Firstly, the Lord promises the overcomer that he will be “clothed in white garments.” To be “clothed in white garments” in this promise will be a prize to the overcomers in the millennial kingdom. In what they have been walking in this age, will be a prize to them in the coming age. Every Christian needs two garments. The first is the garment of salvation signifying Christ as our righteousness objectively. In Luke 15, when the prodigal son returned home, the father had the best robe prepared for him. The first thing the father did was to have the best robe placed upon him. Wearing that robe, the prodigal son was justified in the presence of the father. He had been a pitiful beggar, no longer worthy to be with the father. But once he had the robe upon him, he was justified and approved. This means that he was justified in Christ and that Christ became his justifying covering. He was covered by Christ as his righteousness. Thus, the garment of justification is for salvation. However, besides this, we need another garment to make us approved and well-pleasing to the Lord. The “fine linen, bright and pure” in 19:8 denotes this second garment. According to typology, the queen in Psalm 45 has two garments, one for salvation and the other for her to be with the king in His reign. After we have been saved, we need to mature and overcome all frustrations and distractions. We must run the race and reach the goal. As we are running the race, there are many things which would frustrate us from reaching the goal. We must overcome all these frustrations. Yes, we have been saved and justified and have the first robe for our salvation. But we must go on to maturity and reach our destination. If we do so, then we shall receive a reward. This is not a matter of Christ as our objective righteousness, but of experiencing Christ as our subjective righteousness. Christ as our objective righteousness has been put upon us, whereas Christ as our subjective righteousness comes out of us. We must live out Christ as our second garment. This garment is for the reward. The white garments mentioned in verse 5 refer to this second garment. When we have this second garment, we are well-pleasing to the Lord and shall receive the reward.
To the one who overcomes the Lord promises that He “will by no means erase his name out of the book of life.” We cannot understand this verse by itself. It is dangerous to do this. In order to understand a verse such as this we need to be safeguarded by the whole Bible. The name being “erased out of the book of life” indicates that that name was already written in the book of life. “The book of life” is a divine record of the names of those who partake of the blessings God has prepared for them. The names of all the saints chosen by God and predestinated to partake of these blessings are written in this book (Luke 10:20). These blessings are in three stages: the church, the millennial kingdom, and eternity. The blessings in the stage of the church, such as forgiveness, redemption, regeneration, eternal life, and the divine nature are all the initial portions. All God’s chosen ones whose names are written in the book of life have a share in these initial portions to begin their spiritual life. If they cooperate with God’s supplying grace, they will mature in life in the church age, and this earlier maturity in life will constitute a prize with which the Lord will reward them at His coming back. That prize will be the entrance into the millennial kingdom and participation in the divine blessings in that stage, such as the joy and rest of the Lord (Matt. 25:21, 23; Heb. 4:9-11) and the reign over the nations (Rev. 2:26-27; 20:4, 6) which God has prepared as an incentive for His chosen ones to go on with Him in the church age. However, many of His chosen ones, after receiving His forgiveness, redemption, eternal life, divine nature, etc., will not cooperate with His grace and go on with Him. Hence, they are unable to mature in life in the church age and thus will not be ready at the Lord’s coming back to enter into the millennial kingdom and share in the divine blessings of that age as a prize. Therefore, during the millennial kingdom their names will be erased from the book of life. After being disciplined by the Lord and growing in life unto maturity during the millennial kingdom, they will share in the divine blessings in the stage of eternity, such as the eternal service with God’s eternal presence, the eternal kingship (22:3-5), the New Jerusalem, the tree of life (22:14), and the water of life (22:17). Then their names should be written in the book of life again. This means that all God’s chosen ones whose names are written in the book of life and who have been brought into the participation of the divine blessings in the stage of the church shall “by no means perish forever” (John 10:28), that is, they shall by no means lose the divine blessings of eternity. But some, who will not cooperate with the Lord in the church age, will be dispensationally disciplined by the Lord during the millennial kingdom and will miss the divine blessings in that stage.
We face the danger of having our names erased from the book of life during the thousand years. If you are defeated and refuse to be an overcomer by the Lord’s grace, your name will not be there in the book of life when He is reigning during the thousand years. This means that you have been called but that you have not been chosen. In 17:14, we can see that, at His coming back, after all the saints have been raptured, the Lord will make a selection. This selection will depend on how we have lived our Christian life. If we have lived in a defeated way, the Lord certainly will not select us. But if we have lived in a victorious way, we shall be selected, and our names will be there during the thousand years. This is similar to graduation from school. Although all the names of the students may be on the class list, only a few names will be on the list to receive a reward. To erase the name of a believer from the book of life does not mean that he shall perish for eternity. It only means that during the thousand years of the coming kingdom his name will not be there. This means that he will lose his birthright in the millennial kingdom, having no right to share what God originally intended to give to all of His chosen ones.
God’s original intention is that all His chosen ones should enjoy Christ to the uttermost today that they might also have the right to enjoy Christ in the coming age. Since many are unwilling to do this now, when the kingdom comes, they will lose their birthright. Only those who cooperate with God’s original intention will be in the kingdom enjoying Christ as their special portion. Their names will be in the book of life at that time, but the names of many others will not be there. Because not many Christians have seen this vision, they cannot understand the verses concerning this matter.
God’s intention is to work Christ into us for our enjoyment. The church age is the time for this to be accomplished. But whether or not we are willing to cooperate with God in this matter depends on us. Because many will not cooperate with God, in His wisdom He has decided to make the enjoyment of Christ in the coming kingdom age a reward. This reward is an incentive encouraging us to cooperate with God and to enjoy Christ today. If we do not cooperate, we shall miss the kingdom age. The book of life is a record of all the names who have a share in the enjoyment of Christ. During the church age all our names are there. But in the kingdom age, the names of the sloppy ones will be erased from this book. After the millennial kingdom, their names will then be put back into the book of life. It is good to see that God’s blessing in His salvation is of three ages: the church age, the kingdom age, and the age of eternity. Whether or not we will be in the kingdom sharing the full enjoyment of Christ depends upon whether we are willing to enjoy Christ today in the church life. Do not miss the opportunity today. If we enjoy Christ today, we shall be rewarded in the coming kingdom. Those who miss the special enjoyment of Christ in the coming kingdom will be dealt with by God that they might be brought into the full enjoyment of Christ. Therefore, eventually, when we all have passed through these two ages, the church age and the kingdom age, we all shall be ripe in the enjoyment of Christ and shall enter into the age of eternity.
If we are overcomers, the Lord will not erase our names out of the book of life; rather, He will confess our names before the Father and His angels. This indicates that since the names of those believers who are unwilling to be overcomers will be erased out of the book of life, their names will not be confessed by the Lord before the Father and His angels.
The dead reformed church needs the speaking of the living Spirit. The knowledge of the dead letters can never replace the speaking of the intensified Spirit. The letter kills (2 Cor. 3:6). It is the Spirit who gives life (John 6:63). All those in dead Protestantism must listen to the speaking of the Spirit.
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