Devotions

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

Notice that John says there are many books as well as a book at the Judgment. The first books are records of the life of every single sinner who stands before the Judge. Every unbelieving person has a book of works being recorded in heaven and every page is a record of how he lives.

Can you imagine what it’s going to be like for a transgressor when he stands before the Lord on that day? Every thought, word and action in his life will be brought out into the open, exposed for its evil.

A NEW NAME

For the righteous, there will be only the Book of Life and when it is opened, we will not hear one word, one record of a single sin or failing of any of God’s people. Why? Because all our sins are covered under the blood of Jesus. The only thing that will appear in that Book will be our names; in fact, it will contain our new, heavenly names that God Himself will reveal to us.

How do our names get recorded in the Book of Life? At the moment we believe with all of our being that Jesus Christ shed His blood for us, our names are recorded. It happens as we claim the victory of His cross and determine to seek Him with all our heart, mind, soul and strength.

“Then a leader of the local synagogue, whose name was Jairus, arrived. When he saw Jesus, he fell at his feet” (Mark 5:22, NLT).

And we need to do that, too. As Christians, Jesus resides in our hearts, but even so we need to go to Him on our knees, reaching out to Him in our desperation.

If you don’t know Jesus, I can tell you that He loved you even though you rebelled against Him to live a selfish life. He died for your sins and rose again on the third day; the Bible declares it as truth and more than five hundred witnesses saw Him.

There was proof that Jesus rose again on the third day and now He is alive forevermore. If you receive Him into your heart, you can be forgiven of all your sins and have a fresh start. The Bible says that old things have passed away and all things have become new (see 2 Corinthians 5:17).

Today you can run from where you are and fall at His feet just as Jairus did. You might be stuck in a cycle of religion — just going to church, going through the empty motions — but you can run  to Jesus in your desperation and say, “Jesus, I cry out to You for faith that comes by hearing the Word of God.”

That is the gospel in a nutshell and you can receive Him as your Lord and Savior today! 

Abraham was a man whose life was consumed by a faith that reaches out. He knew that faith without works is dead (see James 2:17). Genesis 14:11-16 uses simple yet clear words to reveal the scope and beauty of his decision when he learned that Lot and his family had been taken captive and had lost everything. “As soon as Abraham learned this . . . he brought three hundred eighteen of his bravest servants and they pursued the oppressors. . . . They brought back Lot, his brother, their possessions, as well as their wives and children” (14:14-16).

It is important to reread each word to fully grasp the depth of what is being said here. “As soon as Abraham learned this,” he didn’t wait, look for excuses, or put it off until the next day. He did not hide behind his lack of resources nor what he didn’t have. The Apostle Paul appeals to us to make a decision when he reminds the Corinthians that when intentions are sincere, they are demonstrated not by what we don’t have, or hope to have some day, but by what we currently have available. “Whatever you give is acceptable if you give it eagerly. And give according to what you have, not what you don't have” (see 2 Corinthians 8:12). Help someone today with what you do have. Faith that reaches out simply refuses to continue saying, “No!”

“Abraham, armed with three hundred eighteen of his bravest servants” — it is interesting to notice here that the exact number is mentioned. I profoundly believe that God knows each believer who helps those who suffer, but also every believer or church who chooses to do nothing. There are several specific moments in Scripture where God seems to want us to know with infinite precision that each person counts. For instance, in Nehemiah 3 we see the meticulous listing of those who miraculously rebuilt the walls that had been torn down.

Dear reader, this is faith that reaches out. This type of sacrifice opens up the heavens and produces the supernatural. We read these words in the story of Abraham as a prophetic promise for all who turn toward someone who is hurting, who is held captive or in need: After these events, “the Word of the Lord came to Abraham in a vision with these words: Don’t be afraid, Abraham, I will be your defender myself. I will protect you and your reward will be so great!” (Genesis 15:1).

Claude Houde is the lead pastor of Eglise Nouvelle Vie (New Life Church) in Montreal, Canada. Under his leadership New Life Church has grown from a handful of people to more than 3500 in a part of Canada with few successful Protestant churches.

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?

Here is your good news, reported in the book of Micah: “[The Lord] will subdue our iniquities” (Micah 7:19). God’s Word has given us image after image of how He wipes our sins from memory: He blots them out. He remembers them no more. He buries them in the sea. He subdues them, meaning He hunts them down and captures them. Isaiah even tells us God takes our trespasses and flips them over His shoulder: “Thou hast cast all my sins behind thy back” (Isaiah 38:17). This means God will never look at our sins or acknowledge them again.

Now let me ask you: If God forgets our sins, why do we always allow the devil to dig up some muck or mire from our past and wave it in our face? All of our sins are already covered by Christ’s blood; the cleansing, forgiving power of Jesus’ blood is all-encompassing. It covers our entire lives.

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.

On the other hand, no evil deed of the righteous will be mentioned on that day. Instead, every good thing about their lives will be brought into the light: every holy thought, every charitable act, every sacrificial work. He is going to bring everything good out into the open. And that will be one glorious moment!

The fact is, as we stand before our Lord at the Judgment, we will be complete in Him. This means that everything we’ve ever done, including any sin we’ve ever committed, will already be covered under His blood and never mentioned again. There is no condemnation to the righteous—none at all. Jesus tells us, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life” (John 5:24). The Greek word for condemnation here is “judgment.” Jesus is saying, in essence, “If you believe in Me, you won’t come into judgment. Instead, you will pass from death over into life.”