1. The Stringency of God's judgment

2. The Suspension of God's judgment

3. The Sentencing of God's judgment

Well, this morning, I like us to turn our Bibles to the book of Romans and chapter 2. Turn your Bibles with me to Romans and chapter 2, we have been considering the golden book of the Bible, some would say, because, this is probably the greatest theological treatment that we could have, with regards to the basics, the foundation of our Christian faith. Romans chapter 2, and let me say ahead of time, this is going to be a hard message. Hard because, is not often what we like to hear, hard because it must be heard with a honest examination of our hearts, and hard because sometimes we can be confused, but by the Spirit's enabling, let us come to the words of Paul in Romans 2:1-5. The Bible says:

1 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.

2 But we are sure that the judgment of God is according to truth against them which commit such things.

3 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?

4 Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?

5 But after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God;

A story is told of an elderly couple who had finished a wonderful dinner in a restaurant. They were on their way home and as they were nearing their house, the wife suddenly remembered she forgot something. She said "Dear, I am so, so, sorry, but I think I have left my wallet in the restaurant, can we turn back and pick up my wallet." To that, the husband began to turn red, began to be angry and began to shout and scold her, "Why are you so stupid, why are you so forgetful, why is it that you make us waste our time, waste our petrol?" But, he had no choice but to turn and as he turned and as he drove back, he was railing and scolding her the entire journey.

The wife, knowing that she's the one at fault, could only sit there quietly and tolerate all that scolding. When they arrived at the carpark, the wife opened the door and was heading towards the restaurant, when the man says, "Dear, can you wait a while, whilst you are going to get your wallet, please remember to take mine too, I left it there as well." (Laughter in the congregation).

It is so true, isn't it, we are so harsh with others, but we tend to forgive and excuse ourselves.

The passage before us is a passage that warns against such kinds of double standards.

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Paul, in chapter 1 has been talking, writing and preaching against the wickedness of the Gentiles, the people who do not know the Bible, the people who do not have the privilege of owning the Bible and Paul says, "These are people living in great sin, they are people living in idolatry, immorality, homosexuality, in all kinds of unrighteousness." And the Jews, as they read those words may say "Preach it, brother, preach against the Gentiles, they deserve the wrath of God." But Paul says "Wait a minute, it is not against them alone. The Word of God and the judgment of God also awaits you."

You see, as you read these verses, you would realize that there are two groups of people Paul is speaking to. In chapter 1, you see, he's talking about they and them. This is in another Bible version, not in the KJ, but in another Bible version, which helps us realize, it is a lot about they and them, they and them and this refers to the world that do not have the privilege like the Jews had, in possession of the Bible, and the Jews may feel that God's judgment is against the Gentiles are not against themselves. But Paul, quickly says, in chapter 2, it's not just about them, it's also about you. You, you, you, yourself, you. So, Paul, is going to address the Jews. How do you know it is the Jews, look down to verse 17 and you will know that this is the group of people he is directing to. The group that believes it is their race, the group that believes it is their Jewishness that makes them acceptable with God. God is saying "You have got to wait a minute, hold on a second, is it true that the judgment of God is upon the Gentiles and not upon the Jews, simply because you are a Jew, simply because you are of the line of Abraham, simply because you are circumcised? Is it true that you are spared the wrath of God because you go for the feasts and rituals?"

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So Paul here is saying, it is not your Jewishness, maybe none of us here is a Jew except for one. I think he is here, right. All right, he's right here, Michael. None of us here is a Jew except for one. But, we too can easily have the same kind of mindset. Oh, I am an alright guy, I am not like those homosexuals, I'm not like those idolaters, I come to church. My father is a Christian, my mother served in the choir and my grandparents are pastors. Surely, God would accept a person such as me. I was baptized as an infant, I have been to Sunday school, I have been to church all my life; surely, I would be spared the judgment of God and the wrath of God.

My friends, it is not important how you think as much as how God thinks about you. We can have our own estimation of ourselves but at the end of the day, what is important is what does God says. In this passage, the key theme is the "Judgment of God". How is God going to judge us at the end of our lives? In verse 2 he says, the judgment of God, in verse 3, he repeats, the judgment of God and then in verse 5 again, it is about the judgment of God. This morning, there is no doubt, in Romans chapter 2:1-10, the theme of our consideration is the judgment of God. Like I say, it is not going to be an easy message, is not the kind of message that tells you about joy and peace and abundant living. But this is the kind of message that I think, the church of Jesus Christ needs and people who come to church needs. Because, we need to know, what does God think about us and what would happen when we meet Him face to face on the last day?

1. The Stringency of God's judgment

There are a few thoughts I want to share with you about the judgment of God, the first of which is the stringency by which God judges us. God judges us not by some lax and easy standard, God's standard is high, it’s strict, it’s stringent, it is not any old how. You see, we tend to judge ourselves, any old how. We like to look at our own lives with rose tinted glasses. My son loves a particular cartoon character and his name is curious George. You talk to Shaun today or you watch his mannerisms, sometimes he says (pastor makes a funny sound), Winnie and myself don't make this funny sound, where does he get that from? Curious George. I asked him why? "I am like George", he says, "Curious George ". This is a picture of curious George and he looks at himself in what they called a funny house mirror. You know, carnivals, I think during my age we still go to those expos and carnivals and they have these little places where you can look at yourself from funny house mirrors and see a distorted picture of yourself. Curious George looks at the funny house mirror and thinks he is very strong. That's how man is. We like to look at ourselves in our own mirror and say "I am good, I am fine, I am a Jew, I go to church, I was baptized when I was an infant, surely I stand fine in front of my God."

But, my friends, remember in Scripture, the Bible says, the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked and when we look at ourselves based on our lenses, we can be very, very deceived. You see, God says, My standards are high, it is not your standards. In fact, you do know My high standards. He says in verse 1

1 Therefore thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest: for wherein thou judgest another, thou (you) condemnest thyself; for thou (you) that judgest doest the same things.

What Paul is saying is this, when I wrote about Romans chapter 1, against the sins of the Gentiles, you say, oh yah, that's true, but what it means is that, you do know, therefore, the standards. You do know, therefore, what is right or wrong, you do know, that whilst you condemn them, you are saying that these laws are applicable and indeed it is, applicable also to you. And you are guilty, because you also do the same things.

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Your Jewishness won't protect you, your circumcision won't shield you, your regular attendance to church doesn't immunize you, it doesn't. You are guilty of the same things. You see, the judgment of God is not according to the externals, it's not according to whether you come to church or whether you have been regular. The Bible tells us, the judgment of God is according to truth against them which commit such things. The word truth here, really refers to reality. God judges us according to reality, who you really are and not what you pretend to be.

Ah, there is a lot of pretense. I am a good guy, I am a moral guy because I go to church. I even put money in the offering bag, I even helped the lady across the road, I even give to charity, I was the first to respond in the Japan quake, I did all this, I am a moral guy, I am not a homosexual, I am not an immoral guy, surely God, I will be accepted right? Hey, wait a minute, God does not look at the externals or the façade, He looks at the reality.

In Chinese culture, we appreciate a man, huh! Who is he? Bao Gong, Bao Jing Tian, Bao Zhen, what ever you want to call Bao. But, he is a symbol of righteousness and justice to the Chinese people. There are even shows about Bao Gong isn't it? Because he stands for justice. He doesn't show favoritism, even if there is a high-ranking official who has done wrong and even though he is very high-ranking, he has no qualms about executing sentence and judgment against him. That's why you have the ‘dragon head execution’ (in Chinese) no matter who you are, your head sticks out, I am going to chop it off, because you committed a crime.

We all appreciate justice, we all appreciate judgment that is righteous. God's judgment is absolutely righteous.

When you go to watch football and I used to go to the National Stadium for Malaysia Cup, Singapore against Sarawak, Johor, wah, go there, and whenever there is a decision against Singapore, I will shout, referee, kayu (Laughter in the congregation), how come you can't see it, it's so obvious, it is a foul, how come you can't see it?  And we wish the referee has a better picture of what really happened.

When it comes to God as our Judge, you can be sure nothing like that would ever happen because God judges righteously and God knows the exact reality. You see, He says, He judges according to truth, the real thing, not what is seen by others, not what is on the outside but what is real on the inside. The Bible says in Hebrews 4,

Heb 4:13

Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do.

God sees everything clearly. He knows, otherwise He is not God. He knows, He sees.

Maybe, you don't even know it, maybe you don't even remember it, but you did say something that was wrong, you did have a filthy thought in your mind, in fact all the time, it's that you did a lot of sins against Him and you felt that you could get away with it or you felt that nobody noticed it or nobody would remember it; the Bible says, God does remember it and He knows it and He is going to judge you according to truth.

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But, pastor, I am a church goer. Doesn't matter, He sees your sins. But pastor, I was baptized as an infant. Doesn't matter. But pastor, my mom and my dad are Christians. Doesn't matter. Strip away the externals, He sees what is real on the inside. You are inexcusable. You do know the law, you do know the truth. Don’t think that nobody saw you sin. You may not be outwardly a homosexual or immoral person or idolater on the outside, but He sees what is on the inside, you are inexcusable.

But not only are you inexcusable, the Bible reminds us that it is also inescapable.

3 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?

There is no way you can excuse yourself and there is no way you can escape by yourself, it is inescapable. By the way, I realized that when we read these verses in the King James, it is very confusing. Thou, thee, though and we can't even get around our minds what it really means.

Well, there is a little paraphrase by a preacher called Donald Grey Barnhouse and it's simpler, it's easier, it's more straightforward. Let me share with you what he thinks about this verse.

He says "You dummy (Added by Pastor: I think that is straight and plain, I like it, you dummy), do you really figure that you have doped out an angle that will let you go up against God and get away with it? You don't have a ghost of a chance. There's no escape. Do you understand that? No escape, this means you, the respectable person (Added by Pastor: Maybe even the religious person, maybe even the outwardly moral person) sitting in judgment on others and remaining unrepentant to yourself for the evil in your heart. You dummy."

God sees your heart. Now we may not see your heart, I may not see what's inside your heart but God does and don't ever think that you can escape that, don't ever think that your mere attendance, or your mere conformity to outward things, is going to enable you to escape the judgment or the wrath of God for the sins in your life. No Gentile, no Jew, inexcusable, inescapable.

This is a picture of a man, well-known, famous, if I mentioned his name you would definitely know who he is. He is a Hungarian born American at the turn of the 19th century, or 20th century, well-known for his magic tricks and he's escape acts. His name is Harry Houdini. Houdini is well-known, he is known to be an escapologist, I didn't know there was such a word until now, escapologist. He's well known for his acts of escape. He is so good, that he would go to police stations, to the Scotland Yard and say "Handcuff me, put me in jail and I would break free." And he does, he broke free, he broke free from handcuffs, he broke free from chains, he broke free from ropes, from straitjackets, hanging upside down on a rope, he broke free from milk can jars, milk cans, not milk can jars. Milk cans where it is full of water, he emerges himself and somehow, he gets out. Even right up till today, nobody knew how Houdini did it. Houdini has escaped a lot of handcuffs and straitjackets but Houdini would never escape the judgment of God.

Nobody here can escape the judgment of God, that is according to righteousness, that is according to truth, to reality. He is going to see what is on the inside. You see, the Bible tells us "It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this, the judgment." And it would be plain and clear, super high definition TV, super duper, everything is manifest.

A story is told about a man named, Howard Cutter, he is an archaeologist and after, many, many years of toil and sweat, he finally discovered a treasure. It is the tomb of King Tutankhamen, one of the richest pharaohs in the Empire of Egypt. When he got in, he realized, he saw a casket, a sarcophagus. It looks somewhat like this. That's where King Tutankhamen and his corpse, his body would be in. He saw this casket, he opened it up. The first layer he opened, he found another coffin within this coffin and this coffin is likewise laid with gold, leaf of gold, in other words, a covering of gold. He opened his second layer of casket or coffin and he finds that there is a third coffin within and this time it is made of pure gold, the whole thing is solid gold and when he opened this casket of solid gold, he discovers a mask that covers the body that looks like this. This is the mask of King Tutankhamen, pure gold, beautiful and then when he took away this mask, what he saw, is a stinking, rotting, totally defaced carcass.

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It looks so good on the outside and King Tutankhamen says, “Even when I die, I want to look good on the outside. In fact, I want to look so good, I have so many layers of looking good.” But nothing could hide the fact that it was rotten on the inside. My friends, God will see beyond our layers of supposed religiosity, will see beyond the layers of heritage, will see beyond layers of our external works and look at what really is who we are on the inside, because the judgment of God is no slack affair, He judges us according to strict, stringent criteria, the stringency of God's judgment.

2. The Suspension of God's judgment

But the question now to us is this, now, if God sees my life and my heart and He knows that I am a sinner, there is no doubt about it, I know that I am a sinner and God is angry with my sins, why is it then that He doesn't punish me yet, why is it that I am still alive today and why is it that I'm still doing well in my business, my life, my career? Does this mean that God is not going to judge me and I'm going to go scot free? Oh no, the fact that He has not judge you does not mean that He will not judge you, because, in the second place here, we see that God suspends His judgment for a season.

The delay of God's judgment, you see in verses 4 and 5, Paul says:

Do you despise, the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God lead you to repentance, but after your hardness and impenitent heart, you treasure up unto yourself, wrath against that day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God.

4 Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?

5 But after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God;

God is not judging you today, God has not judged me today, not because He is not angry with my sins, not because He doesn't know my sins, but because He is giving me an opportunity to turn to Him and the reason is because, the Bible says, it is of His goodness. The word goodness means His kindness. It is because of His forbearance that means His tolerance. The word longsuffering refers to His patience, it is because of God's kindness and tolerance and patience, not just that, but the riches of His goodness, it means the epitome, the richest of the goodness of God that gives me a chance today to respond to Him. But what is man's response to God's goodness? Man's response is often is what is found in the second word, despise. We don't value, we don't deem it worthy, in other words, we take God's goodness for granted.

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The problem with man is that we take things for granted, we take our health for granted, we take our jobs for granted, we take our parents for granted, we take our wives for granted and I am guilty of all these things. But the person we take for granted the most is God, because He gave us an opportunity to repent because of His goodness. But man, instead of turning to Him, despised Him. And the Bible continues to say, "After thy hardness and impenitent heart, we treasure, we store up for ourselves a guilt store, that would stand as a witness against us.”

The word hardness is an interesting word, is the word sklay-rot'-ace, from which we get the word sclerosis. Have you heard of this word arteriosclerosis, sounds familiar, it is the hardening of your blood vessels. Why do you have heart attacks, because your blood vessels are choked up and hardened. God is saying, you have hardened your hearts. When He gave you an opportunity, instead of turning to Him, you despised it, you hardened your hearts. Now, God has not judged us today, but that doesn't mean He will not judge us. Don't take it for granted. It is God's goodness that we are standing today.

I read about an author who said this:

“Why didn’t He judge me yesterday when I said that sharp caustic word that plunged like an arrow into a loved one’s heart? I knew it was wrong and I actually should be judged, but it is the goodness of God, the forbearance and His patience that I am still standing today.

Why didn’t He shrivel my hand when I took a pencil and cheated on my income tax?, by the way, I think it is about tax filing time, (Laughter in the congregation), you would not use a pencil I think nowadays, more like what you key in.

Why didn’t He strike me dumb when I was gossiping on the phone this morning, sharing a tidbit that made someone look bad in someone else’s eyes?” You know, if God is to withhold His goodness and forbearance, we would all be struck dead. In fact, Adam and Eve would not live another day. But it is the goodness, the forbearance, the longsuffering nature of God, His riches of that, that enables us to stand here today.

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And I think men have taken that for granted, big time, isn't it? What thought comes to you, when you hear about the earthquake in Japan, what comes to mind when you hear about the multiple aftershocks in this land. You know one thing that will come out in men's minds and it did come up in my mind is why is God so cruel? Did it come to your mind? It did come across my mind. Naturally, in my flesh, I thought, why is God so cruel? But friends, the Bible tells me that He is a God of goodness, forbearance, patience.

We, by right, have no right to live on another day another second. We have none, but we could today, and we have another day tomorrow because of His goodness, but man has taken it so much for granted that a disaster like this makes us think that He is not kind. Oh, friends, God has not judged us today, not judged you today as yet, but there will come a day He will. You are merely storing up that wrath unto that day. There is that suspension of God's judgment. Don't spurn it, don't take it for granted.

3. The Sentencing of God's judgment

But finally, I want to share with you, this finally is a long finally, just to prepare you and it is not easy for you to take, I can assure you, after the service, after the first service, two mature, or long time Christians came up to me and said, pastor, you really, that was really tough, I really have to think about it, it made me nervous. I am going to make you nervous I hope, for a good cause.

But consider this, God is ultimately going to give His sentence, His sentencing of God's judgment. What would it be like? Look at what Paul has to say. He says:

First of all, the judgment of God is going to be righteous. As we have explained, it is going to be just, it's according to the truth, according to reality, it's righteous. But, how is He going to judge us, based on what, what is the basis of God's judgment?

Verse  6 "Who will render to every man according to his deeds:"

You, who are a Jew, don't think that He is going to judge you based on your Jewishness of your race, or your ancestry, or your culture; it is going to be based on your deeds, Jews and Gentiles alike, it's going to be a righteous, just judgment. If you don't think this is so, let me bring you through the Scripture. Many, many passages in the Bible tell us that God's judgment is according to our works, our deeds, our life.

In Jer 17:10

I the LORD search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings.

Deeds.

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Mat 16:27

For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works.

Deeds, life

2 Cor 5:10

For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.

God's judgment is going to be based on our works, on our deeds. It's going to be based on that. As He looks at the man before Him, God is going to say "What are your works, what are your deeds? I am going to base my judgment on all that." I know this is going to make you feel uncomfortable because you may be thinking pastor, are you going to be a heretic, are you going off, are you saying that I am saved by my works, are you going to say that I am saved because of deeds? Now, the Bible doesn't teach a salvation by works, you can be clear about that. No man is saved because of these good works, but if a man is truly saved, it will be evidenced by good works.

You see in Ephesians 2, Scripture tells us:

For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God and this is not of works, no man is saved by works, he said because he has placed his faith in Jesus Christ.

But, Paul continues to say that your salvation, is part of His plan, His creation, that you would be saved unto good works. You are not saved by works, but you are saved unto works.

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Eph 2:8-10

For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

I like it when Paul continues to say in Philippians 2, that as Christians, as believers, we are to work out our own salvation. You don't work for your salvation, but you do have to work out your salvation, because first God works in you. The word worked out is the word that is used in mining. You have to mine out the treasures in your life. Let it be brought out, that it be surfaced, let it be manifest, but that is what a Christian should be evidenced by. He is bringing out the treasures that God has first placed in his life.

Phi 2:12,13

Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.

And God is going to judge you by that bringing out process, by your deeds, by your works. Consistent, because in Romans, I have shared this before the last time we were at chapter 1, that what God looks for is the obedience to the faith and again in 16:19, your obedience is emphasized and then in verse 26, it is the obedience of faith.

Rom 16:19

For your obedience is come abroad unto all men. I am glad therefore on your behalf: but yet I would have you wise unto that which is good, and simple concerning evil.

Rom 16:26

But now is made manifest, and by the scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, made known to all nations for the obedience of faith:

This is going to challenge you. What is the basis of the assurance of your salvation? How do you know you are saved, how do you know you are saved? I know what is traditionally taught. Traditionally, we would tell people that if you're saved or you want to know if you're saved, we would ask you, did you make a decision in the past? Did you say a sinner's prayer, did you raise your hand when pastor invited you to do so, did your pastor pray over you, did you walk the aisle, did you have such an experience? And we use that as a kind of an evidence of assurance for our salvation. And maybe some of you, in your life have come across periods where you feel that you do not have the assurance of salvation and so you say Lord, I am going to recommit, I'm going to base my salvation on this time of prayer.

What is the best, infallible indicator of salvation today? God is going to judge us by our deeds. You see, there are people who would say these things to the Lord. Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven. There would be many, Lord, Lord and Jesus would say, "You are not part of the kingdom, but he that doeth the will of the Father, which is in heaven. Notice the next phrase, many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not done this and done that and done this and done that and in verse 23, and then, Jesus says, I will profess unto them, I never knew you.

Mat 7:21-23

Not everyone that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

The most scary word find in this passage, is the word many, many. I fear, many even in the auditorium this morning. Many, would imagine themselves to be a child of God, because I was born into a Christian family, because, I have always been coming to church, because my parents are pastors, because I raised my hands, because I walked the aisle, because pastor prayed over me and I'm scared that many would be turned away by Jesus when Jesus says, "Depart from me, I never knew you."

The indicator of your salvation is not whether someone prayed for you or whether you walk the aisle but it is according to your deeds. He, that doeth the will of my Father that is in heaven. Scary thought. What do you mean by good works, pastor, what you mean by deeds? How do I know, now let's say, I want to know if I am a child of God, what is it that must be manifest? Well, I say, first of all it’s works. The question then is what works? What kind of a life can I know? And Paul here tells you, how you could know.

He gives in verses 7-10 a very clear delineation of two groups of people in this world. As the old preachers would say, you are either a saint or an ain't, you are a saint or an ain't and today in this auditorium today, you can only belong to one of these two groups, there is no in between, you're either a saint or an ain't and a saint is marked out by some things and ain't is marked out by some things. What things, you say?

Can I share with you, first of all, what a saint is marked out by? He is marked out by well doing, contrasts with an ain't who is not a child of God, he is marked out by evil doing. But, a man who is a saint, who is marked out by well doing is characterized here in. This is a description of a saint.

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7 To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honour and immortality, eternal life:

10 But glory, honour, and peace, to every man that worketh good, to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile:

What is a saint like? The Bible tells me, he is someone who is involved in well doing, seeking for three things. He seeks number one, for glory, number two, for honour, number three, for immortality. What is the meaning of the word glory here? He seeks for glory, I think it is clear, he seeks for God's glory, he seeks God, he seeks to glorify God. That's the center of his life, it is God-centered living. Whatsoever I do, whether I eat or drink or whatsoever I do, I do all to the glory of God. That marks a saint's life, he is living consistently for the glory of God. He longs to share in the glory of God, he longs for the day he would be like Jesus. That's what drives him, that's what he is seeking, that's what marks a Christian, a true believer of Jesus Christ.

Number two, he seeks for honor, he longs for the day when Jesus would say, "Well done, thou good and faithful servant."

And then thirdly, immortality, that's the word incorruption, he's looking for the day of the resurrection, of purity, of life with God forever more.

What is a saint? A saint is a man whose life direction is heaven wards. He is not looking at the mundane secular things of life but this is the general direction of his life. Paul adds that phrase, patient continuance, it means patient perseverance or patient endurance or steadfastness. This is the manner of his life. I believe in the perseverance of saints according to the Calvinists, that says, once you are truly saved, you are always saved. That's true, Scripture tells us so.

But on the other aspect of it, if you are truly saved, you would also exhibit patience continuance in well doing, seeking for these things. He grants to us the grace that he needed for patient continuance and it would be evident, it will be clear for a saint. And to the saints, God gives eternal life. What is eternal life? Sometimes we think, eternal life is simply living forever and ever. By the way, you do that in hell as well. (Laughter in the congregation).

Eternal life is in John 17:3 that I may know God and His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. It is not just about the quantity of life, but it's about the quality of life, the life of God in the soul of man forever. God grants that life to a man who evidences his salvation by well doing, patiently, steadfastly, seeking for glory, honor , incorruption or immortality. In verse 10, he continues to tell us, He gives glory because he sought for glory, honor because he sought for honor and peace because he sought for incorruption and God is saying, I give these things to those who seek it and the people who seek it and this people who first know Me. That's how it is evidenced by. This is a description of a saint.

But what about an ain't. An ain't is an opposite. In verses 8 and 9, we see the opposite. What is an ain't? And ain't is the opposite of a saint. A saint is someone who by patience continuance seeks for glory and so on and so forth. But an ain't is someone who is contentious. The word contentious here is taken from the Greek word that means hireling, or a mercenary, you know what a mercenary? He does something because he paid to do it for his own benefit, a mark of a man who is not a child of God is that his life is revolving around himself, self-serving, self seeking, as contrasts with a man who lives for God's glory. Pastor, I go to church, I read the Bible, I put money in the offering bag. The question here is, why do you do that? God sees your works and your heart. Was a contentious, self seeking or was it for His glory?

We are all very impressed with the Japanese people, in the earthquake. The fact that they could line up, queue up, there is no chaos, no fighting, it is amazing. But my friends, God saw not that order, God saw what is in their hearts, what is the pattern of their lives. Is it one that is moral on the outside but anti-God on the inside, is the contentious, self seeking and you know, when a man is self-seeking, the Bible continues to say, they do not obey the truth, they do not conform to the Scriptures. They will not have the Bible as the authority for their lives and because they don't do so, they are now plunged into unrighteousness.

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I ask you today, do you have a seeking of glory, honor, incorruption in your life? Or are you contented with mere Sunday church experience, are you contented just to be called a Christian, but there is no real hard pursuit of God, His glory, His honor, there is no interest in discipleship, there is no interest in reaching souls, there is no interest and you say, I made a decision 10 years ago. Some great Pastor prayed for me. Many would say to me on that day, Lord, Lord, haven't we done these things and Jesus say, "Depart from me, I never knew you" and I am horrified, scared of that reality, not only in this church but in churches all around the world. You have figures, 30,000 people attended church, 50,000 people attended church, but how many would fall into the category of "many".

Horrendous, scary thought.  God says, this is what the ain't would receive, indignation, that is the fury of God, wrath, tribulation. Tribulation is that pressing, that difficulty and the word anguish, refers to the narrowness. I tell you, hell is not a nice place to be in, you can be sure about that. But that is given to those who are the ain'ts.

John MacArthur said, probably the greatest mission fields today in America is the church. Probably the greatest mission field in the world, in America, is the church, because you have so many churchgoers but few true believers. I pray you would take this message to your heart. It's not a nice message, it doesn't make you feel good, but it is a necessary message, it's an important message, is an urgent message, is a message that you need to examine. Examine for yourself and test if you are in the faith. But my friends, we need not despair. The goodness of God enabled us to live till this day, that if you have not come to Jesus, you may.

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You say how can I have that life, how can I, this does not tell you how to be saved, by the way. This tells you the evidence of a man that is saved, but how can I escape the wrath of God, how can I have eternal life? Those who are in 2/7, our discipleship group, what's your first memory verse?

1 Joh 5:11,12

And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in His Son (Added by Pastor: It's not in your Jewishness, is not in your family, it is not in the rituals they have been through, it is in His Son).He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.

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Do you have, do you have, do you really have the Son of God in your life? Is your life mark with patience continuance in well doing, seeking glory, honor, immortality? Jesus awaits to save us.

I shared about Howard Cutter and how he found or how he looked at the sarcophagus but there is something else that day I didn't share and it is this. That day, when he discovered the tomb, it was when one of his assistants alerted him to a possible discovery. He personally took a candle, lit that candle and walked down 16 flights of stairs into a deep dungeon. And then, he said, get me a sledgehammer. He took a hammer and he hammered away at that structure. After a long time, Howard Cutter emerged from that tunnel, blew the candle and heave a sigh, huh. The people ask, "Sir, what did you find?" Howard Cutter said "I have found a rich treasure, I found the tomb of King Tutankhamen." But Sir, then why are you looking so grumpy and depressed? Howard Cutter says "Because, 20 years ago, I dug at the same place and I am 72 inches away from discovering it then."

Today, we plunge the depth of God's Word. You are near there, if you're honest with yourself and if you're willing to face up to the judgment criteria God sets. We may not be like Howard Cutter, given another 20 years of goodness, forbearance and long-suffering to make that choice to take Christ to be our own. But today, can you stand in the judgment of God and are you ready?

Do you have the Son in your life?

Let's bow for a word of prayer shall we? Father, we thank you and these are hard words. But we do pray, that you speak to our children, our children who will die someday, may they be ready, they may be saved not because they think they are saved but because they have really come to Jesus Christ. I pray for our teenagers, that they will not waste their golden years. I pray for the young families, the adults herein, that we would not be caught up with all the trappings, the frivolity of this world and forsake that seeking for things above. I pray for the aged, the mature, as they approach that all-important fast approaching day, that they would be ready to meet with You. Father, we pray Your Spirit, call Your people to Yourself. I pray that the people here today, will not be in the last days, be those who You would say "I never knew you, ye who are workers of iniquity." Have mercy upon us this day, we pray in Jesus name, amen.