Welcome to EBible Fellowship’s Bible study in the book of Romans. Tonight is study #2 of Romans 2, and we are going to read Romans 2:16:

In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel.

We are not surprised that the Lord is referring to the Day of Judgment: “In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ.” We are not surprised because that has been the context of this passage. Remember, if we go all the way back to verse 5, it said in the last part of the verse: “…treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God.” It is the day of wrath and righteous judgment of God.

Even in the following verses it had said things like we see in Romans 2:9:

Tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Gentile;

Then it said in Romans 2:12:

For as many as have sinned without law shall also perish without law: and as many as have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law;

Then we saw the parenthetical thought that began in verse 13 and concluded in verse 15, which means that the final statement of verse 12, “and as many as have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law,” is followed by the statement in Romans 2:16:

In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel.

Verses 13-15 were like a side thought or side information, but the statement in verse 12 is finished when we get to verse 16, so it has everything to do with Judgment Day. We have learned that God calls Judgment Day a “day” (singular), but we have also learned from the Bible that a “day” can be viewed as 40 years in the case of the “day of temptation in the wilderness,” or in the case of the “day of salvation,” which lasted for many centuries.

It is how God wrote the Bible. There is the “hour” of Great Tribulation, and although God uses an hour to represent it, it was actually 23 years. So we cannot take the Bible literally with these kinds of statements, and we have to search it out to see how it applies, and that is also why we can understand Judgment Day to be a period from May 21, 2011 and all the way through to a date in the year 2033.

Again, it says in Romans 2:16:

In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel.

We may look at the “secrets of men” more closely in our next study, because I think we will fill up the time today with the fact that Christ is the Judge. So when we read that in Judgment Day God will judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ, it means through Jesus Christ. That is telling us something. And we know that God did give all authority to the Son to carry out the judgment. That is what we read in John 5:26-27:

For as the Father hath life in himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself; And hath given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of man.

So Christ has the authority to execute judgment, and that is what Romans 2:16 is telling us: “In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel.” And even with the reference to “according to my gospel,” it means according to the Word of God, and we know that Jesus Christ is The Word. Now I say that often, but it is always good to be reminded by the Bible itself, as it says in John 1:1:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

The it says in John 1:14:

And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us…

Christ is the embodiment of the Word of God. When we read that the Law will judge, as it did say in Romans 2:12, “…as many as have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law,” the Law is the Word. They are synonymous. This is why Christ said, in John 12:48:

He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day.

Jesus is the Word. He is the one the Father sent and gave authority to execute judgment. Then Jesus says, “…the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day.” It is not like authority has been taken from the Father and given to another entity. He is the Word. The Bible that we have is the written Word of God, and this book reveals Jesus Christ, and it reveals the mind of God. We cannot separate the holy Bible from holy God or holy Jesus Christ because the Bible says of itself that it is “truth,” and Jesus is the Truth. The Bible is the truth. They are one and the same. Jesus is the Judge, and the Bible is the Judge. The Word that Christ spoke will judge in the last day. There is no way to distinguish between them when it comes to the fact that the Word is the Judge. Yes – Jesus will carry it out. Through His authority, He will execute the judgment written, as it says in Psalm 149:5-6:

Let the saints be joyful in glory: let them sing aloud upon their beds. Let the high praises of God be in their mouth, and a twoedged sword in their hand;

What is the twoedged sword? Let us turn there because I want us to solemnly have these things before us. It says in Hebrews 4:12:

For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword…

And, again, it says in Psalm 149:6:

Let the high praises of God be in their mouth, and a twoedged sword in their hand;

That is significant because it goes on to say in Psalm 149:7-9:

To execute vengeance upon the heathen, and punishments upon the people; To bind their kings with chains, and their nobles with fetters of iron; To execute upon them the judgment written: this honour have all his saints. Praise ye JEHOVAH.

So the saints have the twoedged sword, the Word of God, in their hands, and they will execute upon the wicked the judgment written. This is the honor of all His saints because Christ came in the Day of Judgment with ten thousands of His saints. No, it is not a literal number, but the number “10” represents the completeness of all the elect. He has come to judge, and He is judging through the Word. The Word will judge in the last day.

So God opens up understanding of the Word, and that was the whole point of us spending a good deal of time on Romans 2:5: “…the day of wrath and the revelation of the righteous judgment of God.” Judgment Day is a time of revelation or the revealing of the righteous judgment of God, and God reveals it as He gives understanding to His people to see it and know it and declare it. And as we do so, we are carrying out the judgment written. We do not judge anyone personally. We do not point the finger at anybody. We just share what the Bible says. The door (of heaven) is shut. The sun is darkened, and so forth. All the things the Bible says carries out the judgment.

Somebody might be saying, “Well, earlier you said that God gave authority to the Son to execute judgment, and now you are saying it is the saints that are executing the judgment written. Which is it?” It is both. The Father made Christ, the Word, the Judge and told Him to carry it out, and Christ is carrying it out through the revelation or revealing of it to His people, and then moving His people to share these things, which serves to feed the sheep, the great multitude that is scattered among the nations, while simultaneously executing the vengeance, the things that are written. This enables the saints to partake in the judgment process without pointing the finger at anybody.

You see, it is amazing how God has designed things so that His people are not just declaring God’s wrath and fury. Can you imagine if we were not given the task to feed the sheep? What if God had not commanded His people to share the Word to those that were saved so that they would hear, understand, and be comforted and spiritually fed? If we did not have that job to do, then we would only have the job of sharing the Word that people might be condemned as the wrath of God is poured upon them with vengeance. Oh, how grievous! It would be far more grievous than it is now if everything we would declare was negative and all about the wrath of God that is punishing the people of the earth. Oh, the brilliant mind of God. He involves His people. He comes to judge with His saints, and we will execute the judgment written.

And, by the way, when we execute that judgment, it is as though Christ is executing the judgment. This is the same method used in the salvation plan of God when the Lord used His people to carry forth His Word, but it was also Christ, and the Bible makes a point to let that be known through the Scriptures. In one place, it says, “…how beautiful are the feet of them that bring glad tidings of good news,” and in another place, it says, “How beautiful…are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings.” That is because we are the body of Christ, and as we carry out the task, Christ is carrying out the task. There is a chain of command. The Father sends the Son, and the Son sends His people. The Father gives authority to the Son to carry out the judgment, and the Son gives authority to His people to execute the things written. We are not doing it on our own. We have to consult and learn regarding the things written (in the Bible). And, therefore, it is Christ, the Word, that is judging in the last day, and we are simply messengers.

Anyway, we can see the tremendous wisdom of God to leave His people the task of feeing the sheep as we judge the world with Him. This helps us. In our minds, we are not desiring for people to hear this Word and be condemned and destroyed by it. Our hope (and I know it is our hope at EBible Fellowship) is that those who are listening are people that God did save (prior to May 21, 2011). And maybe there are some listening who may even be critical and hostile toward these things, but perhaps they were outside the churches at the time of the Latter Rain, and God did save them, but they are not aware of it yet, and they may not realize that the Lord will draw them at some point during this prolonged day of Judgment. And the Lord is encouraging us with that information about the delay in drawing the elect, as Jesus said, “No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him.” Now we are learning of God’s plan for after He has completed His city, in Revelation 21, of New Jerusalem, and then we read that the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honor into it, so the Lord is encouraging us. And that is encourages us, and it really eases our minds, and we can have the goal in mind that we want the best for our fellow man, and we hope our fellow man is one of that great multitude.

And by the way, this all fits in with Revelation 19, the chapter which describes the final judgment of the world, and it says in Revelation 19:13:

And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God.

The Lord Jesus has multiple names in the Bible, but, here, God wants to highlight the fact that His name is called “The Word of God” at this time. Then it says in
Revelation 19:14-15:

And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword…

Who are these armies? They are the saints, or all those God has saved. What comes out of the mouth of God? The Word of God! And then it says in Revelation 19:15:

…that with it he should smite the nations…

This is what we see in John 12:48:

…the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day.

It is the Word of God, is it not? We are told that this is the name of the Lord Jesus as He comes as Judge. He is going by the name of “The Word of God,” and out of the mouth of The Word of God goes a sharp sword. You could not get a stronger emphasis. It is the Bible that brings the revelation of the righteous judgment of God in the day of wrath: “and with it (the Bible) he should smite the nations.” And that is exactly what He is doing. That is exactly what the Lord Jesus Christ has been doing since May 21, 2011. He is smiting the nations, and then it goes on to say in Revelation 19:15:

…and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.

We have looked at this before regarding the fact that Christ is seated upon the judgment throne to rule the nations, but not for their benefit or welfare, and the word “rule” is the same word that is translated as “feed” in John 21, when Jesus told Peter, “Feed my sheep.” So we know we just declare the information written. Yes, it is Judgment Day. Yes, the door is shut, and that means that God is no longer actively saving anyone. Yes, the elect have been left on the earth to appear (or to be made manifest) before the judgment seat of Christ. Yes, Christ is ruling the earth. This is the time when Jesus is reigning on earth, but not for a literal thousand years, but for a prolonged period of 2 actual years or 23 inclusive years, according to the biblical evidence, which takes us to the year 2033. So all these things that describe punishing and bringing His vengeance and wrath to destroy the unsaved inhabitants of the earth are at the same time feeding the sheep. And that is the good part of the task the Lord would have us to do. We are to feed the sheep.

I just want to mention a couple of other things to really see how this twoedged sword (or, sometimes it refers to just a sword in general, but it is still referring to the Christ, the Word), in the last verse of Revelation 19, it says in Revelation 19:21:

And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their flesh.

Here, it is sword, and referring to Jesus, it said in Revelation 1:16:

And he had in his right hand seven stars: and out of his mouth went a sharp twoedged sword: and his countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength.

Then in the next chapter, it says in Revelation 2:12:

And to the angel of the church in Pergamos write; These things saith he which hath the sharp sword with two edges;

Christ then pointed out some of their sins, and then He said in Revelation 2:16:

Repent; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth.

This is important because we know that God has already judged the churches. Christ was the judge of the corporate church, and He came like a thief in the night to judge the churches and congregations of the world. How did He judge them? Through the sword of His mouth – through the things written. We can look back and see the spiritual judgment on all the churches in the world that were the physical, external representation of the kingdom of God. It was a judgment that was revealed by the Word of God, the Bible, and it was carried out in every aspect. God revealed that the Holy Spirit had left the churches, and Satan had entered in. God revealed that the light of the Gospel was out within the churches, and then He commanded His people to come out, and it was all according to the things written in the Word of God.

Christ said He would fight against them with the sword of His mouth. In Luke 21, which is a parallel chapter to Matthew 24, it describes the judgment on the churches during the Great Tribulation, and then it transitions into the final judgment on the world. It says in Luke 21:20:

And when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh.

Then it says in Luke 21:23-24:

But woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck, in those days! for there shall be great distress in the land, and wrath upon this people. And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.

We are familiar with this language. It is language indicating God’s judgment on the churches, as typified by Jerusalem. But notice the first statement in verse 24: “And they shall fall by the edge of the sword…” Not surprisingly, the word “edge” is the word for “mouth,” so they shall fall by the mouth of the sword, and the sword is picturing the Word of God. It is the mouth of the Word of God, and that is how the New Testament churches fell. They came under judgment, as judgment began at the house of God. God has destroyed the churches in every way, except physically. There are spiritually desolate church buildings littering the earth, but they have been destroyed in every other way by the things written (in the Word of God). Likewise, God will destroy the earth spiritually all the way to the last day, and then the earth, along with the desolate churches, will be destroyed with eternal destruction.