Romans Chapter 14:10-13

Welcome to Cross the Road with David McGee. Well the final truth is we will all meet God one day, but the question is how will you meet Him? Find out today as Pastor David continues in Romans 14 with his teaching, Accountable to God.

Here's David McGee. Turn with me to Romans chapter 14. This passage of scripture here in Romans 14, actually Romans 12, Romans 13, Romans 14, great practical Christian living tips and principles and stuff. So I would encourage you to to take the time maybe as we're reading through Romans to read these chapters again and maybe even several times as we go through them. Now we're in Romans 14. Last week I read through 10 and 11, 12 we got, I want to kind of start back with verse 10. Romans chapter 14 verse 10 says, the Lord, every knee shall bow to me and every tongue shall confess to God.

So then each of us shall give account of himself to God. We talked last week about verse 10 about judge and there's a judge, there's two kind of judgments really, if forms of judgment in the Bible. One is condemnation, a judgment of condemning somebody saying, well, you're, you don't know God, you're not going to heaven, those sorts of things.

Be careful with that one. The other one is judging or discerning between good and evil. Literally in the Greek means to separate good from bad.

Now we all need to be able to do that in our lives and sometimes we're called to do help others as well. For it is written, as I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me and every tongue shall confess to God. It doesn't say every knee that knows him or every tongue that knows him as savior, it says every knee, every tongue. That was a kind of parallel passage, similar thought in Philippians chapter two verse nine. It says, therefore God also has highly exalted him, speaking of Jesus and given him the name, which is above every name. That at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow of those in heaven and of those on earth and of those under the earth and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God, the father.

You realize what this means? Sometimes when I'm speaking with a pluralist, that's somebody that either believes in many gods or believes in many ways to heaven, that sort of thing. One of the things they'll say is, well, I think all roads lead to God. Well, according to these passages, I would tend to agree with them.

Say, well, they sure do. All roads lead to God. Now what happens when you get there is the big question because in Christianity on some parts of life, it's not what you know, it's who you know. If you know Jesus, that's going to be a great meeting. You see, if on that day, your meeting Jesus for the first time, it's not going to go well. If you spent a lifetime of rejecting him as your Lord and savior, that's going to be a meeting of condemnation. If you know him as your savior, it's still going to be a meeting of judgment, a meeting of discerning what you've done with your life. If you've really used the time and the talents and the giftings that God has given to you or you've squandered and wasted them and you've used them for your own selfish gain, you'll be accountable on that day. All roads do lead to God.

It was our first life lesson here. Everyone will meet God and declare him to be God. Everyone will meet God and declare him to be God. Friend, on that day, there will be no nonsense of standing before the throne of God, standing before Jesus Christ himself going, well, I think you were a good teacher, but not God.

You were a good man, but not savior of the world. No, on that day, all will confess that he is God. And that day is coming.

On that day, mercy and justice will meet. Now, friend, if you haven't figured this out already, we're not going to see perfect justice in this world. It's not going to happen. It's not going to happen under the present administration.

Didn't happen under the last administration. It's not going to happen if we get the right people in the Supreme Court. If you're looking for justice in this world, justice is coming. And thankfully, God will be merciful. So that day is coming. Now, how does that minister to us?

What do we get from that? Well, sometimes I see somebody messing up. And obviously, a senior pastor here, if somebody's messing up, I'm called upon to encourage, correct, exhort. You know, but sometimes when I'm watching television, some non-Christian stuff, sometimes Christian stuff, and somebody will say something like, oh, man, that's not good.

But I don't immediately feel the need to email them, to text them, to spam them, to call them or anything. It's not my place to fix everything that's wrong with everybody else. And in those moments, I think, wow, you're going to have to stand before the Lord and explain that. It's a sobering thought. It's meant to be a sobering thought. We're saved by grace, but called to high holy living. We're called to put away the past. But the Bible talks about the sins will beset us. They will weigh us down.

They will hold us back. In other words, if there's a balloon with a bunch of sandbags, God is saying, start to cut the sandbags, man, so you can soar into this new life. Or you can just stay on the ground with all the sandbags on. There's something wrong with my balloon. No, God wants you to soar.

Cut the sandbags. Because one day you'll have to stand before the Lord and explain why you did what you did. Why you didn't do what you did. And we looked at last week, we looked at the two judgments, the white throne judgment for those unbelievers in the Bema seat of Christ. For the believers, everybody is going to stand before the Lord and give an account. And we'll be allowed entrance into heaven through His grace and through His grace alone. But, you know, I keep coming back to that because sometimes I hear things and see things other man, boy, and I take comfort and solace and think, okay, and I have comfort and solace that, you know, God is going to lead me. God is going to direct me. God is going to speak to me about how to pastor this church.

It's great comfort. And sometimes I hear stuff. And I remember years ago, I was teaching and traveling and also doing a guitar instruction and stuff.

And one time I had an earring in my ear when a guy came in for a lesson. And of course, we all know that meant I was going to hell, but he came in and, you know, he's kind of a country guy, nice enough guy. And he said, hey, I see you got your fag tag in. I was like, yeah, you know, whatever. I mean, I wasn't going to take the bait. But then he said, that's what my pastor calls it. And that perked my interest.

I said, what do you mean? He said, and he thought it was funny. He said a whole couple weeks ago, there was a young guy came into our service, said a couple rows back from the front and the pastor was up there teaching. And, you know, in the middle of his teaching, he just stopped and looked at this young man and said, young man, I'm glad you're here and you're welcome here. Leave your fag tag at home.

When I heard that, I thought I would not want to be explaining that in front of God. We have people come here sometimes. And one guy in particular is driving through the lot and he stopped and he said, hey, can I come in dressed like I am? Parking lot people like, of course you can, man.

We're just happy you're here. And he said, well, because I went to go in a church down the street and they stopped me at the door and they said, sir, if you're going to come here to church, you need to dress more respectfully. Now they're going to have to explain that. I wouldn't want to be explaining that. See, so I take comfort and solace. I don't, you know, God's not telling me to go straighten those people out. I'm just going, wow, man, I would not want to be explaining that to God. See, so we're all going, so there's a freedom and understanding that, hey, we're all accountable to God.

It's not your job to straighten everybody out. Now as pastor here, I have the job of leading people, sometimes correcting and exhorting people. But understand, I have to do that according to God's word, according to his Holy Spirit, according to his mercy, grace and truth.

Why? Because I got to stand before God and explain myself. It won't be you standing before God explaining my actions. That's why this month we want you to be blessed by some of our favorite teachings from this year with the Cross the Bridge Best of 2013. These three powerful teachings will help you to live victoriously in Christ through a better understanding of who Jesus really is. The Best of 2013 is our gift to you this month when you give to Cross the Bridge. Your gift will be used to reach God's word.

To help us take God's word to the world, please contact us at 877-458-5508 or visit us online at CrossTheBridge.com. Now let's return to David McGee's verse-by-verse teaching in the Book of Romans. Look at verse 12, so then each of us shall give an account of himself to God. Each of us, every one of us. Does this say you'll have to explain to other people? No, account of himself.

We'll have to explain ourselves, our actions. And again, this is not, if you know Jesus as your savior it won't be to determine your salvation, it will in part be to declare your rewards. If you're serving God if you're passionate about the Lord if you're sharing him if you're given if you're praying if you're serving you're doing These things when you at that final day, you're gonna hear well done now good and faithful servant God has a rewards program that those who know him when they come into his presence will be awarded rewarded according to their works We went over that last week went over that in detail in Part why because I'm accountable for what you know, so I want to make sure you know this So I don't want you getting up there and God saying well, you know, you're never really doing anything Well, I you know, I'm saved by grace praise God.

Yeah, but you know rewards and works. I didn't know that Who was your pastor? pastor David I'm gonna be talking about I told him They may have been asleep. They may have not been listening, but I went over that part God soon.

There's this rewards thing Let's admit. This is a scary verse If we're honest, we look at this verse and go. Oh We're meant to do that See when you in there in and and you know, oh, I'm just saved by grace so I can just do whatever So I can go out and do this and do that and it really doesn't matter because I'm saved by grace that Scares me when I hear people saying that they have no concept of the fear and the reverence of God They have no concept of this verse See, I don't need to yell this verse. I don't need to shout it I'll need to do that as I read it. You just read it and if you I mean it's like whoo And I don't want to be ashamed on that day I'll say God I gave it my all I did the best I could And I want to hear from God well done good and faithful servant And now if you want to hear on that day well done good and faithful servant Guess what? You need to be doing you need me servant.

Why because if you don't you're gonna come in It'll say well done now good and faithful spectator give an account First John t28 says and now dear children continue to live in fellowship with Christ so that when he returns You will be full of courage and not shrink back from him in shame man friends read that verse Some people that know him as their Savior when he comes they'll be like, oh man I was gonna start doing some stuff for you. And I know you told me to do that and I didn't do that not man Do you realize that? Once we're in heaven You'll no longer have the opportunity to evangelize anybody or share the love of God with somebody doesn't know him ever again We have that opportunity now now Understand when it comes to this accountability We're all individually accountable and some here Are accountable to others give you a couple examples apparently from the Bible if you're married the man is held more accountable than the wife They're both accountable before God. The man is accountable for his wife and kids according to the Bible if you look in the early in the early Bible in Genesis early in the Bible Eve is the first one that Eats the fruit, right and then Adam eats the fruit after remember and at least Eve, you know some guys go Yeah, well if a woman did that we've been struggling ever since, you know Let's remember Eve had to be talked into it You know serpent going well did God really say and if you do it, you know, at least she had to be talked into it How did Adam how does Adam talked into hey Eve said look Adam food Oh And according to Romans 5 it doesn't mention how Eve fell it says Adam You know, we know from that God held out. I'm responsible for Eve's failure All the husband's just got real quiet. I need to pray more Sometimes in marital counseling God's come in go my wife's this and my wife's that she's ornery and complaining and unloving and bitter I said well is she was she like that when you got married?

No. Well, what'd you do to her? You're the one that's supposed to be nourishing her and loving her and looking after Scary part of this accountability. I Am very accountable here to God a board of directors elders deacons before the Lord and as I understand this Everything everything works.

Wonderfully is beautifully if I forget this. I'm in trouble Hebrews 13 17 says obey your spiritual leaders and do what they say their work is to watch over your souls and they know They are accountable to God give them reason to do this joyfully and not with sorrow That would certainly not be for your benefit No, it's not for your benefit to give a spiritual leader sorrow but cause great joy in your spiritual leaders And again, they're accountable to God See if more pastors more leaders understood this concept of being accountable to God, man Sometimes we go. Well, they need to be accountable to people. Yeah, we do and we are but ultimately that accountability before the Lord is Keeps me on my knees keeps me praying you better believe it. I mean look around this room How would you like to give an account for this group pray for me? That's why James in the warnings in Gives us warning James 3 1 says my brother let not many of you become teachers knowing that we shall receive a stricter Judgment our people are well want to teach the Word of God Well, you better make sure you read that verse and pray about it before you do and yes I knew about this verse before I became a Bible teacher and did it anyway praise God Here's the life lesson. Every one of us will give an account of our lives to God every one of us Will give an account of our lives to God We will all stand before the Lord. So sometimes we think it's our job to straighten everybody else out Be careful and certainly if you're in a place of spiritual authority or leadership, there's this Exhortation in the Bible this encouragement to speak the truth and love and to restore people as your spiritual mature and stuff But I think a lot of times we go around spouting venom and poison Thinking you know, well we got to do this and we got to do that. Wait a minute We're all going to stand before the Lord, you know, and then that enters into leadership If you don't like the way I'm doing something or don't like the way church is doing something then you pray for me and understand If I do something I got to give an account to God for it Let's read on verse 13 It says therefore let us not judge one another anymore, but whether rather resolve this Not to put a stumbling block or a cause to fall in our brother's way now again Let's understand when it's time out.

Therefore, let us not condemn one another in the Greek Not discern because discernment is something we all need condemning somebody is different Assuming to know their motives completely Be careful It says we're not to judge one another So is it never okay to really judge? Somebody. Oh, yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah, it's it's a good thing The one person you're supposed to judge is yourself have at it Have at it what I've noticed is people that run around judging a lot of people spend a lot of time figuring out What's wrong with other people? What's wrong with the church?

What's wrong with it? You know what they are so undiscerning about their own carnal motives That they spend all their energy trying to figure out what's wrong with everybody else We talked about this last week. We do we have communion for sunday of the month first grant the anthema But let a man examine himself. And so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup during communion We are encouraged to sit and think okay. How am I doing spiritually? God, what do you what do you desire of my life?

What is it that i'm holding on to? I really need to let go of That's a good time to do that. We're encouraged to do that to sit. It doesn't say we're supposed to judge others examine yourself Maybe sitting there. Well once a month. Is that enough?

Well, how do you get to that point? If you've never had communion at home, let me encourage you to do that and you're gonna walk in. I'm not like a deputized authorized Pastor dude to do that That the whole thing of the blessing of communion you need to understand the roots of that You don't need me to bless your communion. The communion is blessed. I don't bless the communion The communion is already blessed that came part through the middle ages because there were roots in the catholic church that priests would bless us That came part through the middle ages because there were roots in the catholic church that priest would bless it and it would Supernaturally turn into the literal blood and the literal body of the lord.

Jesus christ is called transubstantiation We don't believe that we believe their symbols So you can do it at home As a matter of fact some of the best communions i've ever had have been sitting around the kitchen table my wife and kids Encourage you to do that and during that time sit and think god, how am I doing? Am I really living for you or am I living for me? First john 1 8 and if you don't have this written down You're probably sure even if you're not taking notes right now. You need to know the location of these verses first john 1 8 through 10 says If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness If we say that we have not sent we make him a liar and his word is not in us So you sin?

And you know what? I you know this past week in general, you know when I hear well This guy's doing this and this girl's doing that and this family's doing that and this marriage is doing that I'm grieved You know it it sometimes it's heartbreaking Things I hear and the things I see and but let me let me be honest. I am more heartbroken Over the things I do And the things I say Than what you do And the moment you begin to be more bothered by other people's sins than your own That's a slippery path We need to confess our sins That's the next life lesson. We should confess the sins of others not You this verse doesn't say you're supposed to confess anybody else's sins Doesn't say you're true lord. My wife is just so much trouble and she's this and she's that and she's such a sinner Please forgive her you can't do that You confess your sins It's amazing sometimes sitting in a teaching to me and I know what somebody means but it just strikes me as well somebody come on, man I wish my wife would have been here today. That was just for her And you know what they're saying I didn't get anything out of that praise god.

It wasn't for me Moody said this said if somebody comes to a teaching and sits under it and walks away without anything It's probably because they were so filled with themselves So we become very skilled at making application for other people. I wish my neighbor was here I wish my husband was here. Wish this person was here Now this is all for us. You're listening.

That's not a coincidence To make application of what the lord is speaking to us Now look at a stumbling block Don't condemn one another if you walk down the street and you see some guy clutching a bottle of wine Sitting on the curb miserable A religious person will walk past that and go You're drunk I think he's aware of that As a follower of jesus you can walk by and say you know what you're not a follower of jesus You can walk by and say you know what? You don't have to live like that There's more to life than what you're experiencing friend And i'll tell you what it is We lived in a house years ago that had a slight decline in the driveway and uh I have three kids and jd had this little tricycle thing that he used to you know Ride in the driveway and it was downhill enough, you know where he didn't really have to pedal He wasn't really big enough to pedal and he would ride this bike and the cars were usually parked at the end, you know So he would stop like inches Before the bumper, you know, which was like right in front of his face and you know, i'm a guy So I was like, yeah, that's cool dude, you know Meanwhile, his mother's like no no, no, you know I kept telling him because he played in the drive with the little trike, you know, a little little plastic thing I said look don't leave this in the driveway. Don't leave this in the driveway Yeah, I would tell him over and over and i'd move it out of the driveway Don't leave this in driveway and i'm moving out of the driveway and then you know the day came everybody's in the car I'm backing out of the driveway So I got out and Walked to the back of the car and there was that little plastic What used to be a little tricycle? And jd got out of his little car seat came back and went oh So at that point I spent I took about 15 minutes to talk to him about how bad it was He had left that trike in the bicycle. I mean in the driveway No, I didn't the lesson was learned there was no need for me to go off on him I said hey, come on, let's get in the car We went to the store number one exactly like it God is dealing with us and sometimes when somebody's suffering the after effects of some really bad decisions.

You don't need to say anything They need you to encourage them and get them up and pick them up friend. Do you know for sure that your sins have been forgiven? You can know Right now I want to lead you in a short simple prayer simply telling god you're sorry and asking him to help you to live for him Now god wants you to pray this prayer so much that he died To give you the opportunity and the ability to ask him to forgive you. Please pray this prayer with me out loud right now dear jesus I believe you died for me That I could be forgiven And I believe you were raised from the dead that I could have a new life And i've done wrong things I have sinned And i'm sorry Please forgive me Please forgive me of all those things Please give me the power to live for you all of my days in jesus name Amen Friend if you prayed that prayer according to the bible you've been forgiven you've been born again Jesus said he would not turn anybody away who comes to him And he came for those people who knew they needed forgiveness those who were sick not the righteous So congratulations friend you just made the greatest decision that you will ever make god bless you If this was your first time praying that prayer with pastor david we would love to hear from you You can call us toll free at 877-458-5508 to receive our first steps package with helpful resources to help you begin your walk with christ Also if you contact us this month we will send you the cross the bridge best of 2013 for your gift of any amount If you've ever wondered how we can walk in the full power of god's spirit then this new product is just for you And we'll send it to you as a way of saying thanks for your donation You can give any time by calling us toll free at 877-458-5508 that's 877-458-5508 or go online to crossthebridge.com While there make sure to sign up for the free email devotional that's just one more way we can bless you in your walk with christ Again that website is crossthebridge.com Thank you for listening and I pray you'll join us next time as we cross the bridge