NOVEMBER 18, 2007 – “GOD’S KINDNESS”

TEXT: Romans 2:1-11

I. (vs.1-3) YOU ARE ACCOUNTABLE TO GOD FOR HIS KINDNESS: DON’T BE DISTRACTED BY WHAT OTHERS DO

(Romans 2:1) “You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else, for at whatever point you judge the other, you are condemning yourself…”

(Carlyle Marney) “Many Christians define sin as the sum total of acts which they themselves do not commit.”

(Romans 2:1) “You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else…”

(Franz Leenhardt) “It is futile to use the vices of others, even their worst, as a screen for our own faults, even the slightest.”

(Matthew 7:1-2) “Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”

(Romans 14:13) “Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in your brother’s way.”

(Psalm 139:23-24) “Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.”

(Oswald Chambers) “Cultivate the uncritical temper. Beware of anything that puts you in the superior person’s place..... Stop having a measuring rod for other people.”

(Matthew 7:3-5) (Cartoon of plank in eye) “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.”

(Luke 18:11-12) “God, I thank you that I am not like other men – robbers, evildoers, adulterers – or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.”

(Romans 2:2) “Now we know that God’s judgment against those who do such things is based on truth.”

(James 4:11-12) “Brothers, do not slander one another. Anyone who speaks against his brother or judges him speaks against the law and judges it. When you judge the law, you are not keeping it, but sitting in judgment on it. There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the one who is able to save and destroy. But you – who are you to judge your neighbor?”

(I Samuel 16:7) “But the Lord said to Samuel, ‘Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.’”

(Romans 2:3) “So when you, a mere man, pass judgment on them and yet do the same things, do you think you will escape God’s judgment?”

(Romans 14:4) “Who are you to judge someone else’s servant? To his own master he stands or falls. And he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand.”

(I Peter 4:5) “But they will have to give account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead.”

(Matthew 12:36) “But I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken.”

II. (vs.4-5) GOD’S KINDNESS LEADS YOU TO REPENTANCE: NOW IS THE TIME TO RESPOND TO IT

(Romans 2:4) “Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, tolerance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness leads you toward repentance?”

(Ephesians 1:7) “In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace…”

(Ephesians 2:7) “…in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.”

(Romans 6:1-2) “What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?”

(Theologian William Barclay) “It is one of the most shameful things in the world to use mercy and love’s forgiveness as an excuse to go on sinning.”

(Romans 2:5) “But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God’s wrath, when his righteous judgment will be revealed.”

(II Peter 3:9) “The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.”

(II Peter 3:15) “Bear in mind that our Lord’s patience means salvation, just as our dear brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him.”

(Psalm 86:5) “You are forgiving and good, O Lord, abounding in love all who call to you.”

(Robert Smith) “True repentance has a double aspect; it looks upon things past with a weeping eye, and upon the future with a watchful eye.”

(Matthew 3:2) “…Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.”

(II Timothy 2:25-26) “ … in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth, and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will.”

(Acts 2:38a) “…Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins.”

(Acts 3:19) “Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord.”

III. (vs.6-11) GOD’S KINDNESS IS FOR EVERYONE; HE DOES NOT SHOW FAVORITISM

(Romans 2:6) “God will give to each person according to what he has done.”

(Micah 6:8) “He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.”

(Proverbs 24:12) “If you say, ‘But we knew nothing about this,’ does not he who weighs the heart perceive it? Does not he who guards our life know it? Will he not repay each person according to what he has done?”

(Psalm 62:11-12) “One thing God has spoken, two things have I heard: that you, O God, are strong, and that you, O Lord, are loving. Surely you will reward each person according to what he has done.”

(Galatians 5:13) “You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love.”

(Ephesians 2:8-9) “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast.”

( Ephesians 2:10) “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”

(Psalm 62:12) “And that you, O Lord, are loving. Surely you will reward each person according to what he has done.”

(Leonard Sweet) “It’s not only what we do, but also what we do not do for which we are accountable.”

(Jeremiah 17:10) “I the Lord search the heart and examine the mind, to reward a man according to his conduct, according to what his deeds deserve.”

(Matthew 16:27) “For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father’s glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what he has done.”

(II Corinthians 5:10) “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.”

(Revelation 20:12) “And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books.”

(I Peter 1:17) “Since you call on a Father who judges each man’s work impartially, live your lives as strangers here in reverent fear.”

(Romans 2:7) “To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, he will give eternal life.”

(Corrie Ten Boom) “Although the threads of my life have often seemed knotted, I know, by faith that on the other side of the embroidery there is a crown.”

(Colossians 1:22-23) “But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation – if you continue in your faith, established and firm, not moved from the hope held out in the gospel. This is the gospel that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, have become a servant”

(Matthew 24:12-13) “Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved.”

(Billy Graham) “We take excellent care of our bodies, which we have for only a lifetime; yet we shrivel our souls, which we will have for eternity.”

(John 17:3) “Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.”

(John 3:14-15) “Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life”

(John 3:16) “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life”

(Romans 6:22-23) “But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

(Romans 2:8) “But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger.”

(Romans 2:9-10) “There will be trouble and distress for every human being who does evil: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile; but glory, honor and peace for everyone who does good: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile.”

(John 3:36) “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on him.”

(Romans 2:11) “For God does not show favoritism.”

(Acts 10:34-35) “I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism but accepts men from every nation who fear him and do what is right.”