Only Bad People go to the New Heaven and Earth

If you're a guest here, as we go through the book of Romans, verse by verse, every week,

I want to try to help you to understand that everything that you read is connected to Romans

1, 16 and 17.

So we read it together at least once every Sunday.

And so while we're standing, you don't have to stand, I mean, while we're standing, could

you say this out loud with me?

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone

who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.

For in the gospel, the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith.

As it is written, the righteous shall live by faith.

Just bow your heads in prayer.

Father, we give you thanks and praise that you have done the right thing and you have

moved with effective power in the person of your son to make human beings who trust and

believe in Jesus, to make them right with him.

We thank you, Father, for your kindness, forbearance, and patience towards us.

We ask, Father, that you would pour out your Holy Spirit upon us, to deliver us from all

presumption, from all presumption that we somehow are special, that we get a pass, that you cut

us slack, that we don't need Jesus and what he did for us on the cross.

Father, we ask that you would deliver us from all presumption and replace that presumption

with a deep humility before you and a deep hunger for what you have effectively and powerfully

done for us in the person of your son.

Father, pour out your Holy Spirit upon us.

We ask this in the name of Jesus, your son and our savior.

Amen.

Please be seated.

So, imagine for a moment that Islam is right and we're wrong and Allah is God.

That would suck, eh?

For a lot of us.

And so, we discover, we die and we go before, you know, we die and we're expecting to see

the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit and all that, but instead we see Allah.

And if I understand the teaching correctly, I mean, maybe we have a friend here who's a

Muslim who's joined us, but we're all going to hell.

And that would suck.

And so, you know, if that was the case, I think I could very easily say, oh, come on,

Allah, give me a break, okay?

First of all, like, I was pretty sure that Jesus was the Son of God and that there's the

Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit and that I put my faith and trust in him.

And beyond that, like, I actually, you know, I lived, you know, by the standards of Canada,

I lived a fairly moral life.

And come on.

And then the second thing I'd say to him, I said, and come on, Allah, you got to give me

a break.

Like, how on earth could you expect me to learn seventh century Arabic so I could read

the Koran and figure out how I'm supposed to live?

Like, that's not a very fair way of judging.

I don't think Allah would be particularly impressed by that.

And off to hell I would go.

But inwardly, I would say, gosh, that's just not very fair of Allah that expect me to learn

seventh century Arabic so I could properly read the Koran and understand his demands.

Now, here's the thing.

That scenario is exactly how most people in Ottawa view Christianity.

Like, when we pose that mental examination of what it would be like if we die and we

discover that we're wrong and Allah is God and Islam has always been right, Muhammad was

the prophet, and how that would suck and it doesn't seem very fair, that's exactly how

our co-workers and our neighbors view the Christian faith and the Bible's claims.

So the question is, is God really unfair and unreasonable?

Does he expect us to live up to his particular commands and understand his word and to judge

it by us?

And just as we would think it was unfair of Allah, are our neighbors, do they have a really

good point that God is maybe being unfair?

Well, our Bible text that Ken read actually talks directly to this question in a profound

way, a very, very, very profound way.

So it would be a great help to me if you could get your Bibles out and turn to Romans chapter

two.

And once again, there's always Bibles at the front.

Don't mind if people are sitting around, you notice, you can just get up and get a Bible

at any point in time.

If you use your phones to follow the Bible, I just ask that you don't check your Facebook

profile or updates or anything like that, just try to stay focused.

But the Bible, in fact, addresses this.

How does it address it?

And it's Romans chapter two, verses one to, well, I'll read verses one to five and then

we'll circle back and I'll draw out to you what's going on in the text.

Therefore, you have no excuse.

If you want to listen later on to the sermon last week, you have a sense of what went on

just before this.

And sort of from that, Paul is moving into something that follows sort of logically from

it.

Therefore, you have no excuse, O man, every one of you who judges.

For in passing judgment on another, you condemn yourself because you, the judge,

practice the very same things.

Just pause there for a second.

What we're going to see here is that the Bible is not talking about hypocrisy.

It's not warning us against our hypocrisy.

The Bible, we're going to see it in a moment, the Bible is making a far different point than

mere hypocrisy.

Verse two, we know that the judgment of God rightly falls on those who practice such things.

Do you suppose, O man, you who judge those who practice such things and yet do them yourself,

that you will escape the judgment of God?

Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that

God's kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?

But because of your hard and impenitent heart, you are storing up wrath for yourself on the

day of wrath when God's righteous judgment will be revealed.

Just before I get into my first point, you know what?

One of the things that just struck me this morning, not this morning, this week as I

was working on this sermon, you'll notice here it's a very, very different way that

we understand God's wrath is what the Bible says right here.

You are storing up wrath for yourself.

It doesn't say God is storing up wrath.

It says you are storing up wrath.

Maybe we'll talk about that in a moment, but it's a very thought-provoking idea, isn't it?

It sort of throws how a lot of us think about these things on its head and throws a whole

lot of what we think out the window.

But here, Andrew, if you could put up the first point for me.

Here's the first point, and I'll explain what it is in the text.

God impartially judges me by the judgments I pass on others.

God impartially judges me by the judgments I pass on others.

So one of the first things to see here, remember the question that is before us is, you know,

just as we would feel it would suck big time if it turns out that Allah is God and Muhammad

was his prophet, and all of a sudden we're judged on a 7th century Arabic text which we

can't even read.

In fact, most Muslims can't read 7th century Arabic.

I mean, and that sort of would be, seems really unfair.

So is the God of the Bible, is the Christian faith doing the same type of thing to all of us?

Well, the first thing to notice is verse 4, how it describes God.

The Bible here describes God, it says,

Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience,

not knowing that God's kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?

The true and living God who's created all things and sustains all things and sovereignly is over

all things and will bring all things to their proper end is rich, rich in kindness,

rich in forbearance, and rich in patience.

You see, you know, it sometimes really bothers some Christians this idea that God has no needs,

that he has no environment, that God is unchanging.

But, and we can take those truths in a way that will lead us into a type of cold, heartless, arid deism.

But it's meant, those doctrines are meant to protect this wonderful truth that God is rich.

And in the original language, it's like an overabunding, unending richness.

That because God has no environment, has no needs, and is therefore completely and utterly unchanging,

we don't have to wake up tomorrow thinking that God is somehow now a different God.

That tomorrow, God wakes up and he ran out of coffee and he has a caffeine withdrawal headache,

and so he's going to be unbelievably grumpy.

We don't have to worry about that.

God is the kindest being that you will ever know.

He is the most patient and most forbearing.

And everything that he does, even his judgment, comes out of his kindness.

And that's the first, and we see his kindness in terms of verse 1.

Therefore, look at that again,

Therefore you have no excuse, O man, every one of you who judges,

for in passing judgment on another, you condemn yourself,

because you, the judge, practice the very same things.

And it's very, notice that phrase, passing judgment.

Like in Canada, who legally passes judgment?

The court.

Right?

The court.

And in Paul's time, there could be the courts,

but ultimately the emperor is the one who can override most of these things

at the time that Paul is writing.

And so, in a sense, what Paul is saying here is that in our average moral experience,

we regularly act as if we are the emperor of the earth,

of all of the known earth.

In fact, we act like we are Zeus or Venus or some god with a small g.

And there are times when we look down our nose at others and pass judgment.

We pass judgment on how they dress, how they eat, how they walk, how they exercise,

how they study, how they sleep, how they drive, as well as moral things.

Just the other day, I was driving along and I was behind a car.

And obviously, the guy had a bit of a, I don't know,

maybe his girlfriend or his kids or something put it on him,

and then he couldn't get it off.

But the bumper sticker said,

why is it that I'm the only person on the planet who knows how to drive?

And, you know, the fact of the matter is,

probably somebody had been sitting in the seat with him

and hearing how he talked about other people's driving,

and he was sitting like Zeus in judgment over all of us other drivers.

Meanwhile, we're thinking, one moment, I can drive better than him.

Right?

Isn't that what happens?

So, what this text is saying is completely and utterly shocking.

God says, I'm a kind God.

I am forbearing and I'm very patient.

And so what I'm going to do, George,

is something unbelievably self-effacing.

I am going to set aside my own character,

the fact I am the good, the true, and the beautiful.

I am love itself.

And I am not going to judge a single human being right now

by the proper standards that I would be well within my rights to do.

You know what I'm going to just do, George?

I'm going to take you.

And so I die, and I appear now before God's judgment seat,

and God says, George, you know, I'm so kind.

What I'm going to do is, you didn't realize this,

but throughout your life, I've tape recorded every time you, like Zeus,

have sat in judgment.

And I'm going to play them on the screen.

And so there's an audience watching,

and every one of those times that I, like Zeus,

have passed judgment on people.

It's all recorded.

And then God says to me,

so George, I'm not going to pass judgment on you

based on my standards.

You've acted like God.

I'm going to let you judge yourself.

No, no, no, no, no, no.

I'm not going to let you give you a pass.

We now have all of these judgments that you have made,

and now we're going to roll a second video.

And the second video is what you've actually done in your life,

not only what you've done and failed to do,

but also what you've thought in your head.

And every time you, by your action or your thought,

violate one of your own judgments,

I'm going to have an angel over here

bang a big drum really hard.

And before you know it,

as the screen starts to play,

the sound of the drum would be constant and unending

and get louder and louder and louder and louder.

And it would unmake me.

With God not doing a single thing in terms of his judgments,

just letting me,

when I thought I was like Zeus,

passing judgment on others,

just letting me judge myself by those same standards,

the drumming would be deafening

and would in and of itself unmake me.

In those old English cathedrals with lots of bells,

according to Dorothy Sayers,

if you're up there when they're all going off,

it can actually kill you,

according to Dorothy Sayers.

It must be true.

That's the image here

of chapter 2, verse 1.

It's a profound image.

That's, you see,

why I said that God impartially judges me

by the judgments I pass on others.

It's why,

in verse 1,

it says,

therefore you have no excuse.

In fact,

if we just realize,

if you think about it for a second,

what it would be like for God

to just show,

I mean,

first of all,

wouldn't we just be,

I mean,

we're already dead,

but we would just be so mortified

that others would actually get to hear

the ways that we have been like Zeus

and what we've judged them over.

And then,

when they actually as well

see how we have violated

our own judgments

or not done our own judgments,

that we would want to cry out,

God,

unless you do something to rescue me,

I am undone.

Only you,

only you can act

to rescue me

from such a thing.

I can't rescue myself

from the fate

that I have imposed

and brought upon myself

that I have stored up

for myself.

Not knowing

that your kindness

was to give me time

to call out to you

and realize

what I've been doing

and how I've been living my life

and call out to you

to say,

only God,

only you,

only you can act

to rescue me

from such a situation.

Now,

some of us

might even just wonder

a little bit

about this whole judgment thing.

One of the things

with God

has been very kind

to us as a congregation

is that people

have left our congregation

to become missionaries.

In a sense,

it's part of our wider reach.

In fact,

some of the people

who have gone off

for missionaries,

I can't even tell you

where they've gone

because they're sort of

closed societies.

But,

we have somebody

preparing now

to go off,

hoping to go off,

within the next little while

to the mission field.

And we had Jeremy

who was with us last week

who for a season

is in Sarnia

but in the spring

he'll be going to Zambia.

And he was telling me

that when he was in Holland

for his 10 days

of intensive preparation

to go off

to the mission field

and Operation Mobilization

brought people

from all over the world

together

for 10 days of training

in rural Holland.

And part of the training

that they did

was to understand

the cultural context

of hearing

how people will hear

different things

in the Bible.

And one of the things

about how people

hear things

in the Bible

is that they're all

just used to

a social culture

where judgments

are passed on them

and consequences

come to them

by different type

of grounds

or criteria.

So, for instance,

like if one of us

was driving

after this service

or just even walking,

let's say we're driving,

and all of a sudden

a cop car

comes behind us

and the lights go on

and they pull us over

and if the cop

came to me

and it was a woman cop

and I said,

I'm sorry officer,

what have I done?

And she said,

I'm giving you a ticket

because you're a man.

I give tickets to men.

I think they all

deserve tickets.

I would be shocked.

Or if she said,

well you have gray hair,

I give tickets

to people with gray hair.

Or for one of you,

if you got a ticket

and they said to you,

well you're black

or you're Asian,

I give tickets to Asians.

Well, if we were smart,

we wouldn't get really mad at them.

We would take that ticket

and we couldn't wait

until we went to court.

Right?

For our day in court

to get that cop.

Because we,

without realizing it,

our culture

has been profoundly influenced

by the Bible

in terms of how

it understands judgment.

I want to bring out

not only how our culture,

even if we no longer

understand that it comes

from the Bible,

but how our culture

has been influenced

by judgment

and how it is

that we are to hear

this whole idea of judgment

and how it is different

from many people in the world

hearing this.

It's in verses 6 to 11.

If you would follow along

with me,

verses 6 to 11.

He,

that's God,

will render

to each one,

each person,

according to his

or her works.

We're going to explain

this in a moment.

To those who,

by patience

and well-doing,

seek for glory

and honor

and immortality,

God will give

eternal life.

But for those

who are self-seeking

and do not obey

the truth,

but obey unrighteousness,

there will be wrath

and fury.

There will be tribulation

and distress

for every human being

who does evil,

the Jew first

and also the Greek.

But glory and honor

and peace

for everyone

who does good,

the Jew first

and also the Greek.

For God

shows

no partiality.

And just at a literary

point of view,

this long section

in the original language

is what's called

a chiasm.

And this is a

grammar geek moment.

I hope I don't put you

to sleep with it.

But in this case,

unlike most texts

where the key thing

is in the middle

and this thing,

it's the frame

which is important.

Verse 6 and verse 11.

He will render

to each one

according to his works

for God shows

no partiality.

In fact, Andrew,

if you could put up

the second point,

here's how I put it.

God impartially judges me

by what I do

and why I do it.

And I always try

to put my points,

if I can remember

to do it,

I always try to put it

with I,

not to be self-centered

but so that if you

write it down

to remember it,

then you're writing

it down as I.

So the point isn't saying,

oh, George is like that.

It's like,

this is for you

to take home, right?

So that you write down

in light of verses 6 to 11,

and God impartially judges me

by what I do

and why I do it.

And so we see here

that in many parts

of the world,

in many parts

of the world,

and I think Canada

is losing this

biblical heritage

of understanding

of justice.

You can get pulled over

by what caste,

you will be treated

different by what caste

you're in

or what tribe

you're part of

or what social class

that you are part of

or just how you look

and that's how judgment

is meted out to you.

That in many parts

of the world,

it does,

you know,

if you get pulled over

by a cop

and you say,

by the way,

did you know

that my cousin

is the governor?

They'd say,

oh, I'm really,

really sorry.

Really,

really sorry.

Really sorry.

Didn't mean to do that.

It depends,

in many parts

of the world,

in your circle

of relationships,

who your protector

or mentor

or boss

or company is,

it depends on your caste,

on your tribe,

on the color

of your skin

and that's how

you're judged.

And what the Bible

is saying here

is that if you

are from that background,

in the back of your mind,

you think that you

should be treated

a little bit differently

because of,

well,

because I'm university educated,

because I'm Canadian

or whatever.

A couple of years ago,

my wife and I

were coming home

and we were coming

down Sussex

and all of a sudden

all of the traffic

stopped.

And the traffic

all stopped

because a certain

very prominent

Canadian,

known for his

sort of

left of center views,

his daughter

was married.

and so

the important

poobahs

at the wedding

in the cathedral

to walk across

the street,

they weren't like

other people

who had to wait

for the light

to change.

They had police

there to stop

all the traffic

until they got across.

My Irish blood

was boiling.

Us Irish people

have a long history

of resenting

the English.

Sorry,

I had to get that out.

I will confess

it afterwards.

It's one of those

things I'm still

in therapy over

and seeking

healing over.

It's just that

in this Irish blood

and it just boils

at that.

But you see,

the green lights

don't apply to him

in that particular

case and his family

because

important Canadian

with important

Canadian guests.

Coach of the Senators

was one of the guys

at the time

was walking

across the street.

And so the Bible

here is saying

something which is

profoundly revolutionary

because you see

the fact of the matter

is that being treated

impartially

is not a natural fact.

In fact,

by nature,

by nature

we are not equal.

By nature,

some are old

and some are young.

Some are rich

and some are poor.

Some are strong

and some are weak.

Some are well-connected

and some have no connection.

Some have lots of skills.

Some have no skills.

And so by nature,

it's very obvious

that certain people

in certain groups

in my group

and not your group

should have some type

of special edge.

That there should be

some presumption

or bias towards us.

But the Bible here says

that is not what God is like.

It is so easy for us

to project onto God

our natural inclinations

and proclivities

and the way

that our culture works

and think that

that is what God is like

and then we don't like it

without realizing

that we're not actually

looking at God.

We're looking at ourselves.

But the God

who does exist,

verse 6,

He will render

to each one

according to His works.

And God shows

no partiality.

Doesn't matter

if you're prominent Canadian.

Doesn't matter

if you're poor Canadian.

Doesn't matter

what color you are,

what race you are,

what sexual orientation

you have.

God is completely

and utterly impartial.

And He's rich

in kindness

and forbearance

and patience

and there is no one

that you will ever meet

that is more kind

than Him.

Now some of you

might be saying,

George,

aren't you,

doesn't this text

contradict yourself?

That was,

whoa,

that was pretty good,

George.

But look,

aren't you going to try

to say that it's all

up to Jesus?

But here,

doesn't it seem to say

in verse 7,

to those who by practice,

by patience

and well-doing

seek for glory

and honor

and immortality,

He will give

eternal life.

George,

doesn't that sort of

contradict what,

like Romans 1,

16 to 17?

Gotcha.

No,

it doesn't contradict

it at all.

It's helping us

to understand

what the righteousness

of God means

and what salvation

means.

And I'll use it

to give a bit

of an illustration,

just around the

illustration of glory,

which usually has

with it a bit

of an image

of brightness

or light.

And the problem

is that human beings,

because we like

to act like Zeus,

and we're not even

aware of the fact

that we like to act

like Zeus

and stand in judgment

high above other people,

pointing our fingers,

and, you know,

we should just be so glad

that in Canada

all we can do

is point our fingers.

A very well-known

pacifist songwriter,

I think it was

in the 80s

or the 90s,

wrote a famous song,

If I Had a Rocket Launcher.

If I Had a Rocket Launcher,

some bleepity-bleepity-bleep

would die.

And all we can do

is point our fingers.

But we have this

deep-seated,

inbuilt sense

that somehow

we are a God

with a small g.

We don't wake up

every morning saying,

isn't it remarkable

that I once again

awake in a world

where there is a creator

who sustains all things

who has made me.

That's not how we wake up

usually and how we think.

And so we inherently think

that we are like

a light source

and not like a mirror.

And so the glory

refers to us

getting better batteries.

We're shining our lens

so that we will

shine more brightly.

But the Bible

is realistic

without being cynical

and always knows

that as a created being,

I am never a flashlight.

I am only a mirror.

And so what that means,

you see,

is if we're in a world,

if we were to go

into a room,

I don't know if this room

would manage it,

but it might come close.

No, it wouldn't

because of light.

If we were able to have

a complete power outage

and we were to be

in this building

and every single door

was completely sealed

so that no light

could get in,

we wouldn't,

we tend to think of ourselves

as flashlights

that we would shine.

But we're not like that.

We're like mirrors.

And so whatever glory

pertains or comes to us

or from us

is only if we are

like a mirror

reflecting the glory

and the light of God.

So you see,

we read verse 7

and we say,

oh yeah,

well that's just all

about me becoming brighter.

That's about me

becoming more,

I don't know how

I can become immortal.

But what the text

is saying here,

it's actually,

all the way through the Bible,

whenever it talks about

to those who by patience

in well-doing

seek for glory

and honor

and immortality,

he will give eternal life.

But it's all,

it's referring

to when we call out to God

and ask God

to do what only he can do.

When we, in a sense,

finally give up

our posture

of being like this

and we say,

only God,

only you,

only you can rescue me

from this.

That at that point in time

we're no longer seeking

our own ambition

and our own exaltation,

but we are seeking God

to act

and then like a mirror,

a mirror with the back

which does not reflect

and when we look down

and when we look down,

we're closing ourselves

off from the light.

All we do is create shadows,

not brightness.

But all of a sudden

when we turn

to him alone

who can give eternal life,

then the light comes

and shines on us

who are a mirror

and it is reflected out.

And the honor we get

is not honor

because of anything

we've done or accomplished

but an honor

and a recognition

and a welcome

that comes from God

to us.

In fact,

in verse 8,

you'll notice

how it goes

to those who by patience

and well-doing

seek for glory

and honor

and immortality.

It's talking about

a change of our direction

to call out to God

to do what only he can do.

In verse 8,

it says,

but,

and that's a good word,

but,

in the original language,

it's a far,

there's no word,

almost to put it

in proper English

to really get the emphasis there,

you'd have to put the but,

all three letters

capitalized and bold

and underlined.

And that's what it does

in the original language.

But,

for those who are self-seeking,

and here's another

grammar geek moment,

this is a word

that up until the time

of the New Testament

was only used by Aristotle.

And it can be translated,

I don't know how

some of your versions

translate it.

It's a man

or a woman

who's given completely

and utterly over

to self-ambition

at the expense of others.

And some of you might say,

that's a hard way

to describe us,

but didn't we all

just agree for a moment

that every one of us

have a moral experience

of walking around

like Zeus?

And the fact of the matter is,

is that many of us,

we don't die to self

in serving,

but we serve

to assert ourselves,

to be able to boast

in ourselves,

even if it's just

to be able to

to be able to

to congratulate ourselves,

to feel better

about ourselves,

that that's often

why we do

even things

which are apparently

generous and selfish,

that often it leads

to internal boasting

and internal

self-exaltation.

And so the Bible here

is pointing at

two fundamentally

different ways

to live.

God will judge them

impartially.

God will judge them

impartially.

And he goes

to the heart.

You see,

verses 7,

remember my point up there

is that God

impartially judges me

by what I do

and why I do it.

The Bible regularly

helps me to see

my heart,

my inner self

in the context

of the reality

of the living God.

Never with cynicism,

always with realism

and always with the hope

that we will see this

and say,

God, only you,

only you

can help me out of this.

Only you

can do what I cannot do.

You see,

it's at the level

of the heart

that it goes to.

Which way?

Zeus

or only God?

Zeus

and self-seeking

or only God?

Only God.

Only you

can do it.

God

impartially judges me

by what I do

and why I do it.

In the gospel text

this morning

that we just read

a couple of minutes ago,

Jesus,

if you go back

and look at it,

there's a whole series

of questions

that Jesus' enemies

ask him.

And he deals

with a question,

deals with a question,

deals with a question,

deals with a question,

and then he says,

now it's my turn

to ask a question.

Okay?

And in fact,

that's sort of

a little bit

what Paul is doing.

That's at the beginning

of the text,

O man,

O man,

O man.

And this week

in going deeper,

I have you,

if you want to look,

you go to 2 Samuel 12,

I think it is,

in the story of David

being confronted

by the prophet Nathaniel.

O man,

thou,

O man,

art the one.

That's the whole context

to it.

So now it's sort of valid

for us to ask

a question

of our culture.

People who say,

well, you know,

this is what,

here's the question.

I mean,

like George,

isn't the Bible,

now that we sort of see

that God actually

is far more kind

and fair

than we could possibly imagine

in terms of how

he's going to deal with us

and judge with us

by using our own

Zeus-like moments

to judge us.

But here's the question.

Why is it that we have

any moral sense at all?

Like,

if evolution is correct

and if we are a result

of natural selection,

time and chance,

and before there was

any biological life,

it's just ultimately

a result of molecules

happening to come together

in such a way

that planets are formed

in such a way

and chemical compounds

are formed

and somehow or another

life just spontaneously

erupted out of all of that

and then there's

natural selection

and chance

and then we come like this.

Well,

why is it that

moral life exists at all?

Like,

what are the most

successful creatures

on the planet

according to evolution?

Cockroaches.

Alligators or dinosaurs.

Crocodiles or dinosaurs.

Lizards or dinosaurs.

Fortunately,

I have never met

an alligator face-to-face.

There was a really,

I don't read the comics

very often,

but there was a really funny,

I think it was in Bizarro,

there was a really funny

comic this week.

It's at veterinary office

and there's two people

who come in

and on the table

is a huge boa constrictor

with a big lumpy part

in the middle

and one person

says to the other person,

the doctor's still

examining your pet

and obviously

the doctor's the big,

big bump

in the middle

of the boa constrictor

who has a very happy smile

on its boa constrictor face.

But if you think about it

for a second,

alligators are completely

and utterly amoral.

Crocodiles,

amoral.

Lizards,

amoral.

Cockroaches,

amoral.

There's no trace

of moral thinking,

moral reasoning,

moral claims.

They never have

Zeus-like moments,

they just eat.

And after they eat,

they rest until

they can eat again.

They're completely

and utterly amoral.

Like,

why is it

that if we're just,

like,

why,

you know,

all of a sudden,

why is it,

I get to ask the question now,

like,

why is it that there's

any moral stuff at all?

Why is it that there's

no human culture or race?

I mean,

granted,

there's different moralities around,

but why is it that there's

no moral,

no race that has no,

that they look like human beings,

but they're really lizards.

They're really alligators.

And they're completely

and utterly amoral.

Why is that

if your account

for how everything exists

is true?

The Bible says

that your account

for how things exist

is not true.

The Bible gives an account

for why it is

that even when we have

different moralities,

the fact is

that they are morality.

Look at verses,

sort of in closing,

verses 12 and following.

For all who have sinned

without the law

will also perish

without the law,

and all who have sinned

under the law

will be judged by the law.

For it is not

the hearers of the law

who are righteous

before God,

but the doers of the law

will be justified.

Just pause there.

This is sort of

a little bit

of a rhetorical trap

that Paul is doing here

because later on

he's going to say

that nobody's actually

able to be justified

by what they've done.

His point,

he's setting up something

that we're going to look at

next week,

which just because

you hear moral laws

doesn't mean you are moral.

Just because you've spent time,

you know,

you're spending time

in an airplane hangar

doesn't make you

an airplane.

And spending time

in a church

listening to the Bible

doesn't necessarily

make you experience

any of these things

that are being experienced.

He's setting up

what he's going to talk

about more next week.

But verse 14,

for when Gentiles

or pagans

who do not have the law,

that's referring to

the first five books

of the Old Testament,

the First Testament,

by nature do what

the law requires,

they are a law

to themselves

even though they

do not have the law.

Here's the thing,

verse 13,

they show that

the work of the law

is written

on their hearts.

Let's just think

of that again.

They show that

the work of the law,

the Ten Commandments,

God's basic instructions

are written

on their hearts

while their conscience

also bears witness

and their conflicting thoughts

accuse or even excuse them

on that day

when according to my gospel

God judges the secrets of men

by Messiah Jesus.

Andrew, if you could put up

the third point.

So the first point

is that God impartially judges me

by the judgments

I pass on others.

The second is that

God impartially judges me

by what I do

and why I do it.

And the third one

is that my conscience

shows that the true God

speaks

and that I am not God.

My conscience

shows that the true God

speaks

and he exists.

He exists and he speaks

and that I am not God.

Well, how do you...

You see, on one hand,

this is all part

of the kindness of God.

That, you know,

last week I talked about

this image of God

gave them up

and there's an image

of common grace

that God restrains

our Zeus-like moments,

our Zeus-like character.

He restrains that.

That's why society can...

That's why places like Ottawa

can still be a pleasant

place to live

and why, you know,

all sorts of people,

they can love their children

and love dogs

and care for their animals

and be good bosses.

And there's a type

of common grace

that God always does

to restrain evil.

And by the same common grace

that God made us

human beings

in his image

and as he makes us

in his image,

in a sense,

he writes

the moral laws

upon our hearts.

And when we,

in our ancestors,

Adam and Eve,

rebelled against God

and said that we did not

want to be under God

as creatures,

but we wanted to be

like Zeus

and be able to pass judgment,

that what that did

is that God did not

remove his image from us,

but God's image within us,

it became twisted,

it became bent,

it became out of shape,

but it was not removed.

And so that moral impulse

is still there

and remnants of

what is truly true

and rightly right

is seen in every moral system,

no moral system

is so completely

and utterly absent

of any sense

of God's law

that it would look

not like a moral system

at all

as if we were talking

to an alligator

or a crocodile

and not another human being.

It's a mark

of God's kindness

that he has left

that within us,

that trace within us,

but that trace

is not sufficient.

Conscience shows,

in a sense,

as opposed to those

who believe

that everything came

as a result of time

and chance

and cannot account

for why we are not

lizards and alligators

and crocodiles

because that's vastly

more successful

for adapting

to our environment.

In fact,

it's a common joke

that after the nuclear

or biological hazard,

whatever it is

that's going to ruin the world,

the only things left

on the earth

will be cockroaches.

They're far better adapting

to situations

than human beings are.

And so that's why

I say that my conscience

shows that the true God

speaks,

he speaks within,

in the writing

of the moral,

what is good

and true

and beautiful

and love,

right in terms

of the center

who we are,

even though it's now

twisted and bent.

But at the same time,

our conscience shows

that we aren't Zeus.

We aren't Zeus.

Because, you know,

the fact of the matter

is that sometimes

I make my pronouncements

and judgments

as if I'm the best driver

in the world,

and sometimes I make

my pronouncements

and judgments

as if I am the most

selfless,

kind person in the world.

And other times

I make my judgments

as if I'm the smartest

person in the world.

And other times

I make my judgments

as if I'm the most

humble person in the world.

And everybody should be

as humble as I am.

I know that's an unbelievably

proud thing to say,

but I'm sure I'm not

the only one in the room

who's like this.

What are we?

I don't have one idol

in the throne of my heart,

so I have 20.

And they disagree.

And they accuse each other.

And we have,

sometimes we'll have

a sleepless night

that we weren't

assertive enough.

And other times

we have sleepless nights

because we weren't

humble enough.

And that's not

what God's like.

My very conscience

and moral experience

shows that there is

a God that does exist

who speaks

and that I am not God.

Only God.

Only God.

Only God.

God.

Andrew, could you put up

the final point?

Jesus is the just judge

who in mercy

dies to justify

all who humbly

call upon him.

Jesus is the just judge

who in mercy

dies to justify

all who humbly

call upon him.

The title of my sermon

this week is,

see, one of the things

that people mistake

about Christians

is they think

that Christians think

that they're better

than themselves.

And one of the reasons

people think that

is because a lot

of Christians do think

that they're better

than other people.

And that just means

not that they're Christians

but that we're being

bad Christians.

Because the fact

of the matter is

is that Christians

don't believe

that good people

go to heaven.

Christians believe,

if you're listening

to Romans 2,

that moralism

doesn't work.

Christians believe

that only bad people

go to the new heaven

and the new earth.

Only people who cry out

and say,

only God,

only you

can deal with this.

And this gets us

to the final thing

of the kindness

of God.

Remember I gave you

at the beginning

this early,

this analogy

that God just,

he brings us all together

before,

after death

and before whatever's

going to happen to us

and he just says,

okay George,

roll the George

as Zeus moments

on the screen.

And then,

okay,

angels,

roll the George

how he lived his life

and we'll just measure

it against George

as Zeus

and the drum goes,

boom,

every time George

doesn't live up

to his Zeus moments

and it's going,

before you know it,

it's going boom,

boom,

boom,

boom.

But it just can't be

one angel doing it,

it has to be lots

of angels doing it.

Sometimes,

it's just,

and it's deafening

and it's unmaking.

And God who is rich

in kindness

which has the fairest

possible way

for me to be judged,

the scriptures say

that he's even kinder

than that,

that he sets aside

his seat

on the judgment throne.

Jesus sets aside

and leaves his seat

on the judgment throne

and he goes

to the cross

and he says

in a sense

to George,

and to you,

this will

unmake you.

You will not

survive this.

I love you.

Let me take

your place

and let

that judgment

that you have

pronounced on yourself

in your Zeus-like moments,

your arrogance

and presumption,

let that fall

on me

in your step.

the judge

leaves

the judgment seat

that's properly

his

to set aside

his glory

and go upon

a cross

to take

the judgment

that I deserve

in

himself

in

my

place.

you can

look it up

afterwards,

but Romans 3

Romans 3:26

verse 26,

which we're going

to come to,

of course,

more in a few weeks,

but it speaks

directly to this

section.

It says,

it was to show

his righteousness

at the present

time

so that he

might be

just

and the

justifier

of the one

who has faith

in Jesus.

Jesus

is the

just

judge

who in

mercy

dies

to justify

all

who

humbly

call

upon

him.

Only

God,

only

God

can

act

with

effective

power

in a

way

which

is

right

and

just

to

make

ordinary

people

like

you

and

me

right

with

himself.

And

he

has

done

it

in

the

person

of

his

son

in

the

death

upon

the

cross.

This

I

proclaim

to

you.

Andrew,

could

you

put

Romans

1,

16,

and

17

up

again?

Could

you all

stand,

please?

Could

you read

this

with me?

Read

it

with

me.

For

I

am

not

ashamed

of

the

gospel.

For

it

is

the

power

of

God

for

salvation

to

everyone

who

believes,

to

the

Jew

first

and

also

to

the

Greek.

For

in

the

gospel

the

righteousness

of

God

is

revealed

from

faith

to

faith.

As

it

is

written,

the

righteous

shall

live

by

faith.

God

makes

us

right.

And

as

the

gospel

grips

us,

it

starts

to

free

us.

As

the

gospel

grips

us,

as

it

confronts

us

of

our

Zeus-like

moments,

that's a

tongue

twister,

our

Zeus-like

moments,

it

frees us

up,

not to

stand in

moral

judgment

on the

rest of

the

world

as if

we

are

Zeus,

but to

humbly

learn to

have our

consciences

healed

and

renewed,

and to

see the

moral

world and

the

moral

universe

not as

Zeus,

but as

yet another

human being,

another

ordinary

person like

those around

us,

who do

not live up

to the

moral law,

but desire

to know

who God

is through

what Jesus

has done

for us

on the

cross,

his kindness

and forbearance

and patience,

that he is the

good, the

true, the

beautiful,

not with

arrogance,

not with

presumption,

not like we

are Zeus,

but humbly

under what

Jesus has done

for us on

the cross.

As the

gospel grips

us,

it means that

we can

actually start

realizing that

God, knowing

the depths of

our pride and

arrogance and

our Zeus-like

moments, it

frees us up to

actually look at

ourselves for

the first time

and not look at

ourselves either

with depression or

with boasting,

but to start to

look at ourselves

as who we

really are and

who God has

showered his

love and his

mercy upon us.

And most of

all, it helps us

to understand that