Judgement

I. Welcome, Series, Recap (Slide), Prayer

a. We are going to start off this morning by playing a little Game. Its called good or bad. I will read a description of a person and you get to decide if they are good or bad.

· Jacob- this person was one of the most clever persons to live he won all his money land by lying and tricking people, he even stole from his brother.

· Moses- this was one of the best leaders of his country, but he killed someone, got angry often and failed in his number one job as a leader.

· MLK Jr- this guy was a the forefront of social reform by day, but had various affairs with women at night

· John Howard Yoder- He was a champion for peace and non-violence, but was discovered to be an abuser and sexual predator

· Martin Luther- started the greatest reform in all of Christianity, but hated the Jews so much that Hitler used some of this man’s writings to justify his actions.

b. This game is an illustration of something that we do on a regular basis that we don’t even think about. We judge people and pass them off as good or bad.

Transition: Judgement is something that Paul addresses in the first half of Romans 2. Today, we are going to look at what Paul has to say to the Roman church about Judgement.

II. Scripture Speaks to Us today!

a. Paul tells the Jews, Don’t think you can Judge cause you don’t do all the bad things (reference the list before).

· You do the same things (We do too right)

· Don’t rest on God’s Kindness, forbearance, and patience?

o We do the same things, we don’t admit it, but sometimes we think or live like, “God will forgive us or love us anyway” I can fix this later?

o God’s love is designed to call us to repentance not complacency.

b. Paul argues that God’s judgement reveals his Justice.

· Paul says on the day of wrath is when his righteous judgement will be revealed.

· Why does God Judge if God’s good cant he just let everything slide?

o How could God be good if he lets evil slide?

o Think about all the injustice we see in the world around us, God didn’t deal with it?

· Paul is talking about something that Jews have historically called the day of the Lord, it is present in almost every prophet and throughout the old testament.

· The Day of the Lord is when God comes to set thing right. The world is set right evil is punished and good rewarded.

c. God’s judgement is true and just. We tend to view judgement day as a day that God assigns reward and punishment, but its not that simple

· Paul says that God will give us what we have already sought in life

o If we have been God seekers, those that do good, seek honor and immortality. They will find God.

o Those that are self-seekers, they have rejected the truth and fallen for a lie. They will be given a world without God.

· Bible says that God looks at the heart, When paul talks about God judging people by their actions he is not talking about works. He is saying that our actions reflect what we love. God will judge us by the overflow of our hearts!

d. Who would be confident to stand before God and want to be judged by what they have done?

· Imagine what we would judged by.

o Judged for every lie, gossip, swear, every time we were angry, every time we were judgmental, for every lust, flash of pride, every time we hurt someone, every time we thought we were better, every time we declared ourselves right and someone else wrong.

o Even if we brought up all the good we have done could good fill the cracks of brokenness we have caused?

e. Listen to what Jesus has to say in John 5:16-30 (Read from Bible)

· Jesus says if we listen to his message and believe in Him we will not be judged by our sin

o If we believe, Jesus calls us to faith, pistis but pistis is more than just intellectual agreement, its unwavering allegiance

f. Good News that Jesus is Judge

· If I had to pick someone to be my judge it would be my best friend dean, It would be a relief for him to judge me he would love me and go easy on me right?

· On the day Christ Judges the world, we will be judged by his Good work on the cross not our evil ones.

· That is such beautiful grace friends. We have a God that will not let evil go unpunished, he is just, yet through his sacrifice and love he has destroyed the evil in us so we would not be destroyed with it.

III. Free from Sin to:

· Live with no shame about God’s judgement- if we know he will not condem us on the judgement day, we can live with assurance that God is not punishing us now.

· Free’s us not to judge others- if its God’s job we don’t have to do it!

o We are getting into finger pointing season

o Be careful with how you use his word to judge others.

· Free to build the Kingdom/ Share the Gospel

o Challenge for the Month: anyone remember?

o Share and Break down the Gospel with one person!

o Let us Practice this for the rest of the year so we can be a truly inviting family of Jesus Followers!