Taking God’s Name in Vain
Romans 2:17-24
September 16, 2007

Tonight we hit the passage
That Paul has been working towards in chapter 2.

He started by revealing
That even the religious person can be under judgment.

Tonight he blows a hole in all their religious activity.

So many today assume that they are so pleasing to God
Simply because they relentlessly engage in religious activity.

Certainly the Pharisee felt this way.
Luke 18:12 “’I fast twice a week; I pay tithes of all that I get.’”

Of course according to Jesus, their fasting was a sham.
Matthew 6:16 “Whenever you fast, do not put on a gloomy face as the hypocrites do, for they neglect their appearance so that they will be noticed by men when they are fasting. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full.”

And their tithing was not nearly enough.
Matthew 23:23 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cummin, and have neglected the weightier provisions of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness; but these are the things you should have done without neglecting the others.”

But none the less, people still rest assured in their religious work.

But imagine the tragedy that WILL occur some day,
When scores of religious people stand before God,
Only to find that their religious involvement was not enough.

“Lord, Lord, did we not…”

Despite all their religious involvement,
They will not inherit the kingdom of heaven.

Matthew 23:13 “But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you shut off the kingdom of heaven from people; for you do not enter in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in.”

Luke 11:44 “Woe to you! For you are like concealed tombs, and the people who walk over them are unaware of it.”

Matthew 23:29-36 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous, and say, ‘If we had been living in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partners with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’ “So you testify against yourselves, that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets. “Fill up, then, the measure of the guilt of your fathers. “You serpents, you brood of vipers, how will you escape the sentence of hell? “Therefore, behold, I am sending you prophets and wise men and scribes; some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues, and persecute from city to city, so that upon you may fall the guilt of all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar. “Truly I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation.”

Someone so religious, someone so involved,
And yet they are judged and go to hell.

HOW CAN THIS BE?
They took the name of the Lord in vain.

YOU SAY, WHAT DO YOU MEAN, THEY SAID THE CURSE WORD?
No.

Exodus 20:7 “You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not leave him unpunished who takes His name in vain.”

Zechariah 5:1-4 “Then I lifted up my eyes again and looked, and behold, there was a flying scroll. And he said to me, “What do you see?” And I answered, “I see a flying scroll; its length is twenty cubits and its width ten cubits.” Then he said to me, “This is the curse that is going forth over the face of the whole land; surely everyone who steals will be purged away according to the writing on one side, and everyone who swears will be purged away according to the writing on the other side. “I will make it go forth,” declares the LORD of hosts, “and it will enter the house of the thief and the house of the one who swears falsely by My name; and it will spend the night within that house and consume it with its timber and stones.”

Leviticus 19:11-12 “’You shall not steal, nor deal falsely, nor lie to one another. ‘You shall not swear falsely by My name, so as to profane the name of your God; I am the LORD.”

Numbers 15:30 “’But the person who does anything defiantly, whether he is native or an alien, that one is blaspheming the LORD; and that person shall be cut off from among his people.”
Taking God’s name in vain,
Is not limited to saying the curse word.

It is any time we take God’s name upon ourselves,
But when we do it in a vain way.

It is to go to church, but not live for Jesus.
It is to wear a Christian T-shirt, but not live like a Christian.
It is to use religious speech, but use worldly action.
It is to claim to be a Christian, but live in disobedience to Christ.

That is taking God’s name upon yourself in a vain way.

AND COINCIDENTALLY,
WHEN A PERSON TAKES GOD’S NAME IN VAIN,
THEY DO NOT ACHIEVE THE RELIGIOUS GOALS
OF WHY THEY TOOK GOD’S NAME TO BEGIN WITH.

Matthew 23:15 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you travel around on sea and land to make one proselyte; and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves.”

They did all the right things on the surface,
But they did not achieve the goal.

This is why what Jesus said in Matthew 7 rings so true.

Matthew 7:15-20 “Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. “You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they? “So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. “A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit. “Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. “So then, you will know them by their fruits.”

A person who does the right things for the wrong reason,
Will not achieve the desired effect.

Paul is revealing here,
Not only is the religion of the hypocrite useless for their salvation, But the religion of a hypocrite is also useless in helping others.

Paul started chapter 2 with a bang,
And here he delivers the strongest punch of the chapter.

You have actually accomplished the exact opposite of what you thought.

Tonight we see an explanation
Of those who take God’s name in vain.
3 things
#1 THEIR FALLACY
Romans 2:17-20

Paul here gives a list of at least 8 attributes or beliefs
Of the person who takes God’s name in vain.

These attributes or beliefs could also be applied
To those who do not take God’s name in vain.
In fact, all of these attributes are commanded of believers in the Bible.

So it is not the action in and of itself,
But the fact that when a self-righteous non-believer does them,
It is ineffective.

When a believer does these things, it works to the glory of God.
When a self-righteous person does these things,
It has the exact opposite effect.

Hopefully you will see what I mean.
Let’s briefly look at these 8 attributes or beliefs.

1) TITLE
“But if you bear the name “Jew”

“bear” translates EPONOMAZO
(ep-on-om-ad-zo)

“to name further, to denominate”

It is what we do, when we not only call ourselves a Christian, but a Baptist. We name ourselves further. We denominate.

This is what a Jew was doing, but purposely calling themselves a Jew.
They were boldly putting it out there for the world to see.
They wanted everyone to know what they claimed to believe.

And this is not a bad thing, in and of itself.
1 Peter 4:16 “but if anyone suffers as a Christian, he is not to be ashamed, but is to glorify God in this name.”

The problem is that the title doesn’t change the substance.
You can put a Coca-Cola wrapper on a can of Dr. Pepper,
But it won’t change the taste.

Taking the title is useless by itself.
Matthew 23:6-10 “They love the place of honor at banquets and the chief seats in the synagogues, and respectful greetings in the market places, and being called Rabbi by men. “But do not be called Rabbi; for One is your Teacher, and you are all brothers. “Do not call anyone on earth your father; for One is your Father, He who is in heaven. “Do not be called leaders; for One is your Leader, that is, Christ.”

But these people boldly put a title on themselves for everyone to see.

2) TRUST
“and rely upon the Law”

It is not wrong to rely upon the word of God.

Romans 7:12 “So then, the Law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good.”
We as true believers rely upon God’s word,
But not for salvation, and that is the problem here.

They relied on God’s word as their means of attaining righteousness,
And that is foolish.

Romans 3:20 “because by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight; for through the Law comes the knowledge of sin.”

Galatians 2:21 “I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness comes through the Law, then Christ died needlessly.”

Galatians 3:10-14 “For as many as are of the works of the Law are under a curse; for it is written, “CURSED IS EVERYONE WHO DOES NOT ABIDE BY ALL THINGS WRITTEN IN THE BOOK OF THE LAW, TO PERFORM THEM.” Now that no one is justified by the Law before God is evident; for, “THE RIGHTEOUS MAN SHALL LIVE BY FAITH.” However, the Law is not of faith; on the contrary, “HE WHO PRACTICES THEM SHALL LIVE BY THEM.” Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us — for it is written, “CURSED IS EVERYONE WHO HANGS ON A TREE” — in order that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we would receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.”

3) ASSURANCE
“and boast in God”

There is no problem with this.
1 Corinthians 1:31 “so that, just as it is written, “LET HIM WHO BOASTS, BOAST IN THE LORD.”

But when your boasting is only self-assurance
Based upon your self-righteousness, then boasting is wrong.

Romans 3:27-28 “Where then is boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? Of works? No, but by a law of faith. For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the Law.”

Luke 18:9-12 “And He also told this parable to some people who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and viewed others with contempt: “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. “The Pharisee stood and was praying this to himself: ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other people: swindlers, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. ‘I fast twice a week; I pay tithes of all that I get.’”

4) UNDERSTANDING
“and know His will”

I hope you realize that it is good to know the will of God.
Romans 12:2 “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.”

But if your confidence is misguided
And your assurance is unwarranted,
Then your understanding is dangerous.

Combining ignorance and confidence is a dangerous thing for those who listen to you.

The Jews were certain that they knew God’s will for their lives,
But Jesus corrected them.

John 8:39-42 “They answered and said to Him, “Abraham is our father.” Jesus said to them, “If you are Abraham’s children, do the deeds of Abraham. “But as it is, you are seeking to kill Me, a man who has told you the truth, which I heard from God; this Abraham did not do. “You are doing the deeds of your father.” They said to Him, “We were not born of fornication; we have one Father: God.” Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and have come from God, for I have not even come on My own initiative, but He sent Me.”

5) AGREEMENT
“and approve the things that are essential”

“approve” translates DOKIMAZO
(dok-im-ad-zo)

“to test, to approve, to prove, to examine”

1 Thessalonians 5:21-22 “But examine everything carefully; hold fast to that which is good; abstain from every form of evil.”

But when you examine with a faulty standard, or with an eye towards judgment, it is wrong.

John 5:16 “For this reason the Jews were persecuting Jesus, because He was doing these things on the Sabbath.”

They judged with a wrong standard.

6) KNOWLEDGE
“being instructed out of the Law”

2 Timothy 3:16-17 “All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.”

But as we studied this morning,
Knowledge in itself is not the final aim of God.

7) PURPOSE
“and are confident that you yourself are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, a corrector of the foolish, a teacher of the immature,”
Matthew 5:16 “Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.”

But when your standard is wrong,
And you still think you are the example for mankind,
Then we have a problem.

Matthew 23:1-3 “Then Jesus spoke to the crowds and to His disciples, saying: “The scribes and the Pharisees have seated themselves in the chair of Moses; therefore all that they tell you, do and observe, but do not do according to their deeds; for they say things and do not do them.”

8) AUTHORITY
“having in the Law the embodiment of knowledge and of the truth,”

This was the authority they stood on as being worth listening to, and so do we.

Titus 2:15 “These things speak and exhort and reprove with all authority. Let no one disregard you.”

But when you misinterpret that Law,
You become dangerous to those around you.

John 9:28-29 “They reviled him and said, “You are His disciple, but we are disciples of Moses. “We know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, we do not know where He is from.”

“blind guides of the blind”

HERE IS THE POINT
All of these things are good things.
We are commanded to do them all as believers.

And when a true believer follows that pattern,
They will bear the fruit of converts, and bring glory to God.

BUT – doing those things, with a wrong heart,
Will not produce the desired response.

And this is what Paul wants them to know.
They assumed the magic was in the action.
WRONG
The power is in the transformed life.

This was their fallacy.
Doing religious things, does not bring spiritual results.

And so Paul rightly moves from their fallacy to
#2 THEIR HYPOCRISY
Romans 2:21-23

This is why all their religious actions don’t work.
They don’t do them with the proper heart,
And they don’t have a righteous standard.

In fact, it is not the Law that ruins it, it is their lifestyle that ruins it.

Look at what Paul says,
“you, therefore, who teach another, do you not teach yourself?”

NOW WHY WOULD A PERSON TEACH OTHERS AND NOT OBEY THEIR OWN TEACHING?

Obviously because they feel they are above the need for such teaching.
They are self-justified, and so this doesn’t apply to them.

This is what Jesus was implying to Nicodemus.
John 3:7-10 “Do not be amazed that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ “The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit.” Nicodemus said to Him, “How can these things be?” Jesus answered and said to him, “Are you the teacher of Israel and do not understand these things?”

Paul goes on,
“You who preach that one shall not steal, do you steal?”

Malachi 3:8-9 “Will a man rob God? Yet you are robbing Me! But you say, ‘How have we robbed You?’ In tithes and offerings. “You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing Me, the whole nation of you!”

“You who say that one should not commit adultery, do you commit adultery?”

Matthew 5:27-28 “You have heard that it was said, ‘YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT ADULTERY’; but I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.”

Matthew 5:31-32 “It was said, ‘WHOEVER SENDS HIS WIFE AWAY, LET HIM GIVE HER A CERTIFICATE OF DIVORCE’; but I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except for the reason of unchastity, makes her commit adultery; and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.”

“You who abhor idols, do you rob temples?”

It is a little difficult to know for sure what Paul speaks of.

It is obvious that the Jews were preaching against idolatry.

Maybe they were robbing God’s temple, which would be idolatry of money.
Maybe they were robbing pagan temples, and selling the statues.

The idea is vehemently condemning idolatry,
But then practicing it in some other form.

And then Paul lowers the boom.
“You who boast in the Law, through your breaking the Law, do you dishonor God?”

Paul here says, that boldly preaching
And then living in disobedience is dishonoring to God.

Remember this story?
Numbers 20:9-12 “So Moses took the rod from before the LORD, just as He had commanded him; and Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly before the rock. And he said to them, “Listen now, you rebels; shall we bring forth water for you out of this rock?” Then Moses lifted up his hand and struck the rock twice with his rod; and water came forth abundantly, and the congregation and their beasts drank. But the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you have not believed Me, to treat Me as holy in the sight of the sons of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them.”

Everyone says, “Why was God so hard on Moses?”
Well how many times did Moses stand and harp on the people about obeying every single command?

Moses disobedience dishonored God

And that is Paul’s real point.

YOU THINK THAT BY DOING ALL THIS RELIGIOUS ACTIVITY,
YOU ARE HONORING GOD,
BUT YOU ARE ACTUALLY ACHIEVING THE OPPOSITE.

And look at the result of that.
#3 THEIR BLASPHEMY
Romans 2:24

“blasphemed” translates BLASPHEMEO
(blas-fay-meh-o)
“to speak impiously, evil speaking, railing”

Now of course these religious people weren’t doing it.
But the Gentiles who witnessed their hypocrisy were.
“Why would I want to be a Christian, look at how they live.”
“If that’s a Christian, then I don’t want to be one.”
“If their God is like them, then I don’t want to follow Him”

DO YOU SEE THE POINT?
You may think that by pretending to be religious.
You may think that by playing the church game.
You may think that by doing everything right on the outside.
That you are drawing men to God,
(even if it is for the wrong reasons)
WRONG

Men don’t just listen to your words, they watch your lifestyle,
And if it isn’t consistent, it isn’t effective.

These people were taking God’s name in vain.
It was not leading men to God.
It was causing men to blaspheme God.

Matthew 23:15 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you travel around on sea and land to make one proselyte; and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves.”

Revelation 2:9 “ ‘I know your tribulation and your poverty (but you are rich), and the blasphemy by those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan.”

These Jews in chapter 2 were so sure of themselves
Because they were outwardly religious.

They used their religion to justify themselves.
Paul said that doesn’t work. (1) “for in that which you judge another, you condemn yourself, for you who judge practice the same things.”

Again (13) “for it is not the hearers of the Law who are just before God, but the doers of the Law will be justified.”

They thought they were drawing men to God.
Paul said that doesn’t work either.
“for the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.”

THEY DON’T BLASPHEME YOU, THEY BLASPHEME GOD

QUIT AFFIRMING YOURSELF BECAUSE YOU ARE RELIGIOUS

What Jesus wants is a heart that will trust Him, and love Him.

Romans 5:8-9 “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him.”

The Basis For Christian Joy – Part 5
Luke 10:22-24
March 3, 2019

As you know, we are in a section where
We are talking about the basis for Christian joy.

We’ve thus far seen 3 of those realities.
#1 SPIRITUAL AUTHORITY
Luke 10:17-19

The seventy returned and where rejoicing at the victories they had won while on their missionary venture. “The seventy returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name.”

Jesus then confirmed that joy by revealing that He had been “watching Satan fall from heaven like lightning”. This indicated the spiritual victories they had been winning.

And ultimately Jesus announced the total victory that God’s messengers have over the enemy. “Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing will injure you.”

• It is the reality that Satan is a defeated foe.
• He cannot hold anyone whom God has determined to set free through the preaching of the gospel.
• And Satan cannot reclaim anyone whom God has chosen.

We rejoice in that.

And since that’s what the 70 were rejoicing in,
That is where Jesus began the teaching.
But He quickly turned to reveal even greater reasons for rejoicing.

#2 SECURE SALVATION
Luke 10:20

It wasn’t that the 70 were wrong to rejoice in their spiritual authority,
But by comparison there is a much greater reason to rejoice.

Jesus confirmed their rejoicing in their spiritual authority,
And yet He COMMANDED their rejoicing in their secure salvation.

“Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names have been recorded in heaven.”

This indicates a secure and sovereign decision by the Father.
• This is the roll sheet of heaven.
• This is the Lamb’s book of life.
• This was the book written before the foundation of the world.
• It is the list of those granted access into heaven.
• It is the list of those who are not cast into the lake of fire.
• And it is a list of which Jesus promised He would not blot our name from.

Certainly anyone whose name is on that list has reason for rejoicing!
Regardless of the struggles of this life, we know we have an eternal home,
Where we will dwell with God in eternal joy.

So those are two reasons for Christian rejoicing.
Spiritual Authority & Secure Salvation.

And for the last couple of weeks we’ve been on the third reason.
Incidentally a reality that even Jesus rejoiced in:
#3 SOVEREIGN GRACE
Luke 10:21-22

We have already tackled part of this passage,
Especially those parts which at first seem a little peculiar to us.

We first addressed the issue that here you clearly have Jesus praising the Father for hiding the truth of who He is from the wise and intelligent.

That may have seemed peculiar to us until we realized all that was occurring.

When we realized that man in his fallen wisdom
Refused to honor God as God
We then see why God chose to reject
And ultimately humiliate their human wisdom.

If human wisdom wasn’t going to honor God
You can rest assured that God wasn’t going to honor human wisdom.

So instead
• God orchestrated a plan of salvation that required the rejection of human
wisdom.
• God orchestrated a plan of salvation that required humility and even
foolishness by the world’s standards.

This plan was the cross.
Too weak for Jews and too foolish for Greeks.

But ultimately this plan would be salvation for those willing to forsake their own power and wisdom for God’s.

AND JESUS PRAISED THE FATHER FOR THIS.
That God has the right to hide truth from some while revealing it to others.

And that is what we discussed LAST WEEK.
Namely the reality of SOVERIGN GRACE.

We looked at the two words.
First to understand that GOD IS SOVEREIGN.

Because He is the Potter, He has the right to do whatever He desires with the clay.
• If it is His will to save everyone, He can.
• If it is His will to save no one, He can.
• If it is His will to save some, He can.

He is sovereign.
He can do whatever He wants with what is His.

And we saw in Romans 9 how God throughout history has done just that.
And we saw that man has no grounds for questioning Him about it.

HE IS SOVEREIGN.

But the good news for us is that in His sovereignty, He is also full of GRACE.

• All men are sinful.
• None are good.
• None have sought for God.

And so one would expect for the sovereign God of the universe
To give all men what they deserve, which is JUDGMENT.

BUT GOD IS GRACIOUS, and so He chose to save some.
He pulled them out of death and gave them life.

Ultimately we saw that He chose to reveal to these “infants”
Exactly who Christ (the Savior) is.

And the wonderful reality in this is that if God hadn’t done this, then no one would have known it.

We read, “All things have been handed over to Me by My Father, and no one knows who the Son is except the Father.”

If God doesn’t open your eyes to who Jesus is, then you can’t know Him.

And ultimately here we see WHY JESUS WAS REJOICING.
God had chosen, by His sovereign grace,
To reveal the truth of Jesus to the infants of the world
So that they might be saved and have their names recorded in heaven.

Jesus rejoiced in this.
Jesus praised the Father for this.
AND WE DO TOO!

• We rejoice in our Spiritual Authority
• We rejoice in our Secure Salvation
• We rejoice in God’s Sovereign grace to give us both.

And that is what we’ve seen so far.

But you probably recognize that before we move on to the 4th point
There is one more phrase here that we need to examine.

It is a statement sort of reads as an “In Addition to” doctrinal reality.
It is one more thing Jesus wanted us to understand
Under the realm of sovereignty.

NAMELY, that the Father is not the only One with sovereignty.
The Son also has it.

Jesus said, “and [no one knows] who the Father is except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son wills to reveal Him.”

Well there’s some doctrine we need to grasp.
Let’s break it apart a little.

1) “no one knows…who the Father is”

Let’s just take that truth for a moment and dwell upon it.

We of course are reminded of the transcendence of God
And the fact that no man has seen or can see Him.

Paul speaks of this reality in:
1 Timothy 6:15-16 “He who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone possesses immortality and dwells in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see. To Him be honor and eternal dominion! Amen.”

Those are some powerful descriptors that Paul used.
• “dwells in unapproachable light”
• “whom no man has seen or can see”

And we are instantly reminded of things like THE VEIL where the glory of God resided, off limits to the people.

We are reminded of people like Moses who asked God to see His glory.
God’s response:
Exodus 33:18-23 “Then Moses said, “I pray You, show me Your glory!” And He said, “I Myself will make all My goodness pass before you, and will proclaim the name of the LORD before you; and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show compassion on whom I will show compassion.” But He said, “You cannot see My face, for no man can see Me and live!” Then the LORD said, “Behold, there is a place by Me, and you shall stand there on the rock; and it will come about, while My glory is passing by, that I will put you in the cleft of the rock and cover you with My hand until I have passed by. “Then I will take My hand away and you shall see My back, but My face shall not be seen.”

Or we are reminded of the say Isaiah saw the glory of the LORD and he instantly claimed that he was a dead man!
Isaiah 6:1-5 “In the year of King Uzziah’s death I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted, with the train of His robe filling the temple. Seraphim stood above Him, each having six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one called out to another and said, “Holy, Holy, Holy, is the LORD of hosts, The whole earth is full of His glory.” And the foundations of the thresholds trembled at the voice of him who called out, while the temple was filling with smoke. Then I said, “Woe is me, for I am ruined! Because I am a man of unclean lips, And I live among a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts.”

Or we are reminded of the day Ezekiel saw God’s glory and instantly fell on his face…twice:
Ezekiel 1:28 “Such was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD. And when I saw it, I fell on my face and heard a voice speaking.”

Ezekiel 3:23 “So I got up and went out to the plain; and behold, the glory of the LORD was standing there, like the glory which I saw by the river Chebar, and I fell on my face.”

You just can’t approach God.
That was the point.
The men who just saw a portion of His after-glow
Thought they were dying because of it.

Not only that, but ultimately you can’t even know God.
Romans 11:33-34 “Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways! For WHO HAS KNOWN THE MIND OF THE LORD, OR WHO BECAME HIS COUNSELOR?”

Even what we read in 1 Corinthians 2 a couple of weeks ago
Reminded us that the knowledge of God is beyond our human minds.

1 Corinthians 2:14 “But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised.”

It’s just the simple fact that man has no capacity
To see or know or draw near to God.
ON HIS OWN, MAN CANNOT KNOW THE FATHER.

In fact, there is only one man who ever could make that claim,
AND THAT WAS CHRIST.

Which is what we see here.
2) “no one knows…who the Father is, except the Son”

Jesus is the only Man to ever be able to claim to know God.

And incidentally, Jesus claimed it many times.
John 6:46 “Not that anyone has seen the Father, except the One who is from God; He has seen the Father.”

John 7:29 “I know Him, because I am from Him, and He sent Me.”

John 8:54-55 “Jesus answered, “If I glorify Myself, My glory is nothing; it is My Father who glorifies Me, of whom you say, ‘He is our God’; and you have not come to know Him, but I know Him; and if I say that I do not know Him, I will be a liar like you, but I do know Him and keep His word.”

John 10:15 “even as the Father knows Me and I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep.”

John 17:25n”O righteous Father, although the world has not known You, yet I have known You; and these have known that You sent Me;”

That means, for the first time in the course of human history
One has arrived who can speak experientially about the Father.

The prophets could speak with authority regarding what God revealed to them about Himself, but Jesus could even speak experientially.

We finally have One who knows Him.
We finally have One who has seen Him.

He’s the only One who can make a claim to knowing God.

Every other opinion of the Father then is absolutely secondary to what Jesus says about Him, because Jesus alone actually knows Him.
HE IS THE EXPERT ON GOD.

But then there’s something even more astounding here.
3) “no one knows…who the Father is, except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son wills to reveal Him.”

Now there is an obvious sovereignty aspect to that one as well.
Since it is up to the prerogative of the Son to reveal the Father.
“anyone to whom the Son WILLS to reveal Him.”

But first we have to recognize the wonderful reality here that
Because the Son knows the Father,
He can reveal the Father to anyone He wants.

The Son CAN reveal the Father.
JESUS DOES REVEAL GOD TO US.

And consider that truth:
John 1:18 “No one has seen God at any time; the only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him.”

John 8:19 “So they were saying to Him, “Where is Your Father?” Jesus answered, “You know neither Me nor My Father; if you knew Me, you would know My Father also.”

John 10:30 “I and the Father are one.”

Paul wrote:
Colossians 1:15 “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.”

The writer of Hebrews wrote:
Hebrews 1:1-4 “God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world. And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power. When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become as much better than the angels, as He has inherited a more excellent name than they.”

Jesus is the only One who knows the Father,
He’s the only One who can show you the Father
He’s the only One who can grant you access to the Father.

Point being: THROUGH JESUS, THE UNAPPROACHABLE GOD
IS NOW ACCESSIBLE TO MAN.

BUT, it is only for those whom “the Son wills to reveal Him.”

SO WHAT IS THE REQUIREMENT OF THE SON FOR HIM TO REVEAL THE FATHER TO MAN?

John 8:21-27 “Then He said again to them, “I go away, and you will seek Me, and will die in your sin; where I am going, you cannot come.” So the Jews were saying, “Surely He will not kill Himself, will He, since He says, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come’?” And He was saying to them, “You are from below, I am from above; you are of this world, I am not of this world. Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for unless you believe that I am He, you will die in your sins.” So they were saying to Him, “Who are You?” Jesus said to them, “What have I been saying to you from the beginning? “I have many things to speak and to judge concerning you, but He who sent Me is true; and the things which I heard from Him, these I speak to the world.” They did not realize that He had been speaking to them about the Father.”

Did you catch it?
“unless you believe that I am He, you will die in your sins.”

Of course they refused, and John even adds this footnote to the statement of Jesus: “They did not realize that He had been speaking to them about the Father.”

They wouldn’t believe and so they were not permitted to see.
Jesus would not reveal the Father to anyone who did not believe.

Or consider:
Matthew 7:21-23 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. “Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ “And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.’”

There again, you have a group of people whom the Son will not accept
Because they did not do “the will of My Father.”
Which is of course to believe in Christ.

Jesus only reveals the Father to those who believe in Him.

And to those who do believe, Jesus does reveal the Father.
John 14:8-11 “Philip said to Him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.” Jesus said to him, “Have I been so long with you, and yet you have not come to know Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? “Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on My own initiative, but the Father abiding in Me does His works. “Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me; otherwise believe because of the works themselves.”

• The disciples had heard many times from the Lord how He alone knew the Father.
• Philip asked to be introduced, “Take us to the Father.”
• And of course Jesus said, “I am, look at Me, and you’re seeing the Father.”

Jesus reveals the Father to whom He will.

THAT IS WHY WE ALSO SAY WE ARE SPEAKING ABOUT
THE NECESSITY OF JESUS HERE.

Obviously there’s no spiritual authority apart from Jesus,
• Since the demons were only subject to the 70 in Jesus’ name.
Obviously there’s no secure salvation apart from Jesus,
• Since He is the One who promised Satan couldn’t have you back,
• And that book is actually the “book of life of the Lamb who has been slain.”
• And He purchased those written in heaven.
And obviously you can’t know the Father if Jesus doesn’t reveal Him.

YOU SEE THE NECESSITY OF JESUS ALL OVER THIS SECTION.

And here we are reminded that apart from Jesus we can’t know the Father.

SO WHY THE REJOICING?

It’s simple:
• We have here the unknowable God, whom man can’t know apart from sovereign grace.
• And yet God chose to make Himself known through Christ so that by believing in Him, we may know the Father.

There’s your rejoicing!
BECAUSE OF GOD’S SOVEREIGN GRACE
WE CAN KNOW HIM

The Father willed to show you the Son
Who in turn willed to introduce you to the Father.

We praise God for such a sovereign and gracious decision.

And that leads us then to the final point of Christian rejoicing.
Spiritual Authority, Secure Salvation, Sovereign Grace
#4 SPECIAL REVELATION
Luke 10:23-24

• After confirming the rejoicing of the 70 regarding their authority
• After commanding the rejoicing of the 70 for their security
• After celebrating with the 70 their salvation by sovereign grace

Jesus now turns to the 12
And CLARIFIES why they should be rejoicing as well.

(23-24) “Turning to the disciples, He said privately, “Blessed are the eyes which see the things you see, for I say to you that many prophets and kings wished to see the things which you see, and did not see them, and to hear the things which you hear, and did not hear them.”

Jesus turned to them and said that they were “Blessed”

“Blessed” by the way is a Greek word
Which means “to make happy”

Jesus is giving another reason for rejoicing,
And it is that as believers in Jesus
We have received a special revelation.

Certainly He is referring to the fact that the Father has shown us the Son.
Certainly He is referring to the fact that the Son has shown us the Father.

Jesus is simply making sure the disciples understand
How blessed they are to have received it.

“Blessed are the eyes which see the things you see”
WHY?

“for I say to you that many prophets and kings wished to see the things which you see, and did not see them, and to hear the things which you hear, and did not hear them.”

Now here Jesus ISN’T distinguishing between the saved and the unsaved.

That distinction was up in verses 21-22.
That is not the case here.

• The prophets He speaks of here are those who are true children of God.
• The kings He speaks of here are the redeemed kings of old.

They are people from the Old Testament who were saved
And now dwell with God by reason of their faith.

Jesus is talking about prophets like Elijah, and Isaiah, and Jeremiah,
And kings like David, and Solomon, and Josiah.

But Jesus says here that the disciples should rejoice
Because they have been given special revelation
Beyond what they even received.

WHAT REVELATION IS THAT?
JESUS
• They saw Jesus!
• They heard Him preach
• They saw His works
• Some of them even saw His glory on the mountain.

We already saw that:
• Jesus is the greatest revelation of God that the world ever received.
• Jesus is the exact representation of God’s nature.
• No one has seen God, but Jesus explained Him.

Those Old Testament prophets saw many remarkable things.
• They saw the rise and fall of kingdoms…
• They saw the judgment and deliverance of God’s people…
• They saw even eschatological events like the end of the world…

But even in all of that, they had never seen anything
Like the One was standing right before the disciples.

They were witnessing the greatest revelation of all time.
JESUS

And through the apostles,
WE ALSO ARE BLESSED to have this revelation.

And like we did previously, in order to explain this better, I want to go and examine a different passage of Scripture briefly this morning.

TURN TO: 1 PETER 1:10-12
• 1 Peter is written to the persecuted church.
• And he opens by telling them that they rejoice in salvation, even though currently they suffer various trials.

(READ: 3-9)
They rejoice in salvation.

And then Peter does the same for his readers
That Jesus did for him back in Luke 10.
He explains the blessing of having this special revelation.

(READ 10-12)
Peter is talking about the revelation of salvation,
And even more specifically the revelation of Jesus Christ.

And Peter makes some marvelous points here.

1) THIS REVELATION WAS INDICATED BY THE SPIRIT
“As to this salvation, the prophets who prophesied of the grace that would come to you made careful searches and inquiries, seeking to know what person or time the Spirit of Christ was indicating within them as He predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories to follow.”

Now first we recognize there that
The Holy Spirit was working in the Old Testament to reveal certain truths to the prophets regarding “the sufferings of Christ and the glories to follow.”

And we don’t have time to read them all, but some are readily familiar to you.

We have all rejoiced in Psalms 2:
• How the kings of the earth took their stand against Christ, and how God laughed at them.
• How God ordained Christ as King and told the inhabitants of earth that you’d better bow to Him before He breaks our knees.

We have all seen the vivid accuracy of Psalms 22:
• Where David described the crucifixion 100s of years before crucifixion had even been invented.

We have all rejoiced in the promises of Isaiah 42
• About the Servant who would come to open blind eyes and set the captives free.

We have all seen the allusion to suffering of Isaiah 50
• Where the Servant would give His back to those who strike Him and give His cheeks to those who would pluck out His beard.

We have all seen the remarkable accuracy of Isaiah 53
• Where the Servant bore the sin of God’s people for whom the stroke was due.

We have rejoiced in Psalms 16
• And the promised resurrection from the dead.

The Holy Spirit told those prophets many great truths
About this coming Christ and His suffering and glory.

The truth of Christ was Indicated by the Spirit.
2) THIS REVELATION WAS INVESTIGATED BY THE PROPHETS

In regard to this revelation of the Spirit, Peter says that “the prophets who prophesied of the grace that would come to you made careful searches and inquiries, seeking to know what person or time” was being indicated.

They wanted to know when.
They wanted to know who.

We all remember Simeon by the time Jesus arrived:
Luke 2:25-26 “And there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon; and this man was righteous and devout, looking for the consolation of Israel; and the Holy Spirit was upon him. And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ.”

Jesus even said that Abraham looked for this day.
John 8:56 “Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad.”

In other words, they received a little, but they wanted so much more.
• Isaiah wanted to see this child who would be born of the virgin and who would reign on David’s throne.
• Jeremiah wanted to experience this New Covenant God had told him about.
• Zechariah wanted to know WHEN this King would come seated on a donkey’s colt.

They saw the value of the information and they wanted it bad.

Indicated by the Spirit, Investigated by the Prophets
3) THE REVELATION WAS INTERPRETED BY THE APOSTLES
“It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves, but you, in these things which have now been announced to you through those who preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit from heaven”

The prophets wanted to know “Who?”
The prophets wanted to know “When?”
All God would tell them was that it was not for them to know.

Peter says, God was saving that information for “you”
Jesus revealed it to the apostles, and they now teach it to you.

Remember the Ethiopian Eunuch’s desire to make sense of Isaiah’s revelation?
Acts 8:29-35 “Then the Spirit said to Philip, “Go up and join this chariot.” Philip ran up and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet, and said, “Do you understand what you are reading?” And he said, “Well, how could I, unless someone guides me?” And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. Now the passage of Scripture which he was reading was this: “HE WAS LED AS A SHEEP TO SLAUGHTER; AND AS A LAMB BEFORE ITS SHEARER IS SILENT, SO HE DOES NOT OPEN HIS MOUTH. “IN HUMILIATION HIS JUDGMENT WAS TAKEN AWAY; WHO WILL RELATE HIS GENERATION? FOR HIS LIFE IS REMOVED FROM THE EARTH.” The eunuch answered Philip and said, “Please tell me, of whom does the prophet say this? Of himself or of someone else?” Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning from this Scripture he preached Jesus to him.”

Philip gave that Eunich information that Isaiah never even received.

Or go read the gospel of Matthew
• And note how many times Matthew saw Jesus do something or heard Jesus say something and then wrote, “This was to fulfill the word that was spoken…”

Matthew saw what those prophets were only begging to see.

DO YOU SEE HOW BLESSED IT IS TO KNOW THAT?

If you don’t, just look at Peter’s last point:
4) THE REVELATION WAS ENJOYED BY THE ANGELS
“things into which angels long to look.”

I heard Jerry Vines outline this text like this.
• The Prophets Set the Stage
• The Apostles Script the Story
• The Angels See the Show

Jesus is the greatest revelation the world has ever known
And even angels were captivated by His every word and every move.

The point is, there is no greater revelation than this.
AND YOU CHURCH HAVE IT!

• Think of the people born in foreign nations who don’t have access to the gospel.
• Think of those in Third World Countries who have never heard the name of Jesus.

But you have been told.
You have been shown.
REJOICE IN THAT!

IT’S AMAZING TO ME THAT ANYONE
Could ever be DISGRUNTLED or FRUSTRATED about things like
“having to go to church” or “having to read the Bible”.

Well it’s only the greatest revelation that world has ever seen.
It’s only the most sought after information of all time.

And Jesus here told the disciples that
They should rejoice that God saw fit to give it to them.

He didn’t even give that knowledge
To some of the greatest prophets and kings who ever lived.

God showed you what He didn’t even show
David or Isaiah or Elijah or Abraham.

Do you remember all of those great saints in the Faith Hall of Fame in Hebrews 11?

None of them saw what you have seen.
Hebrews 11:39-40 “And all these, having gained approval through their faith, did not receive what was promised, because God had provided something better for us, so that apart from us they would not be made perfect.”

Can you see how blessed you are?
Can you see how you should rejoice that God showed this to you?

THAT IS THE BASIS FOR CHRISTIAN REJOICING!

• We don’t rejoice in the things of this world.
• We don’t rejoice in sinful pleasures.
• We don’t rejoice in earthly comforts or earthly fame.

WE REJOICE IN JESUS!
• We rejoice in the Spiritual Authority that comes through Him
• We rejoice in the Secure Salvation that He provided
• We rejoice in the Sovereign Grace that drew us to Him.
• We rejoice in the Special Revelation of Him.

THAT IS THE BASIS FOR CHRISTIAN REJOICING!

When In A Storm
Psalms 29
March 2, 2019

When we read Romans 1,
We are informed of God’s expectations regarding nature.

1) God revealed Himself through nature
2) God expects to be glorified because of that revelation
3) God’s wrath is revealed against those who don’t.

Romans 1:18-23 “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse. For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures.”

• Paul was clear that through nature God revealed “His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature.”

• Paul was also clear that sinful man saw this, and yet “even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thinks”

• And then ultimately mankind chose to attribute the powers of creation and the powers of nature to false deities known as idols. Paul wrote, “Professing to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and of four-footed animals and crawling creatures.”

• It is no wonder then that we also saw that “the wrath of God is revealed from heaven” against these people.

God has revealed Himself in creation
And He demands glory for that revelation.

The book of Psalms clearly realizes that.

In Psalms 8 David looked up to the night sky and worshiped God for His grace.
Psalms 8:3-4 “When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, The moon and the stars, which You have ordained; What is man that You take thought of him, And the son of man that You care for him?”

In Psalms 19 David watched a sunrise and worshiped God for His faithfulness.
Psalms 19:1-6 “The heavens are telling of the glory of God; And their expanse is declaring the work of His hands. Day to day pours forth speech, And night to night reveals knowledge. There is no speech, nor are there words; Their voice is not heard. Their line has gone out through all the earth, And their utterances to the end of the world. In them He has placed a tent for the sun, Which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber; It rejoices as a strong man to run his course. Its rising is from one end of the heavens, And its circuit to the other end of them; And there is nothing hidden from its heat.”

In Psalms 29 David watches a catastrophic storm rip apart the landscape
And David worships God for His raw power.

Incidentally, this is not the only time God’s power is depicted
Through the power of a storm.

When God’s presence descended upon Mt. Sinai, we read:
Exodus 19:16-18 “So it came about on the third day, when it was morning, that there were thunder and lightning flashes and a thick cloud upon the mountain and a very loud trumpet sound, so that all the people who were in the camp trembled. And Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain. Now Mount Sinai was all in smoke because the LORD descended upon it in fire; and its smoke ascended like the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mountain quaked violently.”

It was such a terrifying scene that the people
Were literally terrified at the presence of God.

Exodus 20:18-19 “All the people perceived the thunder and the lightning flashes and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking; and when the people saw it, they trembled and stood at a distance. Then they said to Moses, “Speak to us yourself and we will listen; but let not God speak to us, or we will die.”

They got the idea. God is powerful!

Another great incident of this is found in the book of Job.
• We are all familiar with the affliction of Job, and that he never sinned with his lips.
• However, it is also clear that Job did cross some lines in his questioning of God’s justice in the matter.
• And when God approached Job, He did so in a storm.

The storm actually begins during the sermon of Elihu:

TURN TO: JOB 36:24

(READ 24-33) – It is clear that a storm is rising and Elihu accounts it to the coming presence of God.

Job had said that he wanted God to appear and give an account.
Well, according to Elihu, that thunderstorm over there is Him.

And this even terrified Elihu:
(READ 37:1-5)

Elihu actually trembled that God was on His way.

Later Elihu would tell Job that he needed to learn a thing or two from this storm:
(READ 37:14-38:1)

And of course we know what happens then.
Job gets the worst brow-beating recorded in the Bible.

To which Job responds:
Job 42:1-6 “Then Job answered the LORD and said, “I know that You can do all things, And that no purpose of Yours can be thwarted. ‘Who is this that hides counsel without knowledge?’ “Therefore I have declared that which I did not understand, Things too wonderful for me, which I did not know.” ‘Hear, now, and I will speak; I will ask You, and You instruct me.’ “I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear; But now my eye sees You; Therefore I retract, And I repent in dust and ashes.”

Those are just a few examples in Scripture, but the general point is clear.

GOD DEMONSTRATES HIS POWER EVEN IN A STORM…
AND HE DESERVES GLORY BECAUSE OF THAT POWER.

That may actually give you a little pause upon hearing it.
• Even in our day we see the catastrophic power of a tornado and how homes can be ripped apart.
• We have seen hurricanes and flooding and the devastation they can leave in their wake.
• We have witnessed Tsunamis and the destruction they bring.
• We know about forest fires and straight line winds and other natural powers.

And typically people either want to blame God for the destruction
Or to absolve Him of any responsibility whatsoever.
Some say it’s His fault, some say He had nothing to do with it.

And both of those are the WRONG response.
• The proper response is to worship God at the sheer demonstration of His
power.
• The proper response is to ascribe to God (2) “the glory due His name”
• The proper response is to join with all those in heaven and say, (9) “Glory!”

For even in these storms God has put on display
His invisible attributes and His eternal power and divine nature”

And every time God reveals Himself glory is deserved.

That is what David spells out here in the 29th Psalm.

David literally watches a storm rip through the landscape, destroying forests, and terrifying wildlife, and rattling the very mountains.

And as he watches this storm in its destruction,
David tells the church exactly how to respond.

AND HERE IT IS:
(1-2) “Ascribe to the LORD, O sons of the mighty, Ascribe to the LORD glory and strength. Ascribe to the LORD the glory due to His name; Worship the LORD in holy array.”

We’ll get to the storm in a moment,
But first the very clear call for worship.

Here we answer some very important questions about worship.
#1 WHO?
Psalms 29:1a

“Ascribe to the LORD, O sons of the mighty”

The interesting thing here is that
Though you might be tempted to simply assume that David is talking about humanity here, there is ample evidence to suggest David has much more in mind.

“sons of the mighty” is literally translated “sons of God”

The same phrase is used in Psalms 89
Psalms 89:5-7 “The heavens will praise Your wonders, O LORD; Your faithfulness also in the assembly of the holy ones. For who in the skies is comparable to the LORD? Who among the sons of the mighty is like the LORD, A God greatly feared in the council of the holy ones, And awesome above all those who are around Him?”

There the “sons of the mighty” are also
The same people referred to as those “in the skies”.

So while we can include the mightiest of men in this distinction
We can also include the entire angelic realm in this command.

David is calling for all created beings to start giving God all the glory.
All created men and all created celestial beings.

Now, some may question why David would issue such a command.
Is David claiming authority over the angels that he would command them also to worship God?

I don’t think that’s the point.
Rather, it is David’s way of pointing out to humanity
That even the celestial world is accountable to worship God.

It was a direct confrontation
Of the pagan idolatry of all the nations surrounding Israel.

Perhaps you remember the plagues of Egypt.
• God sent hail, killed crops, sent frogs, flies, and gnats.
• God sent darkness and turned the Nile to blood.
• He killed the firstborn of all in Egypt.

While all of those certainly demonstrated the raw power of God,
Each of those also specifically discredited the pagan deities of Israel.

False gods like:
• Hapi, the god of the Nile
• Hathor, the god of love who was depicted by a cow, and God killed their cattle.
• Isis, the god of medicine, and yet God afflicted with boils
• Ra, the sun god, and God sent darkness
• Pharaoh, who was considered god incarnate, and God killed his firstborn

On one hand it was raw power,
But on the other hand it was specific power meant to reiterate to Israel
That even the false gods fall in submission to the true God of heaven.

David is making a similar point here.
EVERY CREATED THING WORSHIPS GOD
Men, demons, angels, false deities, etc.

Everyone should ascribe to God.

That’s the “Who”
#2 WHAT?
Psalms 29:1b

“Ascribe to the LORD glory and strength”

That is to say that all created things should readily bow and submit
That true “glory” and true “strength” belongs to God.

Certainly in our day we can differentiate among strong men.
• We see a man that can bench press 300lbs. and we say, “he’s strong”
• And that’s true; compared to other humans he is strong.

But if you throw God into the equation then no one gets any glory.
Compared to God, bench pressing 300 lbs. is pathetic.

And this is part of David’s point.
While we may ascribe certain amounts of strength or glory to humans,
Ultimately all “glory and strength” belongs to God.

NOTHING COMPARES TO HIM.

So thus far, we see that every created being
Must humble themselves and acknowledge that
God alone is to be attributed as glorious and strong.

No one else compares to Him.

That’s the who and the what
#3 HOW MUCH?
Psalms 29:2a

David has twice told us to “Ascribe to the LORD”
We even know what we are to ascribe to Him.

But David also wants you to understand the level of glory and strength you should ascribe to Him.
“Ascribe to the LORD the glory due to His name;”

We have said many times that God’s “name”
Represents His full nature and attributes.

The reality is that God deserves all the glory for every area,
And He deserves and infinite amount.

Now, certainly that is an indefinable distinction
For who can say how much glory God deserves?

What you simply have here is David telling all creatures to give all glory to God to the degree that He deserves.

That is the command.
#4 HOW?
Psalms 29:2b

“Worship the LORD in holy array.”

You certainly notice the distinction
That we’ve moved from “Ascribe” to “Worship”

The first 3 (Ascribe) all deal with recognition.
• It’s just a call for you to recognize who really deserves the glory and how much
glory He deserves.

But that’s all just recognition.
NEXT COMES THE APPLICATION,
Where you take that knowledge and apply it in worship.

• You recognize that God is glorious
• You recognize that God is strong
• And so you act on that information and actually worship Him as being glorious
and strong.

To recognize God as strong and glorious, but to refuse to worship Him as such
Only puts you in the company of the sinners in Romans 1,
Who “even though they knew God…did not honor Him as God”

So you must move from recognition to action.

But there’s even more than that.
It’s not just that you worship,
but here David even says, “Worship the LORD in holy array”

Why “holy array”?
Because God demands holiness.

How many times have we seen the command
“You shall be holy, for I am holy”?

So here you have a person
• Determined to worship God because He deserves it
• And to worship Him in the manner which He desires.

We read it:
Romans 12:1 “Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.”

So we’ve seen the “who” the “what” the “how much” and the “how”

But it still leaves out perhaps our favorite question:
#5 WHY?
Psalms 29:3-9

• You’re telling me that I should stop and ponder that in a comparative sense, God alone really does have all the strength and all the glory.

• And you’re telling me that I should humble myself and recognize that he deserves more glory for this power than I can even comprehend.

• And you’re telling me that because of this glory He deserves that I should humble myself further, submit to His requirements, and actually worship Him according to the glory He deserves.

And to that humans for centuries have said, “Why?”

In fact the people mentioned in Romans 1 said, “No”
• They would not honor Him as God.
• They would not ascribe to Him the glory due His name.
• They would not worship Him in holy array.
• They instead exchanged His glory for that of carved images.

Well, David is going to tell you WHY
You should worship God in any way He so chooses.

And the answer is:
BECAUSE OF HIS POWER

First, let’s just read verses 3-9
(3-9) “The voice of the LORD is upon the waters; The God of glory thunders, The LORD is over many waters. The voice of the LORD is powerful, The voice of the LORD is majestic. The voice of the LORD breaks the cedars; Yes, the LORD breaks in pieces the cedars of Lebanon. He makes Lebanon skip like a calf, And Sirion like a young wild ox. The voice of the LORD hews out flames of fire. The voice of the LORD shakes the wilderness; The LORD shakes the wilderness of Kadesh. The voice of the LORD makes the deer to calve And strips the forests bare; And in His temple everything says, “Glory!”

Obviously there we are talking about a massive storm which David sees moving from the Mediterranean, across Lebanon, and even the wilderness of Kadesh.

But also quickly catching our gaze is that
8 times David attributes that storm to the “voice of the LORD”

The obvious point is that God is behind it.
• God is causing it.
• God is causing through the power of His word.

Just like creation was born because God told light to arrive,
So this storm is born because God told it to form.

God told it to move.
God told it to intensify.
God ordained everything about it.

In short, we see a storm and it is God’s doing.
David is making that abundantly clear.

Now let’s look at it.
(3-4) “The voice of the LORD is upon the waters; The God of glory thunders, The LORD is over many waters. The voice of the LORD is powerful, The voice of the LORD is majestic.”

There the storm is sitting over the Mediterranean Sea.
• David can see the rolling clouds.
• David can see the lightning flashes.
• David can hear the booming thunder.

It’s all in the distance, but David makes two very clear observations.
“The voice of the LORD is powerful, The voice of the LORD is majestic”

Who could argue that?
The sheer power contained in a storm is remarkable.
The sheer beauty in the lightning flashes is in fact beautiful.

And David knows that God did it all.
It’s a glorious display of the power and majesty of God.

But then the storm hits land.
(5-7) “The voice of the LORD breaks the cedars; Yes, the LORD breaks in pieces the cedars of Lebanon. He makes Lebanon skip like a calf, And Sirion like a young wild ox. The voice of the LORD hews out flames of fire.”

“the cedars of Lebanon” where notoriously big and notoriously strong.
And David witnessed this storm rip right through the heart of them.

After God’s stormed moved through they were broken “in pieces”
God shattered those mighty trees.

In fact God “makes Lebanon skip like a calf”.
That is to say, He tosses her here and there. He bounces her around.

“Sirion” was the Phoenecian name for Mt. Hermon.
And God shook that mountain too “like a young wild ox”

It is a picture of a rattling thunder and even earth shaking power.
This storm is unsettling everything.

On top of that David says that “The voice of the LORD hews out flames of fire”

Of course that is lightning, but it also implies
That God is setting the terrain on fire through the storm.

This storm moved off the waters and has ravaged Lebanon.

And then it moved through Lebanon into the wilderness.
(8) “The voice of the LORD shakes the wilderness; The LORD shakes the wilderness of Kadesh.”

That is to say what God did to Lebanon,
He continued to do to the wilderness, even Kadesh.

And if you want to see the effects of this storm.
(9) “The voice of the LORD makes the deer to calve and strips the forest bare;”

• Sheer fear of destruction causes even the wild animals to instantly give birth.
• The wind has ripped the leaves right off the trees.
• The fire from the lightning has burned everything in its path.
• It is a powerful force of destruction.

And we’ve seen this type of thing.
• We’ve seen the fires
• We’ve seen the floods
• We’ve seen the damaging winds

It is amazing that in a matter of seconds
Nature can wreak havoc that it would take man years to equal.
David just witnessed it all.

AND HERE’S WHERE IT GETS IMPORTANT,
Because David has commanded us how to respond to this storm.

He told us up in the first 2 verses that when we see a storm like this, we should:
• “Ascribe to the LORD glory and strength. Ascribe to the LORD the glory due to His name;”
• And then we should “Worship the LORD, in holy array.”

And just in case that now seems strange to you,
David actually goes ahead and gives the heavenly response to this storm.

Here is what heaven said:
(9b) “And in His temple everything says, “Glory!”

Heaven glorifies God for this powerful storm that ravaged the land.

Now, let’s stop there for a second
Because as the church WE CAN LEARN SOMETHING HERE.

As I said previously, this is NOT THE COMMON RESPONSE to a storm.
• We see the destruction…
• We see the loss of property…
• Sometimes even the loss of life…

And it seems that instantly the church wants to defend God’s reputation and say, “He had nothing to do with that. God didn’t want that to happen.”

But what if, instead of trying to absolve God of all involvement,
The church instead rose up and acknowledged
The awesome power of God in that moment.

Now, certainly someone would say, “If you do that, you’re just going to cause a lot of people to blame God for their loss, get mad at Him, and then they will never submit to Him.”

Perhaps…

But you might also cause some who never did fear God to start fearing Him.
• You might cause some to for the first time acknowledge His power and glory.
• You might cause some for the first time to worship in Him in holy array.

Beyond that, let me remind you that one day God is going to destroy the whole world, not just bits and pieces of it.
• There is coming a day when He will split the sky and move all the mountains.
• There is coming a day when He will burn 1/3 of the earth with hail and fire that is mixed with blood.
• There is coming a day when He will turn 1/3 of the sea to blood.
• There is coming a day when He will turn 1/3 of the fresh water to blood.
• There is coming a day when He will darken 1/3 of the sun, moon, and stars.
• There is coming a day when He will send 100 pound hailstones upon men.
• There is coming a day when He will burn the whole earth in unquenchable fire.

And by the way, on that day, heaven will still be crying “Glory!”

Revelation 16:5-7 “And I heard the angel of the waters saying, “Righteous are You, who are and who were, O Holy One, because You judged these things; for they poured out the blood of saints and prophets, and You have given them blood to drink. They deserve it.” And I heard the altar saying, “Yes, O Lord God, the Almighty, true and righteous are Your judgments.”

So instead assuring sinners that God is not behind this tragedy,
What if we worshiped Him for His power and assured sinners that this is merely a warning shot?

See, as Paul taught us in Romans 1,
The issue IS NOT getting people to like God.
The issue IS that people honor Him as God.

And if you can’t honor God as God after a powerful storm,
Then I don’t know when you can.

David is not afraid to attribute this destructive storm that shook Lebanon, leveled their forests, unsettled their mountains, decimated their wildlife, and stripped their trees to God.

God did this.
8 times David referenced “The voice of the LORD”

It is not about us trying to present God has someone man will accept and want to worship.
It is about us showing the world who God is, and then commanding them to worship accordingly.

Do you see that?

As I was writing this, I thought about George and Kevin and Ronald and those guys who work for South Plains Electric, who probably get to deal with more damage from storms on a daily basis than any of the rest of us.

We should call this “The Lineman’s Psalm”

What if every time a storm rolled through and snapped power poles and did other damage, God’s children took it as an opportunity to glorify the unbelievable power of God?

That’s what David is doing.
• You worship Him…
• You give Him glory for His power and strength…
• You give Him the glory He deserves…
• And you worship Him the way He wants to be worshiped…

WHY? Because He clearly has the power to demand it.

Isn’t that true?
He deserves it.

And we sing: “I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder, Thy power throughout the universe displayed. Then sings my soul, My Savior God to Thee; How great Thou art! How Great Thou art!”

But we’re not done.

Who, What, How Much, How, Why
#6 AND ONE MORE THING
Psalms 29:10-11

And now it’s as though David throws in an added piece of information.
A reminder that all men should remember.

(10) “The LORD sat as King at the flood; Yes, the LORD sits as King forever.”

So…
• We have here a storm, and one that may have indeed caused loss of life.
• Or we see the natural disasters of our day and recognize the loss of life that occurs.

And some would say,
“I just can’t see glorifying God for something like that.”

Well, let me ask you
…you who think God shouldn’t have sent a storm that killed thousands of people.

Do you remember the flood?
In Genesis 6-8 God sent a flood upon the entire earth that killed everything with the breath of God in its lungs. Ever human except for 8 people.

Do you remember why God sent that flood?
Genesis 6:5-7 “Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. The LORD was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart. The LORD said, “I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, from man to animals to creeping things and to birds of the sky; for I am sorry that I have made them.”

Man was defiant and wicked.
• It’s not a stretch to say that they did not honor Him as God, but instead
followed the inclination of their own sinful hearts.
• We even learned last week that Noah was a preacher of righteousness who
continually pleaded with men to worship God in holy array, and it is clear
that they refused.

And so God sent a storm and destroyed every living thing.

Now, here’s my question:
SHOULD WE WORSHIP GOD FOR THAT?

Well after that event there were only 8 humans alive on the earth, and I CAN TELL YOU THEIR RESPONSE:
Genesis 8:20 “Then Noah built an altar to the LORD, and took of every clean animal and of every clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar.”

• Noah didn’t get off and tell his sons that God had nothing to do with that.
• Noah didn’t get angry at God for doing what was well within His sovereign prerogative to do.
• Noah worshiped God for what He did.

And perhaps for those questioning David’s command to see this storm and worship God accordingly,
David reminds that God is sovereign and He always deserves worship.

He was God at the flood, He was God over this storm,
And He’ll be God over every other natural disaster that comes.

We don’t absolve God of His involvement of these things,
We glorify the power of God in the midst of them.

• That doesn’t mean we don’t grieve with the bereaved…
• That doesn’t mean we don’t help in the cleanup…
• That doesn’t mean we run around pointing fingers at sinners for causing it…

NOT AT ALL.

All that means is that when God puts His awesome power on display,
Then we take the opportunity to make sure
The world understands just how powerful God is.

AND THEN WE TELL THEM ONE MORE THING:
(11) “The LORD will give strength to His people; The LORD will bless His people with peace.”

What is that?
• It’s a promise that regardless of the storms, this God of tremendous strength will also strengthen His people.

• Beyond that, even in the midst of these storms God has the ability to give His people the peace they long for.

And as we contemplate that, I’m always reminded of the story of Jesus and His disciples. We talked about it recently in Luke’s gospel.

Luke 8:22-25 “Now on one of those days Jesus and His disciples got into a boat, and He said to them, “Let us go over to the other side of the lake.” So they launched out. But as they were sailing along He fell asleep; and a fierce gale of wind descended on the lake, and they began to be swamped and to be in danger. They came to Jesus and woke Him up, saying, “Master, Master, we are perishing!” And He got up and rebuked the wind and the surging waves, and they stopped, and it became calm. And He said to them, “Where is your faith?” They were fearful and amazed, saying to one another, “Who then is this, that He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey Him?”

Did Jesus know that storm was coming?
• I’d say Jesus commanded it, and purposely sent His disciples right into it.

Was His power manifested through it?
• Absolutely!
• They should have attributed the storm to Him, they most certainly attributed to Him the power to stop it.

Did He have the ability to sustain them through it?
Did He provide peace in the midst of it?

And the point is that they should glorify Him, which they did.

• DON’T BE AFRAID TO ATTRIBUTE THE STORM TO GOD
• DON’T BE AFRAID TO TELL THE WORLD THERE IS MORE TO COME
• DON’T BE AFRAID TO TELL THE WORLD THEY HAD BETTER WORSHIP HIM IN HOLY ARRAY

If you continually tell the world that these smaller storms are not of God,
Then how do you plan to tell them that He will one day destroy it all?

You’d be better off to tell them that this was a warning shot.
And their only hope is to submit to Him
Because the God of the storm will give strength and peace to His people
In the midst of it.

Let me close with one other Psalm, which we’ll just read:
Psalms 96 “Sing to the LORD a new song; Sing to the LORD, all the earth. Sing to the LORD, bless His name; Proclaim good tidings of His salvation from day to day. Tell of His glory among the nations, His wonderful deeds among all the peoples. For great is the LORD and greatly to be praised; He is to be feared above all gods. For all the gods of the peoples are idols, But the LORD made the heavens. Splendor and majesty are before Him, Strength and beauty are in His sanctuary. Ascribe to the LORD, O families of the peoples, Ascribe to the LORD glory and strength. Ascribe to the LORD the glory of His name; Bring an offering and come into His courts. Worship the LORD in holy attire; Tremble before Him, all the earth. Say among the nations, “The LORD reigns; Indeed, the world is firmly established, it will not be moved; He will judge the peoples with equity.” Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice; Let the sea roar, and all it contains; Let the field exult, and all that is in it. Then all the trees of the forest will sing for joy Before the LORD, for He is coming, For He is coming to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness And the peoples in His faithfulness.”

• Elihu saw the storm coming and told Job he’d better change his tune.
• David said the same thing there.

Glorify God because of His power,
And submit to Him and worship Him accordingly!

So there’s your song the next time the storm rolls in.

It is Not the Hearers
Romans 2:12-16
September 16, 2007

Last Sunday morning, Paul pulled a fast one on the self-righteous.

After feeding their ego for a chapter, Paul turned in chapter 2, to knock the self-righteous off of their pillow of false assurance.

Romans 2:1 “Therefore you have no excuse, everyone of you who passes judgment, for in that which you judge another, you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things.”

Sin is sin and judgment is absolutely impartial.
Only a deceived person would assume they won’t be judged.

Romans 2:3 “But do you suppose this, O man, when you pass judgment on those who practice such things and do the same yourself, that you will escape the judgment of God?”

And the reason is because God faithfully distributes judgment.
Romans 2:6 “who WILL RENDER TO EACH PERSON ACCORDING TO HIS DEEDS:”

Then last Sunday night we began looking at Qualifications for Judgment.
(The truths taught here is not how to be saved, but rather how to be judged.)

If you want to be judged, then fail to keep God’s commands.
Judgment faithfully follows sin.

Yet as we noted, the self-righteous hypocrites deny this fact.
They hold on to faulty notions that they won’t be judged.

In Isaiah’s day they thought they could hide from judgment.
Isaiah 28:15 “Because you have said, “We have made a covenant with death, And with Sheol we have made a pact. The overwhelming scourge will not reach us when it passes by, For we have made falsehood our refuge and we have concealed ourselves with deception.”

To that God responded.
Isaiah 28:17-18 “I will make justice the measuring line And righteousness the level; Then hail will sweep away the refuge of lies And the waters will overflow the secret place. “Your covenant with death will be canceled, And your pact with Sheol will not stand; When the overwhelming scourge passes through, Then you become its trampling place.”

Jeremiah’s day they thought God’s temple kept them safe from judgment.
And so Jeremiah said:
Jeremiah 7:4-7 “Do not trust in deceptive words, saying, ‘ This is the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD.’ “For if you truly amend your ways and your deeds, if you truly practice justice between a man and his neighbor, if you do not oppress the alien, the orphan, or the widow, and do not shed innocent blood in this place, nor walk after other gods to your own ruin, then I will let you dwell in this place, in the land that I gave to your fathers forever and ever.”
In Zephaniah’s day, the people just thought God wouldn’t judge at all.
Zephaniah 1:12 “It will come about at that time That I will search Jerusalem with lamps, And I will punish the men Who are stagnant in spirit, Who say in their hearts, ‘The LORD will not do good or evil!’”

In John the Baptist’s day, they thought their ancestry would save them.
Matthew 3:7-9 “But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? “Therefore bear fruit in keeping with repentance; and do not suppose that you can say to yourselves, ‘ We have Abraham for our father’; for I say to you that from these stones God is able to raise up children to Abraham.”

Paul was still battling that notion a little in chapter 2 when he said:
Romans 2:9-11 “There will be tribulation and distress for every soul of man who does evil, of the Jew first and also of the Greek, but glory and honor and peace to everyone who does good, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For there is no partiality with God.”

But the point has been clearly made throughout the ages.
If you sin, you get judged.

It doesn’t benefit to think you can hide from judgment.
It doesn’t benefit to think going to church will help you.
It doesn’t benefit to assume God won’t do it.
It doesn’t benefit to have Christian parents.

Assigning false comfort to yourself through deceptive lies
Will not eliminate the reality of judgment.

And throughout the generations, men have learned the hard way.

In Isaiah’s day they thought they could hide.
They were found and the Northern Kingdom was destroyed by Assyria
In Jeremiah’s day they thought the temple would save them.
They watched Nebuchadnezzar burn the temple.
In Zephaniah’s day they thought God wouldn’t do it.
They found they were wrong as they were deported to Babylon
In John the Baptist’s day they thought their ancestry would save them.
And Jesus pronounced their condemnation before they ever died.

THEIR ASSUMPTIONS ALL PROVED TO BE FALSE

And yet men still provide themselves with faulty assumptions.
Following the sermons of the false prophets:

Jeremiah 6:14 “They have healed the brokenness of My people superficially, Saying, ‘Peace, peace,’ But there is no peace.”

Men still look for ways to justify themselves, and their sinful lifestyles.

This morning we see yet another dangerous deception
That leads men to a supposed self-justification.

KNOWLEDGE

Men who assume that because they know the truth,
That they will not be judged even though they live in sin.

IT IS A DANGEROUS AND DESTRUCTIVE FALSE ASSUMPTION.

Yet we still see it today, and we are partly to blame.

We have trained people to think you attain salvation through education.

We determine the readiness of a child,
but their understanding of the truth.
BUT IT SHOULD BE DETERMINED
BY THEIR WILLINGNESS TO SUBMIT.

If a child knows the answers we let them in.

THAT CAUSES PEOPLE TO BELIEVE THAT SALVATION
IS ACHIEVED THROUGH UNDERSTANDING.

THEN THOSE KIDS GROW UP AND TEACH THEIR KIDS THE SAME
We end up with churches full of educated people
Who aren’t following Jesus.

BUT GOD NEVER REQUIRED SMART PEOPLE,
NOR DID HE TELL US TO TRAIN OUR KIDS IN THAT MANNER.
Deuteronomy 6:4-9 “Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD is one! “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. “These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart. “You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up. “You shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontals on your forehead. “You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.”

TRAIN YOUR CHILDREN TO LOVE GOD
(We got so consumed with the training that we forgot what we were training them.)

HOW DO YOU DO THAT?
1) BY EXAMPLE – “shall be on your heart”
2) BY DILIGENCE – “teach them diligently…when sit…walk…lie down…rise up”
3) BY PRIORITY – “bind them as frontals on your forehead…”

God doesn’t want us to train people to know the facts.
God wants people trained to know and love Him.
But somewhere we got off target.
We started treating salvation like a multiple choice test.

Completely overlooking:
The Insufficiency of the knowledge of the Pharisees.
The Insufficiency of the knowledge of the Rich Young Ruler
The Insufficiency of the knowledge of Judas

THE IDEA HAS NEVER BEEN KNOWLEDGE
JESUS WANTS YOU TO LOVE HIM
(obedience, perseverance, submission, faithfulness)

Luke 14:26-27 “If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple. “Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.”

John 14:15 “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.”

But none the less, we began to train people
That salvation was through knowledge.
And the result is people who live in disobedience to Christ,
But because they know the facts about Christ,
They assume they won’t be judged.

The purpose of this text this morning is to prove that theory wrong.

And there are 4 things Paul shows us about knowledge in our text this morning.
#1 IN REGARD TO JUDGMENT: KNOWLEDGE IS INSIGNIFICANT
Romans 2:12

There is a growing population today (even in the church)
That seems to think the answer to judgment is knowledge.

But as Paul points out here.
When it comes to judgment, knowledge is insignificant.

“all who have sinned without the Law will also perish without the Law”
That statement seems to play right into the hands of those
Who are trusting in their Bible knowledge as proof of their salvation.

But if you will accurately read that verse,
You will see that the reason they are judged
Is not because they were uneducated, but because they were sinners.

The point there is that sin is punished.

A PERSON COULD PLEAD IGNORANCE – “I never read the Bible”
According to the statement here, that is INSIGNIFICANT.
Romans 1:20 “For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse.”

You may not have the Law, but you do have creation.
You sinned, and so you will be judged.

And perhaps that one seems obvious, but look at what Paul says next.

“and all who have sinned under the Law will be judged by the Law;”

KNOWLEDGE WILL NOT HELP IN JUDGMENT

If you are guilty before God as an adulterer,
It will not help you in judgment to appeal to God
That you have memorized the 7th Commandment.

KNOWLEDGE DOES NOT NULLIFY SIN.

Yet it is amazing how many people in this world think
That it is their knowledge that makes them a Christian.
KNOWLEDGE IS NOT A FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT
KNOWLEDGE IS NOT A FRUIT OF SALVATION

Knowledge is Insignificant in the Judgment
Remember these guys?
Luke 13:24-27 “Strive to enter through the narrow door; for many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able. “Once the head of the house gets up and shuts the door, and you begin to stand outside and knock on the door, saying, ‘ Lord, open up to us!’ then He will answer and say to you, ‘ I do not know where you are from.’ “Then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in Your presence, and You taught in our streets’; and He will say, ‘I tell you, I do not know where you are from; DEPART FROM ME, ALL YOU EVILDOERS.’”

They are appealing to their intellectual knowledge of Him.

MAY I REMIND YOU.
It doesn’t matter if you know all about Jesus,
If Jesus doesn’t know you.

Knowledge is absolutely insignificant in judgment.
#2 DURING JUDGMENT: KNOWLEDGE IS IMPOTENT
Romans 2:13

And this statement is really the crux of the passage.
“for it is not the hearers of the Law who are just before God,”

People think their knowledge makes them safer in judgment.

I quit asking the question when witnessing:
“Do you know Jesus?”

Because I found out just about everybody does.
“Yeah, I know Jesus. He died on the cross. I was baptized when I was a kid.”

PEOPLE IN HELL KNOW JESUS
But knowledge of Him is not what He wants.

JESUS IS NOT LOOKING FOR HISTORIANS OR BIOGRAPHERS. JESUS IS LOOKING FOR FOLLOWERS.

He is looking for those who will trust Him.
(i.e. obedience and perseverance)

“for it is not the hearers of the Law who are just before God, but the doers of the Law will be justified.”

CAN A VERSE SCREAM IT ANY LOUDER?
I don’t care that you know the answers…
I don’t care that you memorized the verse…
I don’t care that you know the facts about Jesus…

I WANT TO KNOW IF YOU ARE OBEYING HIM!!!
If you are not obeying Him, your knowledge
Is absolutely powerless to save you on the day of judgment.

James 1:19-25 “This you know, my beloved brethren. But everyone must be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger; for the anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God. Therefore, putting aside all filthiness and all that remains of wickedness, in humility receive the word implanted, which is able to save your souls. But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror; for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was. But one who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer, this man will be blessed in what he does.”

HEARNIG IS IMPORTANT – “be quick to hear”
Romans 10:17 “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.”

BUT DO NOT STOP WITH SIMPLY HEARING

HEARING IS POWERLESS WITHOUT DOING.

That is why throughout the Scripture, obedience (not knowledge)
Is the verifiable trademark of Christianity.

Luke 6:46-49 “Why do you call Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say? “Everyone who comes to Me and hears My words and acts on them, I will show you whom he is like: he is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid a foundation on the rock; and when a flood occurred, the torrent burst against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built. “But the one who has heard and has not acted accordingly, is like a man who built a house on the ground without any foundation; and the torrent burst against it and immediately it collapsed, and the ruin of that house was great.”

1 John 2:3-6 “By this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments. The one who says, ” I have come to know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him; but whoever keeps His word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected. By this we know that we are in Him: the one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked.”
AND THIS IS PAUL’S POINT.
You may have knowledge, but on the day of judgment,
Your knowledge will be absolutely powerless to help you.

Because in judgment, knowledge is INSIGNIFICANT, and:
In the judgment, knowledge is IMPOTENT.
#3 DURING JUDGMENT: KNOWLEDGE IS INCONVENIENT
Romans 2:14-15

And this may be the harshest truth to swallow at all.

Paul is going to make the point of the inconvenience of knowledge,
And he will do so by showing how inconvenient it is
For those who have limited knowledge.
If it is inconvenient for them, how much more so for the highly educated?

“when Gentiles who do not have the Law do instinctively the things of the Law…they show the work of the Law written in their hearts,

Now this does not mean they are saved.

But what Paul is referring to is, when a man
Who has absolutely no Bible knowledge at all,
Instinctively refrains from immoral behavior,
Then he reveals that although he does not have Bible knowledge, He does know right from wrong.

All across our world, there are lost moral people.
Lost people who do not cheat on their spouses.
Lost people who do not murder.
Lost people who do not steal.
Lost people who won’t have abortions.

They may not have the Law, but they know right from wrong.
It is the inner “instinctive” knowledge of the conscience.
And Paul says, this knowledge will be inconvenient for them
At the day of judgment.

“their conscience bearing witness and their thoughts alternately accusing or else defending them,”

WHAT WILL JUDGE THESE PEOPLE?
Their conscience and their thoughts.

They will stand before God and say, “I’m not guilty, I didn’t know adultery was wrong.”
And then God will say, “Then why did you refrain from it for 20 years?” Your obedience proves you knew it was wrong.

Even to the man with seemingly no knowledge at all,
Even his limited knowledge is inconvenient.

NOW
If a man with limited knowledge is judged by his knowledge, what does that say for those of us with great knowledge?
Certainly our knowledge will not help us,
But will be considered most inconvenient.

AND I WANT YOU TO UNDERSTAND SOMETHING
Not only is knowledge not helpful in judgment,
Knowledge is harmful.

THE MORE YOU KNOW, THE STIFFER THE PUNISHMENT
Luke 12:43-48 “Blessed is that slave whom his master finds so doing when he comes. “Truly I say to you that he will put him in charge of all his possessions. “But if that slave says in his heart, ‘My master will be a long time in coming,’ and begins to beat the slaves, both men and women, and to eat and drink and get drunk; the master of that slave will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know, and will cut him in pieces, and assign him a place with the unbelievers. “And that slave who knew his master’s will and did not get ready or act in accord with his will, will receive many lashes, but the one who did not know it, and committed deeds worthy of a flogging, will receive but few. From everyone who has been given much, much will be required; and to whom they entrusted much, of him they will ask all the more.”

Matthew 11:20-24 “Then He began to denounce the cities in which most of His miracles were done, because they did not repent. “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles had occurred in Tyre and Sidon which occurred in you, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. “Nevertheless I say to you, it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon inthe day of judgment than for you. “And you, Capernaum, will not be exalted to heaven, will you? You will descend to Hades; for if the miracles had occurred in Sodom which occurred in you, it would have remained to this day. “Nevertheless I say to you that it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment, than for you.”
THERE ARE DEGREES OF TORMENT IN HELL
AND IT IS DETERMINED BY YOUR AMOUNT OF KNOWLEDGE

And we do that with our kids.
The 2nd offense brings a far stiffer penalty.

SO IT IS WITH KNOWLEDGE.
People will find it most inconvenient on the day of judgment.

It will only prove their guilt, and prove they deserve punishment.

Better to enter hell an ignorant uneducated fool,
Than with a worn out Bible.
The Bible is not just to be read, but obeyed.

#4 DURING JUDGMENT: KNOWLEDGE IS INEXTRICABLE
Romans 2:16

Inextricable = cannot set himself free from, cannot deny

And this is the point.
Because knowledge will be so inconvenient during judgment,
No doubt many will do their best
To assure God they did not know all they know.

DO NOT OUR KIDS DO THIS?
“You knew better than that!”
“No I didn’t, I didn’t know better.”

Carrie will ask Zek “What are you doing?”
He will immediately say, “I don’t know.”
Soon – “What do you think I was doing?”

EVEN KIDS KNOW KNOWLEDGE HURTS YOU IN JUDGMENT

And once people figure this out,
The next step will be to hide what they know.
They will try to convince God
They really weren’t as educated as they pretended.

But that won’t work because:
“God will judge the secrets of men through Christ Jesus.”

AND HERE IS THE POINT

On the day when men are judged.
Every sin will be revealed, every ounce of knowledge will be uncovered.
God will take your sin in one hand, your knowledge in the other.
Your sin will determine your guilt
Your knowledge will determine the severity of your punishment

And the point is that knowledge does not help in judgment.

TO EVERYONE WHO THINKS THEY ARE OK
BECAUSE THEY KNOW THE TRUTH ABOUT JESUS:
DO NOT BE DECEIVED.

God is not looking for theologians, God is looking for disciples.

When Jesus calls a person
He does not put a strain on the intellect,
He puts a strain on the heart.

Matthew 8:19-22 “Then a scribe came and said to Him, “Teacher, I will follow You wherever You go.” Jesus said to him, “The foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.” Another of the disciples said to Him, “Lord, permit me first to go and bury my father.” But Jesus said to him, “Follow Me, and allow the dead to bury their own dead.”

Matthew 16:24-27 “Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. “For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. “For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? “For the Son of Man is going to come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and WILL THEN REPAY EVERY MAN ACCORDING TO HIS DEEDS.”

Matthew 19:21-22 “Jesus said to him, “If you wish to be complete, go and sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” But when the young man heard this statement, he went away grieving; for he was one who owned much property.”

Jesus didn’t ask any of those people to learn facts.
Jesus didn’t give any of them a multiple choice test.
JESUS ASKED EVERYONE OF THEM TO FULLY TRUST AND OBEY HIM.

In Isaiah’s day they thought they could hide from judgment…
In Jeremiah’s day they thought going to church would save them…
In Zephaniah’s day they thought God wouldn’t really do it…
In John the Baptist’s day they thought their ancestry could save them…
Today men think their knowledge will deliver them.

DON’T BE DECEIVED.
Only fully trusting Jesus can save man from the wrath of God.

Romans 5:8-9 “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him.”

Qualifications for Judgmnet
Romans 2:7-11
September 9, 2007

This morning we heard one of those “upbeat” “feel good” type of sermons
That really warms the heart and soothes the ego.

Paul laid it on the line in regard to hypocrisy.

Hypocrites have a:
Denial of Punishment
Disdain for Pity
Debt to Pay

They are those who assume they will not be judged,
And would just as soon pity not be offered
To those who really deserve to be judged.

AND OF COURSE THAT TYPE OF PERSON IS GRAVE DANGER

But Paul is by no means finished proving that point to us.

In verse 6 Paul made a very pivotal statement.
“who WILL RENDER TO EACH PERSON ACCORDING TO HIS DEEDS:”

He is quoting from the Old Testament
Psalms 62:12 “And lovingkindness is Yours, O Lord, For You recompense a man according to his work.”

Although you are saved by grace, you are judged by works,
And every work is recorded.

And some day, the judgment of God will be revealed.
Revelation 22:12-13 “Behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to render to every man according to what he has done. “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.”

Some day reward will be given for the works of man.

EVEN TO CHRISTIANS – (who will not stand before the final judgment)
1 Corinthians 3:12-15 “Now if any man builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each man’s work will become evident; for the day will show it because it is to be revealed with fire, and the fire itself will test the quality of each man’s work. If any man’s work which he has built on it remains, he will receive a reward. If any man’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.”

That is the “Judgment seat of Christ”
BUT THAT IS NOT THE JUDGMENT PAUL IS REFERENCING HERE

The judgment Paul is speaking of is the eternal judgment of God.
A judgment which hypocrites are headed for.

(5) “But because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God.”

And that is really the point that Paul begins to elaborate on here.
And it is a theme that he will carry through verse 16.

AND WE ARE CALLING THIS SECTION
“Qualifications for Judgment”

In our world of “How to’s” one might call this, “How to be judged”

We do need to do a little theological work here.

It is quite possible for a person to interpret this passage
Independently from the rest of Scripture and devise a theology
That is not what God intended.

NO PASSAGE STANDS ALONE
(Scripture must interpret Scripture)

JUSTIFICATION IS BY FAITH ALONE THROUGH GRACE ALONE

Ephesians 2:8-9 “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.”

Galatians 2:20-21 “I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me. “I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness comes through the Law, then Christ died needlessly.”

Galatians 3:11 “Now that no one is justified by the Law before God is evident; for, “THE RIGHTEOUS MAN SHALL LIVE BY FAITH.”

THIS IS EVEN WHAT ROMANS TEACHES

Romans 2:28-29 “For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh. But he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that which is of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter; and his praise is not from men, but from God.”

Romans 3:19-20 “Now we know that whatever the Law says, it speaks to those who are under the Law, so that every mouth may be closed and all the world may become accountable to God; because by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight; for through the Law comes the knowledge of sin.”

Romans 4:1-3 “What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh, has found? For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. For what does the Scripture say? “ABRAHAM BELIEVED GOD, AND IT WAS CREDITED TO HIM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS.”

Romans 4:16 “For this reason it is by faith, in order that it may be in accordance with grace, so that the promise will be guaranteed to all the descendants, not only to those who are of the Law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all,”

Romans 5:1 “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,”

It is clear what the message of Romans is.
Therefore, we know what this passage DOES NOT mean.

THIS PASSAGE DOES NOT TEACH
THAT SALVATION COMES THROUGH BEING GOOD.

THIS PASSAGE ISN’T TALKING ABOUT SALVATION AT ALL.

This passage is not the qualifications for salvation;
This passage is about the qualifications for judgment.

UNLIKE SALVATION,
JUDGMENT IS DEALT ON THE BASIS OF WORKS
(This is what we study here)

So as we study this text, remember the point, and it will help you understand what Paul is saying.

There are two main points we glean from this text tonight.
#1 THE STANDARD FOR JUDGMENT
Romans 2:7-8

We learned this morning that judgment must have a standard.

When man judges, his judgment is flawed,
Because his standard is flawed.

God’s judgment is perfect because His standard is perfect.

Amos 7:7-9 “Thus He showed me, and behold, the Lord was standing by a vertical wall with a plumb line in His hand. The LORD said to me, “What do you see, Amos?” And I said, “A plumb line.” Then the Lord said, “Behold I am about to put a plumb line In the midst of My people Israel. I will spare them no longer. “The high places of Isaac will be desolated And the sanctuaries of Israel laid waste. Then I will rise up against the house of Jeroboam with the sword.”

Isaiah 28:15-18 “Because you have said, “We have made a covenant with death, And with Sheol we have made a pact. The overwhelming scourge will not reach us when it passes by, For we have made falsehood our refuge and we have concealed ourselves with deception.” Therefore thus says the Lord GOD, “Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a tested stone, A costly cornerstone for the foundation, firmly placed. He who believes in it will not be disturbed. “I will make justice the measuring line And righteousness the level; Then hail will sweep away the refuge of lies And the waters will overflow the secret place. “Your covenant with death will be canceled, And your pact with Sheol will not stand; When the overwhelming scourge passes through, Then you become its trampling place.”
God’s standard is very easy to define:
PERFECT RIGHTEOUSNESS

Read the books of Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy.

God plainly paints that righteousness is what He wants,
And perfect righteousness is all He accepts.

And He is been saying this from the beginning.
Deuteronomy 28:1-2 “Now it shall be, if you diligently obey the LORD your God, being careful to do all His commandments which I command you today, the LORD your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth. “All these blessings will come upon you and overtake you if you obey the LORD your God:”

Deuteronomy 28:15-19 “But it shall come about, if you do not obey the LORD your God, to observe to do all His commandments and His statutes with which I charge you today, that all these curses will come upon you and overtake you: “Cursed shall you be in the city, and cursed shall you be in the country. “Cursed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl. “Cursed shall be the offspring of your body and the produce of your ground, the increase of your herd and the young of your flock. “Cursed shall you be when you come in, and cursed shall you be when you go out.”

DID YOU CATCH THE WORD “all”?

Is that not what Jesus reiterated?
Matthew 5:20 “For I say to you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.”

Matthew 5:48 “Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”

And so this is the point.
ANYTHING LESS THAN PERFECT OBEDIENCE
TO THE WORD OF GOD BRINGS JUDGMENT.

And that is also Paul’s point here.
And what Paul does is contrast two people.

One is not deserving of punishment, the other is deserving of punishment.

So first, let’s look at the person who does not deserve punishment.
(7) “to those who by perseverance in doing good, seek for glory and honor and immortality, eternal life;”

Now please don’t sugar coat what Paul has just said. Because when Paul says, “perseverance in doing good”

He does not mean, “good most of the time” or “basically good”
EVERYONE OF US THINKS WE ARE BASICALLY GOOD

Paul is actually talking about perfect goodness.
Perfect obedience to the Word of God.

This is something mankind falls far short of.
Matthew 19:16-17 “And someone came to Him and said, “Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may obtain eternal life?” And He said to him, “Why are you asking Me about what is good? There is only One who is good; but if you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments.”

But the first thing Paul mentions is:
THEIR DESCRIPTION
“perseverance in doing good”

The person who does not deserve judgment does what is good, all the time. They persevere in it.

THEIR MOTIVATION
“glory and honor and immortality”

Now it is not a bad thing to seek those things, and in light of the next man it appears that this person is seeking these things eternally, not temporally.

In fact, Jesus tells us to seek these things.
Matthew 6:19-21 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. “But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal; for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

The point is that these people are doing everything right,
For the sake of pleasing God and earning an eternal reward.

Not only are their actions right, but their heart is right as well.

THEIR REWARD
“eternal life”

To those who do good deeds, and do it for the right reasons, they don’t deserve judgment.

But let’s look at the flip side.
(8) “but to those who are selfishly ambitious and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, wrath and indignation.”

Now let’s look at the same three attributes.
THEIR DESCRIPTION
“do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness,”

I have told you before, but in regard to pleasing God,
There is only one truly verifiable proof of salvation: obedience.

Matthew 7:21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter.”

Matthew 7:24-27 “Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock. “And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock. “Everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. “The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and it fell — and great was its fall.”

John 8:31 “So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, “If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine;”

John 3:36 “He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.”

1 John 2:3-6 “By this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments. The one who says, “I have come to know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him; but whoever keeps His word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected. By this we know that we are in Him: the one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked.”

But these people have no obedience.
“do not obey the truth”

We know that makes them worthy of judgment.

And as if that wasn’t enough.
THEIR MOTIVATION
“who are selfishly ambitious”

It’s bad enough that they do bad things, but even when they do good things, they do them for the wrong reasons.

This was the Pharisees we read about this morning.
Matthew 23:5-6 “But they do all their deeds to be noticed by men; for they broaden their phylacteries and lengthen the tassels of their garments. “They love the place of honor at banquets and the chief seats in the synagogues,”

It smells an awful lot like the false prophets we have spoken of.
2 Peter 2:12-16 “But these, like unreasoning animals, born as creatures of instinct to be captured and killed, reviling where they have no knowledge, will in the destruction of those creatures also be destroyed, suffering wrong as the wages of doing wrong. They count it a pleasure to revel in the daytime. They are stains and blemishes, reveling in their deceptions, as they carouse with you, having eyes full of adultery that never cease from sin, enticing unstable souls, having a heart trained in greed, accursed children; forsaking the right way, they have gone astray, having followed the way of Balaam, the son of Beor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness; but he received a rebuke for his own transgression,for a mute donkey, speaking with a voice of a man, restrained the madness of the prophet.”

Jude 11-13 “Woe to them! For they have gone the way of Cain, and for pay they have rushed headlong into the error of Balaam, and perished in the rebellion of Korah. These are the men who are hidden reefs in your love feasts when they feast with you without fear, caring for themselves; clouds without water, carried along by winds; autumn trees without fruit, doubly dead, uprooted; wild waves of the sea, casting up their own shame like foam; wandering stars, for whom the black darkness has been reserved forever.”

Philippians 1:15-17 “Some, to be sure, are preaching Christ even from envy and strife, but some also from good will; the latter do it out of love, knowing that I am appointed for the defense of the gospel; the former proclaim Christ out of selfish ambition rather than from pure motives, thinking to cause me distress in my imprisonment.”

It is how Paul described himself when he was lost.
Galatians 1:13-14 “For you have heard of my former manner of life in Judaism, how I used to persecute the church of God beyond measure and tried to destroy it; and I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my contemporaries among my countrymen, being more extremely zealous for my ancestral traditions.”

And Paul’s point here is that those types of people are worthy of judgment.

THEIR REWARD
“wrath and indignation”

“wrath” translates THUMOS
“indignation” translates ORGE

It is the worst of both worlds.
Violent passion for a long time.

And the standard is whether or not you are good by God’s perfect righteous standard.

IF NOT, YOU DESERVE JUDGMENT

That is the standard for judgment.
#2 THE SURETY OF JUDGMENT
Romans 2:9-11

We have said that God has a standard,
But for some reason, people quickly overlook the standard.

Mankind still has an ability to assume that God won’t do it.

Zephaniah 1:12 “It will come about at that time That I will search Jerusalem with lamps, And I will punish the men Who are stagnant in spirit, Who say in their hearts, ‘The LORD will not do good or evil!’”

Tell that to Jeremiah.
He penned the book of Lamentations while sitting amidst the rubble of what used to be the temple of God.

Listen to what he said.
Lamentations 2:8 “The LORD determined to destroy The wall of the daughter of Zion. He has stretched out a line, He has not restrained His hand from destroying, And He has caused rampart and wall to lament; They have languished together.”

According to Jeremiah, God’s judgment is also sure.

And that is what Paul reminds us of here.
(9-10) “There will be tribulation and distress for every soul of man who does evil, of the Jew first and also of the Greek, but glory and honor and peace to everyone who does good, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.”

And it doesn’t matter who you are…
Where you grew up…
Who your daddy is…
Or the color of your skin…

Judgment is sure, I don’t care who you are.

And that is concreted in verse 11
“For there is no partiality with God”

Deuteronomy 10:17 “For the LORD your God is the God of gods and the Lord of lords, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God who does not show partiality nor take a bribe.”

Acts 10:34-35 “Opening his mouth, Peter said: “I most certainly understand now that God is not one to show partiality, but in every nation the man who fears Him and does what is right is welcome to Him.”

Even Peter assumed that God favored the Jews.
He was wrong.

There has never been a partial bone in God’s body.

Ask Moses about not getting to go into the promised land.
Ask Israel about how God let Assyria wipe them out.
Ask Judah about how God let Babylon wipe them out.

As my wife pointed out to me over lunch.
This lack of partiality included the day when His Son became deserving of punishment.

Isaiah 53:10 “But the LORD was pleased To crush Him, putting Him to grief; If He would render Himself as a guilt offering, He will see His offspring, He will prolong His days, And the good pleasure of the LORD will prosper in His hand.”

God is not motivated by flattery…
God is not motivated by promises…
God is not motivated by emotional pleas…
God is not motivated by tears and pleading…

GOD IS MOTIVATED BY RIGHTEOUSNESS,
IT IS THE ONLY THING THAT MATTERS AT THE JUDGMENT.

And that is the point Paul is making here.

DON’T REST ON SOME SUPERFICIAL CHURCH ACTIVITY…
DON’T REST ON YOUR NATIONALITY…
DON’T REST ON WHO YOUR PARENTS ARE…

I’ve always found it interesting the number of people
Who assume they are saved
Because they grew up in a Christian home.

Listen to what John said.
John 1:12-13 “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.”

The only way to be saved is to give your heart to Jesus Christ.
To trust His righteousness alone to save yourself.

And John there gives us three ways you don’t get saved.
1) Genetically – “not of blood”
2) Works – “nor of the flesh”
3) Desire – “nor of the will of man”

You have to scrap everything and start over.
“You must be born again”

ADMIT YOUR PUNISHMENT
HUMBLE YOURSELF AND SEEK PITY
GIVE YOUR HEART TO JESUS

When you do, His righteousness gets credited to your account, And you instantly become pleasing to God.

Romans 8:1-4 “Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, so that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.”

And there it is.

IF YOU WANT TO KNOW HOW TO BE JUDGED
Either do evil, or do good for the wrong reason.

IF YOU WANT TO KNOW HOW TO BE SAVED
Give your heart to Jesus Christ.

He will save you from the wrath of God.
Romans 5:8-9 “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him.”