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Sermon Notes for June 12, 2005

The Attitude Of A Godly Church

The Fruit Of The Spirit Sermon Series

“The Kindness Of God Toward Man”

Romans 2:1-4

Bishop Potter was sailing for Europe on one of the great ocean liners. When he went on board, he found that another passenger was to share the cabin with him. After going to see the accommodations, he came up to the purser’s desk and inquired if he could leave his gold watch and other valuables in the ship’s safe. He explained that ordinarily he never availed himself of that privilege, but he had been to his cabin and had met the man who was to occupy the other berth. Judging from his appearance, he was afraid that he might not be a very trustworthy person. The purser accepted the responsibility for the valuables and remarked, “It’s all right, Bishop, I’ll be very glad to take care of them for you. The other man has been up here and left his for the same reason!”

Introduction

  1. How HARD IS IT TO BE KIND To One Another!
  2. We continue our study of the Fruit of the Spirit as seen in Galatians 5:22-23.
  3. nine “attitudes” that are given to a person when they become a Christian
  4. these “attitudes” not only make us more like Christ, they reveal Christ to those around us
  5. Today, we look at the fruit of kindness.
  6. but, before we look at the fruit of kindness, we will look at the opposite of kindness – unkindness as seen in the sin of judging others
  7. we will see today:

1. the judgmental nature of man

2. the kind nature of God

  1. How EASY IT IS FOR US TO JUDGE One Another!
  2. King Solomon spent years discovering and evaluating the nature of man and stated his findings in the book of Ecclesiastes.
  3. he “discovered” several traits and attitudes of man
  4. one was the judgmental nature of man

Ecclesiastes 4:4 – “And I saw that all labor and all achievement spring from man's envy of his neighbor. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.”

1. so much of what we do centers on either wanting what others
have or wanting to have more than what others have

2. we are “constantly looking over our shoulders”at what others
have

  1. My story.
  2. growing up in the Mississippi Delta
  3. fraternity life
  4. seminary
  1. Chuck Swindoll – “What is the deadliest sin? It is the one sin that Jesus attacked more often, more directly, and more severely than any other wrong, yet it is usually the most justified and widely practiced sin in the world. In fact, if we were all truly honest before God, this horrendous sin would be the one that we would confess most often. What is it? It’s the sin of self-righteousness. It goes under other names, like arrogance, hypocrisy, conceit, and pride, but its many faces express themselves in similar ways. As the apostle Paul continues to present a case for the depravity of man, he sets forth some of the most damaging evidence when he lays before us the grave wrong of judging.”
  2. I love this story because it exemplifies our tendency to judge other too quickly.

The Critic – The man, who had a good opinion of his own abilities, and thought he could do everything better than anyone else, was once taught a good lesson. He was standing in front of a taxidermist’s. In the window of which there was an owl which had attracted quite a lot of sightseers. Anxious to display his knowledge he said, with a pompous air, “Well, if I couldn’t stuff an owl better than that, I would quit the business. The head isn’t right, the pose of the body isn’t right, the feathers are not on right, and the feet are not placed right.” Before he could finish, the owl turned his head and winked at him. The crowd laughed and the critic moved on.

  1. How EASY IT WAS FOR THE JEWS TO JUDGE OTHER PEOPLE!
  2. The Jews believed that God favored them as a people no matter what they did.
  3. “God loves Israel above all the nations of the earth.”
  4. “God will judge the Gentiles with one measure and the Jews with another.”
  5. “Abraham sits beside the gates of hell and does not permit any wicked Israelites to go through.”
  6. Paul was writing to Jewish believers in Rome.
  7. trying to make “crystal clear” to them that they were NO BETTER, AS JEWS, THAN ANYONE ELSE ON THE PLANET.
  8. Paul was attempting to make them see why they could not and should not judge others.

I. The Judgment Of MAN BY MAN.

Vs. 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, because you who pass
judgment do the same things.”

  1. Man’s TREMENDOUS TENDENCY To Judge Others.
  2. In Romans 1, Paul had just listed the horrible sins of unbelievers.

Vs. 29-31 – “They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; they are senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless.”

  1. these were the worst kinds of sins
  2. talking to a homosexual about these sins; “you just described a gay bar.”
  1. The Jews would NEVER confess to such sins.
  1. Man’s TREMENDOUS TRAGEDY In Judging Others.
  2. Paul was not telling us not to judge others at all.
  3. you can’t live your life without making judgments

1. what to eat

2. what job to take

3. what your children should be doing

  1. look at:

1. Matthew 7:1-6 (read)

2. I Corinthians 5:9-13 (read)

  1. But, Paul is telling us not to judge others about sins that we are guilty of AS WELL!

II. The Judgment Of MAN BY GOD.

  1. The FALLACY Of The Believers.

Vs. 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, because you who pass judgment do the same things.”

1. The true nature of every man.

  1. first of all, Paul is making very clear that EACH AND EVERY PERSON ON THIS EARTH IS A SINNER!

1. he would later write in this same letter to the Romans 3:

10-11 – As it is written: "There is no one righteous, not even
one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks
God.”
2. no one would be saved by being a Jew and obeying the law –
3:23 – “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of
God.”

  1. the Jew and the Gentile will be held to the SAME STANDARD

2. The true nature of the Ten Commandments.

a. the typical Jew looked at the Ten Commandments more “physically”

1. Commandment #2 – “You shall not make for yourself an idol
in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth
beneath or in the water below.”

a. as long as a Jew did not worship a “physical deity,” he
had kept the commandment

b. for a Jew, this was extremely easy to keep

2. Commandment #6 – “Do not murder.”

a. this commandment meant that the Jew could not
“physically” kill someone

b. another rather easy commandment to keep

3. Commandment #7 – “Do not commit adultery.”

a. the Jew was not to “literally” commit physical
adultery with someone you were not married to

b. the Jewish man worked hard to even come in contact
with a woman who was not their wife

b. but . . . Paul faults the “obedient” Jew because, while he may not have
“physically” broken the commandments, he has “spiritually” broken
them in his heart

1. Commandment #2 – while the Jew may not bow down to a
“physical” god, was there ANYTHING “physical” that was
more important in his life than Jehovah God?

a. the law itself was more important to the Jew than God

b. the Midrash and Talmud were more important than
God

c. his standing in the community was more important
than God

2. Commandment #6

a. what did Jesus say in the Sermon on the Mount in:
Matthew 5:21-22a - "You have heard that it was said to
the people long ago, 'Do not murder, and anyone who
murders will be subject to judgment.' But I tell you that
anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject
to judgment.”

b. if a Jew was ever angry with another person, he had
broken the sixth commandment; if a Jew ever wished
harm on another, he had broken the sixth
commandment

3. Commandment #7

a. what did Jesus say in the Sermon on the Mount in:
Matthew 5:27-28 - "You have heard that it was said,
'Do not commit adultery.' But I tell you that anyone
who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed
adultery with her in his heart.”

b. what man on this earth has never looked at another
woman with impure thoughts?

1. any man who says that he has never lusted after
another woman is now guilty of two sins – lust
and lying

2. Jesus is striking at the heart of a man

  1. The true arrogance of every believer.
  2. Have you ever noticed that people become angry at others who are guilty of THE SAME SIN AS THEY ARE!

1. I assure you that you will hate in others the same sin that you
are most guilty of

2. that is what Jesus is saying in Matthew 7:5 – “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.”

3. Back in the mid 1980s when the TV evangelist Jim Bakker
was exposed for sexual sin and fraud, Ted Koppel on Nightline
interviewed fellow TV evangelist Jimmy Swaggert. Swaggert
was asked to give his opinion about Jim Bakker and Swaggert
came off as very judgmental. In fact, he called Bakker a cancer
to the Christian community. Then just a short while later,
Swaggert was exposed as being guilty of the same kind of sin.

4. John Stott – “Paul uncovers in these verses a strangely human
foible, namely our tendency to be critical of everybody except
ourselves. We are often as harsh in judgment of others as we
are lenient toward ourselves. This device enables us
simultaneously to retain our sins and our self-respect.”

  1. and yet, we are oblivious of that same sin in our lives

1. we find ourselves on a “judgmental crusade” to fix others,
when we don’t see that same sin in our lives at all

2. a classic example of this is seen in the life of King David in II
Samuel 12

a. David had been guilty of committing adultery with
Bathsheba, then having her husband, Uriah, killed so
that Bathsheba’s pregnancy would not be found out

b. after a year of a cover-up, the prophet Nathan
confronted David with a story – II Samuel 12:1-13
(read)

c. the arrogance, anger and oblivion of King David

1. HE WAS GUILTY OF THE SAME SIN

2. HE WAS ANGRY AT SOMEONE ELSE WHO
WAS GUILTY OF THE SAME SIN

2. HE WAS OBLIVIOUS OF HIS OWN SIN!

3. In 1973 two social psychologists at Princeton University,
Professors Darley and Batson, set up an experiment that
involved sixty-seven students from Princeton Theological
Seminary. The seminarians were given the parable of the
Good Samaritan to read. Then half of the test subjects were
asked to compose and deliver a homily on the parable and the
other half were asked to prepare a brief talk on alternative forms
of ministry. These talks, the students were informed, would be
videotaped in another building across campus. One-third of
the students were told that they had ample time to get to the
second location, one-third were told that they had to go
directly to the location to be on time, and one-third of the
subjects were told that they were already late and had to
hurry to the next location to complete the assignment. On the
way to the presentation each student ran into a man (who was
participating in the experiment) slumped in a doorway, head
down, eyes closed, coughing and groaning. In some cases,
students literally had to step over “the victim” to pass.

The purpose of the experiment was to see how many
seminarians, who had just read the parable of the Good
Samaritan and were preparing to give a short homily on the
parable or to talk about ministry, would stop to aid this
experimental victim, as the Good Samaritan had stopped to aid
a victim by the wayside. A startling 60% of the seminarians
did not stop to offer any help to the victim. Only 40% of the
students did stop, which included 63% of the “you have
plenty of time to get there” group, 45% of the “you can just
make it in time” group, but only 10% of the “hurry up,
you’re late” group.

  1. The FACTS Of The Believer.

Vs. 2-3 – “Now we know that God's judgment against those who do such things is based on truth. 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?”

  1. God knows the truth of our sin.
  2. we can’t hide behind our:

1. church attendance

2. giving

3. involvement in ministry

  1. GOD KNOWS OUR HEARTS!

1. He “knows” if we are worshipping other gods

2. He “knows” if we have ill will toward another person

3. He “knows” if we are lustful

4. He “knows” if we talk about others behind their backs

  1. God will deal with the truth of our sin.
  2. WE WILL NOT GET AWAY WITH OUR SIN.

1. despite the fact that we may not currently be punished for our
sins, all of us will be dealt with on Judgment Day

2. quotes/Scripture

a. I Corinthians 3:12-15 (read)

b. The Westminster Confession of Faith –

Of the Last Judgment

God hath appointed a day, wherein He will judge the
world, in righteousness, by Jesus Christ, to whom all
power and judgment is given of the Father. In which
day, not only the apostate angels shall be judged, but
likewise all persons that have lived upon earth shall
appear before the tribunal of Christ, to give an account
of their thoughts, words, and deeds; and to receive
according to what they have done in the body, whether
good or evil.

  1. so don’t think that God’s lack of justice in our lives will last forever

III. The JUSTICE Of God’s Judgment.

  1. The PRESUMPTION Of Man’s Judgment.

Vs. 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?”

  1. What Paul is saying here is that the ONLY REASON that God does not bring His judgment on us is BECAUSE OF HIS KINDNESS.
  2. if it were merely an issue of His justice and His wrath, WE WOULD BE PUNISHED
  3. BUT . . . BECAUSE OF HIS ABUNDANT KINDNESS, HE REFRAINS FROM PUNISHING US BECAUSE OF OUR SIN.
  4. And . . . when we become spiritually smug that God has not punished us – we show contempt for God's kindness.
  1. Pastor Steve Zeisler says it well when he says: “So, we see the lives of people who are in rebellion against God coming to ruin, becoming dissolute: their relationships fall apart, they fall into habits of drugs or drink or get horrible diseases, or some other terrible thing happens to them. Their lives are debased precisely because their sin is leading them to ruin. Meanwhile, some self-righteous people are cheering on all the terrible things that are happening to these people. Very few consequences, relatively speaking, are occurring to them; by the grace of God they retain friends and a sense of security, they haven’t lost their jobs yet, their health hasn’t deteriorated too far, and they have some standing in the community. The underlying assumption is, “Because nothing terrible is happening to me, God must be making an exception in my case. Perhaps there are things in my life that I ought to be ashamed of, but evidently God isn’t concerned about them. I must be special.”
  2. Do you have ANY IDEA what God could and should do to you BUT DOES NOT?
  3. I like what J.B. Lightfoot once said: “The blackest of sin is not righteousness violated but mercy despised.”
  1. The PROPERTIES Of God’s Judgment On Man.
  2. His kindness.
  3. defined

1. Greek – chrestos

2. mild, helpful

3. friendly

4. meeting the needs of others

  1. applied

1. God’s kindness in creation

a. air to breathe

b. water to drink

c. beauty in the skies, trees, animal kingdom

d. change of the seasons

e. food to eat

2. God’s kindness in providence

a. how God oversees all of creation

b. how God coordinates your life

c. calling our church into being

d. wedding last week

e. taking care of your needs

3. God’s kindness in salvation

a. He sent His Son to die for you

b. He called you unto Himself

c. He filled you with His Spirit

d. He guides and blesses your life