28 November 2021: “You have no excuse”

Service available on Youtube, or as text (below), or for audio see the Podcasts page.

Welcome

There will be a Carol Service in the building at 2pm on Sunday 19th December.

Testimony

Ibrahim was a student at the Bible College of Wales who became a good friend of mine. He shared his testimony of how he, a former Muslim, came to faith in Jesus. He was from a very wealthy family and worked alongside his father in the family business, and lived the ‘high life’.

One day, when he was around 30 years of age, he woke up paralysed. His father paid for the top medical people to treat him but to no avail. After many months of being like this, Ibrahim decided to take his own life and got one of the servants to buy him some poison.

That afternoon, a Muslim friend visited him with one of her friends who was a Christian. At the end of their conversations, Ibrahim explained that he wouldn’t see them again. Just then the Christian spoke up: “Please don’t do that; please pray to Jesus, He will help you!”

Ibrahim dissented saying Mohammed was greater and so on, but the Christian merely repeated what she said about praying to Jesus. That night Ibrahim was about to take the poison when this girl’s words seemed to echoed in his mind: “Please pray to Jesus; He will help you”. Ibrahim challenged Jesus: “If you are who this girl says you are, then help me!” Suddenly, Ibrahim saw Jesus in bright shining splendour standing at the end of his bed, and in an instant he was healed of paralysis and committed himself to following Jesus for the rest of his life, Amen!

Worship

Word

Reading: Rom 2:1-16

“You, therefore, have no excuse … ”

Rom 2:1

In Rom 1:18-32 Paul spoke about the wrath of God being revealed against all human wickedness, with a particular emphasis on the sins of Gentile sinners (Rom 1:19-32), and he made the point that they “are without excuse” (Rom 1:20). But God does not show favouritism (Rom 2:11) and holds all people accountable including all who take the high moral ground as here, they also “have no excuse”,

You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else, for at whatever point you judge another, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things.

Rom 2:1

In the first group (Rom 1:19-32) people do wrong and approve of others who do wrong (cf. Rom 1:32). Here in this group (Rom 2:1-16), people do wrong and condemn others who do wrong, which is hypocrisy.

“Paul uncovers in these verses a strange human foible, namely our tendency to be critical of everybody except ourselves. We are often as harsh in our judgment of others as we are lenient towards ourselves”

John Stott

It could be argued that this condition is worse than that depicted in Rom 1:19-32, for it amounts to showing contempt for God’s kindness, thinking God will overlook their particular sins. They miss the point that God’s kindness is intended to lead them to repent of their sins and hypocrisy (Rom 2:4). Furthermore, such presumption indicates a hardening of heart to the things of God and leads to a storing up of God’s wrath which will be revealed on the Day of Judgment,

But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God’s wrath, when His righteous judgment will be revealed.

Rom 2:5

Wow! Is there any hope for humankind? – Thanks be to God for our Lord Jesus Christ!

Questions for Discussion

1. How different would we be if we judged others like we judge ourselves?
2. How important is this way of thinking: “But for the grace of God there go I”?
3. “Justification is by faith; Judgment is according to works” Discuss!

Quote of the week

“A bad man is worse when he pretends to be a saint”

Francis Bacon

Verse of the week

The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books.

Rev. 20:12

Let’s Pray

Loving heavenly Father, Lord and Master, forgive me for ever judging others when I also fall short of Your glory.

Father, purify my heart and let me be as gold, pure gold. Oh, Refiner’s Fire, my heart’s one desire, is to be holy, set apart for You Lord, and ready to do Your will.

Lord God, purify my heart, cleanse me from deep within of all my sin, of all the dross and hypocrisy, in Jesus Christ, Amen.