The Book of Life

Well, this morning I thought we would talk a little bit about the book of life. And you may understand that this book is referenced within the Bible. The book of life is not the Bible, even though the Bible is a great book of life. It gives tremendous life. It gives tremendous joy when we obey it and follow it.

But the book of life I’m talking about is found in Revelation chapter 20 and verses 12 through 15. And there the Apostle John writes these words, “…and I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the book of life.

And the dead were judged according to their works by the things which were written in the books.” Verse 13 says, “…the sea gave up the dead who were in it, and death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one according to their works. Then death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And anyone not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.”

Well, what is the book of life and who writes it and who are written within it? Those are basically the questions that we want to answer briefly this morning. So first of all, let’s talk about what is the book of life. It’s a book that God has within His possession in which we recognize those that are written within it are the ones who have life.

And what kind of life do they have? They have spiritual life. They have the abundant life. They have eternal life. That is, those who are written in the book of life. In Luke chapter 10, in verse 20, Jesus says that those who are written in it have joy, that it brings joy to those who are written in it.

In Revelation 13 and verse 8, it’s called the book of life of the Lamb, meaning that Jesus has something to do with this book of life. In Revelation 20, verses 12 through 15 that we’ve just read, it contains the names of those who are saved, but it does not contain the name of those who are lost.

And in Exodus 32, verses 32 and 33, and Revelation 3 and verse 5, we learn that names can be blotted out of the book of life. So this book of life is discussed in several places in the Bible, and it is the book of those who are saved.

Those who are written in this book are those who will one day enjoy eternal life with God and Christ in heaven. Well, who does the writing? Who writes these names within the book of life? And, contrarily, who blots them out?

Well, in Exodus chapter 32 and verses 32 and 33, Moses there is talking about the children of Israel and God is speaking to Moses. And there were some problems there and Moses and God were talking and it was mentioned that God has the power to blot out names from the book of life, which means that if someone isn’t behaving correctly and someone turns their back on God and doesn’t want to follow Him, that He may very well blot their name out from the book of life.

And also, in Revelation 3 and verse 5, this is mentioned, but instead of God saying He’s the one who’s going to do it, it says that Jesus can blot someone’s name out of the book of life. And Revelation 13 and verse 8 also comments upon that. So when we think about who writes the names in and who blots them out, it’s both God and Christ. They are the ones who do the writing for this book of life.

Well, who are written in the book of life? Well, we see as we’ve read in Revelation 20 and verses 12 through 15 that the saved are written in the book of life and we can turn over another page to Revelation 21 and verse 27 and notice that it’s those who do not sin, who keep sin out of their lives.

Those are the ones who are written in the book of life. In Isaiah chapter 4 and verse 3, it’s commented there that those who are holy, H-O-L-Y, holy, are written in the book of life. And Daniel comments in Daniel 12, verses 1 through 3, it’s those who have been delivered who are written in the book of life.

And we see Philippians 4 and verse 3 that Paul writes to some Christians in the church at Philippi and he talks about those who labor in the kingdom together with Him that their names are written in the book of life.

And finally, in Hebrews 12 and verse 23, we see that it is those who are members of the church who are registered in heaven, meaning that their names are in that book of life. And then finally this morning, we ask, who are not written in the book of life?

Well, we’ve already made reference to Exodus 32 and verses 32 and 33 that those who sin can have their names blotted out of the book of life. In Psalm 69 and verses 27 and 28, we see that it’s those who oppose the righteous that they are not going to be written in the book of life.

Revelation 3 and verse 5 says that those who do not overcome the sins of this life, those will be written in the book of life. Those who worship the beast, Revelation 13 and verse 8 and Revelation 17 and verse 8, they will not be written in the book of life. So all of these will not be written in the book.

And then, those who take away from the words of God, Revelation 22 and verse 19, their names will not be in the book of life. We have some wonderful songs about the book of life that we sing from time to time, and one of those is, Is Your Name Written There?

And that’s a song that maybe we can think about when we think about this book of life. How can we be assured that our name is in the book of life and it will not be blotted out? Well, we need to hear the gospel of Jesus Christ. For faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. Romans chapter 10 and verse 17. We need to believe that gospel. For without faith, it’s impossible to be pleasing to God. For he that comes to God must believe that He is and that He’s a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.

Hebrews 11 and verse 6. We need to repent of our sins. For the times of ignorance God once winked at, but now He commands all men everywhere to repent. Acts chapter 17 and verse 30. One needs to confess that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, because with the heart man believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. Romans 10 and verse 10.

And then one needs to be baptized to identify with Christ, Galatians chapter 3 and verse 27, and to have His sins forgiven, Acts chapter 2 and verse 38, and to be saved, Mark chapter 16, verses 15 and 16. And if one does these things, he or she may have his or her name written in the book of life. Now, what do we need to do to keep it there to make sure that it doesn’t get blotted out? Well, we need to stay faithful unto death. Revelation chapter 2 and verse 10, and then once this life is over, we will receive the crown of life because our name will have been written in the book of life.

Maybe there’s someone here this morning who needs to have their name written in the book of life. Well, this morning you can come forward and we’ll be happy to study with you more if you want to do that, or you can become a child of God today. We will baptize you in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and you can become a Christian this very hour. Is your name in the book of life? I hope it is, but if not, you can do something about that this morning. While together we stand and while we sing.

End of transcript. Thank you for reading along!