THE BOOK OF LIFE AND THE LAKE OF FIRE

PROCLAMATION

“Anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire.”  Revelation 20:15 (NIV)

 

EXPLANATION

These are the words of prophecy which were revealed to, and written by, the Apostle John, under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God.  In this twentieth chapter of Revelation, while he was still in the spirit, John saw another angel coming down from heaven with the key to the Abyss in his hand.  The angel seized the dragon, who is the devil or Satan, and bound him for a thousand years.  He threw him into the Abyss and sealed it. (Revelation 20:1-3)  Then John saw the souls of those who would reign with Christ for a thousand years.  (Revelation 20:4-6)  When the thousand years are over, Satan will be released for a short while and will again go out and deceive the nations.  He will gather the nations to do battle against God’s people, but fire will come down from heaven and devour them.  Then the devil will be thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet were thrown.  They will be tormented there day and night forever. (Revelation 20:7-10)  Then John saw a great white throne and he saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne.  Books were open from which the dead were judged.  Anyone whose name was not found in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire.  Death and Hades were also thrown into the lake of fire.  This is called the second death. (Revelation 20:11-15)

 

APPLICATION

All of the dead unbelievers, the great and small, the young and old, the free and slave, stood before the great white throne.  Each of them was judged according to what they had done as written in the books. (Revelation 20:12)  Their life was reviewed to reveal that they had the opportunity to accept Christ, but they rejected Him.  Therefore their name was not written in The Lamb’s book of life.  Anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire. (Revelation 20:15) )  Repent, the kingdom of God is coming.

 

WHO CAN WITHSTAND THE WRATH OF GOD

Proclamation:

“It is You alone who are to be feared.  Who can stand before You when You are angry?  From heaven You pronounced judgment, and the land feared and was quiet; when You, God, rose up to judge, to save all the afflicted of the land.”  Psalm 76:7-9 (NIV)

Explanation:

The words of the psalm were written under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God by Asaph, a Levite who was an outstanding musician in the days of King David, who was also appointed minister of music or choir leader.  This psalm depicts the awesome power and the wrath of God, and why He is to be feared.  He rose up, judged, and destroyed the Assyrian army to protect Jerusalem for King David’s sake from Sennacherib, King of Assyria. (Psalm 76:5)  The Angel of The Lord destroyed the entire Assyrian army in one night while they slept. (2 Kings 19:34-36 and Isaiah 37:35-37)

Application:

The fear of the wrath of God should be enough to cause all men to praise The Lord. (Psalm 76:10)  However, there will come a day when all mankind will recognize and respect Him for who He is, and everyone will bow down to Him. (Isaiah 45:23 and Romans 14:11)  Some of us will see Him as Lord and Savior and will blessed to be with Him in glory, while others will see Him as judge and will be condemned to spend eternity in the lake of fire. (Revelation 20:12-15)

OH I WANT TO SEE HIM TO LOOK UPON HIS FACE

Proclamation:

“On the wicked He will rain fiery coals and burning sulfur; a scorching wind will be their lot.  For The Lord is righteous, He loves justice; the upright will see His face.”  Psalm 11:6-7 (NIV)

Explanation:

These words were written under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God by King David.  This untitled psalm seems to address the same subject as the previous two psalms, Psalm 9 and Psalm 10.  It addresses the wicked who are preparing to harm the righteous. (Psalm 11:2)  The wicked will also attack and attempt to destroy the foundations of the believers in Christ. (Psalm 11:3)  David made it clear that his trust and refuge is in The Lord.  For The Lord sees the wicked and those who love violence and He will deal with them. (Psalm 11:4-5)  The Lord will raid down fire and brimstone upon them, and in the end they will burn in the lake of fire and brimstone (Revelation 21:8) and they will be tormented day and night for ever and ever. (Revelation 20:10)  However, believers will be rewarded with the pleasure of being with The Lord God and seeing His holy face. (Psalm 17:15)

Application:

The question has been asked, what can the righteous do against the wicked? (Psalm 11:3)  The answer is that we can pray and “kill them with kindness.”  When we treat those who do us wrong with kindness, we “heap burning coals upon their heads.” (Romans 12:20)  The Lord has said that vengeance is His and that He will take care of them. (Romans 12:19)  He will rain down fire and brimstone upon them and they will spend eternity in the lake of fire.  We need not worry about the wicked or the evil doers.  All we need to do is to keep the faith, meditate on His Holy Word, walk in His way, and spread the gospel to others.  If we do this, when our time comes to give an account of our stewardship, we will hear Him say, “Well done, good and faithful servant … enter into the joy of thy Lord.” (Matthew 25:23)  This psalm ends with the phrase, “… the upright will see His face.”  It reminds me of the words of an old spiritual song:

“Oh, I want to see Him, look upon His face

There to sing forever of His saving grace

On the streets of glory let me lift my voice

Cares all past, home at last, ever to rejoice.”

THE DAY OF THE LORD IS NEAR

Proclamation:

"The great day of The Lord is near ... That day will be a day of wrath ... ‘I will bring such distress on all people that … have sinned against The Lord’ … In the fire of His jealousy the whole earth will be consumed …”  Zephaniah 1:14-18 (NIV)

Explanation:

These words were written under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God by the prophet Zephaniah warning the people that God is not pleased with the behavior of mankind.  This prophecy was a warning of the imminent judgement of the tribe of Judah.

Application:

There are many Bible scholars who believe that this is also a warning that applies to mankind today. "The Day of The Lord" is a day of wrath, trouble, distress, devastation, destruction, darkness, gloominess, clouds and thick darkness. (Zephaniah 1:15)  Most people do not like "hell fire and brimstone" preaching but the lake of fire is mentioned in The Bible. "And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire." (Revelation 20:15)  And, this earth will be destroyed, many believe that this time it will be by fire.  If this is to be the day that The Good Lord will destroy the earth, believers need not worry because we will have been caught up in the rapture beforehand. (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17)  When we return with The Lord there will be a new earth.  The Bible says that there will be "a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away ..." (Revelation 21:1)  We are encouraged to get ourselves together before that day comes.  "Seek The Lord, all you humble of the earth ... seek righteousness, seek humility; perhaps you will be sheltered on the day of The Lord's anger." (Zephaniah 2:3)

THE NARROW LESS TRAVELED DIFFICULT ROAD

Proclamation:

"Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it." Matthew 7:13-14 (NIV)

Explanation:

These are the words which were spoken by Jesus, The Christ, near the end of The Sermon on The Mount.  Jesus taught His disciples and the surrounding crowd that the wide and well traveled road that most people take is not the way to go because that road leads to bad outcomes.  The better choice is the narrow, less traveled, more difficult road which will lead to a better life. 

Application:

The easy way is often not the best way.  Following the crowd will usually lead you to trouble.  The popular choice, entering the wide gate, includes the worldly way of non-believers and many popular religions which teach self-righteousness and rituals not based upon biblical principals.  Following Jesus, entering the narrow gate, is often difficult because we must make choices that are unpopular and that go against our sinful nature.  The wide gate will eventually lead to eternal damnation in the lake of fire. (Revelation 19:20 and 20:15)  The narrow gate will lead to eternal life with Christ.  There are many false prophets and false teachers who will lead people astray. (Matthew 7:21-23)  Choose very carefully the road you take and who you will follow, your life on earth and in eternity will depend upon it.