one way

Revelation 17:8
“…And those who dwell on the earth will marvel, whose names are not written in the Book of Life from the foundation of the world…”

As the angel explains the images John sees, he makes reference to the Book of Life. This book is mentioned again, in Revelation 20:15, as the guest list of heaven. All, whose names are written in this Book, will have access to heaven; those who do not, will be cast out to eternal judgment. If there is one thing you want to be certain of in this life, it is that your name is in the Lamb’s Book of Life. The question is, how do we get our names in that Book?

The Bible is very clear. Salvation is received free of charge, when we put our trust in Jesus Christ. It is something that cannot be acquired any other way. Jesus declared, He is the way, and no one could go to heaven apart from Him (John 14:6). Therefore, it is clear, our names are placed in the Book of Life when we put our trust in Christ for salvation. Since Jesus said He knows those who are His and no one can snatch them out of His hand (John 10:27-28), we conclude that our names are not written in pencil, ready to be erased at our first failure or doubt. They are written in permanent ink; we might even say, they are written in the blood of God. That being said, there is another interesting thought presented by the angel, as he refers to the Book of Life.

“…whose names are not written in the Book of Life from the foundation of the world…”

The angel suggests our names were actually written in the Book of Life from before the foundation of the world. Before we existed, before we sinned, before we cried out to Christ for salvation, our names were already written in the Book. This suggests that God has every intention and desire that you and I should go to heaven. Jesus said He was preparing a place for us (John 14:3), and all we need to do to ensure our arrival is put our trust in Christ. How tragic, that some resist the grace of God, ignore the message of the Cross, deny the pleading of their loved ones, and end up with their names removed from the book; all because they were unwilling to bend their knee in surrender to Jesus. The only thing that can remove your name from the Book is a failure to accept the forgiveness Christ provides.

Don’t let that be you.

Pastor Jim

Leviticus 17:7
“They shall no more offer their sacrifices to demons, after whom they have played the harlot. This shall be a statute forever for them throughout their generations.”

I recently received a phone call from someone claiming to be a representative from the Internal Revenue Service, who explained that I was delinquent on payments, and in danger of facing jail time. Instead of panicking, I asked for a phone number to call them back, then researched to see if that was a valid IRS number. I discovered it was a fraudulent number, and this was a scam. The perpetrators were attempting to get financial records and steal my money. Sadly, this is not the only case where someone lies about who they are in order to deceive someone else.

The Bible teaches, there is only one God, and all others who claim to be God, are impostors making false claims. Those who profess to have heard from, or encountered a god other than the God of the Bible, or who are told to act contrary to the teachings of Scripture, are actually being deceived. Instead of having an encounter with God, they are actually being tricked by a demon playing God. Behind all religious systems that teach salvation apart from trust in Christ alone, are demonic forces seeking to deceive. Like the liar on the other end of the phone call, they are pretending to be someone they are not, with the intent of robbing from us. The only way to discern between the true and the fake, is to take the time to do some research. You won’t find your answers on Google, or by asking Siri, but you will uncover the truth about God by digging into the pages of His Word.

Pastor Jim