THIS WAS YOUR LIFE... Text: Revelation 20:11-15 Introduction: WE LIVE IN A DAY IN WHICH IT IS POSSIBLE FOR ANYONE TO WRITE A BOOK AND MAKE MONEY. SOME OF THE WORST CRIMINALS IN THE HISTORY OF THE WORLD HAVE MADE MILLIONS "TELLING THEIR SIDE OF THE STORY." OTHERS, BEING THE VICTIMS OF CRIMES, HAVE ALSO WRITTEN TO TELL THEIR SIDE OF THE STORY, AND TO CASH IN ON THE SUDDEN WINDFALL. O.J. SIMPSON HAS WRITTEN HIS BOOK. MEMBERS OF THE JURY HAVE WRITTEN THEIR BOOK. THE PROSECUTOR’S HAVE WRITTEN THEIRS. AND WHO KNOWS HOW MANY MORE MAY BE IN THE WORKS. OTHERS WRITE ROMANCE NOVELS. SOME WRITE SCIENCE FICTION. SOME WRITE DRAMA. SOME WRITE POEMS. SOME WRITE BIOGRAPHIES. SOME WRITE AUTOBIOGRAPHIES. SOME WRITE TO ENLIGHTEN THE PUBLIC, SOME WRITE TO CONFUSE THE PUBLIC. THE FACT IS, EVERYONE WANTS TO WRITE A BOOK! ME INCLUDED. MY POINT IS THIS, PEOPLE WRITE BOOKS ALL THE TIME, ABOUT ANYTHING AND EVERYTHING-- AND SOME BOOKS HAVE ACTUALLY BEEN WORTH READING. SOME ARE NOT SO IMPORTANT, WHILE OTHERS ARE OF THE UTMOST IMPORTANCE. LET ME ASK YOU A QUESTION THIS MORNING, HAVE YOU EVER BEEN INCLUDED IN A BOOK? EVER HAD YOUR LIFE’S STORY RECORDED? MOST OF YOU ARE THINKING, "No way! I’m a nobody. My life is so boring it cost me money just to get people to pay attention to me." THAT IS WHAT THE DEVIL WOULD LOVE FOR YOU TO BELIEVE. HE LOVES FOR YOU TO THINK THAT NO ONE IS WATCHING. THAT NO ONE CARES WHAT YOU DO OR WHAT YOU SAY. THE DEVIL LOVES FOR YOU TO THINK THAT YOU’RE NOT IMPORTANT. THAT YOUR LIFE’S STORY ISN’T WORTH WRITING. WELL FRIEND, THE DEVIL IS A LIAR. YOU ARE IMPORTANT! SO IMPORTANT THAT GOD IS WRITING YOUR LIFE’S STORY EACH AND EVERY MOMENT. MOST PEOPLE AREN’T AWARE THAT GOD HAS THAT MUCH INTEREST IN THEIR LIFE, BUT HE DOES. YOU SEE, GOD IS A GOD OF JUSTICE. AND GOD IS GOING TO BE AS HONEST AND STRAIGHT FORWARD WITH YOU AS HE CAN POSSIBLY BE. THAT IS WHY HE IS RECORDING YOUR LIFE. BECAUSE THERE WILL COME A DAY IN WHICH WE WILL ALL HAVE TO STAND BEFORE OUR MAKER, AND WHEN WE DO, THERE WILL BE NO DENYING ANY PART OF THE LIFE THAT WE HAVE LIVED WHILE HERE ON THIS EARTH. SOMEONE ONCE ASKED THE GREAT STATESMAN DANIEL WEBSTER; "What is the greatest thought that has ever passed through your mind?" QUICK AS A FLASH, WEBSTER REPLIED; "My accountability to God!" NOW I DON’T PROFESS TO KNOW HOW GOD KEEPS A RECORD OF OUR LIVES. (If we can make a camera, video, x-ray, cassette, surely God can record the intent and content of our lives.) BUT I DO KNOW WHY GOD KEEPS A RECORD! 1. To uphold His Just nature 2. For proof of our guilt (for us, not Him) YEARS AGO, THERE WAS A PROGRAM ON TELEVISION ENTITLED, "THIS IS YOUR LIFE..." THE ENTIRE PROGRAM WAS BASED ON THE IDEA OF BRING A PERSON ON STAGE, AND THEN BEGINNING A "REVIEW" OF THEIR PAST. THE SHOW WOULD BRING IN FORMER TEACHERS, FRIENDS, FAMILY MEMBERS, CO-WORKERS, AND ANYONE ELSE THAT MIGHT HELP PIECE TOGETHER THIS PERSONS LIFE. WELL, THAT IS THE GENERAL IDEA OF REV. 20:11-15. EXCEPT IT’S NOT TO REMIND YOU OF THE GOOD OLD DAYS, BUT TO DETERMINE YOUR STANDING WITH ALMIGHTY GOD. NOW IT’S INTERESTING TO NOTE THAT THE BIBLE SAYS IN VS. 12, THAT "THE BOOKS WERE OPENED" WHICH MEANS THAT WE’RE TALKING ABOUT MORE THAN ONE BOOK. ACTUALLY, I THINK ON THE DAY OF JUDGEMENT THERE WILL BE FOUR BOOKS OPENED. THE FIRST IS... I. THE BOOK OF LIFE (OR THE LIVING) THIS BOOK IS FIRST MENTION IN EXODUS 32:32-33, BUT IT IS CLEARLY THE SAME BOOK MENTIONED IN REV. 20:12. In that passage of Scripture, Moses is interceding on the behalf of the children of Israel because they had made and worshiped the golden calf. Moses is begging God to pardon their iniquity. "If thou wilt forgive their sin-; and if not, blot me, I pray thee, out of thy book which thou hast written. And the Lord said unto Moses, whosoever hath sinned against me, him will I blot out of my book." The psalmist also referred to this book in 69:28; when David pleaded with God to judge the iniquity of his enemy and "let them be blotted out of the book of the living, and not be written with the righteous." The book that is referred to here is a record of everyone that is now alive in the flesh. Aren’t you glad this morning that your name is still recorded? But the fact is at some point in our life, our name will be scratched from that book. The Bible is plain, "it is appointed unto man once to die, and then the judgement." While we all want to live forever, the truth is we have no control over the time in which we will dwell in the flesh. Only God has the right and the ability to give or take away life. There are three ways to have one’s name blotted out of this Book Of The Living: 1. sinning against God (Ex.32:33) I am not suggesting one can lose his salvation, because here I am merely referring to the Book of the Living. 2. not being clothed in the righteousness of Christ (Rev. 3:5) 3. taking away from the words of this prophecy (Rev. 22:19) The important thing is for us to rejoice that our names are written in the book of the living, and make the best of the time that Almighty God has given us. Because one day, before we know it, we’ve come to the end of our earthly journey, and it is then that we will encounter Our Maker, face to face. It is then that man will give the most important personal interview of his life.. It is then, that man will hear God ask the question that will determine the eternal destiny of countless multitudes from ages past and present..."WHY SHOULD I LET YOU INTO MY HEAVEN?" AT THAT TIME PEOPLE WILL OFFER EVERY REASON THEIR FEEBLE MINDS CAN THINK OF. THEY WILL RECALL EVERY GOOD THOUGHT, EVERY GOOD DEED, EVERY GOOD WORD EVER SPOKEN... BUT WILL IT BE ENOUGH, TO GET YOU INTO HEAVEN? WHILE YOU TRY TO ANSWER THE QUESTION, AND FIND A WAY TO GET INTO HEAVEN-- ALMIGHTY GOD WILL REACH DOWN AND TAKE ANOTHER BOOK WHICH IS... II. THE BOOK OF WORKS Let me make clear what we see recorded in this passage. The "dead" are the ones being judged. BUT WHO ARE THE DEAD? Are we talking about everyone that has died? NO! We’re talking about those who have never ACCEPTED JESUS AS LORD! Those dead in trespasses and sins. THE BIBLE IS CLEAR THAT THERE WILL BE A SEPARATE JUDGEMENT FOR CHRISTIANS, WHERE WE WILL HAVE OUR WORKS JUDGED AND REWARDED. (Bible says when we die, we go to LIVE with Him!) The Bible say in verse 11, that "the earth and heaven fled away" that means there will be no place to hide, to place to run. And guess who will there to sit in judgement upon these people? The Lord Jesus Christ Himself! John 5:22 says; "For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgement unto the Son." And who will be there to face the judgement? Well the Bible says "all the dead" will be there. Those in the grave, those buried at sea, those who souls have been held captive in hades, those cremated, no one will escape the judgement of God in this last day. And Jesus Christ will judge these individuals on the basis of what is written in "the books." Understand that we’re talking about more than just the book of works here, because there also will be the Word of God. Jesus said in John 12:48; "the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day." Every sinner will be held accountable for the truth that he or she has heard in this life. Because there is a "book of works" does this suggest that we can work our way to heaven? NOT AT ALL- Eph. 2:8-9 says "By grace are ye saved, through faith, not of works lest any man should boast, it is the gift of God." SO WHY A BOOK OF WORKS FOR THE LOST? To determine the degree of punishment they will endure in hell. Their rejection of Jesus has already determined their destiny. But Jesus is a righteous judge, and He will assign each sinner the place he deserves. Some people don’t believe there will be degrees of punishment, but Matthew 11 :20-24 clearly teaches that there will be, and each one will receive what is due them. There will be no arguing with the Lord Jesus, or questioning His decision-- because the books will reveal the truth. When the judgement is over, these people, along with death and hell (hades) will be cast into the lake of fire to experience the second death... which is also eternal death. Some people don’t understand why hell exists, and some even deny it. Thinking that God will love everyone into heaven and send no one to hell. That is contrary to the teaching of Scripture. Hell is a witness to the righteous character of God. He must judge sin. Hell is a witness to man’s responsibility. You are a creature with the ability to made decisions for yourself. Hell is a witness to the awfulness of sin. If we could see it as God it, we would understand why hell exist. But before the judgement is carried out, and as people beg and plead for Him to search the book one last time, Jesus Christ will take and search that last book one final time. AND WHAT IS THAT LAST BOOK? IT IS... III. THE LAMB’S BOOK OF LIFE It contains only the names of those individuals who have called upon the Lamb of God for salvation. The biggest difference between this book and the Book of life, is that YOU CAN NEVER HAVE YOUR NAME BLOTTED OUT OF THIS ONE! This is what the virgin birth was all about. This is why Jesus came in the flesh. This is why he endured the suffering of man. The agony of the cross. The experience of the grave... TO RECORD THE NAMES OF EVERY PERSON WHO WOULD ACCEPT HIS SACRIFICIAL WORK. HE DIED SO WE WOULDN’T HAVE TOO. HE SAW THIS DAY COMING, HE KNEW MAN WOULD BE UNABLE TO LIVE UP TO THE DEMANDS OF GOD’S HOLINESS. HE HAD TO BECOME SIN, TO KEEP US FROM BEING JUDGED FOR OUR SIN. In light of Calvary, no lost sinner can condemn God for casting them into hell. God provided a way of escape, and He waited patiently for sinners to repent. He will not lower His standards or alter His requirements. God has ordained that faith in His Son is the only way to escape hell. In a sense, the Lamb’s book of Life is God’s double check. For as a man comes forward, he is judged from the Word of God, from the book of life and the book of his works. And just before he is cast into the lake of fire, the recording angel takes one last look-- and the most agonizing words one could hear-- IT’S NOT HERE... BUT IT CAN BE! THE DOUBLE CHECK POINTS TO A CONSISTENT PRINCIPLE IN THE SCRIPTURES- THAT THERE ARE ONLY TWO KINDS OF PEOPLE. Believers & non-believers. Saved or unsaved. Condemned or not condemned. Just or unjust. Wise or unwise. IN THAT HOUR THERE WILL BE NO HESITATION, NO INDECISION, FOR EITHER A NAME IS WRITTEN OR IT IS NOT WRITTEN IN THE LAMB’S BOOK OF LIFE. Jesus said; "verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on Him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into judgement, but is passed from death unto life." (Jn 5:24) WHEN YOU STAND BEFORE THE LORD AND HE SAYS "THIS WAS YOUR LIFE" WILL YOUR NAME BE FOUND?
Posted on: Fri, 30 Aug 2013 21:54:56 +0000
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