Turn with me to Daniel chapter
12. Page 1125 in my Bible, Daniel
chapter 12. We are going to study the Bible
for this Bible study. I just want us to see what the
scripture has to say about something in particular. I prepared the
message for this morning before I started working on the Bible
study. Sometimes I don't prepare messages in order. And I prepared
the one for our message here in a moment first. And when I
got to one particular subject matter in that message, I thought
I would like to spend more time on that and prove that and see
what the scripture has to say about it. And I immediately realized
that will be our Bible study. That's what we'll focus on. So I'm just going to get right
to the point of what it is. If you look at Daniel 12 verse
one, it says, At that time shall Michael stand
up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people,
and there shall be a time of trouble such as never was since
there was a nation even to that same time. And at that time thy
people shall be delivered Everyone that shall be found written in
the book. Everyone that shall be found
written in the book. That's what I want us to focus
on. That's what I want us to just study for a second. God
has a book. God has a book. I mean, that deserves a sellah. You know, we just need to stop
for a minute and think about that. God has a book. I know
what the world thinks. I know what the world believes.
I know all that stuff. God has a book. Whether it is
a physical, literal book, or whether it is a spiritual, figurative
book. Either way, God's word says,
He has a book. Now, I kind of personally believe
that it's a literal book. And you say, how could a book
hold a number of names that no man can number? How could one
book possibly hold a number of names that no man can number?
I don't know, but God knows. Is there anything too hard for
the Lord? Is there anything too hard for
the Lord? Our God made the grains of sand all over this earth and
he made atoms and molecules and things like that. And according
to science, there are more atoms in one grain of sand than there
are grains of sand on the earth. I heard that a long time ago.
I Googled it again just to make sure it's still true. It's still
true. Go to the beach. And think about
that. There are more atoms in one grain
of sand. I mean, this shows you the awesomeness
of God. How can this be? More atoms in
one grain of sand than there are grains of sand on this earth. Is anything too hard for the
Lord? Anything. Now, either way, whether this
is physical or figurative, God has a book and the names of all
of His elect, chosen, predestinated, ordered, ordained to salvation
people. All of their names are written
in that book. Every name is written in that
book. This shows the calculated, ordered
purpose of God in salvation. And what I want to do for a minute
is I want us to just go through the scriptures that mention and
by the scriptures mentioning it will prove this book. I just want us to see it in the
word. This book, the fact that God has this book, it proves
his sovereignty in the matter. And so that none of us will deny
his sovereignty in the matter. I don't want anyone here to deny
his sovereignty in the matter. So we won't, I want us to see
what the scripture has declared concerning this book. I'm gonna
show you quite a few scriptures in the next few minutes. We're
gonna start in Revelation and then we're gonna go back and
work our way back up to Revelation. So go to Revelation five with
me. Revelation 5, this is the announcement
of the election. We talk about God's election. The Father elected a people.
This is the announcement of the election of every soul God chose
to save. Revelation 5 verse 1, I saw in
the right hand of him that sat on the throne a book written
within and on the backside, sealed with seven seals. It was perfectly
sealed. And I saw a strong angel proclaiming
with a loud voice, who is worthy to open the book and to loose
the seals thereof. And no man in heaven nor in earth,
neither under the earth was able to open the book, neither to
look thereon. And I wept much because no man
was found worthy to open and to read the book, neither to
look thereon." No one knew what was inside that book. No one
could read the inside of that book. God the Father wrote a
book and sealed the book and no man or woman was able to read
it. Who are God's elect? Give me the names of God's elect.
Well, I can't. I can't read that book. Who in
this room is one of God's elect and who is not? I don't know. I really don't know. As I look
around this room, I don't know. I pray I'm one of God's elect.
Time will tell. I'm hoping and clinging to the
fact that God chose me. Time will tell. I don't know. No man could read
this book. Verse 4, I wept much because
no man was found worthy to open and to read the book, neither
to look thereon. And one of the elders saith unto
me, Weep not. Behold, the lion of the tribe
of Judah, the root of David, hath prevailed to open the book
and to loose the seven seals thereof. And I beheld, and lo,
in the midst of the throne, and of the four beasts, and in the
midst of the elders, stood a lamb, as it had been slain, having
seven horns, horns is strength, perfect strength, seven eyes,
all seeing, all perfect knowledge, which are the seven spirits of
God, the perfect spirit of God, sent forth into all the earth,
And he came and took the book out of the right hand of him
that sat upon the throne. And when he had taken the book,
the four beasts and the four and 20 elders fell down before
the Lamb, having every one of them harps and golden vials full
of odors, which are the prayers of saints. And they sung a new
song saying, thou art worthy to take the book and to open
the seals thereof, for thou was slain and has redeemed us to
God by thy blood out of every kindred and tongue and people
and nation. and has made us unto our God
kings and priests and we shall reign on the earth. And I beheld
and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne
and the beast and the elders and the number of them was 10,000
times 10,000 and thousands of thousands saying with a loud
voice, worthy is the lamb that was slain to receive power and
riches and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and blessing.
And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and
under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that
are in them, heard I saying, blessing, and honor, and glory,
and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the
Lamb forever and ever. And the four beasts said, Amen.
And the four and 20 elders fell down and worshiped him that liveth
forever and ever. Before the foundation of this
world, God the Father wrote a book, and he put it in the hands of
God the Son. And God the Son, Jesus Christ
our Lord, has loosed the seals of that book. And He has made
known to each soul whose name was written in that book, you
were elected to salvation. Those seals were loosed on the
cross of Calvary. It said in verse 9, They sung
a new song saying, thou art worthy to take the book and to open
the seals thereof for thou was slain. It's because you were
slain. You redeemed us to God by thy
blood. Those seals were loosed on the
cross of Calvary and the spirit of Christ himself has been bringing
the good news of being chosen to salvation. To every one of
those names. since time began. That's what
a sinner hears when the gospel comes. That's what a sinner hears.
Your name was written in that book. Your name was written in
that book. What is your name? Oh, my name's
sinner, trickster, supplanter. Yep, right there. Your name is
written right there. That's the glorious gospel good
news of our salvation. And that has been the hope of
every believer since the beginning of time. That has been the hope
of all of them since the beginning. Turn with me to Exodus 32. Exodus 32, Moses right here is
trying to make intercession to God on behalf of God's people
who have sinned against him. They made a golden calf and they
sinned against him. In verse 30, it came to pass
on the morrow that Moses said unto the people, you have sinned
a great sin. And now I will go up unto the
Lord. Peradventure, I shall make an
atonement for your sin. And Moses returned unto the Lord
and said, oh, this people have sinned a great sin and have made
them gods of gold. Yet now, if thou wilt, forgive
their sin. And if not, blot me, I pray thee,
out of thy book which thou hast written. What a thing to say. What a thing to say. He said,
that's how deeply I beg you for mercy on the souls of these sinners,
that my name would be blotted out of your book. Your book of mercy, your book
of redemption, your book of life. Verse 33, and the Lord said unto
Moses, whosoever hath sinned against me, him will I blot out
of my book. Whoever has sinned against me,
him will I blot out of my book. And I'll just tell you, that's
the moment a sinner realizes he needs a substitute. Honestly,
that's the moment. Whoever has sinned against me,
I have yet to find a place where our Lord says, if you do this,
I will write your name in my book. You do good works and I'll
write your name in my book. You make yourself worthy of heaven
and I'll write your name right there in my book. I've yet to
find that. But he said, you sinned against
me and I will blot your name out of my book. You're out. You'll see that time and time
again. And that is the moment that a
sinner realizes, I need a substitute. Wait a minute, that's me. I have
sinned against him. I need a substitute. Once a sinner
realizes that he really is a sinner and all sinners are blotted out
of his book, that's the moment that sinner realizes he needs
a substitute. I need a substitute. That's what
all of God's chosen sinners received on the cross of Calvary, a substitute. Christ was blotted out for his
people. He was blotted out. Forsaken. God turned his back
on him. Cut off. For who? For who? For every sinner
whose name was written in that book. Not for every sinner, but
for every sinner whose name was written in that book. God has
a book. And it has been acknowledged
by His people throughout all ages. All ages. Go with me to
Psalm 139. Psalm 139 verse 14 says, I will
praise thee for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Marvelous
are thy works and that my soul knoweth right well. My substance
was not hid from thee when I was made in secret and curiously
wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. Thine eyes did see
my substance yet being unperfect and in thy book. All my members were written,
which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of
them." He said, you wrote everything about me in your book before
I was ever even made. And that's how it is for every
name in that book. We don't earn an entrance into
that book. I know that's what people think.
God has a book of life, a book of salvation, and if you want
to be in it, you better earn your spot. That's not how it
works. It was all written before any
soul was ever even born, before any of this was ever even here,
that the purpose of God according to election might stand. Turn
with me to Isaiah 4. Isaiah 4 verse 2 says, in that
day, shall the branch of the Lord be beautiful and glorious,
and the fruit of the earth shall be excellent and comely for them
that are escaped of Israel. And it shall come to pass that
he that is left in Zion and he that remaineth in Jerusalem shall
be called holy, even everyone that is written among the living
in Jerusalem. My margin for among the living
means to life. Everyone that is written to life. Everyone that was written in
the Lamb's Book of Life. Every soul. Go to Luke 10 with
me. Luke chapter 10. Luke 10 verse 1 says, 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. He sent
them out to preach, okay? 70, two and two, sent them out
to preach. Look at verse 17. And the 70 returned again with
joy, saying, Lord, even the devils are subject unto us through thy
name. 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. Notwithstanding,
in this rejoice not that the spirits are subject unto you,
but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven. He said, that's the thing to
rejoice over. The father chose you, he knew you, he ordained
you, he loved you. In my blood, the blood of my
redemption and in his choosing in my purchase, you're safe.
That's the thing to rejoice over. Your names are in that book.
Go to Philippians 4 with me. Philippians 4, verse 1. Therefore,
my brethren, dearly beloved, and long for my joy and crown,
so stand fast in the Lord, my dearly beloved. I beseech you,
Odius, and beseech Syntyche, that they be of the same mind
in the Lord. And I entreat thee also, true yoke fellow, help
those women which labored with me in the gospel. with Clement
also, and with other my fellow laborers, whose names are in
the book of life." Whose names are in the book of
life. Moses said, that's my hope. David
said, that's my hope. Paul said, that's my hope, that
my name is written in that book. That's my hope. And very quickly,
let me just run through these remaining scriptures, okay? Go
to Hebrews 12. There are so many, but I just picked out a few. Hebrews 12,
verse 23 says, to the General Assembly and Church
of the Firstborn, which are written in heaven." Written in heaven. Turn to Revelation 3. Revelation 3 verse 5 says, 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. Look at Revelation 13. This is speaking of the adversary
right here. Revelation 13 verse eight, all
that dwell upon the earth shall worship him. Speaking of the
adversary, whose names are not written in the book of life of
the lamb slain from the foundation of the world. There are names
all over this world that are not written. Not written in that book. Look
at Revelation 17. Verse eight. The beast that thou sawest was
and is not and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit and go
into perdition or destruction. And they that dwell on the earth
shall wonder whose names were not written in the book of life
from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that
was and is not and yet is. Not written. Written, not written. Turn to Revelation 20, verse
11. And I saw a great white throne
and him that sat on it from whose face the earth and the heaven
fled away and there was found no place for them. And I saw
the dead small and great stand before God and the books were
opened. That's the books of all the sinful
works that men and women have done in this world. Everything
that we do, say, and think is being written down. It's all
being recorded in the books of our works. Verse 12, I saw the
dead, small and great, stand before God, and the books were
opened, and another book was opened, which is the book of
life. And the dead were judged out of those things which were
written in the books according to their works. And the sea gave
up the dead which were in it, and death and hell delivered
up the dead which were in them. And they were judged, every man
according to their works. And death and hell were cast
into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And
whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast
into the lake of fire. God has a book. God has a book,
and we need to be in it. God has a book, and we need to
be in it. Revelation 21 verse 27 says,
There shall in no wise enter into glory anything that defileth,
neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie, but they which
are written in the Lamb's book of life. They are the only ones
who will enter into glory. They are the only ones, the ones
who were written before the foundation of this world in the Lamb's Book
of Life from the scripture. Do we see that? Do we see that God has a book
and we need to be in it? Our only hope is that our names
were written in his book. Now, I'm going to expound on
this a little bit more here in the message in a moment, but
I'll go ahead and tell us just in case anybody has to leave,
just in case somebody hears this on the internet and they don't
get part two, I'm going to tell us right now. The evidence of
a sinner's name being written in that book is God will give
that sinner a need to be in that book. God will give that sinner
a need to be in that book. God will give that sinner faith
to believe that God wrote a book. First of all, a sinner won't
say, I don't believe that. You mean to tell me that God
chose exactly who he was gonna save before anything ever happened
and nobody had a chance and it's all done? I don't believe that.
God's people won't say that. Number one, they will be given
faith to believe God wrote a book. Without God-given faith, no sinner
can believe that God wrote a book before the foundation of the
world and selected the names of the people that would be in
that book and sealed that book so that nothing can be changed
about it. It was God's decision and God's
decision alone. God's people will say, Amen.
Every name in that book will say, Amen. Without God-given
faith, no sinner will believe that truth. But if God elected
a sinner's name to be in that book, God will give that sinner
eyes of faith to see that truth in the Word. I see it. I see
it right there. God will give that sinner ears
of faith and a heart of faith that understands and believes
that truth in God's Word. And God will put a need in that
sinner's soul to be in that book. I need to be in that book. That
sinner will say, this is my only hope. Here's my only hope. This
is my only hope. Not that I quit my sinning 23
years ago. That's not it. Here's my only
hope that the Father chose me, the Son redeemed me, and the
Spirit has sealed me. That's my only hope. If God has
put that hope alone in you, you're in his book. You could not have
that hope otherwise. You are in his book. Now, Lord
willing, we'll expound on that a little bit more in a moment.