Morning. All right, we're going to continue going through the Book of Romans, Chapter 2. Today's message is called The Just Wrath of God. It's Romans 2, 1 through 16. Let's start off with prayer. Father, we thank you for this day. Lord, we ask that you would bless not only the reading of your word, but the exposition of it as well. Help it to Teach us of Your truth, Father. Open our eyes and ears, our hearts and our minds, that we might be sensitive to Your truth, and that we would not only hear it, but take it in and meditate on it, and learn from it, that we might honor You in all that we say and do. Preaching and teaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ to everyone, wherever we go, and we give You praise. Amen. All right, so reading from Romans, Chapter 2, verses 1 through 16. Therefore thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest. For wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself. For thou that judgest doest the same things. But we are sure that the judgment of God is according to truth against them which commit such things. And thinkest thou this, O man, that judgest them which do such things, and doest the same, that thou shalt escape the judgment of God? Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness, and forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance? But after the hardness and impenitent heart, after thy hardness, and impenitent heart treasures up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, who will render to every man according to his deeds, to them who by patient continuance and well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, eternal life, but unto them that are contentious and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish upon every soul of man that doeth evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Gentile. But glory, honor, and peace to every man that worketh good, to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile. For there is no respect of persons with God. For as many as have sinned without law shall also perish without law. And as many as have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law. For not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified. For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves, which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the meanwhile accusing or else excusing one another. in the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel." So today's message, as I said earlier, we're talking about the wrath of God, the just wrath of God, because God's just. And when man broke the law, because the law was given to Adam and Eve in the garden, they were told not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and they did. And by doing so, that was the fall, the fall of man. So in talking about the wrath of God and how it's just because the wages of sin is death. So because Adam sinned, the Lord had told him, in the day that you eat of that tree, you're going to die. And he didn't mean die a natural death, he meant just die a spiritual death. Adam was born, he was a created being, he wasn't eternal. And scripture tells us that the gift of God is eternal life. So Adam, really, to be honest, he was born to die. And he's called the first Adam. The second Adam is a type of the first in that he was born to die also, but he died as a perfect man. So man has no excuse in the wrath of God, as far as the wrath of God is concerned. Because Paul says in verse 1, It's like, people telling you, uh, judge not lest ye be judged. They really like to use that. But the thing about judging is we have to judge people rightly. And we know that God is, is a just God. So when He judges, He makes a right judgment. So He's, basically what Paul is doing in this first, second chapter is he's, he's letting all men know, the Jew and the Gentile, that represents all the people on the face of the earth, that, uh, There's no excuse. You know, man has sinned, all have sinned and fell short of the glory of God. He goes on to tell us that later on in the next chapter, in chapter 3. So if we were to look at the list of men in chapter 1, we just finished chapter 1, and in the last, I want to say, from verses... 26 through 32. I mean, Paul gives a list of all kinds of things that men did. They got into homosexuality. Not got into, but they were practicing it. Men dishonored themselves with men, women with women. gave them a reprobate mind, so they did what they weren't supposed to do. They were filled with all unrighteousness. Fornication, which is... fornication is sex outside of marriage. That's basically what it is, whether... any type of sex. And some people like to say that if you do this, it's not sex, but sex is just sex. When you're doing things with another person that are of that nature, that's what it is. So... covetousness, maliciousness, envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignancy. All of these things, it's a list. And as far as men are concerned, this is how men judge other men. For example, you hear a lot of pedophilia going on, or the sex trade. You know, a lot of sexual sins where people are doing things and then You talk to people about it on your job, and you're like, oh, that guy or that woman, if they get locked up, they're gonna get found out, and they're gonna get killed, because they're considered as the worst of the worst. But in reality, sin is sin, and we have to look at sin through God's eyes, not men's eyes, because in the eyes of men, we're always saying that one sin isn't as bad as the other. For example, If you kill a possum, like what Scott Price did, you kill a possum, you're not that bad. But if you kill a dog or a cat, oh man, they want to crucify you, put you in jail. This is how men look at the sins of other men. We're always, and I'm speaking as a man also, we're always measuring ourselves by ourselves. That's our standard. But God has a different standard. His standard is perfect, it's holy, and it's righteous, and it's just. And that's what this sermon is called. It's called The Just Wraths of God. The thing about God is He's not a respecter of persons. If you go to verse 11 in chapter 2 of Romans, it tells us, for there is no respect of persons with God. And like I said earlier, as far as men go, how we see things, we see the sins of other men, we categorize them and say, well, Bernie Madoff's not as bad as Jeffrey Dahmer. Or the classic is, you're not as bad as Hitler. You know, when in the eyes of God, any sin is falling short, and it causes for the death penalty. That's the just wrath of God. Okay? But it tells us here that God's not a respecter of persons. Especially when it comes to religious men. I want you to turn to Luke, chapter 16, verse 15. Because in it, now you're talking about religious people who it seems as though in this nation and all around the world that they're the ones that are looked upon as they're having higher morals or they're better than other people because they're religious. Oh, he's a really religious guy. He's not like other people. And once again, it's what I'm saying. That's how men look at each other. But this isn't how God looks at people. So going to Luke chapter 16, verse 15, it tells us that men says ye are they which justify yourselves before men but God knows your hearts know with your hearts for that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God so you know when we look at things and we think they're yeah that guy's pretty cool because he doesn't cuss drink or chew or you know he doesn't promote pornography or you know he's clean-cut They're looked upon as better than the drug addict, or the pimp, or the dope smuggler. These guys are the bad guys. We watch it on TV all the time, in movies, in series. So we think that people that do those things are worse than we are. Like, oh, well, I'm not as bad as him. I don't kill people. I'm not a murderer. pedophile I'm not these things but that's not how we measure ourselves because we have to we have to look at everything through the lens of scripture so going on to Luke 16 15 we know that God God doesn't look at men the way men look at each other so let's go to Luke 18 verses 9 through 14 and that says This is about the parable of the Pharisee and the Publican. He said, and he spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves. That's what self-righteousness is. It's like, if I do all these things, I'm cool with God. But that's not the case. He says, he spake this parable unto certain men which trusted in themselves, that they were righteous. And these righteous people, they despise others. We do that all the time. We think that because we live in a better neighborhood, we can look down on people that live in a lesser neighborhood. Or we think that because we make more money, or we have more education, that we're better than somebody. But there's no difference between anyone. The only thing that causes a person to differ is the grace of God. And that is what happens through God's eyes, not through men's eyes. a believer as someone who's justified by the blood of Christ you're no different than the guy next to you you're just covered by the blood okay so it says two men went up into the temple to pray the one a Pharisee and the other Republican sir I mean even in the first verse there are there's already a differentiate different a difference between the two men. One was a Pharisee. The Pharisee were the self-righteous, the religious leaders of the day. You know, the Billy Grahams of their day, or the T.D. Jakes, the ones that everybody looks to. But that's not how God sees it, right? So the Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank Thee that I'm not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. I fast twice in the week. I give tithes of all that I possess. And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto him, but smoke upon his breast, saying, God, be merciful to me, a sinner. I tell you, and this is Jesus talking, I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other. For everyone that exalted himself shall be abased, and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted. Well, that's how, this is how men look at themselves, and this is how God looks at men. So now let's go back to Romans chapter two, and we're gonna go to verse six. And that says that, God's going to render, because He's not a respecter of persons, He's going to render to every man according to his deeds. We're all going to be accountable when we come to the judgment seat of Christ. So the thing about the man who's not covered by the blood of Christ, he's going to be judged according to his deeds. The one who's in Christ, he's been forgiven. He's justified. He has a different standing because of the imputed righteousness of Christ. So there's a difference right there. Now let's go to Romans chapter 3. verses 19-20 and then it goes on to say, this is about God being not a respecter person. It says, now we know that what thing so ever the law sayeth, sayeth to them who are under the law. Who's under the law? Fallen man were under the law. I mean we have laws ourselves now. One that I talk about the most probably is I break it a lot so it says there it say it to them this is the law we're under the law that every mouth may be stopped so all men all have sinned and fell short of the glory of God and and he gave us his law that it would lead us to him but unfortunately Man by nature doesn't want to do those things. They want to be their own master of their own destiny, the pilot of their own ship, whatever it is you want to call it. It says that every mouth may be stopped and all the world may become guilty before God. Therefore by the deeds of the law shall no flesh be justified in his sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin." That's the thing about the law. The law tells us, hey man, if I covet my neighbor's yard or his car, that's a sin. And in the book of James it tells us that if we want to live by the law, the minute we break one law, we've broken them all. And Christ goes even farther than that in saying that if you, not just lusting after a woman, but if you look at her with lust, you've committed adultery. So he takes it even farther. And the thing about that, God being not a respecter of persons, is that it makes everybody guilty. Right? And Paul, in telling us this, he's constantly interjecting grace and truth versus wrath and accountability. For example, in the beginning of the chapter, we start off with this wrath. You know, there's no excuse, right? That's what, in the first point that I told you about, there's no excuse for all of mankind, all have sinned and fell short of the glory of God, right? Then he goes on to his truth. And he says that, unto, but glory, honor, and peace to every man that worketh good, to the Jew first, also to the Gentile, And in verse 5 he says, Revelation of the righteous judgment of God. I'm sorry, verse 4. Not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance. And the people that are going to be led to repentance are those that he's chosen in Christ. So going on, Moving on in this study right here, as far as the book beginning with the grace and truths of God, then going to the wrath and judgment, as well as his accountability, I want to talk a little bit about the goodness of God. So, we're still in Romans, let's go to verse 4 of chapter 2, and it says, Now what does this mean? God is long-suffering, not willing that any should perish, it says in one of Peter's epistles. But it says he's long-suffering to us-ward. So the goodness of God, his forbearance and long-suffering, is for his people. He, you look at Paul, the apostle who wrote this. In the beginning when we hear about him, he's Saul of Tarsus. He's persecuting the church. But God was long-suffering with him. He didn't just destroy him as soon as he was, you know, when he was causing people to blaspheme God. He was approving when they stoned Stephen, who was the first martyr in the book of Acts that we read of. No, he was long-suffering, he was long-suffering to him. And then he, When he knocked them down, when he was on the road to Damascus to persecute more Christians, he told them that he was going to suffer for him and that he was a chosen vessel. He saved them. This is part of God's long-suffering and the goodness of God. That's what gave Paul repentance. Paul didn't repent on his own. He had to be caused to repent. People think that they can do these things on their own, but Paul goes on to develop this more in this book as well as in Ephesians when he says, we're saved by grace through faith. Not of works, lest any man boast. It's the gift of God. It's a gift. So that long suffering is the goodness of God. It leads His people to repentance. Okay? So, let's also look at verse 7, which says, And the thing about this is God works in His people both to will and to do of His good pleasure. So when He saves somebody, He's patient with them all the way along, whether they're they haven't been saved or regenerated just yet, to even when after they're saved. Because all we like sheep, we're like sheep, we wander, we get led astray. So we need to be corrected. And the scripture says those whom He loves, He chastises when we're out of order. So let's go to Acts chapter 17 to continue on the goodness of God. Verses 26 through 27. And that says, this talking about how Paul was talking to the people when he was in Aeropagus, I guess is how he pronounced it. He was talking to them when he stood in the midst of Mars Hill. He was talking to the people of Athens and telling them they were superstitious, they had a statue, they had all these idols, they had an unknown god, an altar, and they were Devoting themselves to it. He talked to them about that. And then he said that God's not worshipped by man's hands. So it's not what we make and create. God's a spirit. They that worship him, worship him in spirit and truth. That's John 4 24. But he goes on to say, we'll start with verse 25. Neither is worship with man's hands, as though he needed anything. Because he doesn't. God doesn't need anything. That's why he's God. Seeing he giveth to all life, and to breath, and all things, and hath made of one blood all nations of men, for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and have determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation." Now this is for saved men and unsaved men. He determines the number of days, you know, He numbers our days. He determines our boundaries and habitations. Guess what? He creates vessels of mercy and vessels of wrath as well. So when it's a time of love for a vessel of mercy, He saves them. This is why He appoints the boundaries and habitations of all men on the face of the earth. And going on in verse 27, it says that they should seek the Lord. if happily they might feel after him and find him, though he be not far from every one of us." And that's, you know, once again, that's talking about how God saves His people. But not only does He save His people, He damns those that aren't His people. You know, if He's only saving some, what happens to the other? The others, they're lost. Alright? So, moving on, we're going to talk about the standard of God. You know, what is the standard of God needed to escape the wrath of God? Let's go back to Romans chapter two, verse two. This is a standard. It's perfection. Because Paul says in verse two, we are sure that the judgment of God is according to truth against them which commit such things. What are the things committed? All the stuff in chapter one, whether it's fornication, covetousness, maliciousness, murder, theft, all of those things. And that's not a complete list of sins, because you can say, well, it's not in that list, but that's not the case. I mean, anything short of perfection is sin. So we know that God's standard is perfection. So let's go to Acts 17, 31. And that says, because he hath appointed a day in which he will judge the world in righteousness, he being God the Father, by that man whom he hath ordained. That's by Christ, right? Whereof he hath given assurance unto all men in that he hath raised them from the dead. Let's see, wait. So men are gonna be judged by Christ, and Christ was perfect. So what's needed to escape the wrath of God? blood of Christ, because Hebrew says without the shedding of blood, there's no remission of sins. So let's go to 1 Peter 1, verses 15 through 16. And that says, But as He which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation." Conversation is your life, right? Because it is written, be ye holy, for I am holy. Now, can any man on the face of the earth say that they're holy? Holy, I mean, you're talking about perfection, because God's holy. Are you as holy as God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit? No. That's the standard needed to escape the wrath of God. Do you know anyone who has attained to that? No. Can you attain to it by your holy living, by your progressive sanctification? No, you cannot. The only way you can be holy is if you're in Christ. That's why Paul said, where we have all of the spiritual blessings are in Christ, and we're in Christ. So if you're in Christ, you're really blessed. You're not cursed. You're forgiven, you're justified, you're sanctified. You'll be glorified when you're with them in the end. Let's go to 1 Thessalonians chapter four, verses three through four. For this is the will of God, even your sanctification." Now, we're sanctified because we're in Christ. And that's the will of God. We're saved, right? It says that you should abstain from fornication. I mean, that was one of the sins that we read earlier in Romans chapter 1. That every one of you should know how to possess this vessel in sanctification and honor. And the thing about that is we're supposed to do everything we can to live a holy life, to honor God with our bodies. God, you know, and whatever we do, Colossians 3 23, I believe verse 17 also, we do it to the glory of God. But the standard is perfection and it's holiness. Moving on to Hebrews chapter 12 verse 14 regards and regarding what's the standard of God needed to escape It says, verse 14, follow peace with all men and holiness without which no man shall see the Lord. Now I have a good friend and I love the guy. And He's saying that we have to be holy, we have to pursue holiness. That's evidence of your faith, that's assurance. No, the blood of Christ, the cross, the fact that He caused me to believe in Him, His person and work, that's my assurance. Should I live holy? Yes. Can I live perfectly holy? No. And that's why I said in this point, what's the standard? The only standard is perfection, from the cradle to the grave, if you're not perfect. He said, be perfect as your Father in Heaven is perfect. Are you perfect? Can you be perfect? No. All have sinned and fell short of the glory of God. There's none good, no, not one. So we have to realize the only standard needed to escape the wrath of God is Christ. It's His blood. He's the one who made peace for His people, not for all men. I mean, why would you read about Noah's flood, all those people being destroyed in the flood, and yet Noah and his family, the eight, they were saved by being in the ark. What about all the other people? They perished in the flood. That's the judgment of God. Let's go to Leviticus for the last scripture I'm going to give you on a standard needed to escape the wrath of God. Leviticus 11 verse 44, and that says, For I am the Lord your God. Ye shall therefore sanctify yourselves, and ye shall be holy, for I am holy. neither shall ye defile yourselves with any manner of creeping things that creep upon the earth." And that's not just talking about insects. There's a lot of not just a lot, but there's always been false doctrine along with true doctrine. And doctrine is just teaching. And Christ's teaching is His doctrine. And then people buy into this stuff and they believe it. Because it's easy. It takes the offense of the gospel away. It cuts that edge off. And it's like, oh, I can do this. I can pray, I can fast, I can go to Bible study, I can give my money and my time, and I'm cool. Because I'm doing all these things, and people trust in those things. But that's not acceptable before God. That's a work. He tells us you're saved by grace through faith, not at works. So if you're boasting in the things you do, whether it's your holiness, your progression and sanctification, your giving and your doing of things. You're taking your eyes off of Christ. You're giving yourself the credit for something only God can do. That's why God so loved the world He gave His only begotten Son. The world He loved was the world of His elect, His people. That's why it says in Matthew 121, His name shall be called Jesus, for He shall save His people from their sins. Alright, so we tell people that Christ is all. Let's go back to Romans. Now we're gonna go to chapter 1. And this is verses 1 through 7. I was debating on taking a couple of the verses out, but I... As I went over it, I liked it, and I think it really does make sense. So, Christ being all, right? Paul says, Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ. So he starts off, I mean, he addresses him, tells him who he is in a letter, but then he says that he's a servant of Jesus. He's called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God. And I really noticed this verse this morning, which he had promised afore by his prophets in the Holy Scriptures. He's talking about the Old Testament. all of the writers of the Old Testament, they were considered as prophets, because the Spirit of God was upon them, they were God's children, and they wrote as the Spirit of God led them to write these things. Yeah, they still had their own personality and their style, but they had the inspired Word of God, and there's no error in it. Not like if you or I or anyone else were to write something today, we're prone to error. But not the prophets of old. And it says, "...concerning His Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh, and declared to be the Son of God." He wasn't just the Son of God, He was God the Son as well. "...with power according to the Spirit of holiness." You've got the trinity right there. The Son of God, God the Father, God the Son, the Spirit of Holiness, God the Spirit, the Holy Spirit, the triune Jehovah, the triune God, right? By the resurrection from the dead. That same power that resurrected Him from the dead has raised us to new life. Us being His people, His elect. And it says, by whom we, we are the elect, have received grace and apostleship. That's for Paul, the apostleship. This is for the apostles, right? for obedience to the faith among all nations for his name. And what's obedience to the faith? It's believing in him. It's not perfect obedience, because that's what Christ did. He's the perfection, right? And it says, among whom are ye also the called of Jesus Christ. To all that be in Rome, beloved of God. Remember when I told you last week in Jeremiah 33, when he said, I have loved thee with an everlasting love. Therefore, with loving kindness have I drawn thee. These are the called of God. These are the beloved of God. Along with that, there's the ones that aren't the not called of God, the not loved of God, right? Jacob have I loved, Esau have I hated, right? He goes on to finish this sentence with grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. He spoke this as the Spirit of God bore him along. Right? So we tell people, Christ is all. You go to Acts chapter four, verse 12. It says, for there is none other name under the heaven by which a man would be saved. What does his name mean? His name equals who he is. He's God the Son. He's Emmanuel, God with us, right? And what he's done, he died as a substitute, a surety for his people alone. Jonah 2.9 says, salvation is of the Lord. Just like it says also in Romans 6.23 that the wages of sin is death. Right? Remember the wrath of God. What's the standard needed to escape the wrath of God? Christ is the standard. Not us, not what we do, not even after being born again, being regenerated, having faith, growing in the knowledge and grace of God. You learn more, but we're never going to be perfect. Paul said later on in the scriptures that we know in part, and we prophesy in part. Right? So we don't know it. We don't know it all here. We're learning. But we know that God knows all things, right? He's the standard. So it says, you know, So what does He do when we know that the standard of perfection is Christ? Because He was perfect, from the cradle to the grave. He wasn't born in sin like we were. Mary was told by the angel Gabriel that the Spirit of God would come upon her. And the Holy Child, His name is going to be Jesus. He's going to be born, right? So He's the one who's going to judge the world in truth. Because it says in Romans 2 verse 2, We are sure that the judgment of God is according to truth against them which commit such things. So we know that in order to escape the wrath of God, the standard is perfection, it's holiness. And who is the holiness? Who is the standard? Christ is. He's the standard for his people. That's why he's a substitute. He's a surety. Paul says in Timothy, for there was one God. one mediator between man and God, the man, Christ Jesus. He was the second Adam, I had told you earlier, the first Adam was a type. The second Adam is the answer. He's God the Son. So, we know that God judges in truth, and Christ does, as well as the Spirit of God. All three of them, they're three in one. And we saw that in Romans 2-2, and in Acts 17-31, I believe, I'm gonna double check. right here real quick. It says that, yeah, He has appointed a day in which He'll judge the world, which is Christ, in righteousness. He was ordained to judge the world, right? So then, going on to finish up this message, how should we judge others? I had said earlier, people always tell you, well, don't judge me. But they don't realize, like Paul said, you judge another and you condemn yourself. For all the judges do the same thing. So if someone says, don't judge me, I tell them, wait a minute, you're telling me not to judge you. But don't you know that by you telling me not to judge you, you're judging me as judging you. That doesn't make sense, right? So if we judge others, we have to judge them rightly. Let's go to John chapter 9, verse 24. And that says, then again, wait a minute. Did I do it wrong? That's wrong. It might be 10, 24. Wow, I messed that one up. Oh, I'm sorry, not 924. 724, John 724. And that says, Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment. Now, we know, I think it's 1 Samuel 16, 3, it might be 16, 7. I'll look it up real quick. It says that, man, look at that, the outward appearance, but God judges by the heart. I think that's 16, 7. Let's see, yeah. Look not on his countenance. This is when Samuel was choosing the next, the son of David that was supposed to be, that was anointed. He says, look not on his countenance or on the height of his stature, because I've refused him. For the Lord seeth not as man seeth. For man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart. The heart's not like, A heart's a muscle, but in old language, when you said somebody's heart, that meant like everything that they are, you know, what they think, how they act. It's not like I've heard people wrongly say that you can miss God by this much, you know, from your head to your heart, like 12 inches. I'm like, no, man. As a man thinks, so he is, right? It's in our mind. Our heart is a muscle that pumps blood through our body. Our mind is what thinks. It's our mind that tells us that we're cold. For us, that's how we understand things. We're hot or we're hungry. It's not our heart. So we have to make sure that we teach people these truths because I remember being lost the majority of my life and people always telling me, just follow your heart. But the Bible tells me that my heart is deceitfully wicked, desperately wicked, corrupt. Who can know it? So I'm supposed to follow my heart that's corrupt and I'm okay with it? No. So God's telling us when we judge others, we should judge them rightly. That's why he says, judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment. When a police officer pulls me over for a speeding, he said, hey, I had you on radar. You were going 81 in a 75. What am I supposed to say? Hey, is that gun calibrated? I don't want to get in trouble. I'm going to say yes, yes, sir. I'm showing my license, registration, proof of insurance. And hey, I was found guilty. That means he judged me rightly. You know, if you say, oh, that guy's a, like, people talk about different athletes, and they'll say, well, Michael Jordan was the greatest basketball player, right, the GOAT, greatest of all time. They're judging that based on their knowledge of basketball or what they've heard of other people, but they're making a judgment. You know, so when you tell people they're doing something wrong, hey man, that's not cool, you shouldn't be doing that. Who are you to judge me? Only God can judge me. No, I can judge you. If you're doing something wrong, you're doing something wrong. According to the law. That's why we have laws. And we have standards. Everywhere. If I'm doing something at work, if my boss tells me to set this unit up in the air, and the bottom of that unit is 12 foot 4, And he checks it with his tape measure, and he says, hey man, that unit is 11 foot 4. You're a foot off. I'm not going to say, who are you to judge me? I'm going to put my tape measure out there, too, and measure and say, oh yeah, you're right. I'm wrong. So am I going to say, hey, don't judge me? No, we have to judge rightly. Let's go to Deuteronomy, chapter 1. Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy. Fifth book, chapter 1. Verse 16 through 17. And it says, And I charged your judges at that time, saying, Hear the causes between your brothers, and judge righteously between every man and his brother, and the stranger that is with him. Ye shall not respect persons in judgment, but ye shall hear the small as well as the great. Ye shall not be afraid of the face of man, for the judgment is God's. And the cause that is too hard for you, bring it unto me and I will hear it. This Lord Moses had been judging the nation of Israel after they brought them out of Egypt, after the Exodus. And his father-in-law had told him, hey man, that's too much for you. You're like day and night, all day here, you're judging. You don't You're going to wear yourself out. You're not going to make it." So he had appointed other men, leaders of groups, thousands, hundreds, fifties, and tens, and they had to judge each other. We judged one another. If I'm mean or disrespectful to my wife and I say something wrong and I don't realize it, and she said, hey, don't talk to me that way. You're being disrespectful to me. I don't tell her Are you judging me? I'm like, oh, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I was wrong. So we're supposed to judge people rightly, and judge things rightly, especially when it comes to the things of God. Let's go to Leviticus chapter 19, verses 34 and 37. And it says, But the stranger that dwelleth with you shall be unto you as one born among you, and thou shalt love him as thyself. For ye were strangers in the land of Egypt. I am the Lord your God. Ye shall do no unrighteousness in judgment. in meat yard, in weight, or in measure. Just balances, just weights, a just effa and a just hin shall ye have. I am the Lord your God which brought you out of the land of Egypt. Therefore you shall observe all my statutes and all my judgments and do them. I am the Lord. So we're supposed to judge rightly. Right? Rightly. Now let's go to Leviticus chapter 24. This is the last one on how we're to judge one another. And judge all things, you know. We're supposed to judge everything. We're supposed to test everything. Hold fast to that which is true. Paul wrote that in 1 Thessalonians. You know, I believe it's chapter 5. So, chapter 24 verse 22 in Leviticus says, You should have one manner of law. as well for the stranger as for one of your own country. For I am the Lord your God." So no matter where you are, I mean, When God gave these statutes to Moses, he was among a mixed multitude. The children of Israel had left Egypt. Egyptians came with him. That's why they were a mixed multitude. So he's like, hey, you guys are all together now. There's going to be one law. And that's the thing about the law. The law is no respecter of persons. So whether a rich person speeds or a poor person speeds, they're still speeding. We know there's always, it seems like there's always loopholes for people to get out of like if a person's a police officer and he's speeding and he flashes his badge you got out of it but he's still speeding and that's that's the thing so we're supposed to judge rightly in everything we do now in light of all of this i'm finishing up here now in light of all of these things with the just wrath of god right And we judge them rightly, especially when it comes to matters of the faith. We judge them according to the doctrines they profess. I met this young man a couple weeks ago who was selling chocolate at a Walmart, and I asked him, well, what's this for? He said, oh, it's for a ministry we have. I said, where's the ministry at? He said, Merced. I'm like, Merced's a ways away. What are you doing here in Los Baños? Oh, we're just trying to get some money for the ministry. And I said, well, what is this ministry about? What do you believe? And he said, well, you know, I said, do you believe that God loves everybody? And he goes, yeah. And I said, well, how is a person saved? And he's like, by obeying, by obeying the law and being a good person. I said, no, bro, we're not saved by obeying the law. We're saved by the blood of Christ. We're saved by believing the truth of God because Paul said in Romans chapter one, that I'm not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ. The Gospel of Christ because it's the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believe it. He says, for therein is the righteousness of God revealed, not the righteousness of man. Because, you know, you can obey everything. It's not what the one man did who came to Christ. What must I do to be saved? He said, hey, you gotta do all these things. He said, I've obeyed all these things ever since I was a little kid. He said, I'll tell you what, sell everything you have and then follow me. The guy went away and he didn't say, hey, I'll do that. You know what I mean? And besides that, no one can fulfill the law. No one can. You can't obey the law. And I told them, well, if you obey the law, what's the standard? What's the standard of obeying the law? It has to be perfection. And scripture always tells us that all men have sinned and fell short of the glory of God. So you can't tell a sinner that you have to obey the law and be saved. Because Paul said we're saved by grace, through faith, not of works. So when we judge people, especially when it comes to matters of faith, we have to know what they believe. There's a lot of people that, you know, solo, solo scriptura, solo Deo, solo Cristo, all the five solas, right? But then they believe God loves everybody. But the scripture tells us He doesn't love everybody. Jacob haven't loved, Esau haven't hated. He hates workers of iniquity. There are six things he hates. He has seven that are an abomination to him. How do you reconcile those truths? You side with God in all things. And if these people can't explain the truths of the Gospel when you're talking to them at that time, at the time, perhaps You know, obviously they don't believe the truth. They don't know the truth. But that doesn't mean that they're not an unelected person or a reprobate. Because Paul was persecuting the church. And I mentioned that earlier, how the long-suffering of God led him to repentance. It's the goodness of God, right? Paul was at one time, he seemed to be a reprobate. He was an enemy of the cross, right? And he wrote of others after his conversion that they were enemies of the cross. So we don't know, we don't know if they're elect or not, but we do know that they don't currently know the truth. So what do we do? We tell them the truth, in love, because there's no difference between us and them. It's just the grace of God that causes us to differ. We have to understand that. And this is why we proclaim the gospel. God knows their final estate. And it's only His grace that causes us to differ. And if they're one of His, they're one of His whom He chose in Christ, who Christ died for, they'll be saved. So remember, His wrath is just and it's true. His grace is just as true. And I don't want to focus on one or the other. It has to be balanced. And as we do these things, Wherever we are, God's gonna save His people. We don't know who they are, when it'll happen. We just proclaim the truth. We don't argue or fight with them. We tell them these truths. So, when we're finished, let's just pray and ask God for His grace to just take the time to meditate on His truths. Father, we thank You for this day. Lord, we ask that You would bless Your Word, bless this time in Your Word, help us to And we continue to pray for this city, the city of Los Palmos. Lord, that you would save your people here and have mercy on them, Lord. And we give you praise. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.