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The Gospel’s Promise About

the Judgment of God
Selected Texts
July 3, 2005

Introduction

The God-ordained afflictions that my wife and I have

undergone in recent days is only another chapter in a
much larger one we have endured for some time now.
And in times like these, when God is pounding and
chipping and hammering away at my own heart harder
than at other times, I think it’s best to break away from
the ordinary and use these sovereign ‘teachable
moments.’

God has taught me a great lesson this past week and a

half, a great lesson about the gospel which I formerly did
not know, nor make the connection to. And it is in light
of this most recent trial that I want to break away from
our exposition of Philemon and examine closely this
gospel-centered doctrine of God’s judgment. Pray for
me as I preach it to you, because I need it preached to
my own soul more than I have preached it to myself this
past week and a half.

The Gospel and God’s Judgment

One of the aims of the letter to the Romans, as I’ve told

you many times before, was the level the playing field
for Jews and Gentiles. Paul knows that if he levels the
playing field – convincing both races that they are
sinners before God – then they both will stand in need of
the same God and the same alien righteousness. Paul
does a marvelous job - as if he needs our ‘kudos’ – in
chapter one for making the case about the Gentiles. He
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then moves to chapter two, striking the Jews with the
same message.

The First Text: Romans 2:3-11

Romans 2 is Paul’s inspired denunciation against the

hypocrisy of the Jews. He opens the chapter with these
fearsome words.

“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. We know that the judgment of
God rightly falls on those who do such
things. Do you suppose, O man- you who
judge those who do such things and yet do
them yourself- that you will escape the
judgment of God?” (Rom. 2:1-3, ESV).

The Jews were a God-fearing group who had been

privileged to receive the very revelation of God Himself
in what we now call the Old Testament. But the
reception of this revelation didn’t cause the humility
inherent in its message. Instead, Israel looked only at
the surface, at the fact that they had been given this
revelation, and they used it to judge and condemn the
rest of the world (the Gentiles).

The problem was, however, that they missed the heart

of the Old Testament. For in those many books are
found the truths propounded over and again regarding
the inherent sinfulness of all mankind. The Jews’ own
history should have taught them that. Therefore, when
they judge and condemn others for sinning, while they
themselves commit the very same sins, how can they
escape the same judgment others will get? They cannot,
and that is part of Paul’s point in chapter two.
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Twice in these few verses Paul makes reference to
something very important, something which every Jew
would have understood. I want you to notice these
references. The first is found in verse 5 where Paul
speaks of, “the day of wrath when God's righteous
judgment will be revealed.” The context of the entire
verse reveals that Paul is speaking about the impenitent,
hard-heartedness that Jews were evincing. The true
condition of their heart is revealed when they think that
the reason they have not experienced judgment like the
Gentiles already have and will in the future is because
they are God’s special people. No, Paul answers that the
only reason they haven’t experienced judgment yet is
because God is kind and patient and forbearing, and is
giving them an opportunity to repent from their
impenitent, hard-heartedness.

It is at that day of judgment when God will, according to

the text,

“…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.” (Rom. 2:6-11).

The point of this text is this, beloved. Just because the

Jews had not yet experienced God’s judgment was no
reason to believe that He winked His divine eye at their
sin and hypocrisy. Nor would He look past their hard-
heartedness either. Every single Jew who would be
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rewarded by God according to every single deed they
had performed. If they performed deeds which were
disobedient to the truth, deeds which were unrighteous
and evil, then they would be rewarded with God’s wrath
and fury. And if they had performed deeds which sought
glory and honor for God and immortality for their souls,
they would be rewarded with eternal life. God does not
show partiality between sinners. No one’s nationality
will ever be an excuse before God.

The Second Text: Romans 2:12-15-16

To prove that point, Paul then moves to the Gentiles. He

wrote,

“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 who will be justified. For when
Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature
do what the law requires, they are a law to
themselves, even though they do not have
the law. They show that the work of the law
is written on their hearts, while their
conscience also bears witness…” (Rom.
2:12-15).

Paul’s goal here is to communicate first that there is no

partiality with God, and second, God would use whatever
standard of right and wrong a person already possessed
when judgment time does come. For Gentiles, who
weren’t given the Law of God, they would be judged
apart from the Law. That said, each Gentile does have a
conscience, which in and of itself is a sort of divine built-
in law of God. Whenever they do what is right or wrong,
they do so based on the law of God already written in
each of their hearts. That is called the conscience, and it
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is that within each Gentile which will bear witness
against each one when the day of judgment comes.

It is in this context that the second reference I wanted to

point your attention toward appears in Romans 2. It is
found at the end of verse 15 on into verse 16. The
conscience of each Gentile will bear witness against him
or her,

“…and their conflicting thoughts accuse or

even excuse them on that day when,
according to my gospel, God judges the
secrets of men by Christ Jesus” (Rom. 2:15b-
16).

Here is the second reference to a day of judgment. The

first reference in verses 3 and 5 referred to the Jews and
their sins. The second reference here in verses 15-16
refers to the Gentiles and their sins. At bottom of these
references is the bedrock of the gospel, Paul’s gospel,
my gospel, and your gospel, which all teach the same
thing: God will judge the secrets of men’s hearts and
reward them accordingly through His Son, Christ Jesus.

I cannot tell you how comforting this little piece of the

gospel has been to my wife and I in recent days. We
thought we were on the brink of seeing repentance from
a member of my family, one who has been in sin for
many, many years and has been impenitent toward
confessing it and making things right. This person has
stored this sin deep within his heart where supposedly
no one but he and God know the real truth. But the
evidence pointing to the sin is evidence enough that sin
is present and that it is being hidden. Moons, asteroid
belts, and satellites of lies orbit the planet of this sin.
And on the brink of hoping to see it resolved, that planet
was quickly surrounded with another layer of debris.
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To add to the already deplorable handling of this sin is
the fact that this debris which orbits the sin slams into
many people’s lives, hurting them, injuring them,
offending them, slandering them, gossiping about them,
and even ruining them. I and my wife are just two of
those who seem to be constantly hit everywhere we turn
by all this debris and garbage which surrounds and
protects this sin.

I don’t think my wife would mind me sharing with you

her response this past Wednesday night as she was
laboring over the stove frying up some burgers for
dinner. She melted into tears, bracing herself on the
corners of the stove, answering my reply as to what was
wrong with her. She stated, “I’m so frustrated because
the righteous never seem to be vindicated, while the
unrighteous seem to always get away with their sin.”

We’ve been deeply injured by various persons – some

family, some friends, and some of neither. Some are
believers and some are not. But I think this is where the
truth of Paul’s gospel and my gospel comforts us. God
does not show partiality when it comes to doling out His
righteous judgment. If it doesn’t matter whether you are
Jew or Gentile, then it doesn’t matter if you are family or
friend, professing Christian or not. If one has sinned,
one will pay the price.

I mention this phrase, “professing Christian,” primarily

because it seems that the ones who hurt us the most are
those who profess to follow Christ. This seems especially
true for the pastor. And of the office of pastor, Martin
Luther, who concurred with this assessment, wrote,

“Those who are in the teaching office should

teach with the greatest faithfulness and
expect no other remuneration than to be
killed by the world, trampled under foot, and
despised by their own…”
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Did you hear that? Despised by their own! The

kingdom of God seems filled with people who hurt and
despise each other constantly. And while I as a pastor,
nor you as a member of the kingdom of God, may judge
with absolutely certainty whether or not so and so is a
true believer, my point here is that if they are not true
believers, then they will come under God’s just
judgment.

And I also want to comfort you with the words of 2

Corinthians 5:10, that “we must all appear before the
judgment seat of Christ, that each one may be
recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to
what he has done, whether good or bad.” What this
means, in relation to our subject at hand, is that even if
the person hurting and injuring you is in fact a true
believer, they will appear before the judgment seat of
Christ and give an account for what they have done to
you. Now it is not my purpose in this sermon to give you
a theology of this judgment seat of Christ, but I will say
here that at this judgment the true believer will not be
the recipient of God’s wrath or fury in hell. But what we
can be assured of is that at some future time, on a
certain day in time, Christ will sort out these differences
we have with others, regardless of how painful they may
be to us today.

Think of a time in your life when you were seriously,

emotionally, or perhaps physically or otherwise injured
or offended. Think of a time when it could be said of you
that you were truly being persecuted for doing what was
right. Perhaps your mind goes back to our current lot in
this lawsuit. That is justifiable. Or perhaps you are
thinking of a more recent encounter with someone who
hurt you in order to protect or further themselves as I
and my wife are. You are no stranger to pain, especially
emotional pain. And neither were many of the writers of
Scripture.
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The Plights of David

Think of David and the plights he experienced for those

many, many years in between the time he was promised
the throne and anointed by Samuel the prophet, and the
time when he actually took that throne. Many of the
Psalms are filled with laments and complaints from this
time period. And almost a quarter of the Psalms, as a
whole, are classified as “Laments of the Individual,” or
complaints from individuals themselves (Introducing the
Psalms, Klaus Seybold, p. 116).. For example, In Psalm
2:1-2, David begged the Lord for answers to his time of
distress.

“Why do the nations rage and the peoples

plot in vain? The kings of the earth set
themselves, and the rulers take counsel
together, against the LORD and against his
anointed…”

At other times, David prayed in the midst of his own

experiences with injustice,

“Why, O LORD, do you stand afar off? Why

do you hide yourself in times of trouble? In
arrogance the wicked hotly pursue the poor;
let them be caught in the schemes that they
have devised…His ways prosper at all times;
your judgments are on high, out of his sight;
as for all his foes, he puffs at them…The
helpless are crushed, sink down, and fall by
his might….” (Psa. 10:1, 2, 5, 10).

Undoubtedly you remember the famous words of David

in Psalm 22:1 in which he cried out,

“My God, my God, why have you forsaken

me? Why are you so far from saving me,
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from the words of my groaning? O my God, I
cry by day, but you do not answer, and by
night, but I find no rest…But I am a worm
and not a man, scorned by mankind and
despised by the people. All who see me
mock me; they make mouths at me; they
wag their heads…Be not far from me, for
trouble is near, and there is none to help.
Many bulls encompass me; strong bulls of
Bashan surround me; they open wide their
mouths at me, like a ravening and roaring
lion. I am poured out like water, and all my
bones are out of joint; my heart is like wax; it
is melted within my breast; my strength is
dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue
sticks to my jaws; you lay me in the dust of
death. For dogs encompass me; a company
of evildoers encircles me; they have pierced
my hands and feet- I can count all my bones-
they stare and gloat over me; they divide my
garments among them, and for my clothing
they cast lots. But you, O LORD, do not be
far off! O you my help, come quickly to my
aid! Deliver my soul from the sword, my
precious life from the power of the dog!
Save me from the mouth of the lion! You
have rescued me from the horns of the wild
oxen!” (Psa. 22:1, 2, 6, 7, 11-21).

Can any of you relate to this kind of talk? My wife and I

sure can. This last text is a prophecy about the suffering
of Jesus Christ at the hands of unjust wicked men. And
friends, the beauty of the gospel of that same Jesus
Christ is that it teaches us about a day in which Jesus
Christ Himself, personally and without any
representative, will appear before all mankind to judge
those unjust, wicked men. On that day and time He will
reveal the secrets of all hearts and judge them
accordingly. There is no partiality with God with regards
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to persons and there is no partiality with regards to sins.
For those who do evil, who are impenitent, whose hearts
are hard, and who practice unrighteousness, God will
meet them with His wrath and fury. And that is a gospel
promise, one which every one of us here today must
stand upon with all the faith that is within us.

The Promises of ‘My Gospel’

It is in the midst of such times, when you wonder

whether or not there is any justice in the land, that we
must fall back on the promise of the gospel and wait
upon God to establish us. Paul spoke of his gospel
again, in this very manner, in Romans 16:25. He gave
glory, “to him who is able to strengthen you according to
my gospel.” Only God can strengthen us in such times
of despair, depression, discouragement, and
disparagement. Only He can strengthen and establish
us because only His gospel promises justice.

Paul made another reference to his gospel in 1 Timothy

1:10, 11.

“…the law is not laid down for the just but

for the lawless and disobedient, for the
ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and
profane, for those who strike their fathers
and mothers, for murderers, the sexually
immoral, men who practice homosexuality,
enslavers, liars, perjurers, and whatever else
is contrary to sound doctrine, in accordance
with the glorious gospel of the blessed God
with which I have been entrusted.”

What he means by this in the end is this. The Law and

the Gospel are one on the fact that, “Sin has dishonored
God, and robbed him of his glory; the Gospel provides
for the total destruction of sin, even in this world, and
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thus brings back to God his glory” (Adam Clarke,
Commentary on 1 Timothy 1:11).

He referred to his gospel once more in 2 Timothy 2:7,8

when, in his last letter to his most beloved disciple, he
wrote,

“Think over what I say, for the Lord will give

you understanding in everything.
Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead,
the offspring of David, as preached in my
gospel, for which I am suffering, bound with
chains as a criminal. But the word of God is
not bound!”

Here Paul is, sitting imprisoned, awaiting execution,

having been charged falsely by hateful, impenitent,
hard-hearted Jews on the basis of twisted, manipulated,
exaggerated facts and information, as well as outright
lies. He is indeed suffering, being persecuted, bound
with chains as a criminal. But look at his response to it
all. “The word of God is not bound!” Do you know why?
Because the Lord Jesus Christ has risen from the dead
and He is not bound either! With the knowledge of the
resurrection of Jesus Christ comes the knowledge that
justice is not dead just because we are. Justice and
righteousness do not suffer just because we do. God’s
righteous and vengeful judgment is not thwarted in
anyway just because we may be. This, then, is the
beauty of the gospel of Jesus Christ: the doctrine of the
resurrection points toward the doctrine of imminent
judgment.

No other place in Scripture, that I know of personally, is

this truth expounded with more force by Paul than in
Acts 17. In verses 16 through the end of the chapter, we
see a man severely and emotionally disturbed with him
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because of the legions of idols that surrounded him
everywhere he went. This stirred him to preach in the
synagogues and in the market places, everywhere he
could all around him. There were some local
philosophers who heard him preaching and invited him
to attend the Aeropagus, a place where Luke
parenthetically records for us was a place where, “all the
Athenians and the foreigners who lived there would
spend their time in nothing except telling or hearing
something new” (v. 21). So Paul gladly took this
opportunity to publicly proclaim the gospel to these
people, and here’s how he ended it.

“The times of ignorance God overlooked, but

now he commands all people everywhere to
repent, because he has fixed a day on which
he will judge the world in righteousness by a
man whom he has appointed; and of this he
has given assurance to all by raising him
from the dead” (vv. 31-32).

His gospel, the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, the

gospel you and I say we believe, is the gospel because it
is based on the historical fact that Jesus Christ was
raised from the dead. And in raising Jesus Christ from
the dead God was testifying to the fact that Jesus was in
His very person God. And it is because He is God
resurrected from the dead that He is appointed by God
to be the judge of all men in all the world throughout all
history.

Paul preaches to those present that day that there has

already been fixed at some point in time and space and
history a day and time at which God will judge the world
in righteousness, in justice, in truth. And He will do so
by and through the Man He appointed. Then look how
Paul ends this explanation of his gospel. “He has given
assurance to all by raising him from the dead.” In other
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words, God has given assurance of this fixed day of
judgment against all unrighteousness by raising Jesus
Christ from the dead. Therefore, the day of judgment
against all the unrighteousness you and I suffer is as
certain as the day God raised Jesus from the dead.
These two historical truths – the one rooted in the past
and the one rooted in the future - are as inseparable as
the members of the Trinity.

What to Think About Those Who Sin Against Us

So what should we think of those who have seemingly

gotten away with their injustices, lies, and wickedness?
There are several things that we must think based on
the truth of my gospel and your gospel.

These are the things we must say to our selves, think to

ourselves. It’s okay to talk to yourselves, by the way!
David did it a lot in the Psalms. If we listen to ourselves,
we’ll hear complaining and grumbling deep within our
souls about the mess we are in. That drives us into
depression. But when we talk to ourselves, we prevent
that sort of thing from happening to us. And when we
talk to ourselves, we must tell ourselves the truth, and
more importantly the gospel truths which Christ died to
give us. For it is these truths which help establish and
strengthen us, giving us the endurance we need to stand
strong.

1. First, We Must Believe the Gospel!

If the gospel teaches us that the day and time of the

future judgment is as fixed and certain as the day and
time Jesus rose from the dead, then we must believe it.
We must believe the truth about the judgment as firmly
as we believe the truth about Christ’s resurrection.
Again, they are inseparable. The resurrection of Jesus
Christ ought to be a mental bookmark to which our
minds return readily and constantly anyway, and not just
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in time of injury. It being the historical act in space and
time in which God proved the deity of His Son, the
resurrection is the bedrock of Christianity. It shows us
many truths, not the least of which is the fact that in
rising from the dead, Jesus defeated death and sin
forever. This has profound and serious implications for
our lives, many of which we have yet to discover and
apply.

But here is one to discover and apply. Let your mind

wander back to the bookmark of the resurrection of
Jesus when your mind wanders to the injustice you
experience. And while you’re at the bookmark, let your
mind then wander to that future day and time, fixed by
God in history, in which He will judge those who have
harmed you, and those who previously “got away with”
what they did wrong.

2. Second, Comfort Yourself With God’s Wrath.

That sounds like a strange thing to say, doesn’t it? But

when we consider that God’s wrath is associated with
God’s judgment in Romans 2, when our minds think of
judgment upon those who have treated us unjustly, our
minds should also think of its connection with God’s
wrath and fury.

Oh it is so difficult isn’t it, to pray for those who

persecute us and to love our enemies. The more they
hurt us, the harder it is to love them. And our depraved
hearts lay open to temptation time and again to take
vengeance into our own hands and bring about some
justice right here and now!

But what does Paul tell us in Romans 12? He tells us,

“Bless those who persecute you; bless and

do not curse them… Repay no one evil for
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evil, but give thought to do what is
honorable in the sight of all. If possible, so
far as it depends on you, live peaceably with
all. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but
leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written,
‘Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the
Lord.’ To the contrary, ‘if your enemy is
hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him
something to drink; for by so doing you will
heap burning coals on his head.’ Do not be
overcome by evil, but overcome evil with
good” (Rom. 12:14, 17-21).

This is just what Jesus did, isn’t it? And He was God!
Peter tells us,

“For to this you have been called, because

Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an
example, so that you might follow in his
steps. He committed no sin, neither was
deceit found in his mouth. When he was
reviled, he did not revile in return; when he
suffered, he did not threaten, but continued
entrusting himself to him who judges justly”
(1 Pet. 2:21-23).

How amazing is that text! Jesus is God, and yet even

while He was God on this earth, yes even He didn’t take
matters into His own hands. He is the epitome of Paul’s
counsel in Romans 12. Jesus did not pay back evil for
evil. He did not revile when He was reviled. He didn’t lie
when He was treated wrongly. He didn’t make threats
when He suffered. But instead, Jesus Christ, God
Himself, “continued entrusting himself to him who
judges justly.” Jesus entrusted Himself to God who
judges men justly.

The catch here is that now, God has handed that just
judgment over to His Son Jesus Christ. While He was on
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this earth, He responded in love to unjust suffering. And
that is the example He left for us to follow in His
footsteps. But beloved, oh how we need to take comfort
also in the other fact, namely, that now He is risen and
ascended from this earth, He will respond to unjust
suffering with vengeance and wrath! What He met with
love while He was on this earth, He will meet with fury
and wrath now that He is in heaven. And likewise, what
we meet with love while we are on this earth, will be met
with Christ’s vengeance when He comes again from
heaven. Both set of truths are true, and we must walk
carefully that razor’s edge with love for our enemies on
the one side, but expectant hope for Christ’s judgment
against them on the other. Fall to the one side and
you’ll find yourself without hope. Fall to the other side
and you’ll find yourself without love.

Paul used this very theology to comfort one group of

people who were experiencing unjust suffering and
persecution at the hands of their own countrymen. To
the Thessalonian believers, he wrote,

“For you, brothers, became imitators of the

churches of God in Christ Jesus that are in
Judea. For you suffered the same things from
your own countrymen as they did from the
Jews, who killed both the Lord Jesus and the
prophets, and drove us out, and displease
God and oppose all mankind by hindering us
from speaking to the Gentiles that they
might be saved- so as always to fill up the
measure of their sins. But God's wrath has
come upon them at last!” (1 Thess. 2:14-16).

Notice that Paul’s comfort came in two forms. He

encouraged them because, despite the persecution, they
became imitators of the Lord Jesus Christ! And He
further encouraged them with the promise that God’s
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wrath was as good as sealed upon those who were
persecuting them.

You see, these were God’s people here, His church,

undergoing immense persecution. And Paul
undoubtedly remembered the gospel-promise given to
Abraham in Genesis 12:3, in which God promised,

“I will bless those who bless you, and him

who dishonors you I will curse…”

God will not tolerate forever the injustice done against

His people, and especially against the bride of His Son,
Jesus Christ. Take comfort in that as well.

3. Third, Repentance is the Reason Why God’s

Judgment Has Not Yet Come.

This brings me to the third word of counsel for you this

morning. God’s wrath, His day of just judgment, has not
yet come, as you well know. And there is a reason for
this. It is found in such texts as the very one with which
we began, Romans 2. Let me remind you of verse 4.
God’s riches are found in His kindness and patience and
forbearance, and in these are to be found the kindness
of God that leads to repentance. Since the day of
judgment is not yet here, there is yet time. There is
time to repent. Remember, that was the very message
Paul preached to the Athenians at the Aeropagus. God,
“commands all people everywhere to repent, because he
has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in
righteousness.” Repentance is necessary because Jesus
Christ is coming to judge the world.

Peter echoed this same message to his flock, scattered

throughout the world because of persecution and unjust
suffering. He wrote,
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“The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as
some count slowness, but is patient toward
you, not wishing that any should perish, but
that all should reach repentance” (2 Pet.
3:9).

This verse stands in the context of one subject: the

certainty of God’s judgment. Listen to the whole
passage.

“This is now the second letter that I am

writing to you, beloved. In both of them I am
stirring up your sincere mind by way of
reminder, that you should remember the
predictions of the holy prophets and the
commandment of the Lord and Savior
through your apostles, knowing this first of
all, that scoffers will come in the last days
with scoffing, following their own sinful
desires. They will say, "Where is the
promise of his coming? For ever since the
fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing
as they were from the beginning of
creation." For they deliberately overlook this
fact, that the heavens existed long ago, and
the earth was formed out of water and
through water by the word of God, and that
by means of these the world that then
existed was deluged with water and
perished. But by the same word the
heavens and earth that now exist are stored
up for fire, being kept until the day of
judgment and destruction of the ungodly.
But do not overlook this one fact, beloved,
that with the Lord one day is as a thousand
years, and a thousand years as one day.
The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as
some count slowness, but is patient toward
you, not wishing that any should perish, but
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that all should reach repentance” (2 Pet. 3:1-
9).

Those who have injured you, or hurt you, or mocked you,

or lie about you, or persecute you, or do any other
manner of evil against you will not escape God’s
judgment, friends. The predictions about the end of the
world and God’s judgment are just as true as the
predictions and fulfillment about the incarnation,
ministry, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. If those
words came true, don’t doubt the other ones. By the
same word which God used to create the heavens and
the earth, God will pour out His judgment and
destruction upon the earth and the ungodly in it.

But Peter’s point is that we not overlook God’s time

table. What seems like slowness to take vengeance to
us is not slowness to God. No, God’s timetable includes
His desire that everyone who does the things they do to
us should repent and not perish when He comes to judge
the world.

This ought to give us hope! It should give us hope that

those who hurt us continually may come see the light as
it is revealed to them by God’s graciousness in Christ.
As Paul told Timothy in his last letter,

“God may perhaps grant them repentance

leading to a knowledge of the truth, and they
may escape from the snare of the devil, after
being captured by him to do his will” (2 Tim.
2:25-26).

This should be our hope and prayer if our hearts are

truly with Christ. And this should be the standard by
which we measure our expectation for God’s judgment
upon them. If we wait expectantly without extending
the hope of salvation, then our expectation may be
motivated more by hatred than by love. It is a difficult
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balance to maintain, I readily admit, and it is not one
that I walk perfectly to be honest. But it is a razor’s
edge we must walk nonetheless: taking comfort in God’s
certain judgment and vengeance against them, but
seeking their repentance through prayer in love so that
they would not perish.

4. Fourth, Avoid the Sin of Hypocrisy.

The fourth and final word of counsel also comes from the
spirit and heart of Paul in Romans 2. And that word of
counsel, very simply put, is to avoid the sin of hypocrisy.
Take comfort in the truth that God has a fixed day and
time in which those who hurt you and do not repent will
be judged in return. But take no comfort in that truth if
you, like the Jews in Romans 2, knowingly commit the
very same sins that you are complaining about in others.
That’s hypocrisy and God will judge you just the same as
He will judge the others.

There is this theme, however small it may seem, running

through the Scriptures which sounds like this:

“Watch and pray that you may not enter into

temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but
the flesh is weak” (Matt. 26:41).

You remember this text well. Jesus spoke it to the

disciples before He went off to pray. Why did He tell
them to stay away and pray? Because He feared just
what would happen, that His name and message may be
shamed by the impetuous acts of men who say they love
and follow Jesus. How hypocritical was it to claim to
follow Jesus and yet attack one of the guards like Peter
did? Perhaps had he watched and prayed, guarding his
heart against such temptations, he may not have sinned
in this way.

Then there are other texts like,

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“Brothers, if anyone is caught in any

transgression, you who are spiritual should
restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep
watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted”
(Gal. 6:1).

If you encounter another professing believer in sin, it is

your job to help them. But in your help you are to do so
with gentleness, watching your own heart, lest you too
be tempted. Tempted with what? At least with
hypocrisy, because you may find yourself trying to help
someone get out of a hole which you yourself are
standing in at the very same point in time. How
hypocritical is that?

When some of the Corinthian believers had either fallen

sick or had died because they handled the Lord’s Supper
with such flippancy, Paul taught them,

“…if we judged ourselves truly, we would

not be judged” (1 Cor. 11:31).

In other words, if they had judged themselves with

discernment, with truth, with honesty, God wouldn’t
have had to judge them with sickness and death. This is
something that is only brought about because of
hypocrisy.

What we are to be careful of, then, is wishing judgment

on others while we are not careful to judge our own
hearts closely and carefully. We often apply a different
standard to those who treat us unjustly, looking more
carefully with deeper analysis at their sins and actions
than we do our own. Such hypocrisy will certainly not
escape God’s judgment either!
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Conclusion

In closing, I offer you the hope of 1 Timothy 5:24, which

has been offered to me time and again with respect to
my personal trial in recent days and years. There Paul
wrote,

“The sins of some men are conspicuous,

going before them to judgment, but the sins
of others appear later.”

There are some sins which people commit against us

that are conspicuous, apparent, readily visible to
everyone. And these are sins which will roll out the red
carpet of God’s judgment in front of them. But there are
some people whose sins will never be apparent now, but
only later, and that is at the final judgment. In the end,
the hope we carry with us that whether now, before the
judgment day, or later on at the time of judgment, the
sins of those who have sinned against us will be brought
to light. God will reveal the secret sins of men’s hearts
on that day.

It is a day fixed in space and time and history, one that

cannot be changed. It is as fixed in history as is the
resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. It is a day
and time in which God will once and for all bring
darkness out into the light and judge it for what it is. At
that day and time, we will enter the presence and joy of
Christ for eternity. But until that time, let us pray that
those who are headed for judgment will be turned to
head for eternity with us.

And until that time, let us trust in the Just Judge of the
universe, just like Jesus did in 1 Peter 2. Let us leave the
sorting out of the messes we find ourselves in to the
Lord on His day of judgment when everything will be
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brought to light and sorted out. Sort out the ones you
can while you are here, but leave the others to God and
believe the gospel’s promise that God’s just judgment on
all sin is just as fixed as the resurrection of His dear Son.