**A Deeper Dive Into the Book of Revelation - Part 71 **
At the end of Jesus’ message to the church in Sardis, He gives us one of the most unsettling verses in all of Scripture.
“He who overcomes shall be clothed in white garments, and **I will not blot out his name from the Book of Life; **but I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels.”—Revelation 3:5 (NKJV)
This promise is jarring to us, and it should be! Because if Jesus is promising that He will not blot some names out of the Book of Life, it is implied that other names WILL be blotted out of the Book of Life!
This is incredibly serious, because our eternal destiny depends on whether or not our names are found written in the Book of Life on the great day of judgment.
“And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.”—Revelation 20:15 (NKJV)
Eternal life or eternal damnation depends on whether our names are found written in the Book of Life on God’s great judgment day!
When the Books Are Opened
Daniel saw the future day of judgment when the books will be opened and we will all be judged out of what is written in the books.
“I kept looking until thrones were placed [for the assessors with the Judge], and the Ancient of Days [God, the eternal Father] took His seat, Whose garment was white as snow and the hair of His head like pure wool. His throne was like the fiery flame; its wheels were burning fire.
“A stream of fire came forth from before Him; a thousand thousands ministered to Him and ten thousand times ten thousand rose up and stood before Him; the Judge was seated [the court was in session] and the books were opened.”—Daniel 7:9-10 (AMPC)
When John had his Revelation experience, he also saw the Day of Judgment. He saw books opened, including the Book of Life, and he saw that people were judged according to what was written in the books.
“Then I saw a great white throne and the One Who was seated upon it, from Whose presence and from the sight of Whose face earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them.
“I [also] saw the dead, great and small; they stood before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is [the Book] of Life. And the dead were judged (sentenced) by what they had done [their whole way of feeling and acting, their aims and endeavors] in accordance with what was recorded in the books.
“And the sea delivered up the dead who were in it, death and Hades (the state of death or disembodied existence) surrendered the dead in them, and all were tried and their cases determined by what they had done [according to their motives, aims, and works].
“Then death and Hades (the state of death or disembodied existence) were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire.
“And if anyone’s [name] was not found recorded in the Book of Life, he was hurled into the lake of fire.”—Revelation 20:11-15 (AMPC)
From the Foundation of the World
Scripture seems to tell us that there are three groups of people:
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Those whose names are written in the Book of Life and will never be blotted out.
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Those whose names were written in the Book of Life but will be (or have been) blotted out.
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Those whose names were never written in the Book of Life.
We are clearly told in the book of Revelation that there are people whose names have not been written in the Book of Life.
“All who dwell on the earth will worship him, whose names have not been written in the Book of Life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.”—Revelation 13:8 (NKJV)
“The beast that you saw was, and is not, and will ascend out of the bottomless pit and go to perdition. And those who dwell on the earth will marvel, whose names are not written in the Book of Life from the foundation of the world, when they see the beast that was, and is not, and yet is.”—Revelation 17:8 (NKJV)
These verses also tell us that the names that are found in the Book of Life have been written there from the foundation of the world. So, it appears that names are not being added to the Book of Life. If names are found there, they have always been there since the foundation of the world.
But other names were never written in the book of life. Who might these people be?
Whose Names Are Not Written in the Book of Life?
We are told in Proverbs that, “The Lord has made everything for its own purpose, Even the wicked [according to their role] for the day of evil.” (Proverbs 16:4 AMP).
There are some people whose hearts are evil. They have never belonged to God. They rebel against God and want nothing to do with Him.
Maybe Pharaoh (from Moses’ time) was one of these evil people. He stubbornly resisted God until every family in Egypt paid the price for his rebellion with the deaths of their firstborn children.
Some evil people are religious leaders. These evil people take on the appearance of holy men and women, but they lead many people to hell by deceiving them into believing a false gospel. Paul warned us about these evil people.
“I know that after I am gone, [false teachers like] ferocious wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; even from among your own selves men will arise, speaking perverse and distorted things, to draw away the disciples after themselves [as their followers].”—Acts 20:29-30 (AMP)
Jesus also warned us about these evil people and called them out during His ministry on earth, exposing them for what they really are.
“Beware of the false prophets, [teachers] who come to you dressed as sheep [appearing gentle and innocent], but inwardly are ravenous wolves.”—Matthew 7:15 (AMP)
“But woe (judgment is coming) to you, [self-righteous] scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you shut off the kingdom of heaven in front of people; for you do not enter yourselves, nor do you allow those who are [in the process of] entering to do so.”—Matthew 23:13 (AMP)
“Woe to you, [self-righteous] scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you travel over sea and land to make a single proselyte (convert to Judaism), and when he becomes a convert, you make him twice as much a son of hell as you are.”—Matthew 23:15 (AMP)
All people are not children of God. There are some people who are literally children of the devil, rather than children of God. Jesus made this clear to us in His parable of the Wheat and the Tares in Matthew 13. The names of these people may have never been written in the Book of Life. One of these was Elymas the sorcerer.
“But Elymas the sorcerer (for so his name is translated) withstood them, seeking to turn the proconsul away from the faith. Then Saul, who also is called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked intently at him and said, ‘O full of all deceit and all fraud, you son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, will you not cease perverting the straight ways of the Lord?’”—Acts 13:8-10 (NKJV)
John told us how to distinguish the true children of God from the children of the devil.
“By this the children of God and the children of the devil are clearly identified: anyone who does not practice righteousness [who does not seek God’s will in thought, action, and purpose] is not of God, nor is the one who does not [unselfishly] love his [believing] brother.”—1 John 3:10 (AMP)
Those whose names were never written in the Book of Life may also include those who, in the parable of the Sower, received the seed of the Gospel message by the wayside. As Jesus explained:
“When anyone hears the word of the kingdom, and does not understand it, then the wicked one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is he who received seed by the wayside.”—Matthew 13:19 (NKJV)
These are people who may have been exposed to the Gospel message, but did not receive it and accept it in their hearts.
But there are many other people whose names were written in the Book of Life from the foundation of the world.
Whose Names are Written in the Book of Life?
From the Scriptures, we learn that those whose names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life are God’s people. They belong to God. They are His children. Some are Jews by genealogy and others are Gentiles.
“Indeed, true companion, I ask you also, help these women who have shared my struggle in the cause of the gospel, together with Clement as well as the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the book of life.”—Philippians 4:3 (NASB)
Having your name written in the Lamb’s Book of Life is cause for rejoicing and thanksgiving because of the wonderful eternal benefits that come with it.
“Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven.”—Luke 10:20 (NKJV)
“But you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly, to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God, the Judge of all, to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.”—Hebrews 12:22-24 (NIV)
Those whose names are found written in the Book of Life receive benefits and protections in this life, as well as in the next. Daniel was told of the special protection and provision that God’s people will receive during the Great Tribulation period.
“Daniel, at that time the great prince Michael will stand up. Michael is in charge of your people. There will be a time of much trouble, the worst time since nations have been on earth. But Daniel, at that time every one of your people whose name is found written in the book of life will be saved.—Daniel 12:1 (ERV)
Those written in the Lamb’s Book of Life will have privileged access to the New Jerusalem on the New Earth.
“But nothing that defiles or profanes or is unwashed shall ever enter it, nor anyone who commits abominations (unclean, detestable, morally repugnant things) or practices falsehood, but only those whose names are recorded in the Lamb’s Book of Life.”—Revelation 21:27 (AMPC)
But some names may be blotted out of the Book of Life.
Who are those people?
We’ll focus on that next.
Back: The Messenger to the Sardis Age
