Scripture makes clear that God does not take unbelief lightly. The New Testament gives an example of this in the story of Zacharias. In Luke 1, God promised the aging priest a miracle child, a son who would be a forerunner to the Messiah.

The angel Gabriel appeared to him, saying, “Your prayer has been heard, Zacharias. You will have a son, and you will call him John.” Zacharias, a godly, faithful servant who had prayed his whole life for the coming of the Messiah, was burning incense in the temple when he received this news.

From the very beginning, God sought a people who would live before Him without fear. He wanted His children to be at rest in body, soul and spirit by fully trusting in His promises. God called this “entering My rest.” So He led His people into a barren wilderness, without water, food or any source of sustenance. Giving Israel only His promise to keep them, His message to them was simply, “Have faith in Me.” He called them to place all their trust in Him to do the impossible for them.

Jesus was in His last days of ministry. He had just cleansed the temple, driving out the moneychangers, and now He was spending time with His disciples to prepare them as the pillars of His future church. Yet at this point they were still faithless, “slow to believe.” Jesus had chided them for their unbelief at various times, asking, “Can you not see?” He saw in their hearts a hindrance that had to be removed or they would never come into the revelation necessary to lead the church.

One day as Jesus and the disciples passed by a barren fig tree, Jesus cursed it:

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:

• He is our father, our brother, our friend
• our bridegroom, our head, our husband
• our advocate, our kinsman-redeemer
• our provider, our refuge, our shepherd

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:

• whose acts were bloodied with the stench of hell
• who abused their bodies with alcohol, drugs, perversions, fornications
• who gulp when they think of how close they came to falling headlong into hell

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.