And The Books Were Opened

Revelation 20:10-15, “And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever. And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. 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. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.”

This passage of Scripture speaks of the time of judgment following the 1,000 Millennial reign of Jesus Christ over the earth. There will be A GREAT WHITE THRONE, upon which a holy God will judge “THE DEAD” (mentioned 4 times in the preceding passage) throughout human civilization, who DIED IN THEIR SINS without having receiving God's free gift of eternal life through faith in Jesus Christ. NO ONE will escape this judgment except the saints of God. If you are a Christ-rejecter, you should be afraid—VERY AFRAID! The Bible tells us that earth and heaven will flee away. There will just be the blackness of the universe and God sitting in judgment upon His GREAT WHITE THRONE! I am so glad that I will not be judged (because I am redeemed) at this criminal court trial. The Bible says, “THE BOOKS WERE OPENED,” speaking of the future in past tense, as if it has already happened. That is amazing! Bible prophecy is history written in advance! 

Friend, every sin that you have ever committed is recorded in Heaven. One of the most wicked places on planet earth is Las Vegas. This place is so evil that its Chamber Of Commerce decided to nickname their town: “SIN CITY!” Their popular motto is: “What HAPPENS in Vegas STAYS in Vegas!” Don't count in it dear reader! The Bible says what HAPPENS in Vegas is RECORDED in Heaven. That is why THE BOOKS WILL BE OPENED!!! Whether looking for licentious filth, fornication, adultery, a homosexual fling, nudity, drugs, partying, orgies, gambling, lewd entertainment, drunkenness—you'll find it all in Las Vegas! They don't call it “SIN CITY” for nothing! 

But, Oh, how the Devil is a beautiful liar! The Devil always shows you the bright neon lights of the Vegas Strip, he doesn't show you the Nevada state prison system, the local hospitals and morgue. Satan doesn't show you the hurting families, financially devastated by a man with a gambling sin problem. The Devil doesn't show you the broken hearts, ruined lives, graves, divorces and shame that sin brings! Las Vegas has one of the highest divorce rates in the nation! Sin thrills and then it kills! Sin fascinates and then it assassinates! Perhaps you say, “I went to Las Vegas and sinned, but nothing bad happened to me!” What saith the Scripture? Ecclesiastes 8:12-13, “Though a sinner do evil an hundred times, and his days be prolonged, yet surely I know that it shall be well with them that fear God, which fear before him: But it shall not be well with the wicked, neither shall he prolong his days, which are as a shadow; because he feareth not before God.” 

I am an old-fashioned kind of guy. I love actual books! I don't like how everything today is moving toward the internet, and computers are taking over. Technology is a double-edged sword. The Gospel has never been preached like it is today because of the amazing internet. Yet, sin has never been so prevalent as it is today, because wicked people abuse the internet. I am saddened and frustrated by the greed, smut, slander, click bait and unethical buttonholing that is prevalent on the internet today. 

When I was a boy in the 1970's, Playboy magazines were a really big thing for sinful men, which Hugh Hefner (1926-2017) began publishing in 1953, starting with Marilyn Monroe (1926-1962). I mean, if you wanted to see a naked woman, you didn't have many options in the 1970's, except retail store catalogs and Playboy. I read a few years ago that Playboy doesn't publish naked photos of women anymore, because the internet is saturated with smut! Isn't that tragic! Any child who has unrestricted access to the internet, can see the most ungodly of lewd and indecent images. Could the government put a stop to this? Of course they could, but Satan is the god of this world (2nd Corinthians 4:4). It is much simpler to just blame parents (and they are to blame), but the people who put the filth on the internet, and the government that allows it, are much more to blame! Ecclesiastes 8:13b, “it shall not be well with the wicked, neither shall he prolong his days, which are as a shadow; because he feareth not before God.” Everything is recorded in God's books! 

Dear friend, what does God have recorded in Heaven about you? Did you know that the average person speaks about 30,000 words per day. If those words were put into print, they would amount to a fair-sized book per day. These books would, in a lifetime, fill a good-sized college library! What's in your library? Matthew 12:36, “But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment.” God is going to hold every human being accountable for every idle word spoken! How much more will God hold us all accountable for sinful words spoken? Words are VERY important and powerful if articulated carefully from a wise heart. Proverbs 25:11, “A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver.”

God is keeping record up in Heaven of your life my friend. 'THIS WAS YOUR LIFE!' Saved and unsaved alike will give account to God (Romans 14:10-12). For the Christian believer, Christ has removed the STING of death (1st Corinthians 15:55-56), through the blood that He shed for our sins on the cross. The believer will be held accountable for the “GOOD OR BAD” done in the body (2nd Corinthians 5:9-11), but there will be no condemnation for our sins, because we are forgiven in Christ (John 3:18). The unbelieving will be condemned (i.e., damned to Hell forever), because they believed not on the Son of God (John 3:36). 

Please notice that a separate book is mentioned in our text passage from Revelation 20:10-15, called the: “LAMB'S BOOK OF LIFE.” Everybody's name is recorded in this book, even before you were born! Moses was a humble man, was a servant's heart. Moses loved his people so much, that he offered to have his name blotted out of God's book, so that the Jews could be forgiven of their sins (i.e., dancing naked while worshipping an idol of a Golden Calf). Exodus 32:32, “Yet now, 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.” I love God's justice! The Lord told Moses that He judges THE INDIVIDUAL for their own sins. I believe that book spoken of by Moses is the LAMB'S BOOK OF LIFE! When a person knowingly rejects Jesus as their personal Savior, that sinner's name is immediately BLOTTED OUT! All babies have their name written in the LAMB'S BOOK OF LIFE, which is why they all go to Heaven! 

Also we read in Revelation 3:5, “He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels.” How do we overcome? 1st John 5:4-5, “For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?” The white raiment represents the imputed righteousness of God, obtained through faith alone in Jesus Christ. Philippians 3:9, “And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith:”

The important thing to remember dear reader, is that God is monitoring and recording EVERYTHING that we think (Proverbs 24:12), say (Matthew 12:36) and do (Ecclesiastes 12:14); and He is going to judge every human being accordingly. How we are judged will greatly depend on whether or not one is a redeemed child of God. 1st Peter 4:17, “For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?”