And this is Leslie Curran saying hello and welcome in the Saviour's name to our Gospel broadcast. I'm glad you're joining us today and here to let the Bible speak is the Reverend John Greer. Today I want to bring your attention to some words that are found in the book of Romans, the second chapter, verse 16, where we read of the day when God will judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my Gospel.

The day when God will judge the secrets of men. It is a fact that throughout time divine judgment is continually being meted out. For example, constantly judgment is being implemented against nations.

Nations as nations will not exist in the world to come, therefore they have to be dealt with, they have to be judged, they have to be punished in this present world. And the reader of history and the observer of global events will note that the annals of mankind are punctuated with instances of nations coming under retribution for sin. Justice is dealt with empire after empire and nation after nation because of their corruption.

And even the greatest dominions have withered away beneath the sentence of the King of Kings. The Assyrians, the Babylonians, the Medes and Persians, the Greeks and the Romans and many others as well have all been swept away into oblivion. Then a judgment is going on daily, even by the moment, for men as individuals.

In any 24-hour period of time scores of thousands of people die, departing from this world forever to continue in the intermediate state until Jesus comes. The Word of God reminds us in Hebrews 9.27, it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment, or as it is in the original language, after this a judgment. And therefore as soon as a person dies, at the moment appointed by God, the soul departs from the body and according to the spiritual condition of that soul, it is either immediately with Christ in heaven in a state of conscious bliss or enters hell to continue under conscious torment and divine punishment.

Judgment for individuals is therefore going on constantly. But as our text reminds us, there is then the day of judgment itself, the day of which Paul speaks earlier in this passage, where in verse 4 he refers to the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God. So in these references, a truth is underlined that is found in much scripture, under focus in much scripture, the truth that there will be a particular time when the final great judgment will occur.

It is very interesting to notice that Paul reveals in our text that this day of judgment is essentially part of the gospel creed. He refers to this day as being according to my gospel, by which he simply means that he had received the gospel from Christ and had been so solemnly charged with defending and preaching it that he could not disown it or do anything less than call it my gospel. He had been given a definite form of truth, which he believed and preached in its full counsel.

And that responsibility laid on him meant that he had to preach judgment. The point is clear, therefore, that the judgment of sinners is an integral part of the whole gospel message. In creedal statements, certain foundational facts are laid forth when presenting what the gospel is.

For example, Christ, the eternal son of God, became man by being born of the virgin's womb. He lived in perfect obedience to the law, was falsely accused of men, was crucified, was dead, and was buried. He arose the third day, was seen of men, was received up into glory to sit on the right hand of God, from whence he will come to judge the quick and the dead.

Therefore, the doctrine of divine judgment is one of the elementary truths of the gospel. We believe in the resurrection of the dead, the final judgment, the life everlasting for the saved, but eternal punishment for the unsaved. So it is according to the gospel that God will judge the lost at that great day.

Now, the consequence of all this is plain. The gospel is never truly preached. Indeed, it's not preached in its fullness at all, for there is a failure to declare that the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men.

It is absolutely necessary to the preaching of the gospel of Christ that sinners are warned as to the repercussions of their failure to repent of sin. It is necessary in that scripture shows that the warning of judgment to come when heed it will serve to reveal the preciousness of Christ and his work wrought in order to the salvation of poor, lost, and guilty sinners. Therefore, to you who are yet without Christ, we bring the solemn message that our text contains, that there is a day when God will judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ.

We have no desire to see you remain in a fool's paradise and be in danger of awakening in the torments of hell.

“Leslie Curran welcomes listeners to the Gospel broadcast, introducing Reverend John Greer, who discusses Romans 2:16 about God's final judgment through Jesus Christ. He explains that divine judgment is ongoing—nations face retribution, individuals are judged daily at death, and ultimately, there will be a final judgment day. Paul emphasizes that judgment is integral to the Gospel message, warning sinners of God's wrath and urging repentance. Christ, appointed by God as the judge, will execute this judgment as a reward for His sacrifice. Scriptures affirm that all will acknowledge Christ’s authority, and those who reject Him will face judgment. The message concludes with a call to seek Christ as Savior before it is too late.”

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How can you escape from the wrath to come if first you are not warned of it and are then shown the way to escape? I want us to look here at the executor of the judgment. The words are these, God shall judge by Jesus Christ.

The word by literally means through. So through Christ, the judgment of God will be administered. The word by or through is indicative of instrumentality.

So the Lord is the executor. Christ is the executor of the final judgment. It will be executed by and through him.

Now to that position or role of being the executor of judgment, the Lord Jesus has been appointed by the Father. In the Gospel of John 5 verse 22, we have it clearly summed up, for the Father judged no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son. And that language denotes a legal appointment.

The title Father, of course, belongs to the first person of the Godhead who acts on behalf of the Godhead to implement the divine will. So in the will of the Godhead, Christ has been legally appointed to be judged of all. In Acts 10, 42, Peter reveals that the apostles have been sent forth by Christ to testify that he, that is Christ, was ordained of God to be the judge of quick and dead or living and dead.

The word ordained literally means to set a boundary or to mark out. It is used in the New Testament to indicate that which is determined by the divine decree. For example, Acts 17, 26, you find it used there in this language, have determined the times before appointed and the bounds of their habitation.

Speaking of nations and men and the fact that God has appointed all things concerning them with regard to their earthly existence and the duration of life. And it says he has appointed the bounds and the word bounds is the same word basically as this word ordained or Luke 22, verse 22, where it is said, truly the son of man goeth as it was determined of him. And the word determined is again the same word.

So we see from scripture what the word means when it says that Christ was ordained of God. He was determined by God to be the judge. God set this boundary line that Jesus Christ would be the judge of all and therefore with regard to his being the executor of judgment, he has been divinely and legally appointed to it.

He occupies that position actually as a reward or as an honor conferred on him for his work as the savior of his people. In setting out to save sinners, Christ humbled himself. Indeed he plumbed the depths of humiliation and shame.

As a consequence, he has been honored to be the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords, and to be the judge of all and execute the judgment of sinners at the last day. Again, John 5 makes this clear. Verse 22, we already read where it says the father has committed all judgment onto the son.

Then it says immediately in verse 23 that all men should honor the son even as they honor the father. Then verse 27, it says that Christ has been given authority to execute judgment because he is the son of man. Now the term the son of man belongs to Christ in his humanity and therefore in connection with his humiliation.

But God has appointed him to be judged so that he will be and so that as a result of his humiliation, he will have this tremendous honor of being the executor of the judgment of sinners. In Daniel 7 verses 9, 10, and 13, we read of the judgment day, the ancient of days setting for judgment and the son of man coming. We are told there to take the judgment and to execute the judgment.

Or Philippians 2, 8 to 12, that tremendous passage that makes this abundantly clear that Christ has been appointed to be the executor of the judgment. There it says that he humbled himself onto death, even the death of the cross, wherefore God hath highly exalted him and given him a name that's above every name, that at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow and every tongue confess that he is Lord to the glory of God the Father. And that day is coming when men's tongues will confess the lordship of Christ and men's knees will bow to the one who sits on the throne, who will execute judgment upon all of the lost and the ungodly.

And therefore, since Christ's role as the executor of the judgment has been infallibly set by divine decree, certain truths about the judgment itself have been established. And they're set before us in Romans 2 in the scriptures that lead up to this verse where Paul states that Christ will be the judge of all. That's essentially what he is saying.

So there is a series of truths about the judgment that the Lord will execute against men as judge of all. And we will come and look at some of those in our next study. But I pray today that you will carefully think about this.

There is a day of judgment. Christ is the judge of all. And unless you seek him as your savior, even today, then one day he will be your judge.