END OF TIME PROPHECIES 238

The great white throne.                                                   Revelation 20v11-15.

8.   The proofs of the throne.    "the books were opened........and the dead were judged out of those things that were written in the books, according to their works.....".

God keeps records in heaven of all that we do in life! Scripture makes it clear in a number of places that this is so.  Whether we think of it as literal books, or the awesome truth of the omniscience of God, it matters not, the solemn fact of it is not in question.   One of the features of the gospel of John is the incredible knowledge of Christ concerning everyone, what they were doing, what they were thinking, where they had been, and this is portrayed in John 2v24 " Jesus did not commit Himself unto them because He knew all men, and needed not that any should testify of man: for He knew what was in man".   This is the one before whom all the unregenerate dead will stand. Here is the scripture record of books that will be opened on the judgment day.   Clear evidence will be given, for God judges no one without proof.

• The book of records           Daniel 7v10 ".. ten thousand times ten thousand stood before Him: the judgment was set, and the books were opened."   If men can keep records of masses of detail, what can God do, who created men?
• The book of remembrance.     This would apply to remembrance of both good and evil and appears in the following scriptures; Psalm 56v8,  "Thou tellest my wanderings: put my tears in thy bottle: are they not in thy book?  Psalm 139v3-4.   Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways.   For there is not a word in my tongue, but lo, o Lord thou knowest it altogether."  Malachi 3v16  "Then they that feared the Lord spake often one to another; and the Lord hearkened and heard it, and the book of remembrance was written before Him for them that feared the Lord and that thought upon His name."   All that has been done for good or evil will be brought to remembrance.  
• The book of conscience.     Romans chapter 2 deals with issues of divine judgment, and one of them has to do with a group who will be judged according to the light they have.   The passage in chapter 2v12-16 speaks of those who have sinned without the knowledge of the law of God. These shall be judged without reference to the divine law, but what they had was the principles of the law written on their hearts, their conscience bearing them witness.   This refers to the inbuilt knowledge of God in every human being who because of conscience know the parameters of right and wrong.   Paul ends this section in verse 16 when he speaks of  "the day when God shall judge the secrets of men, by Jesus Christ, according to my gospel."   In another place Jesus said  "there is nothing hidden that will not be revealed"; all lies will be uncovered, all shady deals will be exposed, all shameful bad habits will be revealed.   All ungodly exploitation of men will be condemned, all slander, all malice, all covetousness.   This is the book that will go beneath the surface of a human being to expose the selfish motives of their lives.  There is a popular saying coming out of Las Vegas in USA  "what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas."   Not so, because it is also recorded in heaven and will be revealed in public.
• The books of the bible.     Jesus said in John 12v47-48  "If any man hear My words, and believe not, I judge him not, for I came not to judge the world, but to save the world.   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."   Jesus of course is referring to the words that He spoke to His generation, but they can be expanded to mean the whole of scripture because in chapter 5v39 he said  "the scriptures......are they which testify of Me."   The bible today is still the world's best seller, but it is doubtful if it is read the most.   We should read it because it will be used on the day of judgment, and ignorance will be no excuse.  
• The book of the law.     This refers of course only to those who have received the law.  Galatians 3v10   "Cursed is everyone that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them."   This will apply to all Jewish unbelievers who were given the law, who were raised in its tutelage and who failed to keep it.   The apostle James makes it clear in chapter 2v10  "for whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all."   The terms of law were clear that a person must keep it in every part if he is to be accepted by God.   Jesus referred to this in John 5v45 when speaking to Jews who didn't believe in Him  "Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father: there is One that accuseth you, even Moses, in whom ye trust."  
• The book of God's eternal counsel.     Psalm 139v16   "Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being imperfect; and in thy book all my members were written which in continuance were fashioned when as yet there was none of them."   Here is the absolutely staggering truth, that the One before whom sinners will stand knew all about us, what we would do every day, when we were being formed in the womb.   If anything is designed to humble us it is this.

God will provide incontrovertible proof that we deserve nothing but His punishment.

Amazon bookshelf   George Neilly