The Book of The Covenant
| Exodus 24: | 7: “And he took the book of the covenant, and read in the audience of the people: and they said, All that the LORD hath said will we do, and be obedient.”
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| Deuteronomy 31: | 26: “Take this book of the law, and put it in the side of the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God, that it may be there for a witness against thee.”
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| Joshua 1: | 8: “This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.”
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| Nehemiah 8: | 1: “And all the people gathered themselves together as one man into the street that was before the water gate; and they spake unto Ezra the scribe to bring the book of the law of Moses, which the LORD had commanded to Israel. 2: And Ezra the priest brought the law before the congregation both of men and women, and all that could hear with understanding, upon the first day of the seventh month. (The Feast of Trumpets) 3: And he read therein before the street that was before the water gate from the morning until midday, before the men and the women, and those that could understand; and the ears of all the people were attentive unto the book of the law.” |
| Revelation 5: | 1: “And I saw in the right hand of him that sat on the throne a book written within and on the backside, sealed with seven seals. 2: And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, Who is worthy to open the book, and to loose the seals thereof? 3: And no man in heaven, nor in earth, neither under the earth, was able to open the book, neither to look thereon. 4: And I wept much, because no man was found worthy to open and to read the book, neither to look thereon. 5: And one of the elders saith unto me, Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Juda, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof.” |
Studying the contents of these and other inspired books of the Bible should be the habit of every believer in the LORD God of Israel. Indeed even the great prophet Daniel gained understanding from studying the book of Jeremiah. God opened his mind to understand more about the future after Daniel had taken full advantage of existing, inspired information. (Daniel 9: 1-2) In brief the advice we should be following is encapsulated in this verse:
| Isaiah 34: | 16: “Seek ye out of the book of the LORD, and read: no one of these shall fail, none shall want her mate: for my mouth it hath commanded, and his spirit it hath gathered them.” |
This Sabbath, however, I'll not talk about these books which together
form the Holy Bible. Today my sermon is about the Heavenly
Library and a few of the vital books in it. Vital in that you and
I are contributing to their content. We are not actually writing these
books; but most certainly we are deciding and sometimes even dictating
what goes into their pages. These books are the subject of this sermon.
2. The Book of Life
The first book is the Book of Life. As far as personal salvation
is concerned, the Book of Life is the most important book in the
universe. I refer to it as THE BOOK! To be sure the Bible (KJV)
is divinely inspired and its importance cannot be fully appreciated with
our limited understanding. But the Book of Life, as far as our
personal salvation and registration is concerned, is of greater significance
to us than the books mentioned earlier. It is The Book! Entries in it,
which can only be made by the Saviour, supersede all other personal records.
Its full Scriptural title is: The Lamb’s Book of Life! It is the
Messiah’s personal register which contains the names of the members of
the Almighty’s family. It is Jehovah’s Family Register; a
record of the names of those who are born of His Spirit and who will live for
eternity with Him in the new universe. More about the Book of Life at
Sections 4 & 5.
| Malachi 3: | 16: “They that feared the LORD spake often one to another: and the LORD hearkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the LORD, and that thought upon his name. 17: And they shall be mine, saith the LORD of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels; and I will spare them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him. 18: Then shall ye return, and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth God and him that serveth him not.” |
“Fear the LORD:” reverential and holy respect, fear.
| Matthew 12: | 36: “But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. 37: For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.” (Idle = pointless, barren) |
| Revelation 20: | 11: “And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. 12: And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. 13: And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.” |
Question:
How can a believer be saved if his/her performance is so bad that his/her
spiritual house is completely destroyed by the fire? Is it possible?
Answer:
Strange as it may seem, it is possible simply because his/her name is written
in the Book of Life and though that person's performance has been poor,
the LORD God has decided to leave his/her name on the Book of Life.
Praise His Name!
| 1 Corinthians 3: | 9: “For we are labourers together with God: ye are God's husbandry, ye are God's building. 10: According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon. 11: For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12: Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble; 13: Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is. 14: If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. 15: If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.” |
| Revelation 20: | 11: “And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. 12: And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. 13: And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. 14: And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. 15: And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.” |
| Psalms 69: | 28: “Let them be blotted out of the book of the living, and not be written with the righteous.”
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| Exodus 32: | 31: “And Moses returned unto the LORD, and said, Oh, this people have sinned a great sin, and have made them gods of gold. 32: Yet now, if thou wilt forgive their sin--; and if not, blot me, I pray thee, out of thy book which thou hast written. 33: And the LORD said unto Moses, Whosoever hath sinned against me, him will I blot out of my book.” |
It is the same today. Names can be blotted out of the Book of Life! So beware!
And so I end by reminding us all of these vital books. Books in which our name, our motives, our thoughts, our conversations and our deeds are recorded. Indeed these books, unlike other books, are updated on a daily basis. Names are being added - and alas names are being deleted. Thoughts, words and deeds are being recorded with absolute accuracy. No one can break in and alter those records. They are amongst the most important databases in the entire universe. And you and I are contributing to their content on a daily basis! May the Almighty help us all to live with these awesome facts in mind!
