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The apostle writing to Timothy said :
"It is a faithful saying, for :
A | "If we died with Him, we shall also LIVE with Him.
B | If we suffer, we shall also REIGN with Him.
B | If we deny Him, He also will deny us.
A | If we believe not, yet He abideth faithful
He cannot deny Himself."
A similar discrimination is found in I Cor. 3: 12-15. A believer can "suffer loss" but
he cannot be LOST.
The Seven Churches
Let us turn to the exhortation given to the churches of Rev. 2: and 3: Look at the
church of Smyrna. Not one word of rebuke or censure is given, but an exhortation to
remain faithful until death with the promise "I will give thee a crown of life"
(Rev. 2: 10). And in addition to the overcomer, the Saviour adds:
"He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death" (Rev. 2: 11).
Can anyone who holds the generally accepted view of the Great White Throne,
explain how it is possible to bring together the assurance of the CROWN of life, and
exemption from the SECOND DEATH? They have no common ground. The writer of
these lines is a believer in Christ. He is saved and knows it, and even though his
Christian life and witness be of the poorest quality, he can say as before the Lord, that he
needs no assurance that he will not be hurt of the second death. The question does not
arise. This being so, we are forced to believe that the second death here has been
misunderstood.
The Book of Life
Let us look at the church of Sardis (Rev. 3: 1-6). Here there was ground for reproof,
their works were not found "perfect before God". However, to those who were
undefiled, promises were made, and we read:
"He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I WILL NOT
BLOT OUT HIS NAME out of the Book of Life, but I will confess his name before My
Father, and before His angels" (Rev. 3: 5).
Again, if the accepted view of the Great White Throne is true, then this promise is
gratuitous, the second death could never happen any way, while Rom. 8: 38, 39
remains. However difficult it may be to harmonise with the rest of Scripture one fact
emerges from these considerations, namely that the Millennial kingdom and the Great
White Throne are two parts of one whole. The Book of Life figures in the Revelation
five times, thus: