At the height of all his trials and difficulties, Martin Luther testified: “Lord, now that You have forgiven me all, do with me as you please.” Luther was convinced that a God who could wipe away all his sins and save his soul could certainly care for his physical body and material needs.
In essence, Luther was saying:
Fear is not compatible with all the wonderful relationships the Lord has proclaimed in His love for us. Throughout the Scriptures God describes all the facets of His relationship to us:
God has established all these glorious relationships with us through the cross and now He is urging us to know, “This is who I am to you.”
God offers a wonderful promise to all who were guilty of horrible sins:
God’s promise to them is that they can stand with great joy on the Day of Judgment without a trace of fear. He pledges:
“Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool” (Isaiah 1:18).
John writes of the Judgment Day:
“I saw a great white throne. . . . And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works” (Revelation 20:11–12).
MANY BOOKS
There is good news for every Christian who has ever striven or worked to subdue the deeds of his flesh in his own strength. Does this include you? How many times have you tried to plow ahead toward victory in the Christian life? How many promises have you made to God only to break them? How many times have you tried to please Him by fighting off your lusts and habits, only to fail once again?
There will be two groups at the Judgment: sheep and goats. These groups are going to stand before the Lord separately on that day, one group on the right and one on the left: saints and sinners. And the bad works which will be exposed that day are only those of the wicked.
Scripture says all evil deeds of the wicked will be brought into the light and exposed. Every wicked thought, every secret desire, every lust, every vile imagination, every denial of Christ, every curse word—all will be proclaimed and judged.
“It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment” (Hebrews 9:27). As Scripture testifies, our lives here on earth are like grass (see Psalm 102:11). One day we’re here, growing and thriving, and the next day we’re fading away with the season. We’re like the vapor of breath we see on a frosty day: here one moment and gone the next. And I’m convinced that just one moment into eternity, we’ll realize how unimportant and fleeting our present fears and trials have been.
Whenever we face afflictions and persecution, Satan comes to us whispering fears and lies: “How are you going to make it through this crisis? What will you do now? If God is faithful, how could He allow this to happen to you? How could He put your loved ones at risk this way? What will become of you, your family, your job, your ministry?”
Some of you going through difficult situations are in a dangerous place with your faith.
I must ask: Have you allowed seeds of unbelief into your heart? Do you have serious questions regarding God’s faithfulness? Instead of worshiping Him, do you doubt Him?
“Lord, why haven’t You intervened for me? Why have You allowed such confusion in my marriage, my family? You have put on me more than I’m able to bear.” Such an attitude can lead to a hardened heart and eventually spiritual deadness.
A messenger brought a frightful report to Asa, the king of Judah: a million-man army was heading toward them! The Ethiopians and Lubims had combined forces, and now this large army was racing toward Judah, bent on its destruction.
On the very day prior to this, Asa had called on the people to give thanks to the Lord for the peace and blessings they were enjoying because they had sought him. Now we read, “And there came out against them” (2 Chronicles 14:9). Overnight, Judah was at war, facing one million hostile soldiers.