Judgement For All

ROMANS 2:11For God does not show favoritism.12All who sin apart from the law will also perish apart from the law, and all who sin under the law will be judged by the law. 13For it is not those who hear the law who are righteous in God’s sight, but it is those who obey the law who will be declared righteous.

I want to talk to you about a myth that some Christians have today. We think that if we attend church as we should, if we live a fairly moral life and be "religious" then we think that it will in some way that will commend us to God, and make us essentially better in God’s eyes. The text tells us that ALL sin and ALL who sin will be judged the same. None of us will get "preferential" treatment of the Day of Judgement because we "had an appearance of religion" that those in the world or other religions don’t have. So none of us have a reason to think that we’re better than another.

Look in vs 6 God "will give to each person according to what he has done." He’s telling us ’hey... you religious people sin the same sins as irreligious people’, but both you and irreligious people are going to face the same judgement’. We read in verse 11 that God is no respecter of persons, no one will get off with not being judged - religious or irreligious, good or bad, clean or dirty. Everyone will be judged, and all will face the same judgement.

We need to know and understand the basis on which God will judge all sinners, irrespective of whether or not they are religious. Just as any of the judges we have have here or anywhere in the world, judges have to judge according to the letter of the law of that land, that principality and sovereign nation, God will do exactly the same. God will judge all sinners who sin the same sins with the same law. Now I know that our judges here in America don’t always feel that they have to follow the law...but I assure you, God WILL! After all, He wrote it!

Have you ever thought about the day when you stand before God and He judges you according to His law? What a sobering question. Revelation 20 tells us of that event. John was given prophetic gift to see it, and we read his account of what it will be like. John says: ’I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire’.

Amos 4:12: ’Therefore, thus will I do unto thee: and because I will do this unto thee, prepare to meet thy God’. That’s why we are all here tonight....we need to prepare to meet our God....cause we ALL have that appointment. Christian or Muslim, believer or atheiest, everyone will be judged by God. We all need to have an opportunity to prepare for that day, the day when you will stand before God and be judged by His law.

What is His law? That’s a pretty important thing to know if we are to be prepared. Well, He declares clearly in His word, Exodus 20. You know it as the Ten Commandments. They are: 1) Do not have other gods before Him, (like $$$) He is the Living God, Jehovah - there is only one God and He is a jealous God 2) You are not to make any graven images, no idols, don’t worship pieces of wood or stone, don’t worship a false god, or a picture, or an icon, because God is invisible, He is spirit, and He is the only true God to be worshipped, and you can’t make an image of Him. 3) Do not take the Lord’s name in vain, that’s not just swearing, that’s pretending that you’re religious, or that you’re Christian and really deep down you’re not, and your life betrays that fact. 4) Remember the Sabbath day, there’s a rest principle in our lives, and a rest before God. 5) Honour your father and your mother, and then you’ll have a long life, the law says. 6) Don’t kill. 7) Don’t commit adultery. 8) Don’t steal. 9) Don’t lie. 10) Don’t covet, want something, lust after something that belongs to another.