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[His love gives us] “boldness in the day of judgment” 1 John 4:17
“There is a great day coming, often spoken of in the Bible-the day of judgement-the day when “God will judge the secrets of men’s hearts by Jesus Christ”. The Christless will not be able to stand in that day. “The ungodly shall not stand in the judgement.” At present, sinners have much boldness; their neck is an iron sinew, and their brow brass. Many of them cannot blush when they are caught in sin. Amongst ourselves, is it not amazing how bold sinners are in forsaking ordinances? With what a brazen face will some men swear! How bold some ungodly men are in coming to the Lord’s table! But it will not be so in a little while. When Christ shall appear,-the Holy Jesus, in all His glory,-then brazen faced sinners will begin to blush. Those that never prayed will begin to wail. Sinners, whose limbs carried them stoutly to sin and to the Lord’s table last Sabbath, will find their knees knocking against one another. “Who shall abide in the day of His coming, and who shall stand when He appears?” When the books are opened,-the one the book of God’s remembrance, the other the Bible,-then the dead will be judged out of those things written in the books. Then the heart of the ungodly will die within them ; then will begin their “shame and everlasting contempt”. Many wicked persons comfort themselves with this, that their sin is not known-that no eye sees them; but in that day the most secret sins will be all brought out to the light, “Every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give an account thereof in the day of judgement.” How would you tremble and blush, O wicked man, if I was to go over now the secret sins you have committed this past week,-all your secret fraud and cheating, your secret uncleanness, your secret malice and envy,-how would you blush and be confounded! How much more in that day, when the secrets of your whole life shall be made manifest before an assembled world! What eternal confusion will sink down your soul in that day! You will be quite chop-fallen; all your pride and blustering will be God.
All in Christ will have boldness-
Because Christ shall judge.-What abundant peace will it give you in that day, believer, when you see Christ Judge!-He that shed His blood for you-He that is your surety, your shepherd, your all. It will take away all fear. You will be able to say, Who shall condemn? For whom Christ hath died. In the very hands that opens the books you will see the marks of the wounds made by your sins. Christ will be the same to you in the judgement that He is now.
-Because the Father Himself loveth you. Christ and the Father are one. The Father sees no sin in you; because as Christ is, so are you in the world. You are judged by God according to what the Surety is; so that God’s love will be with you in that day. You will feel the smile of the Father, and you will hear the voice of Jesus saying, “Come, ye blessed of My Father.”
Learn to fear nothing between this and judgement. Fear not-wait on the Lord, and be of courage.” ~Robert Murray M’Cheyne