All Roads End at God: Will God Be Pleased With You?
Preached on November 10, 2024
Every thought, every choice, and every action you take will come before God. No matter who you are, you will give account of your life to the Lord. Will God be pleased with you? How does this thought make you feel? In this must watch sermon, Pastor McCrary shares a powerful word of a necessary change that must be made today in the lives we live.
Introduction
Do you live life with the understanding that you will come before the Lord and be judged? The way that many of us govern ourselves is by a law that cannot endure God’s judgment. So, a change of mind and heart is very much needed today as the word of God promises that every knee will bow to the Lord and every will confess to Him.
Every Knee Will Bow
A thought that has been on my mind a lot lately has been me wondering would God be pleased with us? I’ve wondered whether or not God would be pleased with me? Has that thought ever been on your mind?
In Romans 14:11, Paul quoted the Lord’s proclamation from that, “Every knee will bow [to God], and every tongue shall confess to God.” This was God letting the world know that every single person will come before Him – there will be no escape for anybody.
As shown in Revelation 20:11-15, those that chose to live sinfully will face judgment. John said that he saw the dead – the convicted sinner – stand before a great white throne facing their judgment. At that judgment, John saw the convicted sinner being cast away from God into the lake of fire.
Let’s note that in Romans 14:10, that Paul wrote, “For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.” Paul wrote this to the believers in the church in Rome. So by saying “we” he includes himself in this judgment along with those believers in that church and every other child of God that reads this letter.
Then he wrote, in Romans 14:12, “each of us shall give account of himself to God.” All of us who are a child of God are going to stand at the judgment seat of Christ. All of us who are of sincere faith are going to give account of ourselves. Every single one of us will have our works tried by the fire to see if they will stand or not (1 Cor. 3:13-15).
Fearing God’s Judgment
So, we cannot be ignorant of the fact that all roads lead to God and everybody will give account of themselves to the Lord. How does the notion of standing before the Lord and giving account of yourself make you feel? How does it make you feel to know that God is going to judge the account of your life and your actions?
Personally, it concerns me greatly that my works are going to speak for me and God is going to judge every last one of them. Not only does it concern me, I am terrified of how God will judge me. You see, I fear God’s judgment because I don’t want to be cast into that lake of fire. No, I much rather stand before the judgment seat of Christ and enjoy salvation.
I feel that everybody should feel the same exact way and share the same concern of standing before the Lord. I feel that if everybody knew and understood that they will have to give account of themselves to the Lord, then many changes would be made. I believe more people would seek to please the Lord. I do believe the world would be a better place.
Governed by Another Law
So we should certainly be taking into consideration how we govern our lives, right? We should certainly be taking into consideration what law we abide by. What we should all know and understand today is that there are two laws to choose between abiding by today.
Before the Lord proclaimed that every knee will bow and every tongue will confess, in Isaiah 45:23, the Lord spoke about His word. God said, “I have sworn by Myself; The word has gone out of My mouth in righteousness, and shall not return.”
Initially, God’s word went out of His mouth and into the ears of His prophets who then shared His word with the people. Then, God gave the world His only begotten Son who preached repentance and preached to live by grace. We live in a world we have available to us the law of love and liberty that’s been given by God through Christ.
The law of the flesh
However, the problem that can clearly be seen today is that man chooses to abide by another law that is not of God. If we take a look at Romans 8:1-8, we will see Paul speak of this other law that man is choosing to abide by today.
In Romans 8:1, Paul wrote, “There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh.” Paul points out the two different laws in this verse and he even speaks to the end results of those laws. Paul tells us that there is a law that is in Christ and if you choose to abide by it, there is no condemnation. The other law is a law according to the flesh.
In Galatians 5:19-21, Paul laid out what the works are of those who govern themselves by the law of the flesh. Some of those works Paul said are evident in acts of sexual immorality which people constantly love to preach against. However, Paul then included idolatry, drunkenness, hatred, contentions, and outbursts of wrath as works of those who govern themselves by the law of the flesh.
I often wonder to myself, why is it that we don’t preach against drunkenness, hatred, outbursts of wrath and anger, and stirring up strife in the “Christian” church? It seems we are quick to accept these behaviors but let’s not think for one second that God is accepting of such conduct! God is not pleased with the works of the flesh!
In Romans 8:6-8, Paul said that to live according to the flesh is to be carnal (worldly). Paul wrote, “To be carnally minded is death … the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God.” Let’s be clear about this – strife and contentions, outbursts of wrath and anger, and idolatry are works that will never please the Lord.
Character is incredibly important – how you carry yourself is important. This thought led Paul to write, in Romans 14:13, “let us not judge one another anymore, but rather resolve this, not to put a stumbling block or a cause to fall in our brother’s way.” A major issue the early church faced came from Jewish believers that tried to force gentile believers to keep the Mosaic Law. Those Jewish believers believed they were doing what was right but failed to realize how much a burden they put on the gentile believers (Acts 15:6-29).
We face a very similar issue in our community today. I’ve watched as other communities will come together and work together towards their common goal. Our community won’t support one another until tragedy strikes. Today, we are too busy looking to see how “only I” can achieve. This mindset is going to have to change as we need to start considering one another because we need each other to make it.
You see, no good can come from blocking others from flourishing! Should we think for one second that blocking and hindering others will please the Lord? I want you to keep in mind that to hinder and burden others is to create strife. I want you to keep in mind that being a cause for stumbling is a work that is of the flesh and will be condemned.
Governed by the Law of Love and Liberty
So, Paul encouraged in Romans 14:19, “pursue the things which make for peace and the things by which one may edify another.” The one goal that we should have as a child of God in this world is to help, support, and uplift as love is what pleases the Lord. So, how do we go about pursuing the things which make for true peace?
Live in fellowship with each other
In Romans 14:1, we’ll see that Paul called on believers to receive those who are weak in the faith, but not to dispute over doubtful things.
Paul is speaking about entering into and being in fellowship with others, specifically those who are weak. Fellowship, we should remember, is a close personal relationship founded on the basis of love. To be clear, it is the love that Paul said is not puffed up nor behaves rudely; it is the love that is patient and is kind (1 Cor. 13:4-7).
We pursue the things which make for true peace by entering into fellowship with others, including those who are “weak in the faith”. Who are those that are considered to be weak in the faith?
Paul used the example of what one may choose to eat in Romans 14:2-3. The Lord had told Peter on the rooftop in Joppa that what He has cleansed should not be called common (Acts 10:14-16). Yet, Paul pointed out that some may choose to eat clean while others might choose what was once considered unclean. In Romans 14:5-6, Paul then spoke about how one may esteem one day to be holy while another might esteem all days to be the same.
Those who are “weak in the faith” are those who are hesitant and slow to move with discipline; they are quicker to doubt and slower to understand the way to go. Let’s be clear, this doesn’t mean that one who is weak in the faith has no faith at all. In fact, all of us have moments where we are weak in our faith. So, what this means is that the weak should be guided and supported – they should be loved.
Here is where I remind you of the words Jesus will share when He judges the nations. As shown in Matthew 25:31-46, Jesus will judge by whether one gave to the hungry and thirsty. Jesus will judge by whether or not one gave to those without clothes. Jesus will judge by whether or not one took in the stranger.
I know that some of us will now make our checklists to do those things but that was not Jesus’ point. We should understand the sentiment behind the actions Jesus will judge. Jesus’ judgment of the nations is built on the basis of helping, supporting, and uplifting in the manner that you are able to do so out of love.
Don’t judge and condemn
This is why we see Paul, in Romans 14:4 ask, “Who are you to judge another’s servant? To his own master he stands or falls.” You see, today’s Christianity is quick to play judge, jury, and executioner when that is not the role we serve in! Today’s Christianity seeks to force its way onto others and then condemn those who don’t conform. Think about what that sounds like and how I have preached about what oppressors do.
The church of Ephesus once tried to live in such a manner and Jesus rebuked them and told them to remember their first love and do the first work (Rev. 2:4-5). The first love is to love the Lord and the first work is to love one’s neighbor (Matt. 22:37-40). While one may believe they are actually doing good by trying to force Christ onto others, that mindset is far removed from the law of love and liberty.
So, who are we to judge and to condemn others? That is the work of a self-righteous mindset. Let us remember that Jesus said, “Judge not, that you be not judged. For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you (Matt. 7:1-2).”
This is why we see Paul ask, in Romans 14:10, “Why do you judge your brother? Or why do you show contempt for your brother?” Again, this is a major issue we see both in and outside of the church – in households, schools, workplaces, and communities— contempt for one another.
Contempt: the act of despising; the state of mind of one who despises; lack of respect or reverence for something. We should not be like Cain and have contempt for our brother. In Romans 12:9, Paul said that love should be without hypocrisy. If we are going to abhor (loathe) anything, Paul said to abhor what is evil – what stands and moves in opposition to God.
Judging others, condemning others, and moving in contempt against others is against the law of liberty and love. Such actions should not be a part of your character. Paul then said, “Do not set your mind on high things, but associate with the humble … Repay no one evil for evil. Have regard for good things in the sight of all men (Rom 12:16-17).” Lastly, he said, “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good (Rom. 12:21).”
A Change is Needed
So, as I have preached all year long, with great concern, a change is needed in the mind and heart of mankind. I will not mince words when I say that we, mankind, are definitely pointed in the wrong direction.
The direction that mankind is moving in is concerning but even more concerning is the direction of today’s “Christianity”. I’m not sure what God people are serving today but God is not vile, cruel, nor is He hatred. God does not put a stumbling block in our path to hinder nor to burden us. Keep in mind that God’s thoughts towards us are not evil but are of peace, a future and hope (Jer. 29:11).
A change is needed today because God is going to judge our actions from yesterday, today, and tomorrow. Today, we need to start loving life, and not holding contempt for life. What I mean by this is that we need to start loving each other, helping each other, and supporting each other so that we can all flourish together.
When we approach that door that sits before us, God is going to judge our character. If vileness, hatred, bitterness – sin – is in your character, God will judge you accordingly. We cannot walk the path with contempt and hatred in our heart and think that God is going to overlook those things and favor us with His judgment. No, we need to correct that sinful character and be a character that heeds God’s law of love and liberty.