And whosoever was not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire. Revelation 20:15
Our text today is a summary. It wraps up all of the previous details about the Great White Throne and condenses them into 18 of the most solemn words in all of Scripture. This is the final act of the final judgment against sinners. These words consign all of the unbelievers of all time to everlasting doom, and they should strike terror into the hearts of all of those who are lost. These words do not catalogue all of the sins or measure the extent of the wickedness in the hearts of all of the lost. No, this text makes only one charge, that of not being written in the Book of Life. And it imposes only one sentence, that of eternal banishment to the lake of fire. In their awful simplicity, these 18 words mark the deepest contrast between the destiny of the saved and the lost. To the lost, these words mean doom. But to the saved, these words mean hope and blessing.
Let’s turn the verse around so that it applies to the Christians: whosoever was found written in the Book of Life was not cast into the lake of fire. What a huge difference! Those of us who are written in the Book of Life deserve the lake of fire just as much as those who are not written there. But our sins are gone, and the judgment of God cannot touch us because it has already touched our Saviour. We are secure in Him forevermore. We appreciate our glorious anticipation of Heaven and all that being there will mean. But we should also appreciate the greatness of the fact that we will never be cast into the lake of fire. There is so much to be thankful for.
One of the greatest agonies of the lake of fire will be the regret. People will be regretting the worst of their sins and the depths of torment associated with those sins. But most of all, they will be regretting that they neglected so great Salvation. After all, that is the only reason they will be in the lake of fire. Although we committed sins as bad or worse, we did not neglect so great Salvation. And we don’t take any credit for that ourselves, knowing that it was the Goodness of God that lead us to repentance. So escaping the lake of fire means we escape an eternity of regret.
The word ‘cast’ in our text carries the meaning of being flung away with great force. The One seated on the Great White Throne will cast the lost away from Him forever. But for the believer, the opposite is true. Rather than being cast away, we will spend eternity in our Saviour’s embrace. We will be privileged to thank and worship Him in that great blood-washed choir in Glory. We will bless Him forever for the marks of Calvary that He yet bears. How wonderfully different that will be from the wails of the forever damned!
Being safe and secure from the horrors of the lake of fire is just a part – but a very important part – of our Salvation. -Jim MacIntosh