Learn what will happen during the tribulation period from beginning to end
Your comments and questions are always welcome. To send comments and questions please click here to go to our main page Question July 10, 1999 Pastor Malone: I recently told my Sunday School class I thought there were two books.
A book of life which you could be taken out of, and the Lambs book of
life which you could not be taken out of. Can you shed some light on
this as they did not agree. Thanks Whitten Answer Dear Whitten: Thanks for your question. This question is very important, but few
understand what these two books represent. The Book of Life is the book
that records everyone who has ever lived or ever will live. When one dies
in their sin's, he/she is blotted out of the book of life. It is very
important for us to remember that Old Testament Saints were justified by
faith. Even though Christ had not yet died for the sin's of the world,
salvation was still available through faith in the coming Messiah. "These all died in faith (Old Testament Saints), not having received the
promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and
embraced them not having seen the promise..." (Hebrews 11:13a) Because of their faith in the Promise (which is Jesus) to come, they were
not blotted out of the Book of Life. They desired a better country. The Lamb's Book of Life is the book that records all those who have received
Christ. This book will consist of only the names of the New Testament
Saints. Those listed in this book are considered to be a gift from God to
His Son Jesus. They are the bride of Christ. Revelation 20:12 describes a time of final judgment for those who are lost.
"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." Here each person who has ever lived (who is lost) will be judged
individually based upon their works. It will not be to determine if they
are good enough to get into heaven. This judgment will determine the
severity of their eternal torment. Notice that verse 12 records the
opening of three books. Only the Book of Life is mentioned by name. The
other two books are the Book of Standards (The Bible) and the Book of
Remembrance. The Book of Standards will be the standard in which the lost
will be judged. Of course, without Christ they will not measure up. The
Book of Remembrance is the book that records every deed ever performed, good
or bad, by those who are lost. Again, without Christ, all their evil deeds
will be remembered and held against them. What a horrible moment in time it will be for billions of people. Lost,
without hope, and without excuse.
But why are these people being judged, if in the end, they're all going to be cast into the lake of fire? Just as there will be varying degrees of rewards in heaven, there will also be varying degrees of punishment for those who are cast into the lake of fire. You may ask, "What's worse then being thrown into a lake of fire for an eternity?" I don't know, only God can answer that question, but there will be something worse.
Pastor Malone