Have you ever been summoned with a subpoena to court? With not one but a battery of prosecuting attorneys inquiring into intimate details of your life?
The word “subpoena” doesn’t appear in the Bible but the idea is in 2 Corinthians 5:10: “We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.” The next verse speaks of “the terror of the Lord.” Rather frightening!
Dial Daily Bread is devoted to telling Good News, but this sounds like Bad News. Jesus says, “There is nothing covered that shall not be revealed; and hid, that shall not be known” (Matt. 10:26). But that verse itself is Good News, for He adds, “Fear them not therefore,” that is, don’t be afraid of your prosecutors (or your persecutors!). Why? Because in that appearance before “the judgment seat of Christ” He will be your Friend, not your Enemy if today you will simply LET Him.
(1) The Father Himself refuses to condemn you (see John 5:22). (2) Jesus also refused to condemn anyone in that day (see John 12:47, 48). (3) Therefore the only “condemnation” will come from what is written of “the things done in the body,” a record that is indisputable, recorded not only in the “books” of heaven, but in your own soul as well. Jesus won’t have to say a word; the “book” will be open. Paul says, “Some men’s sins are open beforehand, going before to judgment; and some men they follow after” (1 Tim. 5:24).
The Good News is: even though there are shameful things you don’t want opened up, you can “send them on beforehand to judgment.” You can get on your knees and confess them to your Savior, you can even let bitter tears fall; the Holy Spirit can teach your sinful heart to hate those sins; your heart can be truly converted; you can be a new person; you can believe the promise, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).
Good News? You betcha!
Be sure to check your e-mail for "Dial Daily Bread" again tomorrow.
------------------------------
