May the Lord be pleased to bless
us together this evening as we turn to his word, and let's turn
to the Gospel of Luke, chapter 10, and we'll read verse 20.
The Gospel of Luke, chapter 10, and reading verse 20. Notwithstanding in this, rejoice
not, that the spirits are subject unto you, but rather rejoice,
because your names are written in heaven. Jesus is addressing the 70 men
that he'd sent forth to preach the gospel. And at the beginning
of this chapter we read that statement, after these things
the Lord appointed other 70 also and sent them two and two before
his face into every city and place whither he himself would
come. And then he speaks to them how
they are to carry themselves and what they are to do and then
they return. And we read, and the 70 returned
again with joy saying, Lord even the devils are subject unto us
through thy name. So it was a wonderful occasion
for them. They realized that God had been
with them, he hadn't left them, He hadn't forsaken them, he'd
mightily blessed them. And now they come and the Lord
says, and he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall
from heaven. Behold, I give unto you power
to tread on serpents and scorpions and over all the power of the
enemy and nothing shall by any means hurt you. Well, that's
a wonderful statement, is it not? that the Lord is speaking
here to those 70 men. And then he makes this statement,
he says, notwithstanding, he's already told them what they would
achieve, how they would be blessed, and the Lord says, notwithstanding,
in this, rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you,
but, and he gives them a very big reason why they should not,
but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven. Now that was written and spoken
to those 70 men who were ordained to go forth and to preach the
gospel, but it's also spoken to the Church of God, this great
statement, but rather rejoice because your names are written
in heaven. What a blessing that is if we
have that good hope that our names are written in heaven,
that they are written in the Lamb's Book of Life. That is
great cause for rejoicing. It's the best thing that we can
ever look forward to, our time in glory. The eternal state which
will be ours when time will be no more. And is it not a cause
for us tonight to rejoice in a statement like this because
our names are written in heaven? And we may be discouraged and
we may think, well, that's all right for some people. But of
course, really, I don't come up to any standard. I find myself,
you know, very unworthy and no evidence hardly at all. But the
Lord goes on. To encourage such, in the 21st
verse we read, In that hour Jesus rejoiced in spirit and said,
I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou
hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed
them unto babes, even so, Father, for so it seemed good in thy
sight. Now we know, I'm sure we know,
that a babe doesn't know very much. A babe hasn't much understanding. And here, these people that are
to rejoice, because their names are written in heaven, are likened
unto babes, has revealed them unto babes. The Lord comes then
and graciously reveals to his people these great truths. and it comes to them as they
are indeed babes, even so far the foresight's in good in thy
sight. So there is therefore no real
reason why we shouldn't be encouraged tonight. We might feel perhaps
like a babe, well the word of God tells us, except we become
as little children. We are to be found in a teachable
state, a little child needs to be taught and we need to be taught. We need to be led, we need to
be directed by the blessed Spirit of God and in that leading and
in that teaching to bring us to that position to realise that
our names are written in heaven and if they are, then you see
we have great cause to rejoice. Now This shows to us the greatness
of God's flavour to his people, to his church. And when the apostle
wrote the letter to the Ephesians, he said this in the opening chapter.
He said, and grace be to you and peace from God our Father
and from the Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual
blessings in heavenly places, according as he hath chosen us
in him before the foundation of the world, that we should
be holy and without blame before him in love. Now then, if we
come under this verse, rather rejoice because your names are
written in heaven. It is because Almighty God has
chosen us in Him, in the Lord Jesus Christ before the foundation
of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before
Him in love. So it is a very important consideration
to realise that God has chosen us before the foundation of the
world. And he goes on to say, having
predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to
himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, to the
praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted
in the Beloved. Well, this is a very important
truth and a wonderful blessing to the Church of God. So, may we tonight be encouraged
by such statements and recognise the importance of rather rejoicing
because our names are written in heaven. We may have many blessings, we may have many favours, And
we may even rejoice in some of those truths that the 70 were
blessed with. But the whole point is here that
our great reason to truly rejoice is because our names are written
in heaven. We should, of course, be thankful
for all the blessings that we do receive, the answers to our
prayers and the encouragements and the directions which God
gives to us. But the real reason for rejoicing
is because our names are written in heaven. Because this is an eternal blessing. This is not something which will
fade with age in this life. This is not something which will
fade in eternity. Because if our names are written
in heaven, if they're written in that Lamb's Book of Life,
they cannot be erased. They have been written there
and they cannot be erased. And so may that be a support
and an encouragement to us as we consider these truths. And may it really cause us to
rejoice in our heart as we think of the mercy of God, of the favour
of God, of the blessing of God in choosing such unworthy sinners
of the earth, we who can really merit nothing, what can we bring
to God? What can we bring to God? You
might think, well, I've done this and I've done that. Let
us not forget the Word of God tells us, sin is mixed with all
we do. And as the Apostle Paul said,
in me, that is in my flesh. dwelleth no good thing, so that
if we were at all relying on ourselves for salvation, there
would be no hope for us. But the blessing is that God
has written our names in heaven, in that book of life, all those
whom he has chosen before the foundation of the world. It is A wonderful truth. It's difficult for us to appreciate
and to comprehend the greatness of it. And does it not cause us to stand
amazed that the Lord should have looked upon us unworthy as we
are of any favour. And as the Lord Jesus said, you
have not chosen me. And by nature, we would not choose
God. No, ye have not chosen me, but the Lord says, but I have
chosen you. But rather rejoice, because your
names are written in heaven." So it's a mercy, isn't it, to
have a God who doesn't look at our own abilities, who doesn't
look at our sinful nature, but has chosen us before the foundation
of the world, and has watched over us, and does watch over
us. He knows our every thought, He
knows our every action, our every desire, is all known to our God. We cannot hide anything. And
as the Lord, in His mercy, reveals to us something of the terribleness
of our fallen nature, and to realise that if it was up to
us there will be no hope of heaven at last. But it is because of
this great promise, according as he has chosen us in him before
the foundation of the world. And therefore, our lives are
to be for his glory, the praise of the glory of his grace. And
he goes on, in whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness
of sins, according to the riches of his grace, wherein he hath
abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence, having made known
unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure,
which he hath purposed in himself." To think that Almighty God has
made known unto us the mystery of his will concerning our souls. As the Lord may have shown to
us our real condition, our true condition, as we view ourselves,
and of course we don't view the whole picture, we know that the
Lord looks into our heart and sees everything, sees all our
sins, sins that we don't really know exist, the Lord looks and
sees everything. Nothing is hidden from his all-seeing
eye, and yet what a mercy it is to realise that this kind
and gracious God has chosen us, not in any good in ourselves,
but because of his mercy, because of his love, his great love wherewith
he has loved us. Well, it is a wonderful blessing
to realise that we have such a God, such a great God today.
He's not a little God. He's a great God. He's a God
of infinite mercy and infinite favour. The Lord Jesus, when you prayed
that high priestly prayer in the 17th of John, As he comes
to the end, he says, Father, I will, that they also, whom
thou hast given me, be with me where I am, that they may behold
my glory, which thou hast given me, for thou lovest me before
the foundation of the world. We see here the wonder of that
prayer. to His Father. That prayer that
we might be with the Lord to behold His glory and that
throughout eternity. That's not something which will
fade away. It's something which will be
forever. Forever with the Lord. Is that
not reason? for us tonight to rejoice. And it's important to think of
what the Lord says, but rather rejoice. We should be thankful
for all the many blessings we receive. But here he says, but
rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven. That is
the great reason for us to rejoice tonight. for the wonder of redeeming
love, for the great mercy of Almighty God, who has chosen
us in the furnace of affliction, that he has taken us in hand
and is leading us and directing us now. Of course, the important
question is as to whether these words do actually apply to us
or whether they pass us by. Well, I believe we will have
the evidence in our hearts as the Spirit of God applies his
word to our hearts and we have the evidence that we possess
life within. That life which is not of the
flesh, not something that we can produce, but it's that which
God gives to us. We don't want to be amongst those
who are just a pseudo-Christian. The Lord says in a later chapter,
the 13th chapter of Luke, he says, in answer to the question,
Lord, are there few that be saved? And he answers, strive to enter
in at the straight gate. For many, I say unto you, will
seek to enter in and shall not be able. When once the master
of the house is risen up, and are shut to the door, and ye
begin to stand without, and to knock at the door, saying, Lord,
Lord, open unto us. And he shall answer and say unto
you, I know you not, whence ye are. Then shall ye begin to say,
we have eaten and drunk in thy presence, and thou hast taught
in our streets. But he shall say, I tell you,
I know you not, whence ye are. depart from me, all ye workers
of iniquity, there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when ye
shall see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in
the kingdom of God and you yourselves thrust out." It's a very solemn
statement, isn't it? It's a statement which will be
true of many, many people who have thought They were travelling
on the right road. They thought they were going
to heaven at last. But the question really is, were
they rejoicing because their names were written in heaven?
Did they really have a right understanding of what it would
be like to be in heaven? Had their appreciation of what
the Saviour meant to them Was he precious to them or were they
just relying on their own works and the things that they had
done and they hoped therefore that they would go to a heaven
of their own liking, a heaven which they'd produced in their
own minds but not really in accordance with the word of God. And so they were not amongst
those who were truly rejoicing because their names are written
in heaven. Now, we will rejoice if our names
are written in heaven. We will rejoice because of that
knowledge that the Lord has spoken to us. The Lord, as it were,
has come alongside us and made us aware of our true condition
before a holy God. so that we won't be relying on
what we've done. We won't be relying on doing
this and doing that. We should be relying on one thing
only and that is the atoning death of the Lord Jesus Christ. We read together at the end of
this chapter about Martha and Mary And the Lord said, Mary
has chosen that good part which shall not be taken away from
her. What was that good part? She
desired to sit at Jesus' feet. She desired to hear what he would
say to her. And so that would be a good testimony
for us tonight if we desire to be found sitting at the feet
of Jesus. waiting to hear his voice, waiting
to hear the words of his lips, which may be an encouragement
to us. Sometimes those words are words
of correction, but nonetheless to know the Lord is mindful of
us and he's not leaving us to our own devices, but he's hedging
up our way. He's directing us in that right
way. so that we look forward to that
time we shall be with him. Rather rejoice, because your
names are written in heaven. And it is important for us to
realise the rather, to rejoice in this truth, because there
are many things in this world which can sidetrack us, many
things which direct us in the opposite direction. We may think,
perhaps, We're serving the Lord in this way and that way. But
the great point is, are we rejoicing that our names are written in
heaven? The Lord speaks these words very
powerfully to us and we should not think that they are irrelevant. They are very important to recognise
such a truth as that. We want to know that our names
are written in heaven. We don't want to be amongst those
who find that their names are not written in heaven. The Apostle
John, when he wrote the Revelation, directed by the Spirit of God
to speak about those who do not have their names written in the
Lamb's Book of Life. And he says, And it was given
unto him to make war with the saints, to overcome them and
power was given him over all kindreds and tongues and nations
and all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him that's the
devil whose names are not written in the book of life of the lamb
slain from the foundation of the world And John then says,
if any man have an ear, let him hear. Well, I hope that none
of us want to be amongst those whose names are not written in
the Book of Life. Surely we need to have that confirmation
that our names are written in the Lamb's Book of Life and that
it will be well with our soul and it will be well with our
soul because the Lord has chosen us in eternity past, but rather
rejoice because your names are written in heaven. And so I remember
the Lord then speaks to his people and encourages us to be like
this, to be like babes, to be found as little children, not
anticipating great revelations, great blessings, You know, we
read very little of great revelations in the Word of God. If you analyze
the lives of God's saints in the Word of God, and even of
the most well-known characters, the revelations and blessings
that they actually received were relatively few. What did they
do? They walked by faith. What are
we called to today? We're called to walk by faith, to have that good hope in what
the Lord Jesus Christ has done, to be blessed with that realisation
that it was done for us, so that we come and say that with the
hymn writer, my hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood
and righteousness. We don't depend upon ourselves.
We look out of ourselves to what the Lord Jesus Christ has done.
It is a great and glorious finished work. And the thing is that if
you and I tonight are looking to the Lord Jesus Christ, that
our hope is based on what He has done, not what we've done,
then you see, do we not rejoice to believe that our names are
written in heaven? because our eyes have been opened, our eyes now observe the truth
of God, that which we didn't know before, and what a wonderful
blessing it is, a bit like the Apostle Paul when scales fell
from his eyes. Perhaps scales have fallen from
our eyes. Perhaps we've been like the Apostle Paul, have been
in darkness, blind, couldn't see. Yes, the Lord had spoken
to him and he had that period of darkness. But you see, in that period of
darkness, it's quite clear from what we read in that chapter
in Acts, that he prayed. He prayed. And Ananias was told, as Joseph
mentioned tonight, The Lord came to Ananias and said, with regards
to Saul of Tarsus, Behold, he prayeth. We may be apparently in darkness,
blind, but are we praying? The Apostle Paul was praying. And then when Ananias came to
him, the scales fell from his eyes. What a beautiful address
he made, brother Saul. He believed the word of the Lord,
although he'd heard many bad things and true things against
the Apostle. But we see how he was moved by
the Spirit of God. And the Apostle Paul indeed rejoiced
because his name was written in heaven. He tells us, for me
to live is Christ but to die is gain. What was he doing? He was rejoicing because his
name was written in heaven. It was recorded in the Lamb's
Book of Life and he had the evidence of it
because of what the Lord had done for him. The revelations
that he'd been blessed with, but don't forget there was that
time of darkness in the Apostle's life when he couldn't see, but
he prayed. And perhaps in our lives we may
sometimes not be able to see and it seems as though scales
are upon our eyes, but are we praying? Are we praying? And if we're praying in that
condition, it will be that the Lord will come and reveal himself
to us as he does not unto the world. It was a wonderful result
in the Apostle's life, wasn't it? Because he arose and was
baptised and he went forth and preached the Gospel. But rather rejoice because your
names are written in heaven. He had to leave behind all those
things which previously he'd been rejoicing in. They were
of no value at all and he was sad because of the life he'd
lived. But now he went forward in the
strength of the Lord, desiring to do his will and to serve him
and looking forward to that eternal inheritance which is incorruptible
and undefiled, and which is reserved for all his people. Rather rejoice,
because your names are written in heaven. And so tonight, are
we rejoicing in this great truth, that our names are written in
heaven? Is that which really moves our
minds, really moves our heart tonight, we come before our God
and we thank him for the evidence we have, small as it may be,
remember, as a babe, not able to understand very much, but
nonetheless sufficient to give us that good hope that the Lord
has worked and is working in our heart and is instructing
us and teaching us in the way that we should go through this
world and that he is preparing us for our eternal home. Therefore we have reason to rejoice
because our names are written in heaven. We need to be thankful
for every mercy and blessing that we have. But this is the
great blessing, isn't it? Because what it means is there
is eternal security We're secure because Christ has died for us. My friends, Christ never died
in vain. He never spilt his precious blood
in vain. It was invaluable blood. And if the Lord Jesus Christ
has died for us and we have a good hope in that truth, then eternal
life is ours and we can tonight rejoice because our names are
written in heaven and as we view that it will put things in this
life in a right and a true perspective. We shall then be viewing things
in the light of eternity and we shall recognize the vast difference
between eternal realities and the trivialities of this poor
world. And as the Spirit of God may
direct us to view the vast difference and to realise that the Lord
himself has been gracious to us, has been mindful of us, has
come to us in our lowest state, has given us that hope in his
mercy, enabled us to pray to him, to seek his face, to desire
eternal blessings so that we recognise the truth of these
words, that we can rather rejoice, no matter how many other temporal
blessings we may have, thankful for them, but rather rejoice
because our names are written in heaven. Well, tonight, may
we view these words in the light of eternity and view them as
the word from the Lord God himself, and to realise the relevance
they are in our lives. And may we each tonight be found
by the Spirit of God, able with living faith to come here and
say, yes, but rather, I will rejoice because my name is written
in heaven. Amen.