Robert McLaughlin Bible Ministries
The Doctrine of the Book of Life, Part 7. What it means to have the privilege of entering the gates of the city.
Wednesday, May 16, 2001
Point 4. The Results of the Believer Who Doesn’t Have His Name Blotted out of the Book of Life.
The believer who does not have his name blotted out of the book of life will be able to eat of the Tree of Life in the middle of the Paradise of God, REV 2:7.
Those who do not have their names blotted out of the book of life are not hurt by the Second death, REV 2:11.
a. He will not be hurt by the second death, REV 20:6,11.
litotes = an understatement in which an affirmative is expressed by negating its opposite.
b. Even if they take your physical life, they can never touch your eternal destiny, 1TI 6:12; 2TI 4:7.
REV 20:14 “And death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire.”
REV 21:8 “But for the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.”
c. God is the one who imputes soul-life to the body, so the winner believer experiences no hurt from the second death from his loved ones.
JOB 5:25 “You will know also that your descendants will be prosperous, And your offspring as the grass of the earth.”
DEU 28:4 “Blessed shall be the offspring of your body”
REV 2:17, the believer who does not have his name blotted out of the book of life shall eat of the hidden manna and receive a new name on a white stone.
A victor’s prize at the games often included objects of value and gifts of gold, 1CO 3:11-15.
The winner also received a certificate of victory – a small tablet of white stone in which the name of the victor was inscribed by an expert carver.
This name is known to no one but Christ and the one to whom He gives it.
The secrecy of the name implies a special relationship between Christ and each overcomer.
REV 2:26 – the winner believer who does not have his name blotted out of the book of life is given power and authority to rule nations.
A command that everyone keeps is needless for commendation, and a reward that everyone receives for a virtue that everyone has, is nonsense.
REV 3:5 – the winner believer who does not have his name blotted out of the book of life is clothed in white garments or the uniform of glory.
The “white robes” are the righteousness of the saints, not the imputed righteousness of God, REV 3:18; 4:4; 7:14; 19:14.
REV 3:12 – title written in the historical record section of heaven and he has a coat of arms which allows him to enter the new Jerusalem.
They have this “New title” written upon them as they follow their fearless leader back to earth, REV 19:11-16.
REV 3:21 – the believer who does not have his name blotted out of the book of life is granted to sit with Christ on His throne.
REV 21:7 – the winner believer who does not have his name blotted out of the book of life will inherit fantastic blessings in the eternal state.
COL 3:23-24 “Whatever you do, accomplish it from the soul as to the Lord and not to mankind; knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance [escrow blessings]. You serve the Lord Christ.”
The things which the overcomer possesses refer to ownership in contrast to residence in the New Jerusalem.
JOH 4:14 “but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life.”
He addresses a second group to whom he holds out the possibility of inheriting, of earning a reward by victorious perseverance.
The believer who does not have his name or title or inheritance blotted out of the book of life is one whom God is not ashamed of.
HEB 11:16 But as it is, they desire a better country, that is a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God; for He has prepared a city for them.
In the Greek text this is emphatic = “and may by the gates enter into the city.”
PRO 1:21 At the head of the noisy {streets} she cries out; At the entrance of the gates in the city, she utters her sayings: PRO 8:3 Beside the gates, at the opening to the city, At the entrance of the doors, she cries out: PRO 8:34 “Blessed is the man who listens to me, Watching daily at my gates, Waiting at my doorposts.”
PRO 31:23 Her husband is known in the gates, When he sits among the elders of the land. PRO 31:31 Give her the product of her hands, And let her works praise her in the gates.