The last Sunday of each month we celebrate the Lord's Supper, and we've been working through the book of Romans for the past several months in our communion services. Last month we looked at the last half of Romans chapter 1—it's a very interesting, compelling passage. 

You'll remember that this section of Scripture explains the revelation of the wrath of God against all unrighteousness of men. As men hold down or suppress the clear truth of God, even His eternal power and Godhead, it says, so that they are without excuse. That stunning Scripture explains to us why all men are without excuse before God, because although they knew God, they chose not to glorify Him as God, nor were they thankful. 

Rather, they've chosen to reject God, to create their own gods fashioned after corruptible man—gods that would meet their needs, overlook their sin, and scratch their spiritual itch. And we saw that because men have held down the truth, have created their own gods and religion, God has given them over. 

There are three judgments that we observed in chapter 1. God gives them over to their sin, allowing sin to take its natural course, and the results are uncleanness, vile passions, and a debased or non-functioning mind. We see the judgment of God in the world all around us, and Paul highlights the implications at the end of chapter 1 with a long list of the manifestations of this in our world as men have been given over to their sin. 

All kinds of sin and debauchery and the ultimate truth that not only do men practice these things, but as a whole, they approve of those who do them. Romans 1 ends with this statement, who knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same, but also approve of those who practice them. 

We're in a section of the book of Romans that is bad news: the truth concerning the sinfulness of men. Chapter 1:18 to 3:20 teaches us the condemnation of all men, the condition of all men in Adam, and their need for a Savior. We're going to get to the good news beginning at chapter 3, verse 21, but here we're learning about the condemnation of all men. 

Chapter 1 highlighted the thief, the drunkard, the sexually immoral—those that the world might even call sinners. And you can imagine the self-righteous religious Jew of Paul's day who would look at this list in Romans 1 and say, yes, Paul, we agree, these sinners deserve the righteous judgment of God. The self-righteous religious man of our day would make the same affirmation. 

But as we come to chapter 2 this morning, we see an incredible truth—a striking statement from the Apostle Paul—that even the most righteous men, the religious men, the ones who sit in judgment of the sinners, they too practice the very same things that they are judging others for and consequently they are equally deserving of God's judgment. 

The sinner, the Romans 1 reprobate, is condemned before God because of his sin, but the religious pillar in the community, the seemingly outwardly righteous man, he too is a sinner deserving of judgment, in dire need of a Savior. And that's what we see in the verses before us this morning—a vitally important truth. 

Let's look at our text together in Romans 2, verse 1. Listen to these words, "'Therefore you are inexcusable, O man, whoever you are who judge. For in whatever you judge another, you condemn yourself. For you who judge practice the same things. But we know that the judgment of God is according to truth against those who practice such things. And do you think this, O man, you who judge those practicing such things and doing the same, that you will escape the judgment of God? Or do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance? 

But, in accordance with your hardness and your impenitent heart, you are treasuring up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, who will render to each one according to his deeds: eternal life to those who by patient continuance and doing good seek for glory, honor, and immortality; but to those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth but obey unrighteousness, indignation, and wrath, tribulation, and anguish on every soul of man who does evil, of the Jew first and also of the Greek. But glory, honor, and peace to everyone who works what is good, to the Jew first and also to the Greek, for there is no partiality with God. 

For as many as have sinned without law will also perish without law, and as many as have sinned in the law will be judged by the law. For not the hearers of the law are just in the sight of God, but the doers of the law will be justified. For when Gentiles who do not have the law by nature do the things in the law, these, although not having the law, are a law to themselves, who show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and between themselves their thoughts accusing or else excusing them, in the day when God will judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ," and then this important phrase at the end, "...according to my gospel." 

I have three points for you this morning for our text: you who judge; second, according to truth; and third, the goodness of God. 

Well, as most of you know, I grew up in a mainline denominational religious home. We were a typical religious family, I believe. We went to church on Sunday, we said our prayers before we ate, and we certainly would have considered ourselves to be good people. But the truth is that we lived like the world. 

We had no understanding whatsoever about the truth of the gospel, of the Bible, of God's Word. We had one Bible in our home; it sat on a coffee table and it was too large for a child to pick up. I can't remember anyone ever reading it. I went to parochial school for the first seven years and we attended Mass six days a week while I was in school. We were not excessively zealous, but a typical nominal Christian family. It wasn't until I was 26 years old that I first heard the gospel of Jesus Christ. 

It was an incredible thing for me to hear. It was a strange thing in comparing it to everything I'd known about truth, religion, and myself and God. For a self-righteous religious person who has banked his eternity on the fact that he's a pretty good person—at least better than most—who believes somewhere in the back of his mind that God must grade on some kind of curve, for the religious person who believes that he's basically good and has no understanding of his own sinfulness, of God's holiness, of the righteous judgment of God according to the truth, the gospel of Jesus Christ is a bombshell. 

And to the zealous religious Jews in Paul's audience, this was a major bombshell. The essence of the message in chapter 2 is this: the self-righteous religious man—including the Pharisees and the zealous Jews—are equally deserving of God's judgment as are the openly sinful pagan people of chapter 1. This is the hardest thing for the men of our world to understand: the truth that all men are equal in kind; not in degree, but in kind. 

I remember when people first started witnessing to me and to Bobby and that was, you know, this idea, sin is a sin, we know, we can't take that, that doesn't make any sense to us. All men are born in Adam, are sinners. Sinners by nature, corrupt on the inside in need of a recreation—a new birth through faith in Jesus Christ. 

Let's look at our first point, "you who judge," in verse 1. Romans 2:1, "Therefore you are inexcusable, O man, whoever you are who judge, for in whatever you judge another, you condemn yourself, for you who judge practice the same things." 

You know, one of the most quoted passages in the Bible by the men of this world is found in Matthew 7 at verse 1, "Judge not that you be not judged, for with what judgment you judge you will be judged and with what measure you use it, it will be measured back to you. And why do you look at the speck in your brother's eye but do not consider the plank in your own eye? You say to your brother, let me remove the speck from your eye and look, a plank is in your own eye, hypocrite. First remove the plank from your own eye and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye." 

In this passage, we see Jesus teaching the very same thing that Paul is teaching in Romans 2:1. But it's in the context of the Sermon on the Mount. The Sermon on the Mount was given to a group of religious Jews. Jesus was preaching law to these people because they needed to understand the futility of their law-keeping in order to establish their own righteousness. 

He was trying to show them that the law is much wider in scope, much more far-reaching than the simple external observance of a few sets of rules, such as the rich young ruler, remember? That came to Jesus, "What must I do to enter the Kingdom of Heaven?" And he said, "Keep these commandments." And what did he say? "Since my youth, I have kept all of these." Self-deceived. 

External obedience, perhaps. But the religious Jews of Jesus' time were self-deceived, thinking that they were righteous, that they were better than other men, that they had some sort of in with God. In Matthew 5:18, towards the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said, "For assuredly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass away until all of the law is fulfilled. Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches men so shall be called least in the Kingdom of Heaven, but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the Kingdom of Heaven." 

For I say to you, listen to what Jesus said to these religious Jews. Imagine that scene on the Mount and all these religious men sitting there. That unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the Kingdom of Heaven. We could say today that you must be more righteous than the Pope and Mother Teresa if you want to get into Heaven, and that's a true statement, by the way. 

The scribes and the Pharisees were the most righteous of the religious men, and yet Jesus says that your righteousness must exceed their righteousness if you're to enter Heaven. The religious men thought if they did not commit adultery, they had not sinned. But Jesus said if a man lusts after a woman, then he's committed adultery with her in his heart, and this too is sin deserving of eternal judgment. 

"You have heard it said of old," you have been taught, Jesus says over and over, explaining what the rabbis had taught them, and then He consistently raises the standard, showing the far-reaching nature of the law and their failure to keep it. He summarizes His teaching in chapter 5 and verse 48 when He says, "Therefore, you must be perfect as your Father in Heaven is perfect." 

Jesus is explaining that God's requirement for entering His Heaven is perfect righteousness. James 2:10 says, "For whoever shall keep the whole law and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all." But the truth is that no man is perfect. We have all sinned, broken God's law, deserve eternal death in the lake of fire. 

The religious man thinks he can make up for his sin by doing good, by religious rites and rituals, by giving to the poor, by keeping the law. This was the problem for the Jews to whom Jesus is speaking in Matthew 7 and whom Paul is speaking in Romans 2. 

Turn over to Romans 9 with me, please. Romans 9, verse 30, Paul explains what the issue was for Israel at that time. And this would be representative of any self-righteous religious person. Romans 9:30, "What shall we say then? That Gentiles who did not pursue righteousness have attained to righteousness, even the righteousness of faith? But Israel, pursuing the law of righteousness, has not attained to the law of righteousness. Why? Because they did not seek it by faith, but as it were, by the works of the law. For they stumbled at that stumbling stone." 

As it is written, "Behold, I lay in Zion a stumbling stone and rock of offense, and whoever believes on him will not be put to shame." Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they may be saved. For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God—look at this—they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. For they, being ignorant of God's righteousness and seeking to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted to the righteousness of God, for Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes. 

The problem for the religious man in our world is that he is ignorant of God's righteousness and is seeking to establish his own righteousness through law-keeping. 

Now let's go back to Matthew 7 and see what's really going on in this passage that is so often misquoted by unbelievers. In Matthew 7:1, again, Jesus says, "Judge not that you be not judged, for with what judgment you judge, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you." 

And again, this is the same thing as we see in the first verse of our text, "Therefore you are inexcusable, O man, whoever you are who judge, for in whatever you judge another you condemn yourself, for you who judge practice the same things." 

The religious man, particularly the Jew to whom Paul writes in Romans 2, possessed the law of God. The law had been given through Moses, and the Jews considered themselves to have a guarantee of entering heaven based on three things: first, their lineage (being sons of Abraham); their ritual (that they had been circumcised; salvation through surgery); and the fact that they had been given the law—not that they kept it, but that they possessed it. 

In Romans 2, Paul dismantles the three legs of this stool one at a time and shows that none of these things will earn them heaven. In fact, having the law of God made them more accountable than the Gentiles that they judged. When Jesus says, "Judge not lest you be judged," He's talking to self-righteous religious men and He's saying to them, if you take the law of God, the moral righteous standard of God represented by the Ten Commandments, and you take that standard and measure up the drunk, the prostitute, the sinner, and you judge them and say they deserve to go to hell because they've broken God's law, then you are judging yourself as well. 

By the same measure, you will be judged. And the truth is that when the perfect standard of God, the moral law, is applied to any man, that man is found to be a sinner. Turn over to Galatians 3 with me at verse 19. An explicit statement here about the law of God from Paul, Galatians 3:19, "What purpose then does the law serve?" This is a good question. Paul says, "It was added because of transgressions till the seed should come to whom the promise was made, and it was appointed through angels by the hand of a mediator. Now a mediator does not mediate for one only, but God is one." 

"Is the law then against the promises of God? Certainly not. For if there had been a law given, which could have given life, truly righteousness would have been by the law. But the Scripture has confined all under sin that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe." 

Paul says if it was possible for man to keep a law, to earn his righteousness, then righteousness would have come that way. But what we find when we look at all mankind is that no one can keep the law. Therefore, righteousness has to come as being imputed, credited to our account through faith in Jesus Christ. 

In Romans 11:32, we see a similar statement speaking of Jews and Gentiles, all men. Paul says, "For God has committed them all to disobedience, that He might have mercy on all." All men, every man born in Adam, is a sinner by nature and has manifested that sin by breaking the law of God. 

So when Jesus and Paul confront the self-righteous man for judging those considered sinners in our world, they are saying, you should not judge because with the standard you judge, it will be measured back to you. 

So we see "you who judge." Second, we see "according to truth," Romans 2:2. "But we know that the judgment of God is according to truth against those who practice such things. And do you think this, O man? You who judge those practicing such things and doing the same, that you will escape the judgment of God?" 

You know, the hope of every lost man is that God does not judge according to truth. When you talk to men and women in our community, and you went down to the local church and stood on the steps as they come out of the service, and if you ask those men and women, "Do you believe that you will go to heaven?" here's what you'll hear, "I hope so. I mean, I'm a good person. I don't think God would send me to hell." 

The hope is that God will not judge according to truth, but that He will wink at their sin, that He will not punish them for their sin. But Paul says clearly, "We know that the judgment of God is according to truth." And the truth, as we've already seen this morning, is that every man is a sinner. 

Every man has broken God's law and is deserving of the wrath of God. God is holy and righteous; He cannot look upon sin. He must punish every sin. And the bad news for the religious man—the one trusting in his own works and goodness, his religious works or rites or rituals—is that God judges according to truth. 

So when a self-righteous man sits in judgment of a pagan sinner, applying the law of God, when he says, "Thou shalt not commit adultery" and passes judgment on the sexually immoral, condemning them to hell, that same man will have the same standard applied to him. And Jesus says if he has lusted after a woman, he is guilty of adultery. 

The point is that we are all the same in kind. We are all sinners in Adam, even though we may not be the same in degree. And God will not judge with partiality; He will judge righteously every man according to truth. 

So this is bad news. It's bad news that the pagan sinner is condemned in the eyes of a holy God. It's bad news that the self-righteous religious man is condemned because he too is a sinner who has broken God's law. Look with me at Paul's summary—his summary statement of this entire section, Romans 3:9. 

And just listen to these words as he describes all of mankind. Romans 3:9, speaking of Jews and Gentiles, he says, "What then? Are we better than they? Not at all. For we have previously charged both Jews and Greeks that they are all under sin. As it is written, there is none righteous." Now you can almost envision a crowded building full of people. And Paul says, "There’s none righteous," and there’s one guy in the back saying, "That's right, Paul, none of them are righteous!" And then Paul says, "No, not you either! No, not one." 

"There is none who understands; there is none who seeks after God. They have all turned aside; they have together become unprofitable. There is none who does good, no, not one. Their throat is an open tomb; with their tongues they have practiced deceit. The poison of asps is under their lips that speaks of deception. That's a serpent with fangs that you think is friendly and then they come out at you. Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness. Their feet are swift to shed blood. Destruction and misery are in their ways. In the way of peace, they have not known." 

Verse 18, "There is no fear of God before their eyes." This is really the message of our text in this whole section. There's none righteous, no, not one. Every man is a sinner in need of a Savior. And we are in the midst of that bad news in Romans 1 to 3, but there is good news coming. And in this good news, we see the goodness of God. 

Look at verse 4 of our text. "Or do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and long-suffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance? But in accordance with your hardness and your impenitent heart, you are treasuring up for yourself wrath and the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God." 

In spite of man's rebellion, in spite of his willful suppression of the revelation of God in creation and conscience—the law of God written on his heart—God is good to man. God is good to man in common grace. The rain falls on the just and the unjust. God, by His grace and forbearance, His long-suffering and patience, does not give to men what they deserve. 

When man sins, He does not drop dead all the time. God waits. He is patient—so patient, so good—because He desires that every man be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth. Paul's argument here is that this goodness of God, this common grace, is meant to lead us to repentance, coming to an understanding of our sinfulness and our need, and then seeing in light of this truth the goodness of God—how merciful and gracious He is. 

The salvation He provides in Christ should lead us to repentance, to faith in Jesus. And God is good to men ultimately in the cross of Christ. Romans 5:6—listen to these words, "For when we were still without strength, in due time, Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. Someone had to cure for cancer, and you could give them your heart to save them; maybe a man would die for someone like that. But God demonstrates His own love toward us in that while we were still sinners, while we were still against Him, while we were still His enemies despising Him and cursing Him, Christ died for us." 

When we go back to the garden, when we think about God's perfect creation, His care, provision, and plan for man when He created Adam and Eve, and then we think about how they chose to rebel against God, to believe the serpent, to eat of the tree which God commanded they should not eat—in this we see the fall of man, the curse on this world, the end of innocence—a tragic event in the history of mankind. But in this we also see the grace, the mercy of God. 

God did not kill Adam and Eve on the spot. He did not send them to hell for eternity as He could have justly done and ended the human race. Rather, He gave them a promise—a promise of a Redeemer—a plan of salvation from sin and death and hell, and that plan is the person and work of Jesus Christ. God Himself would take on flesh, just as Mark read this morning in Hebrews 2. He would become a man, walk among us, perfect and sinless in His life on this earth. 

He was not born of Adam; Adam was not His father, and He was sinless. He did not deserve the wrath of God, but He took it in our place, dying on the cross for our sins to redeem us, to satisfy the wrath of God, to accomplish our salvation. That's why we're gathered here this morning, my brothers and sisters—to remember what He did for us, to celebrate the work of the cross. 

He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us. Why? So that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. Jesus said, "You must be perfect as My Father in heaven is perfect." How can we be perfect? Only as He gives to us His righteousness through faith in Him. 

In Romans 3:21 we come to the glorious good news—the goodness of God. Let's look at that together: Romans 3:21. For the whole world, the religious men of Romans 1 and 2 are trying to establish their own righteousness through keeping a law, a system. Romans 3:21, Paul says, "But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the law and the prophets. Even the righteousness of God, how? Through faith in Jesus Christ." 

"For who? To all and on all who believe. For there's no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God set forth as a propitiation—that word means a full satisfactory payment—whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through His death, through faith, in order to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed. To demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just, punishing every sin, and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus." 

This is God's great salvation plan—to justify the lost sinner in Adam, to bring him back into a right relationship with Himself. And Romans 4 goes on to tell us how we can appropriate this salvation for ourselves. This is an opt-in program. Don't let anyone tell you it's an opt-out program, because it's not. God offers salvation to every man; man must believe. 

Look at Romans 4:1. "What then shall we say that Abraham our father has found according to the flesh? For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. For what does the Scripture say? Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness. Now to him who works, the wages are not counted as grace, but as debt. But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness. Just as David also describes the blessedness of the man to whom God imputes righteousness apart from works: Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven and whose sins are covered. For God is the man to whom the Lord shall not impute sin." 

It's not the good people that go to heaven, my friends. It's the ones who realize that they are not good. It's the ones who come to understand the bad news, the truth of their sinfulness, of their need of a Savior, and of the goodness of God—the goodness of God that leads them to repentance and faith in Jesus Christ alone. 

My brothers and sisters, this is the gospel truth. This good news is the essence of our faith, of our hope, of our confidence, because of the promises to us in Christ by faith. And this is what we long to proclaim here this morning. This is what we want to express our worship and thankfulness for. 

And this is why we've come here together in this communion service to remember—to remember God's grace and goodness in the work of Christ on the cross. 

Let's close in prayer. 

Father, we're so thankful—so thankful that you did not give us what we deserve. Thank you for your mercy, and we're so thankful for your grace that you gave us what we didn't deserve: salvation through Christ's payment on the cross, his death, burial, and resurrection, and our place for our sins—taking your wrath, satisfying our debt of sin. 

Father, thank you for your mercy, for your grace, for the promises that we have in Jesus. Thank you that this salvation is available to every man, and that we can go out and bring this message to those people that we meet for whom Jesus died. And we can call on them to believe him, to trust him alone. 

In Jesus' name, amen.