521
:What about the people who, and they
live in an island somewhere and no one's
522
:ever gonna share their gospel with them?
523
:What about those people?
524
:How can God be a good judge?
525
:And what about these
people they don't know?
526
:They don't.
527
:Well, that is exactly what Paul is gonna
talk about in these next few verses.
528
:Okay?
529
:Look at verse 12 with me.
530
:So we saw this already for all.
531
:Who have sinned without the law.
532
:You see that without the law,
these people don't have the Bible,
533
:essentially, is what Paul's saying.
534
:These people don't, they don't.
535
:They don't have the law.
536
:You know?
537
:They don't have Genesis,
they don't have Exodus.
538
:They don't know the 10 Commandments.
539
:They don't know what God
expects of them, supposedly.
540
:But Paul says those people
will still perish even though
541
:they don't have the law.
542
:Those people are still under God's wrath,
even though they don't have the law.
543
:And then all people who have, who are
under the law will be judged by the law.
544
:Why?
545
:Well, first thing, it's not just the, the
people who hear the law, having the Bible,
546
:going to church, being Jewish in this case
is not an advantage before God because God
547
:will judge you based on what you've done.
548
:That the same standard is for everyone.
549
:That's, that's the first thing.
550
:God has the same standard for all people.
551
:God is a perfect judge.
552
:He, he gives this exact same judgment
on everyone, people who have the law
553
:and people who don't have the law.
554
:So before we, we dive into more
of this, there's three more
555
:verses that I wanna look at.
556
:I want you to write down
our third point, okay.
557
:Agree with God's perfect justice.
558
:One of my goals for you from.
559
:Looking at Romans chapters one
through three is I want you to be
560
:able to, to say God does the right
thing when he sends people to hell.
561
:I want you to be able to say that,
and that sounds kind of weird, but
562
:I want you to be able to say that
because that's what, what really
563
:one of the reasons we should worship
God is that God punishes sin.
564
:We want God to punish sin.
565
:We want God who does something
about all the bad people.
566
:We want God who does something about all
the bad things that happen in the world.
567
:That's one of the main
objections to Christianity.
568
:If God is good, why do bad things happen?
569
:People want God to do
something about bad things.
570
:The answer is that God does do
things about all the bad things.
571
:God punishes everyone's sin, and
then we say, whoa, whoa, whoa.
572
:That's not fair.
573
:You can't have both.
574
:Right?
575
:You either have a God who punishes sin or
you have a God who doesn't care about sin.
576
:If you have a God who doesn't care
about sin, then you have bad things
577
:happening and you don't have any
right to complaint about it, right?
578
:'cause you don't have a judge.
579
:But if you have a good judge,
then here's the problem is that
580
:judge is gonna care about you and
about your sin and my sin too.
581
:So we have a God who cares about sin, who
does something about sin, and I want you
582
:to to, to look at the book of Romans and
say, okay, God does something about sin.
583
:And that's a good thing.
584
:It's a good thing that God
punishes sin the way he does.
585
:So look at the rest of these verses.
586
:Okay, so we talked about, great, we
know that the Jews are responsible for
587
:their sin 'cause they have God's law.
588
:But what about that thing Paul
said about people without the law?
589
:What about them?
590
:Well, here we go.
591
:Verse 14, for when Gentiles who
do not have the law by nature,
592
:do what the law requires.
593
:So what does that mean?
594
:Okay, so Gentiles, right?
595
:People who, who aren't Jewish.
596
:They don't have the law, right?
597
:They, they didn't get to, to,
to hear the 10 Commandments.
598
:They didn't get to read
the, the book of Leviticus.
599
:They didn't get to read Genesis.
600
:They don't know, right?
601
:They don't have God's law.
602
:But still, they do what the law
requires, which is they, they
603
:sometimes do the things that God
thinks people should do, right?
604
:Like every culture says
murder is bad, right?
605
:Every culture says stealing is bad.
606
:Every culture has these, these
similar morals because as we'll see
607
:here, they show that the work of
the law is written on their hearts.
608
:Everyone has an inherent sense inside
of, of what God, what God's law is.
609
:Everyone has an idea of, oh, that's bad.
610
:That's, that's good.
611
:Everyone has an inherent sense.
612
:It's called your conscience, right?
613
:That's why that everyone
feels bad when they lie.
614
:Everyone feels bad when they lie,
unless you keep doing it over and
615
:over and over and over and over
and you don't feel bad anymore.
616
:You've seared your conscience
at that point, right?
617
:You've, you've burned it so it
doesn't feel anything anymore.
618
:Kind of like if you, you ever seen
something get cauterized, right?
619
:Not a fun word.
620
:That's what they're doing.
621
:They're burning it, so
you can't feel it anymore.
622
:So everyone feels bad about
their sin because everyone knows.
623
:God's has has a general idea of God's
law and their conflicting thoughts
624
:accuse or even excuse them on that day
when according to my gospel, God judges
625
:the secret of men by Christ Jesus.
626
:So what Paul is saying here is
that every single person has
627
:an idea of right and wrong.
628
:Every single person knows
enough about God's law to know
629
:that they break God's law.
630
:Does that make sense?
631
:Every single person knows
enough about God's law to say.
632
:I broke it.
633
:I, I'm not good enough because everyone
feels bad about things they've done.
634
:Everyone feels bad about, oh, well
I lied, or I stole this, or I hated
635
:this person, or I coveted this
person, or I dishonored this person.
636
:Everyone knows these things implicitly.
637
:So everyone has God's law
written on their hearts,
638
:so that gives God.
639
:More than enough reason
to judge them, right?
640
:If they know that they've
sinned, of course God can say,
641
:yeah, definitely you've sinned.
642
:'cause they already know.
643
:So it's not like, oh, they're gonna show
up on on Judgment day and be like, oh,
644
:I didn't know that I was a bad person.
645
:So everyone knows what
they should be doing.
646
:God's law is written on, on
everyone's heart, and everyone
647
:knows they're a sinner.
648
:Their conscience, it says
bears witness, right?
649
:Like in a courtroom, it's almost like you
do something wrong and your conscience
650
:is like, like an attorney saying, Hey,
what you did was just wrong, right?
651
:Like when you, like the very first
time you ever stole something, right?
652
:You felt terrible about it because
your, your conscience attorney was
653
:like, Hey, you shouldn't have done that.
654
:Or the, like, the very first time that,
that you hurt someone and, and like
655
:really tried not to apologize for it.
656
:Your attorney and your conscience
was like, Hey, that's bad.
657
:You shouldn't have done that.
658
:So everyone knows that they're a sinner,
and so God can righteously condemn every
659
:single person, even if they don't have
a Bible, because you don't need a Bible
660
:to know that you're a sinner because
your, your heart, your conscience.
661
:Testifies to what God says, right?
662
:There're a law unto themselves, so the
the person right on in the jungle or
663
:the person on the island knows enough
to know that they've broken God's law.
664
:Now
665
:it's one thing to answer
that question, right?
666
:And be like, okay, cool.
667
:Sure.
668
:I kind of understand a little bit
better why God can send people to hell.
669
:Cool.
670
:But what I hope that that does for
you is that gives you confidence in
671
:God, confidence that God is a good
judge, that you can trust God to make
672
:the right decisions about people.
673
:That you can trust God and, and you
don't have to worry about, oh, well,
674
:you know, is maybe, maybe, uh, we
didn't know if, if this really young
675
:person that died was a Christian
or, oh, we don't really know about.
676
:This, this family member who died.
677
:We're not sure if they're a Christian.
678
:I hope that gives you
confidence that you know what?
679
:God's a good judge.
680
:I can trust God to judge
them the right way.
681
:Right?
682
:Maybe we can hope.
683
:Yeah, I hope they were saved, but
no matter what we can trust, God's
684
:gonna make a good decision about them.
685
:That's another way that we
agree with God's justice.
686
:As we say, God, I trust you
with these people's future not.
687
:I'm not, I'm not gonna question
you and be upset if you make
688
:a decision that I don't like.
689
:'cause then who's judging?
690
:Who, right?
691
:Then we're judging God.
692
:But also, I hope that this helps you
realize how, how universal sin is.
693
:Right?
694
:Every single person
knowingly breaks God's law.
695
:Every single person doesn't
matter where they're from.
696
:How much they, they've been to church.
697
:Every single person
knowingly rebels against God.
698
:And so where this is gonna set us
up is eventually we're gonna realize
699
:that God doesn't have to save anyone.
700
:God doesn't have to save anyone
because no one, no one deserves it.
701
:And so.
702
:That is, is, is honestly gonna to
change a lot of your conversation
703
:about, about what's fair and
what's not fair with God, right?
704
:Because if, if you come from the
perspective of, oh, I'm a good person.
705
:I deserve things from God.
706
:I deserve good things from God.
707
:God should do good things to me.
708
:If you come from that perspective, of
course you're gonna question God, right?
709
:Because you're saying, oh, well,
I deserve all this from God.
710
:God should be good to me.
711
:My life should go really well.
712
:But if you come from the perspective
of, hey, the, we all break God's law.
713
:Every single person, every single
person makes really selfish decisions.
714
:Every single person is actively
telling God We don't want you.
715
:And then it helps you realize, oh,
that's why the world is so messed up.
716
:Oh, that's why that, that God
is, is right to condemn people.
717
:So I hope that this is also
shaping your view of people.
718
:Because
719
:it's easy to, our culture will
tell you people are good, right?
720
:People are good, everyone's got
good inside them, and everyone
721
:deserves good things that happen.
722
:And that's not the
biblical view of people.
723
:So I hope that's also helpful to,
to reorient the way you view the
724
:world and the way you view people.
725
:So anyway, one day you will stand
before God and God will give
726
:you exactly what you deserve.
727
:Right?
728
:If you're, if you are not saved and you've
rejected God, God will condemn you and
729
:you'll have to answer for, for everything.
730
:But even if you are a Christian,
God will reward you for all the
731
:good things that you've done.
732
:He'll, he'll, even if you don't
see any credit for it here,
733
:even if no one notices God will.
734
:Reward you and, and bless
you for those things.
735
:But you might have noticed, actually
my main point is not entirely true.
736
:Does anyone catch that?
737
:My main point is not entirely true.
738
:It's probably the only time I'll
have a main point in a sermon.
739
:That's not an entirely true statement.
740
:The, the, the best news in all the world.
741
:That God doesn't always give people
exactly what they deserve because
742
:if God gave every person exactly
what they deserved, he would
743
:send every single person to hell.
744
:The good news
745
:is that God withholds what
you really do deserve.
746
:We talked about that
last week with patience.
747
:You really deserve God's wrath.
748
:God is patient.
749
:He wants you to repent,
so he holds that back.
750
:He says, I'm not, I'm not gonna
punish you from your first sin.
751
:Or your second one or your
third one, or your 500th one
752
:or your 1000000th sin maybe.
753
:And I will wait to give
you a chance to repent.
754
:I won't give you what
you, what you do deserve.
755
:That's called mercy.
756
:And if you trust Jesus, I'll give you what
Jesus deserves, and that's called grace.
757
:You can get what you don't deserve.
758
:That's the gospel.
759
:You can get what Jesus earned for you.
760
:With his perfect righteous life,
you can get acceptance by God, full
761
:righteousness, adoption as his child.
762
:You get God's grace if you trust
Jesus, because if you trust
763
:yourself, you'll get what you deserve
and God will send you to hell.
764
:But if you trust Jesus, you
get what you don't deserve.
765
:You get what Jesus deserves.
766
:What this is all going to in Romans
chapter three is that God is a good
767
:judge, even though he gives some
people what they don't deserve.
768
:God is a good judge to give Christians
righteousness they don't deserve because
769
:Jesus took away their punishment and
earned their righteousness for them.
770
:So let's pray and we'll
go to small groups.
771
:God, I pray that you help us to think
about your judgment, that we would
772
:take that seriously, that we would
remember, that we have to answer to you.
773
:For everything that we've done, we will
give an account of ourselves to you.
774
:I pray for all of us in this room that we
would on that day not hear depart from me.
775
:I never knew you, that we would
not hear your wrath poured out
776
:on us, but rather we would hear.
777
:Joy, we would hear well done, good
and faithful servant, and that
778
:we would live faithfully for you.
779
:In the meantime, knowing that you
will reward us for every single
780
:thing we do for your glory.
781
:We pray this in Jesus' name.
782
:Amen.
