TREASURY OF SERMONS
The Books of Death and the Book of Life
By Rev (Dr) Jeffrey Khoo
We often hear this saying, "Crime does not pay."
This is a true statement. Thieves, robbers, kidnappers, cheats,
murderers etc will no escape the long arm of the law. In the Straits
Times we have a regular feature called, "In the Courts" which
reports on the proceedings of the many trials that go on in our law
courts. This is of course to remind us that crime does not pay.
Severe punishment awaits those who break the law. Drug trafficking
gets the death sentence. Many offences warrant the rotan.
If we have laws in this world, and punishment
meted out against those who violate those laws, it should not
surprise us if there is judgement in the life hereafter. God exists
and He is a Judge. The judgements we see in our society point to the
great judgement in the world to come.
The Great White Throne
Judgement
The last judgement is called the Judgement of
the Great White Throne (Rev 20:11-15, Dan 7:9). Who is the Judge?
None other than the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, "For the Father
judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgement unto the Son . . .
And hath given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is
the Son of man" (John 5:22, 27).
What will man be judged for? He will be judged
for all the sins against man and against God. No one will escape
this judgement. John said in Rev 20:2 that he saw "the dead, small
and great stand, before God." The beggar will be judged. The beggar
cannot say, "I had such a poor and miserable life on earth, it is
now automatically my turn to enjoy a blissful life in heaven."
Neither can the rich towkay say, "I was have given so much of my
money to charity, and was well-liked by the people because of my
generosity, surely I qualify for heaven." This is wishful thinking.
This is not the way God judges man. We judge ourselves according to
our own standards. God judges us according to His standards. How
would we fare when measured by His yardstick of holiness?
The Books of Death
The Lord Jesus Christ will judge sinners by the
book on that day. Several books will be opened. These are the books
of death:
The book of words.
Matt 12:36-37 says, "But I say unto you that
every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account
thereof in the day of judgment. For by thy words thou shalt be
justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned." And Jesus said
in John 12:48, "He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words,
hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same
shall judge him in the last day."
The book of works.
Eccl 12:14 says, "For God shall bring every work
into judgement, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or
whether it be evil." And when our works are judged, we will discover
that the works we had done fall far short of God’s holy standards.
"For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God" (Rom
3:23). Our good works in the sight of God are as "filthy rags" (Isa
64); "there is none righteous, no not one" (Rom 3:23).
The book of motives.
This books judges our conscience and secrets of
the heart. This is the sin of the will. It records our rebellious
acts against God Himself. God has revealed Himself to sinful man
through His creation—"the heavens declare the glory of God; and the
firmament showeth his handiwork" (Ps 19:1). The beauty, design, and
order of this whole universe tell us that there is a living God who
is Creator. Yet we turn a deaf ear. We wilfully suppress and
wickedly distort the Word of God. Instead of calling Him GOD, we
spell His name backwards and call Him DOG. That is why we read in
Rom 1:18-23, "For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against
all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who hold the truth in
unrighteousness, because that, when they knew God, they glorified
him not as God, neither were they thankful; but became vain in their
imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing
themselves to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of
the uncorruptible God unto an image like to corruptible man, and to
birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things." How can we not
deserve God’s judgement?
What will be the punishment? It will be eternal
damnation in the lake of fire. Jesus described this terrible place
as a place where the fire is not quenched, and the worm dieth not.
How long will it last? It will last forever. It is the place into
which Satan and his demons including the Antichrist and False
Prophet will be cast alive (Rev 20:10).
The Book of Life
How may sinners escape this fiery judgement?
There is only one way out—be found in the book of life. How can I
have my name written in the book of life? Well, you cannot write
your name therein. Our dirty hands disqualify us from signing in our
names. Someone else must do it on our behalf.
Only one person can write your name in the book
of life, and that is the Lord of life Himself—Jesus Christ. If you
want your name to found in the book of life, you need to humble
yourself and cry out to Jesus: "O Lord, have mercy on me a sinner. I
cannot save myself. Please save me." Jesus will not turn you away
when you sincerely cry out to Him. He will receive every repentant
sinner, and cleanse him with His blood shed on the cross. He will
clothe us with His robe of righteousness, and make us His sons and
daughters. We are then saved from the Judgement of the Great White
Throne.
Is your name written in the book of life?
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