ROMANS: Part 3 ~ Judgment The Secrets of Men

Our Great Commission

ROMANS II

Judgment : The Secrets of Men

Pastor Bruce A. Shields

House of Faith – www.PS127.org | www.TruthDigest.org

ANNOUNCEMENTS

6:00PM Evening Service at the church –

“Seminary Students will be preaching”

Monday 5:00PM Bible Study

Tuesday Women’s at Lori’s 5:00PM

Men’s on Friday at the church 8:00PM –

(Guy’s night when girls go to camp: pizza/games)

WHERE WE ARE AT

† Maturing in Christ

† Understanding in Christ

† Love of God

† God’s Spiritual Fruit

This Series: The Book of Romans

Previously: Apostasy

TODAY’S SERMON: Our Great Commission

Romans II

Part 3: Judgment : The Secrets of Men

SCRIPTURE READING

Romans 2:16

"The day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel."

INTRODUCTION

John 12:37 – 50 The Jews Continue in Their Unbelief (Apostasy and its results)

³⁷Even after Jesus had done all these miraculous signs in their presence, they still would not believe in him. ³⁸This was to fulfill the word of Isaiah the prophet:
"Lord, who has believed our message
and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?"

³⁹For this reason they could not believe, because, as Isaiah says elsewhere:
⁴⁰"He has blinded their eyes
and deadened their hearts,
so they can neither see with their eyes,
nor understand with their hearts,
nor turn—and I would heal them."⁴¹Isaiah said this because he saw Jesus' glory and spoke about him.

{BECAUSE OF APOSTASY}

⁴²Yet at the same time many even among the leaders believed in him. But because of the Pharisees they would not confess their faith for fear they would be put out of the synagogue; ⁴³for they loved praise from men more than praise from God.

⁴⁴Then Jesus cried out, "When a man believes in me, he does not believe in me only, but in the one who sent me. ⁴⁵When he looks at me, he sees the one who sent me. ⁴⁶I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness.

⁴⁷"As for the person who hears my words but does not keep them, I do not judge him. For I did not come to judge the world, but to save it.

⁴⁸There is a judge for the one who rejects me and does not accept my words; that very word which I spoke will condemn him at the last day. ⁴⁹For I did not speak of my own accord, but the Father who sent me commanded me what to say and how to say it. ⁵⁰I know that his command leads to eternal life. So whatever I say is just what the Father has told me to say."

A DAY DOES COME WHEN ALL WILL BE JUDGED…

I. A DAY WHEN GOD WILL JUDGE

a. It has already been appointed

Acts 17:31

³¹For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to all men by raising him from the dead."

b. All will stand before the Great White Throne

Revelation 20:11 – 15

¹¹Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. Earth and sky fled from his presence, and there was no place for them. ¹²And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. ¹³The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what he had done. ¹⁴Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. ¹⁵If anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.

If a person dies as a believer his name is retained in the book of life, if he dies unsaved he is blotted out.

Psalm 69:28 "Let them be blotted out of the book of the living and not be written with the righteous."

Psalm 9:5 “You have rebuked the nations, you have destroyed the wicked; you have blotted out their name forever and ever.”

Those who received Christ have their name written in his book of life (the Lamb's book) and it is retained in the Book of Life. Those who reject him, never have their name written in his book.

Their name is also removed from the book of life, of which everyone’s name is written down that ever lived.

c. All will receive a judgment

So we see all, great and small stand before the throne to be judged.

We see the book of life opened (1^st Physical birth, everyone who was ever born, if they die without Christ are blotted out)

We see the Lamb’s Book of Life (2^nd Spiritual Birth, everyone who accepted Jesus and remained faithful to the end)

If your name is in the Lamb’s book of life, you will not suffer the second death, but you have passed from death to life.

We see the Book of Works which judges what we’ve done. (If your name is not in the Book of life/Lamb’s Book)

Hebrews 12:23 "To the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are registered in heaven, to God the Judge of all, to the spirits of just men made perfect."

The Greek word for registered is apographo which means to write (a copy or list), i.e. enroll

If you are born again you then become a pilgrim on earth heading for your permanent home in heaven.

II. JUDGE THE SECRETS OF MEN

a. Nothing is secret to God

Matthew 6:18

¹⁸so that it will not be obvious to men that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

Isaiah 57:8

⁸ Behind your doors and your doorposts
you have put your pagan symbols.
Forsaking me, you uncovered your bed,
you climbed into it and opened it wide;
you made a pact with those whose beds you love,
and you looked on their nakedness.

Luke 12:2-3

²There is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known. ³What you have said in the dark will be heard in the daylight, and what you have whispered in the ear in the inner rooms will be proclaimed from the roofs.

Psalm 44:20-21

²⁰ If we had forgotten the name of our God
or spread out our hands to a foreign god,

²¹ would not God have discovered it,
since he knows the secrets of the heart?

Jeremiah 23:24

²⁴ Can anyone hide in secret places
so that I cannot see him?"
declares the LORD.
"Do not I fill heaven and earth?"
declares the LORD.

b. You are held accountable

Matthew 12:36

³⁶But I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken.

Romans 2:5

⁵But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God's wrath, when his righteous judgment will be revealed.

c. Love the Lord your God

With all your Heart, Mind, Body and Soul

Your every thought, deed, intension…is known to God

III. JUDGED BY THE TEACHINGS OF JESUS CHRIST

a. Two Laws, one leads to life, the other death

The Law (or 10 commandments), which no man can fulfill and will only lead to death.

Galatians 3:10-12

¹⁰All who rely on observing the law are under a curse, for it is written: "Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law." ¹¹Clearly no one is justified before God by the law, because, "The righteous will live by faith." ¹²The law is not based on faith;

Only through a relationship in Jesus Christ can we be justified before God through our faith in Jesus.

This is the Law of Love, that Jesus Himself commanded us to live by.

Matthew 22:37-40

³⁷Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. ³⁸This is the first and great commandment.

³⁹And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.

⁴⁰On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

b. Salvation is a “returning” to the way it was before sin (the fall)

c. We must not die in sin

Romans 6:14-16

¹⁴For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace.

Slaves to Righteousness

¹⁵What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! ¹⁶Don't you know that when you offer yourselves to someone to obey him as slaves, you are slaves to the one whom you obey—whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness?

Matthew 25:31 – 46

³¹"When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. ³²All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. ³³He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.

³⁴"Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. ³⁵For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, ³⁶I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'

³⁷"Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? ³⁸When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? ³⁹When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'

⁴⁰"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'

⁴¹"Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. ⁴²For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, ⁴³I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.'

⁴⁴"They also will answer, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?'

⁴⁵"He will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.'

⁴⁶"Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life."

CONCLUSION

A day is coming, and has already been appointed, when all, great and small, shall stand before the great white throne, the Judgment of God through Jesus Christ of everyone who has ever lived.

The Book of life will be opened, has your name been blotted out because of unbelief in God?

The Lamb’s Book of life will be opened, were you “born again?” and remain faithful to Him until the end?

If your name is not found here, then the Book of law and the book of works are now opened, and you will face judgment.

The book of works revealing every deed, every intension, and every thought.

This, measured against the Book of Law (10 commandments), which you can NOT pass!

Galatians 3:10-12

¹⁰All who rely on observing the law are under a curse, for it is written: "Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law." ¹¹Clearly no one is justified before God by the law, because, "The righteous will live by faith." ¹²The law is not based on faith;

Revelation 20:12-15

The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. ¹³The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what he had done. ¹⁴Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. ¹⁵If anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.

Is your name in the Lamb’s book of life?

If not, you need to seek the Lord right now.