Sermon: Romans Part 10 (Pastor Brian Fuller - Romans 2:6-11)

Hi, and welcome to the Sermon podcast of First Baptist Church Woodlawn in Woodlawn,

Illinois. I'm Senior Pastor Brian Fuller, and it is our desire to

impact the world with the Gospel of Jesus. We do so through small group

ministry, personal testimony, as well as corporate gatherings. You can find us

on Facebook, YouTube, and our website FBC Woodlawn dot org. Join us

now as we hear from God's word today, We're going to continue in the

Book of Romans. And before I before I forget, let me mention for

all the all the not only the moms, but if you are a female

eighteen and over today, we have a gift for you out in the out

in the entry way, and if you didn't receive one when you when you

came in, make sure that you you do receive one as you as you

leave today, an expression of how much we love you. And it's a

very it's a very practical gift. Yeah. I think Brittany for arranging that.

The Book of Romans we continue today with part ten and we've just now

scratched the surface in chapter two and another very important message for us from the

Apostle Paul, and I've entitled today what you do matters, and we will

look at Romans chapter two, Versus six through eleven. So hear the word

of the Lord this morning, starting with verse six. He will render to

each one according to his works. To those who, by patience in well

doing, seek for glory and honor and immortality, he 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. Heavenly

Father, thank you for today this gathering and now this opportunity to not only

present your word, but to hear your words. So Lord, I pray

in Jesus name that eyes will be opened, that ears will be opened to

hear what you have to say, and from being in your presence today,

that our lives will be changed. So Lord, we ask you to have

your way in Jesus name. Amen. So we do have more strong words

today from the apostle Paul about works, and he says that God will render

to each one according to works, which sounds like a contradiction when you read

verses such as Romans eleven six, where Paul says, but if it is

by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works. And at

two Timothy one nine, Paul tells Timothy God who saved us and called us

to a holy calling not because of our works, but because of His purpose

and grace which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began. So

we know and we believe that God's word does not contradict itself. Amen,

And all throughout scripture throughout time before Christ, scripture confirms itself to be true

and trustworthy. You agree with that. Two Timothy chapter three sixteen says all

all scripture is breathed out by God and pro fitable for teaching, for reproof,

for correction, and for training in righteousness. So it is our responsibility,

it's my responsibility, it's your responsibility to dig in and to figure it

out. What Paul means when he says that we will be judged according to

our works. If you're not in the word how are you gonna know.

Don't just depend on me week in and week out. You need to be

in the Word of God for yourself to discover these things. And again,

on the surface, it might sound like that Paul is teaching salvation by works,

but that's not the case here at all, because we know that the

entirety of the New Testament teaches that salvation is not by good works. The

salvation is by faith alone in Jesus Christ. Right, God's judgment is based

on works. God's salvation comes through faith alone in Christ. So when scripture

talks about judgment, it's in reference to our works. It's based on what

we do or what we didn't do. And for the unbeliever, and I

want you to tune into this, I want you to hear this this morning.

For the unbeliever, works will be judged according to the law of God.

Rejecting God's free gift of salvation forgiveness eternal life that comes in Christ.

Rejecting god free gift binds man to the letter of the law, which all

people fall short of. Amen. Works will not save anyone. And Paul

says, so God's eternal wrath awaits those who reject Christ and attempt to earn

God's favor on their own merit or on their own goodness. And according to

Isaiah sixty four, those works, if you will, are nothing but filthy

rags in the presence of God. So we can describe or define works as

what we do right. And the essence of works is doing You know there

there used to be a stool up here. There's a little stool. Were

you doing, Brian, Nothing, I'm not doing anything. I'm sitting.

I guess I'm wasting time, I guess, but I'm not doing anything.

So the essence of works is doing right, actively doing good works, feeding

the poor, serving in church, buying a coat or a pair of shoes

for someone in need, and for the believer, for those who are born

again. Good works don't save us. We know that you've heard that,

and it's true. Good works don't save us. They reflect our salvation.

Amen. Good works are the evidence of our salvation in Jesus Christ, evidence

or fruit that we have repented and that we put our faith in our us

in Jesus alone to save us. So let me take the concept of good

works, maybe just a little, just a step further. Sometimes the easy

thing to do is to break out the check book and write a check.

And that is certainly a kind thing to do. That certainly is a generous

thing to do, and sometimes it is the right thing to do. I'm

not I'm not pooh pooing that, But sometimes what God is asking you to

do might be inconvenient. Like instead of just writing a check, maybe God

is asking you to take the time and go with someone to buy a pair

of shoes, or to go with someone and buy them a coat, or

give them a ride to the grocery store to help them buy foods, or

give them a ride to the doctor and wait on them until they are finished.

Allow God to inconvenience you, to show the love of Jesus to others.

Nobody wants to be inconvenienced. I don't like to be inconvenienced. We

are very busy people. And when somebody throws a wrench in our schedule to

ask us to do something that was not already on our schedule, and the

tempting thing to do is to say, I don't have time, work it

out, make time. Consider the needs of others as more important than your

own. Nobody wants to be inconvenienced. But sometimes we need to be to

get us out of our own world and involved in the lives of others.

Philippians two, verses three and four, Paul said, do nothing from rivalry

or conceit, but in humility a count others is more significant than yourselves,

and lead each one of you looking not only to his own interests, but

also to the interests of others. So good works don't save us, but

good works are the evidence that we have been saved. And those works are

important because through them, the love of Jesus is shown to others. And

you can do your self a favor. And you read more about that in

the second chapter of James, So take a mental note of that or write

it. You can read more and what James has to say. So when

Paul says that God will render to each one according to his works, he's

talking about two categories of people. He's talking about those who are born again,

and he's talking about those who reject God. To render means to repay

or to generate or to give what is owed. Render to Caesar. Right.

We pay taxes, and in judging according to the deeds of people,

God considers first the reasons behind our deeds and Secondly, the results are our

deeds. And in verse seven says to those who, by patience in well

doing, seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life.

So someone who is is patient in well doing what what describes them.

It's someone who sticks with doing what is right and good in the eyes of

God for the long haul, knowing that the life of a follower of Jesus

it's it's a it's a marathon, it's not a sprint. The mark of

a true follower of Jesus is endurance to endure. Galatians six nine says,

let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will

reap. If we do not give up due season. It means that eventually

it will come, so stick with it. We also endure through trials and

hardships. As James Wane says, it's the testing of our faith that produces

endurance and Christ's likeness. And those who seek to follow Jesus through repentance,

with patience and well doing for his name's sake, they do so not for

their own glory and honor, but they do it for God's glory. That's

what Paul said. Those who seek for glory and honor and immortality. That

might sound like they're seeking that for themselves, but that's not what He meant

for those who seek glory and honor and immortality. They do that for the

sake of God's will. For knowing God, and he says to those he

gives eternal life. So why does God give them eternal life? Well,

just because life? Well, I just said, they seek for the glory

and honor of God, and their deeds are their works reflect that. So,

as we heard a couple of weeks ago, to judge means to assess,

or to evaluate, or to form an opinion. We all have opinions.

Tina gives me hers all the time. But God is the ultimate judge.

Amen. God is the ultimate judge. His assessment, his opinion is

the only one that matters. My opinion doesn't matter. Your opinion doesn't matter,

although from time to time, you know, what do I think?

Does look? Okay? You know that kind of thing? You know,

my opinion, It doesn't really matter, you know. But God's opinion does

matter. James four twelve. There is only one lawgiver and judge who is

able to save and to destroy. So in Christ, because of the Cross,

we who have confessed that we are sinners and called on His name for

salvation. We stand before God in the righteousness of Jesus, not our own,

because we all fall short of God's righteousness on our own. So here's

a question. Will Christians be judged according to their deeds? Will Christians be

judged according to their deeds? Yes, we will, but not to determine

heaven or hell. The Book of Second Corinthians is written by Paul, written

to the church at Corinth, written to a church, written to believers in

Christ, and he writes to the Christians at Corinth and Second Corinthians, Chapter

five, verse ten. He says, we must all all all means all.

That's all it means, for we must all appear before the judgment seat

of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he

has done in the body, whether good or I want you to listen to.

The amplified version of that verse expands it a little bit, that says,

for we must all appear and be revealed as we are, before the

judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive his pay according to

what he has done in the body, whether good or evil, considering what

his purpose and motive have been, what he has achieved, been busy with

and given himself, and his attention to accomplishing whoa ouch yikes. I want

you to I want you to listen to this. Though very I worried about

that for a long time. I really did. I'm a guy, as

a as a believer, as a child of God, I'm gonna be laid

bare. Listen to this. Motives and priorities will be revealed. And this

this is just me again, could just be my opinion, and my opinion

means that much. But I don't think these will be revealed to bring shame

for all to see, okay, because I believe once we get to heaven,

there will be no more tears, no shame, no pain. So

once we get in the presence of God, all the things that we experienced

that brought pain on earth, they won't be experienced anymore. But I think

what will happen is that we ourselves will be laid bare before God, and

that we ourselves, we will see for ourselves what our motives and priorities are

or what they were. And I know that God knows my heart, he

knows what my motives are. He knows what my priorities are. If I

confess them or not, he knows. So that's why I believe it's important

for us that the judgment seat of Christ, we will once and for all

we will understand what our own motives and priorities were in our life. What

you do as a Christian while on this earth matters. Your deeds will be

assessed at the judgment seat of Christ. So for what, for what greater

purpose? Well, Paul says, to receive what is due for what was

done in the body. You and I will receive what is due for what

we did in the body. And it should also be noted that there will

be rewards in heaven based on earthly obedience. So what will that look like?

I don't know. I don't know what that will look like. I

would probably challenge anyone who says they know exactly what that will look like.

Because here and here on earth we are we are bound, right, We're

bound by the flesh. We are bound by by what three dimensions? Is

there a fourth dimension that we are aware of? I don't know. You're

smart, I don't know. I don't know. We're we are bound by

what we can what what what we can see, what we can hear?

Why what we can we can touch? I mean, there are smart people

like math people that can you know, they can understand all these different planes

of math, right and and you know, so that's I'm grateful for smart

people. But what we experience on earth is not what we will experience in

heaven. So what we think of as a as a reward on earth is

not what we might receive as a reward in heaven. A reward on earth

is job promotion, increase in pay, you know, a cookie. You

know, that's my type of reward for being a for being, for being

good, doing a good job. Each of us, every single one of

us in Christ, will receive the crown of Righteousness as a reward. Each

one of us born again, trusting in Christ, each one will receive the

Crown of Righteousness as a reward. And maybe, depending on our earthly works,

our crowns, maybe they'll be shaped differently, maybe they'll be made of

different materials. I don't know. I don't know how it will be differentiated,

how our rewards will be in heaven. But I can tell you this,

I believe that when Jesus said the greatest among you will be the servant

of all. Those who have selflessly served the needs of others will be those

with the greatest reward in heaven. So don't look for the megachurch pastors to

have the greatest rewards in heaven. Don't look for your favorite Christian musicians to

have the greatest reward in heaven. Look for the least of these. Look

for the ones who gave their life life for the sake of the Kingdom of

God, for the betterment of someone else, that they might see and experience

Jesus. That's the reward I want. The ultimate reward in heaven will be

Jesus himself and being in His presence forever, And any reward that I am

given in heaven will only be by His grace. If I ever think that

I that I arn, I couldn't think of that word deserve for any reason

I think I deserve a reward in heaven. God forgive me, because whatever

I am given as a reward, I will, I will gladly, and

I will humbly, and I will very quickly lay at his feet. In

Christ, our salvation is secure, our inheritance as a child of God and

a co heir with Christ is certain purchased for us by His shed blood on

the cross. So the judgment seat of Christ for Christians is not to determine

heaven or hell, but it will reveal our motives and our priorities. And

Paul says, God will render, he will give to, He will reward

each one according to his works verse eight. But for those who are self

seeking and do not obey the truth but obey righteousness, that there will be

wrath and fury. And if you jump down to verse eleven, we can

read a very sobering truth. For God shows no partiality. It doesn't matter

if you're a Jew or a non Jew. Does it matter if you're black

or white, rich or poor, educated or Brian, male or female.

The same holds true. Receive and obey Jesus receive eternal life. For the

self seeking and those who do not obey the truth but obey unrighteousness, wrath

and fury shouldn't be a hard decision to make sure. For those who are

self seeking do not obey the truth but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath

and fury. Not much further explanation is needed either. Generally, Generally speaking,

the deeds of the unrighteous revolve around self. Even the good deeds of

the unrighteous speak of attempting to earn God's favor with doing good. Now,

I know there are lost people who do good things, and that's good,

that's good. It's good to do those things that they're helping somebody else.

But there are some who do those things that they might earn favor with God.

Right because so many people say, are you going to have it?

Well, I don't know. I think my good outweighs my bad. And

they're lost. They're as lost as they can be. Isaiah sixty four,

I believe, says the good deeds of a man or. He says that

God's favor that are tried to be earned by good deeds or nothing but stinking,

filthy rags. And you can do all the good deeds that you want,

but if you reject Jesus, if you reject his free gift of eternal

life, only wrath and fury await you. And Paul says that this judgment

is for the Jew first and also for the Greek, meaning non Jew you

have Jews and then non Jews. For the Jew first and also for the

Greek. From the very beginning, God made the Jews his priority. He

made them a separate race. He put his favor on them, and he

chose Abraham as the father of the nation of Israel. And listen to what

Deuteronomy says. Deuteronomy fourteen, verse two says this, the Lord has chosen

you. I'll just read it from there, since that there is for you.

You are a people holy to the Lord, your God. And the

Lord has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession, out of

all the peoples who are on the face of the earth. And also Deuteronomy

seven, verses seven and eight, he says that it was not because you

were more in number than any other people that the Lord set his love on

you and shows you, for you were the fewest of all peoples. But

it is because the Lord loves you and is keeping the oath that he swore

to your fathers. So does it surprise you today that the world hates Israel?

Does it surprise you that Jews are being mistreated all around the globe and

all our college campuses right here in the United States. It shouldn't surprise us

at all that the world hates the nation of Israel. The world hates God.

Jesus said, they hate me, so they're gonna hate you, so

they also hate what is most precious to him. The Jews have occupied Israel

for thousands of years. It's been their home, but they are being treated

like aliens. They don't belong in their own homeland. So we must continue

to stand strong for Israel and against the schemes of the enemy. The Jews

and the nation of Israel have always been God's chosen race, the apple of

his eye, his priority, if you will. So when Paul says in

verses nine and ten, he says, there will be tribulation and distress for

every human being who does evil, the Jew first, and also the Greek

in verse ten. But glory and honor and peace for everyone who does good,

the Jew first and also the Greek. That's God showing no partiality when

it comes to punishment and reward for the Jew. For the Jew who repents

and follows the Messiah and does good as evidence of salvation, the reward belongs

to them first before the non Jew who also follow Christ. Why because that's

how God established it. For those who reject Christ and do evil, there

is no partiality shown. Wrath and fury will be shown to those who reject

Christ, to the jew first and also to the Greek, and there will

be tribulation and distress for every human being who does evil. So I will

say it again, as a Christian, what you do while on earth matters,

and what you do on earth will be assessed by Jesus at the judgment

seat of Christ. And as a Christian, your reward in heaven will be

based on your deeds on earth. Yeah. Were you selfless towards others or

were you selfish? Were you greedy or were you generous? Are you patient

or are you quick to anger? Were you kind and helpful to strangers?

It matters because what you do reflects what and who you are. And more

than anything that we could ever endeavor to do or to be, we should

endeavor to reflect Jesus Christ to others while living in these bodies. And I

hope that motivates you this morning to do those things that encourage and help others.

Nothing. You might get a feather in your cap or you know,

God leaving tick marks on your mansion in heaven, another good deed, another

good deed, another good deed, But that your motivation is to show Christ

to others that will bring him honor, that will bring him glory. That

you do all for the name of Jesus, because what you do matters.

Let's pray. Thank you for tuning in to today's broadcast. We hope you

are encouraged and challenged by the preaching of God's word. You can reach us

by phone at six one eight three nine zero ten forty six, contact us

via Facebook or our website FBC Woodlawn dot org. It's our prayer that you

answer the call of God on your life to follow him and share your faith's

story with others. Goodbye for now, and God bless you.