record of wrongs

8/9/2019 Record of Wrongs

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God's Record of your Past Sins... is amyth. It is not from the Bible. What then

IS in the Bible?

These soothing non-judgmental new-ideas come from the free commentary,available for download from http://sites.google.com/site/freecommentary

Summary:Everyone is afraid and anxious about what is written about them in Revelation'sRecord of Deeds, said to decide their fate in the end-times judgment.A Record of Wrongs is actually a mis-reading of various Bible verses, butespecially of Revelation 20.The 'books' which 'were opened' (and the 'things which were written in the books,according to their works' which will judge people so that the guilty seem to becast into the Lake of Fire) is not a Record of Wrongs, but are thecovenantbookswhich were written, together with the books of the prophets, plus the wordsspoken by Christ and recorded in the New Testament (Covenant). The Fire is onlyafter a second separate judgment, concerning a quite different book.Revelation is a vision, and is not to be read literally.

The concept of a Record of Wrongs does not come from the Bible, but from otherreligious works, notably Enoch and Koran, which have aimed to inculcate aclimate oflegalistic judgmental fear into all and sundry.

Further, the judgment of the 'great and small' which appears to include allmankind, is actually a reference to the members of the army of the Beast and of

the False Prophet.

Here is the key scripture:

Rev 20:12-15 And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before thethrone; and books were opened: and another book was opened, which is thebook of life: and the dead were judged out of the things which were written inthe books, according to their works. 13 And the sea gave up the dead thatwere in it; and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them: and theywere judged every man according to their works. 14 And death and Hadeswere cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death,even the lake of fire.

15 And if any was not found written in the book of life, he was cast into thelake of fire.

It is re-prophesying Daniel's vision, so we get extra help in interpreting it fromthat chapter:

Dan 7:9-10 I beheld till thrones were placed, and one that was ancient of daysdid sit: his raiment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like pure wool;


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his throne was fiery flames, andthe wheels thereof burning fire. 10 A fierystream issued and came forth from before him: thousands of thousandsministered unto him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him:the judgment was set, and the books were opened.

Non-Biblical Background: The apocryphal 'Book of Enoch'

Enoch describes...

81:1-2And he said unto me, Observe, Enoch, these heavenly tablets, Andread what is written thereon, And mark every individual fact.And I observed the heavenly tablets, and read everything which waswritten (thereon) and understood everything, and read the book of all thedeeds of mankind, and of all the children of flesh.

And there are many such verses in Enoch.

Now notice that these are supposedly real books already writtenbefore beingshown to Enoch. This is not how the Bible has it. They also presume to predestineeverything. That also is not what the Bible teaches.'Apocryphal' is synonymous with 'fraudulent', which means that Enoch did notwrite 'Enoch', and its prophecies failed, and the teaching contradicts the Bible.

'Enoch' later goes on to include The Book of Time, which is a concept draggedout of a final verse in Daniel.Daniel certainly emphasises the theme of 'time and times' and the '70 years' andthe extended '70 weeks' and all that Enoch-like stuff. Here is the verse:

Dan 12:4 But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even tothe time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall beincreased.Dan 12:9 And he said, Go thy way, Daniel; for the words are shut up andsealed till the time of the end.

You can see that the end of Daniel's book is 'the end of time', so from this, Enochpaints the sealing up of the book of the end-times to represent the end of theworld as we know it. In Enoch 89:71 the book is sealed; in 89:77 Time departs; inchapter 90 the new world begins.

Enoch describes his version as a very real book in God's presence...

89:76 ..And this one who wrote the book carried it up, and showed it and readit before the Lord of the sheep, and implored Him on their account, andbesought Him on their account as he showed Him all the doings89:77 of the shepherds, and gave testimony before Him against all theshepherds. apocryphal histories, apocalyptic literature and mystical beliefs of


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the time.And he tookthe actual bookand laid it down beside Him and departed.

Again, to imagine a physical book invisible to us, is not how the Bible describesits special books. Why?...

This Book of Historyin Enoch actuallycounts off the dead, year by year, for 70years of punishment!To imagine such a 'Book of the Dead' is typical for anti-true literature.

The Bible, in contrast, and for good reason, has 'the Book of Life' 'the book ofliving creatures' 'the Lamb's book of life', and there was the threat of being struckout or 'blotted out from the book'.All this sounds mystical enough to write a fantasy book about the written recordsin heaven, the 'tablets of all truth', the record of the dead, etc, as Enoch has done,but that misses the simplicity behind the phrases, which is this:When you take a census, you enroll everyliving soul likely to survive for a fewmore months. You do not record the dead; quite the opposite, you remove theirname from the roll of the living. The Book of Life is a census roll. 'If anyone'sname was not found written in the Lamb's Book of Life, he was cast into thesecond death'. To threaten to 'blot you out' is simply to threatendeath. There isnot necessarily any such thing as an actual heavenly census scroll, since everyonecan read with their own eyes, at the final census (when the 'flock' is 'numbered' by'the Great Shepherd' -- all very figurative language) exactly who is alive and whois not 'counted among the living'.

The Book of the Dead is a perverse mangling of the way life is, having no commonsense basis.

In Enoch we have this Book of Historybeing 'written' by history itself, not withpen and ink, but bywhat happens. That makes it figurative (More on this below).

Enoch also has the Book of Every Sin, set in the middle of a long list of vile(un-Biblical) curses...

98:6 I have sworn unto you, ye sinners, by the Holy Great One,That all your evil deeds are revealed in the heavens,And that none of your deeds of oppression are covered and hidden.98:7 And do not think in your spirit nor say in your heart that ye do not knowand that ye do not see98:8 that every sin is every day recorded in heaven in the presence ofthe Most High. From henceforth ye know that all your oppression wherewithye oppress is written down every day till the day of your judgement.98:9Woe to you, ye fools, for through your folly shall ye perish: and yetransgress against the wise


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One of the reasons why Enoch is considered false prophecy, is that he entirelymisses the mercy gospel of Christ to sinners.

Non-Biblical Background: The Koran

Much later, the Koran took up many of the ideas in Enoch, with gusto, e.g. aboutpredestination, and cursing 'Sinners', but especially about invisible books...

7:37Who is more unjust than one who invents a lie against Allah or rejectsHis Signs? For such, their portion appointed must reach them fromthe Bookof decrees: until, when our messengers of death arrive and take their souls,they say: "Where are the things that ye used to invoke besides Allah?" Theywill reply, "They have left us in the lurch," And they will bear witness againstthemselves, that they had rejected Allah.

Here is how to discount previous books of prophecies...

13:38 We did send messengers before thee, and appointed for them wives andchildren: and it was never the part of a messenger to bring a sign except asAllah permitted or commanded. For each period is a Book revealed.13:39Allah doth blot out or confirm what [books] He pleaseth: with Him isthe Mother of the Book.43:3We have made it a Quran in Arabic, that ye may be able to understandand learn wisdom.43:4And verily, it is in the Mother of the Book, in Our Presence, highin dignity, full of wisdom.

There is a written record against believing Christians expressing their belief inthe Son of God...

43:80 Or do they think that We hear not their secrets and their privatecounsels? Indeed We do, and Our messengers are by them, to record.43:81 Say: "If Allah Most Gracious had a son, I would be the first to worship."

..and invisible recording angels sitting right on our shoulders...

50:17 Behold, two guardian angels appointed to learn his doings learn andnoted them, one sitting on the right and one on the left.50:18 Not a word does he utter but there is a sentinel by him, ready to note it.50:19 And the stupor of death will bring Truth before his eyes: "This was thething which thou wast trying to escape!"

..making a written record of everyone's every little sin...

34:3 The Unbelievers say, "Never to us will come the Hour": Say, "Nay! butmost surely, by my Lord, it will come upon you; by Him Who knows theunseen, from Whom is not hidden the least little atom in the heavens or on


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earth: Nor is there anything less than that, or greater, but is in the RecordPerspicuous:45:29 "This Our Record speaks about you with truth: For We were wont to puton Record all that ye did."54:53 Every matter, small and great, is on record.

And many more verses of like nature.

A written but invisible record of sins is therefore a theme in the public'simagination, but it is disguised judgmentalism, based on nit-picking legalism,and not part of the Bible's theology.

Well, I hope you found that all very interesting, but what of the Bible?

The Figurative and Special Biblical 'Books'

As discussed above, similar books to Enoch's Book of The Victims of Time, arefound in Daniel, and that is the likely source for Enoch's Book of Final History.

Here is one such special book:

Dan 10:21 But I will tell thee that which is inscribed in the writing oftruth:

But there are two crucial differences: In Daniel, there is a figure of speech, not areal actual written book, and this manner of speaking is quite suitable for a bookannouncing prophecies of the future:

The idea of 'inscribed' is 'etched in place' i.e. 'what mustsurely take place', andthe idea of 'truth' is similar that God will surely perform all He announcespublicly in prophecy. The 'writing', if it refers to any real book at all, refers moreto the books of prophecy we read it in -- 'Jeremiah', which he was reading seekingto understand, and 'Daniel', which record the new interpretation and visions.

Dan 9:2 in the first year of his reign I, Daniel, understood by the books thenumber of the years whereof the word of Jehovah came to Jeremiah theprophet, for the accomplishing of the desolations of Jerusalem, evenseventy years.Dan 9:22-23 And he instructed me, and talked with me, and said, ODaniel, I am now come forth to give thee wisdom and understanding. 23At the beginning of thy supplications the commandment went forth, and Iam come to tell thee; for thou art greatly beloved: therefore consider thematter, and understand the vision.

That is the second crucial difference. It perhaps should read: 'I will tell youwhatyou are to inscribe as the writing oftrue words (of prophecy)'.

It is parallel to itself:


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Dan 10:14 Now I am come to make thee understand what shall befall thypeople in the latter days; for the vision is yet formany days:

..and parallel in thought to many verses in Revelation...

Rev 1:1 The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show untohis servants, even the things which must shortly come to pass: and he sentand signified itby his angel unto his servant John;Rev 1:3 Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of theprophecy, and keep the things that are written therein: for the time is athand.Rev 1:19 Write therefore the things which thou sawest, and the thingswhich are, and the things which shall come to pass hereafter;

..and so on...

Rev 22:6 And he said unto me, These words are faithful and true: and theLord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, sent his angels to show untohis servants the things which must shortly come to pass.Rev 22:8-10 And I John am he that heard and saw these things. And whenI heard and saw, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel thatshowed me these things. 9 And he saith unto me, See thou do it not: I ama fellow-servant with thee and with thy brethren the prophets, and withthem that keep the words of this book: worship God. 10 And he saith untome, Seal not up the words of the prophecy of this book; for the time is athand.Rev 22:18-19 I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the

prophecy of this book, if any man shall add unto them, God shall add untohim the plagues which are written in this book: 19 and if any man shalltake away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall takeaway his part from the tree of life, and out of the holy city, which arewritten in this book.

So 'the writing' is not 'what is written in the heavenly tablets' (from Enoch), norany 'record of all things' (from Enoch and the Koran) nor any 'mother of the book'(from the Koran), but is simplythe books of the prophets, called 'the Bible', andcalled 'the truth' because it willcome to fulfillment as prophesied. These booksbecome and remain public property.

That is why I say that it is not in the Bible that these books exist invisibly, aswritten before the prophets write them.

Similar special 'books' of the Bible similarly refer to actual records, e.g.genealogies of Israel, or a census of citizens, or prophecies, or are figurative, e.g.simply for those who are alive...

Isa 34:16 Seek ye out of the book of Jehovah, and read: no one of these [living


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creatures, animals] shall be missing, none shall want her mate; for my mouth,it hath commanded, and his Spirit, it hath gathered them.

Exo 32:32 Yet now, if thou wilt forgive their sin-; and if not, blot me, I praythee, out of thy book which thou hast written.

Psa 69:28 Let them be blotted out of the book of life, And not be written withthe righteous.

Psa 87:6 Jehovah will count, when he writeth up the peoples, This one wasborn there. Selah

Eze 13:9 And my hand shall be against the prophets that see false visions, andthat divine lies: they shall not be in the council of my people, neither shallthey be written in the writing of the house of Israel, neither shall they enterinto the land of Israel; and ye shall know that I am the Lord Jehovah.

Rev 13:8 And all that dwell on the earth shall worship him, every one whosename hath not been written from the foundation of the world in the book oflife of the Lamb that hath been slain.Rev 17:8 The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and is about to come upout of the abyss, and to go into perdition. And they that dwell on the earthshall wonder, they whose name hath not been written in the book of life fromthe foundation of the world, when they behold the beast, how that he was, andis not, and shall come.

Other 'writing' turns out to be 'on the foreheads, in the hearts and minds, on theirright hands', clearly figurative, even when 'written in ink'...

Eze 9:3-4 And the glory of the God of Israel was gone up from the cherub,whereupon it was, to the threshold of the house: and he called to the manclothed in linen, who had the writer's inkhorn by his side. 4 And Jehovahsaid unto him, Go through the midst of the city, through the midst ofJerusalem, and set a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh andthat cry over all the abominations that are done in the midst thereof.

Rom 2:15 in that they show the work of the law written in their hearts,their conscience bearing witness therewith, and their thoughts one withanother accusing or else excusing them);

2Co 3:3 being made manifest that ye are an epistle of Christ, ministeredby us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not intables of stone, but in tables that are hearts of flesh .

So to recap the story so far:A misreading of the following single scripturefrom Revelation, of the Final Judgment, has led to our wrongly believing thatthe Record of Wrongs is also Biblical:


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Rev 20:12 And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before thethrone; and books were opened: and another book was opened, which is thebook of life: and the dead were judged out of the things which were written inthe books, according to their works.

The first Books are publicly available scriptures; the second Book is a census-rollof those not destined to the Second Death.The phrase 'according to their works' is similarly misunderstood, since it means'Judged 'in accord with' the judgments you pronounced against others'. It istargeted against the judges who sentenced Jesus and his followers to death, andsimilar serious judgments. You shouldn't have to worry all that much.

'But isn't it written in the Bible...?' I hear you say. Doesn't the Bible itself feed theimpression of a record of wrongs by which we will all be judged for our past sins?

'..every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account'

Mat 12:32 And whosoever shall speak a word against the Son of man, it shallbe forgiven him; but whosoever shall speak against the Holy Spirit, it shall notbe forgiven him, neither in this world, nor in that which is to come...36 And Isay unto you, that every idle word that men shall speak, they shall giveaccount thereof in the day of judgment.

BUT... this was said about those who blaspheme the Holy Spirit... as youcan see from the previous verses and in the parallel passage:

Mar 3:28-29 Verily I say unto you, All their sins shall be forgiven unto thesons of men, and their blasphemies wherewith soever they shall blaspheme:29 but whosoever shall blaspheme against the Holy Spirit hath neverforgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin: 30 because they said, He hath anunclean spirit.

Again the idea is ofvery serious sin. If you are not teaching the Church that God'sHoly Spirit is vile, or some such false doctrine, you shouldn't need to worry.

'Word' is a very strong idea in the Greek, as can be gauged by the title of Jesus as

the 'Word of God'. It can refer to the Law:

Deu 32:46 And he said unto them, Set your heart unto all the words which Itestify unto you this day, which ye shall command your children to observe todo, even all the words of this law.Deu 32:47 (LITV) For it is not a useless Word for you, for it is your life, andby this Word you shall prolong yourdays in the land where you are crossingover the Jordan, there to possess it.


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So you see, a 'word' is really something like 'a word of command' 'a law' 'anoracle'.

Properly understood, an 'idle word' actually refers to a grave matter -- a

hypocritical teaching, or a false or failed prophecy, or a broken oath, or a falselaw, or a bad judicial decision, or a wrong religion, or powerless preaching, orblasphemy of the Holy Spirit, and any similar andserious thing which men mightsay or teach.

Far from referring to 'every little unnecessary chatter' it refers to theopposite the sort of serious 'word' which leads to crucifying Christ big andpublic sins, not small and secret misdemeanours.

'written in the book' refers to decrees and covenants,

to the law and the prophets

'The written Word' is a serious idea in the Bible. It includes God's 'everlastingdecrees' and 'eternal covenants'. When 'Books are opened' on Judgment Day, thewords to be read will no doubt come under the umbrella of God's sworncovenants and recorded prophecies (The Law and the Prophets). The books are arecord of the terms of the covenant, of the punishments for breaking faith, of thejudicial law-code, of how to anoint priests and kings, and the genealogies ofleaders and judges. There is also the record of the teachings of the Prophets, andof Jesus' own pronouncements.

Joh 12:48 He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my sayings, hath one thatjudgeth him: the word that I spake, the same shall judge him in the last day.

So the apparently isolated reference to the things which were written in the booksmakes better sense when seen as the writings of the law and the prophets, whichwere a testimony against those who broke the law, and the New Covenant. It isthese that will judge. This is how the rest of the Bible talks of 'things written inthe books'. The things that are written in the books are curses for not doing whatthe books say.

The prophetic word as judge

If the Old Testament teaches us anything, it teaches us that God knows how tojudge by the strictest standards. That is exactly the point. It is public knowledgebecause Hepublishes the books.

Num 5:22-23 and this water that causeth the curse shall go into thy bowels,and make thy body to swell, and thy thigh to fall away. And the woman shallsay, Amen, Amen. 23 And the priest shall write these curses in a book, and


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he shall blot them out into the water of bitterness:

Jer 36:2 Take thee a roll of a book, and write therein all the words that I havespoken unto thee against Israel, and against Judah, and against all thenations, from the day I spake unto thee, from the days of Josiah, even unto

this day.

Jer 51:60 And Jeremiah wrote in a book all the evil that should come uponBabylon, even all these words that are written concerning Babylon.

Eze 2:9-10 And when I looked, behold, a hand was put forth unto me; and, lo,a roll of a book was therein; 10 And he spread it before me: and it waswritten within and without; and there were written therein lamentations, andmourning, and woe.

Zec 5:1-4 Then again I lifted up mine eyes, and saw, and, behold, a flying roll.2 And he said unto me, What seest thou? And I answered, I see a flying roll;the length thereof is twenty cubits, and the breadth thereof ten cubits. 3Then said he unto me, This is the curse that goeth forth over the face of thewhole land: for every one that stealeth shall be cut off on the one sideaccording to it; and every one that sweareth shall be cut off on the other sideaccording to it. 4 I will cause it to go forth, saith Jehovah of hosts, and it shallenter into the house of the thief, and into the house of him that swearethfalsely by my name; and it shall abide in the midst of his house, and shallconsume it with the timber thereof and the stones thereof.

These books by which sin is judged have been publicly expounded for millennia,so that we have all had fair warning.

It sort of makes you want to know what is written, so I have tried to supply asummary of what the Bible actually does teach, until you get around to re-readingit for yourself.

PUBLICPROPHECIES

These books of prophecy are furthermore very explicitly targeted against wholecountries in the Middle East, for specific and gross sins like enslaving Israel.

Isa 30:7-8 For Egypthelpeth in vain, and to no purpose: therefore have I

called her Rahab that sitteth still. 8 Now go,write it before them on atablet, and inscribe it in a book, that it may be for the time to come forever and ever.

Jer 30:2-3 Thus speaketh Jehovah, the God of Israel, saying,Write thee allthe words that I have spoken unto thee in a book. 3 For, lo, the dayscome, saith Jehovah, that I will turn again the captivity of my people Israeland Judah, saith Jehovah; and I will cause them to return to the land that I


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gave to their fathers, and they shall possess it.

Jer 51:60 And Jeremiah wrote in a bookall the evil that should come uponBabylon, even all these words that are written concerning Babylon.

Zec 1:6 But my words and my statutes, which I commanded my servantsthe prophets, did they not overtake your fathers? and they turned andsaid, Like as Jehovah of hosts thought to do unto us,according to our

ways, and according to our doings, so hath he dealt with us.

Unless you are the anti-Semitic AntiChrist prophesying falsely, or following himto war against Jesus, you don't necessarily have to lose any sleep.In case you are inclined to be nervous, remember that The Big News which Jesusannounced, for both Jews and non-Jews (as a surprise bonus) was of a re-marriage proposal.This potentially lets us all off the hook, if we can find it in our heart to love God.

The WORD which will JUDGE

The written books that bear witness are marriage contracts...

..the Old Covenant,the written books of the lawMoses' Song (mentioned elsewhere in Rev_15:3-5) -- the testimony thatwitnesses againstits transgressors.the prophets -- written prophecies of judgment either for disaster orrestoration which require fulfilment.

..and the New CovenantJesus' words

Judging by covenants is right on-theme -- Chapter 21 in Revelation, whichfollows on from the Judgment Scene, has many cross-references to covenants,drawing a picture of the New Covenant replacing the Old.When a covenant isbroken, the penalty clauses come into force. These clauses are necessarily madepublic, not kept secret.

The OLD COVENANT Penalty Clauses

From the rest of scripture you can see that some of 'the things that are written inthe books' are curses for 'not doing what the books say'.

Deu 28:61 Also every sickness, and every plague, which is not written in thebookof this law, them will Jehovah bring upon thee, until thou bedestroyed.


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Deu 31:22 So Moses wrote this song the same day, and taught it the childrenof Israel... 24 And it came to pass, when Moses had made an end of writingthe words of this law in a book, until they were finished,...26 Take this bookof the law, and put it by the side of the ark of the covenant of Jehovah yourGod, that it may be there for awitness against thee... 30 And Moses spake

in the ears of all the assembly of Israel the words of this song, until they werefinished.

Deu 32:46 And he said unto them, Set your heart unto all the words which Itestifyunto you this day, which ye shall command your children to observe todo, evenall the words of this law.

The New Testament upholds the words written under the Old Covenant, andreiterates its warnings (yet also supplies the way out of punishment, via a NewCovenant)

Mat 5:17-19 Think not that I came to destroy the law or the prophets: Icame not to destroy, but to fulfil. 18 For verily I say unto you, Till heaven andearth pass away, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass away fromthe law, till all things be accomplished. 19 Whosoever therefore shall breakone of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, shall be calledleast in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, heshall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

Mat 7:12 All things therefore whatsoever ye would that men should do [aBiblical idiom for 'judge'] unto you, even so do ye also unto them: for this isthe law and the prophets.

Luk 16:28-29 for I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest theyalso come into this place of torment [Hades, verse 14]. 29 But Abrahamsaith, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.

Joh 5:45-47 Think not that I will accuse you to the Father: there is one thataccuseth you, even Moses, on whom ye have set your hope. 46 For if yebelieved Moses, ye would believe me; for he wrote of me. 47 But if ye believenot his writings, how shall ye believe my words?

Rom 2:6-9 who will render to every man according to his works: 7 to themthat by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and incorruption,

eternal life: 8 but unto them that are factious, and obey not the truth, butobey unrighteousness, shall be wrath and indignation, 9 tribulation andanguish, upon every soul of man that worketh evil, of the Jew first, and also ofthe Greek;... 12 For as many as have sinned without law shall alsoperish without the law: and as many as have sinned under the lawshall be judged by the law;.. 15 in that they show the work of the law

written in their hearts, their conscience bearingwitness therewith, andtheir thoughts one with another accusing or else excusing them);


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Rom 3:1-4 What advantage then hath the Jew? or what is the profit ofcircumcision? 2 Much every way: first of all, that they were intrusted with theoracles of God. 3 For what if some were without faith? shall their want offaith make of none effect the faithfulness of God? 4 God forbid: yea, let God

be found true, but every man a liar; as it is written, That thou mightest bejustified in thy words, And mightest prevail when thou comest intojudgment.

Gal 3:10 For as many as are of the works of the laware under a curse: for it iswritten, Cursed is every one who continueth not in all things that are writtenin the bookof the law, to do them.

Heb 4:12-13 For theword of God is living, and active, and sharper than anytwo-edged sword, and piercing even to the dividing of soul and spirit, of bothjoints and marrow, and quick to discern the thoughts and intents of the heart.13 And there is no creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things arenaked and laid open before the eyes of him withwhom we have to do [anaccount].

Rev 19:11 And I saw the heaven opened; and behold, a white horse, and hethat sat thereon called Faithful and True; and in righteous he dothjudge andmake war... 13 And he is arrayed in a garment sprinkled with blood: and hisname is called TheWord of God.

The Difference Between the TWO JUDGMENTS

There may be two judgments to come: I'm having to guess at the details, ofcourse, but based on what is written.

First, there is the tidying up, after the mayhem on earth.

Rev 20:12-15 And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before thethrone; and books were opened:... ..and the dead were judged out of thethings which were written in the books, according to their works. ..and theywere judged every man according to their works.

In this phase, the wrongs are put right. Compensation is received, penalties too.

This is like dealing with the details of man sinning against man. It concernsbooks of Law, sin and punishment. Jesus has copped the penalty on behalf ofthose who share in his sacrifice. This does not necessarily let anyone off from thepenalty for wilful sins. It concerns being judged 'in accord with' how you judgedothers. You would expect graded punishments, not 'Heaven or Hell'-typedecisions. If you don't mind being treated as you treated others, why worry.

But the second judgment deals with sins against God. God's concerns were always


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that man should love Him, and that they should not murder His prophets. Herethere is a book of the Lamb, the murdered Lamb, who said 'When you persecutemy brothers, you persecuted me'. True Christians have 'passed judgment, intolife'. Others have been 'blotted out'. This refers to the Lamb's Book of Life -- Itdoes not necessarily let anyone off the first judgments.

12 ..and another book was opened, which is the book of life:14 ..And death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the seconddeath, even the lake of fire.15 And if any was not found written in the book of life, he was cast into thelake of fire.

You would have to be extremely wrong to have Jesus disown you to the extent ofblotting you out. There is life, not death on offer. The Living Creator God isextremely reluctant to destroy life...

The NEW COVENANT, The BOOK of LIFE

Covenants with God are modeled on marriage:

Mal 3:16-18 Then they that feared Jehovah spake one with another; andJehovah hearkened, and heard, and a book of remembrance [i.e. acovenant..'Remember' is used consistently about 'covenants' e.g. Exo_2:24]waswritten before him, for them that feared Jehovah, and that thought uponhis name. 17 And they shall be mine [Marriage-covenant imagery], saithJehovah of hosts, even mine own possession, in the day that I make; and I willspare 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 thatserveth God and him that serveth him not.

The words of the New Covenant bring life:

Joh 6:62-63 Whatthen if ye should behold the Son of man ascending wherehe was before [on the throne]? 63 It is the spirit that giveth life; the fleshprofiteth nothing: the words that I have spoken unto you are spirit, andare life.

Joh 6:68 Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast

thewords of eternal life.

Joh 12:48 He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my sayings, hath one thatjudgeth him: the word that I spake, the same shalljudge him in the lastday... 50 And I know that his commandment is life eternal: the thingstherefore which I speak, even as the Father hath said unto me, so I speak.

2Co 3:6 who also made us sufficient as ministers of a new covenant; not of


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the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life.

Probably all which is left to say, about marriage, is that God offers us a new cleanspotless desirable heart and spirit, as a gift to be received by the Church. Thedownpayment on our wedding dress is called the baptism in the Holy Spirit.

Those who are sent to the LAKE of FIRE are the members of theBEAST'S ARMY

Remember I said in the summary that the Biblical judgment did not apply againstevery ordinary person? The Bible concerns itself with big spiritual sins, likemurdering Christ, not with the 'every little sin of your past' type ofmisdemeanour.

The 'great and small' who are judged, Rev 20:12-15, were members of the beast'sarmy killed at Armageddon... as described in the previous chapter and earlier:

Rev 19:18-21 that ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, andthe flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses and of them that sit thereon,and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, and small and great. 19 And Isaw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered togetherto make war against him that sat upon the horse, and against his army. 20And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought thesigns in his sight, wherewith he deceived them that had received the mark ofthe beast and them that worshipped his image: they two were cast alive intothe lake of fire that burneth with brimstone: 21 and the rest were killed withthe sword of him that sat upon the horse,even the swordwhich came forth

out of his mouth: and all the birds were filled with their flesh.

The 'small and great' are those who have been enlisted by the False Prophet, andwho have taken the mark of the Beast on their hand and forehead:

Rev 13:16 And he causeth all, the small and the great, and the rich and thepoor, and the free and the bond, that there be given them a mark on theirright hand, or upon their forehead;

The worshipers of the Beast, those who have received the mark of the beast (i.e.the great and small), end up in fire and brimstone, like the beast:

Rev 14:9-10 And another angel, a third, followed them, saying with a greatvoice, If any man worshippeth the beast and his image, and receiveth a markon his forehead, or upon his hand, 10 he also shall drink of the wine of thewrath of God, which is prepared unmixed in the cup of his anger; and he shallbe tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, andin the presence of the Lamb:


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Reading Revelation carefully you will find that these people, along with the kingsof the earth, and with Babylon, have been responsible for the death of the saints.

Rev 17:2-6 with whom the kings of the earth committed fornication, and theythat dwell in the earth were made drunken with the wine of her fornication...

6 And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with theblood of the martyrs of Jesus. And when I saw her, I wondered with a greatwonder.

..Not every person is guilty of murdering Christians. So the judgment of the Lakeof Fire does not apply to them.

Here endeth the lesson.Sweet dreams as you Rest in Peace on the eve of your wedding.

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