Luke 10 and verse 1. After these things the Lord appointed
other seventy also, and sent them two by two before His face
into every city and place, whether He Himself would come. Therefore,
said he unto them, the harvest truly is great, but the laborers
few. Pray you, therefore, the Lord
of the harvest, that he will send forth laborers into his
harvest. Go your ways. Behold, I send
you forth as lambs among wolves. Carry neither purse nor script
nor shoes, and salute no man by the way. And into whatsoever
house ye enter, first say, Peace be to this house. And if the
Son of Peace be there, your peace shall be upon it. If not, it
shall turn to you again. And in the same house remain
eating and drinking such things as they give you. For the laborer
is worthy of his hire. Go not from house to house. And into whatsoever city you
enter, and they receive you. Eat such things as are set before
you, and heal the sick that are therein, and say unto them, The
kingdom of God is come nigh unto you. But into whatsoever city
ye enter, and they receive you not, Go your way out into the
streets of the same and say, even the very dust of your city,
which cleaveth on us, we do wipe off against you. Notwithstanding,
be ye sure of this, that the kingdom of God is come nigh unto
you. But I say unto you that it shall
be more tolerable in that day for Sodom than for that city. Woe unto Chorazin! Woe unto Bethsaida! For if the mighty works had been
done in Tyre and Sidon, which have been done in you, they had
a great while ago repented sitting in sackcloth and ashes. But it
shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the judgment than
for you. And thou, Capernaum, which art
exalted to heaven, shall be thrust down to hell. He that heareth
you, heareth me. He that despises you, despises
me. He that despises me, despises
him that sent me. And the seventy returned again
with joy, saying, Lord, even the devils were subject unto
us through thy name. And he said unto them, I beheld
Satan as lightning fall from heaven. Behold, I have given
you power to tread on serpents and scorpion, power over all
of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you. And watch verse 20. Notwithstanding,
in this rejoice not. that the spirits are subject
unto you, but rather rejoice because your names are written
in heaven. and hence the title of our study,
Names Written in Heaven. They have seen great successes.
Our Lord kind of deflates them or lets the air out of them a
little bit saying, look, don't rejoice in these things, but
let your rejoicing be first and foremost that your names are
written yonder in heaven. Now concerning this passage of
Scripture, This is one of those events of our Lord that is found
only in this place in the Scripture. Only Luke, of all the four, was
led by the Lord to record this. But it is a blessed event and
is no less important because the Spirit of the Lord has inspired
Luke to include this portion in his Gospel. And it gives us
our text and it gives us our subject for the study of the
evening. In verse 20, that having one's
name enrolled in the book of God yonder in heaven is a far
greater blessing than all of the attainments, all of the achievements
of this life. whatever they might be. Better
than being a successful preacher, better than being a successful
famous missionary, is to have one's name written yonder in
heaven. Better than growing a big, big
church, or gaining fame among men, or having the respect of
the world, is to have one's name written yonder in heaven. Now,
to kind of get our contextual bearings here exactly where we
are, let's drop back to chapter 9 and verse 51 just for a moment. Because there we read that our
Lord had determinately set His face toward the city of Jerusalem. This is mentioned again in chapter
9 and verse 53. that people did not receive or
welcome Him, did not intend to try to get Him to stay, because
His face was set as if He were to go unto Jerusalem. That either
by His words or by His countenance or by His action, He would not
tarry long with them, and it became evident unto Him. And
it was as if our Lord is anxious to be on his way, his face is
set like a flint toward Jerusalem. John Gill thought that this was
the end of the Galilean ministry of our Christ. He had finished
his work there for the most part among them and would no more
be concentrating on that place in his ministry as he had done
often times, but would be in and around Jerusalem. He set
his face toward that city. Now chapter 10 tells us of the
Lord commissioning a band of disciples. And that band of disciples
is commissioned by the Lord to go forward into those cities
where he soon would come or where he would pass. As sort of forerunners
of the Lord, they went ahead of him into those cities and
equipped them. He gave them power over unclean
spirits. He instructed them how they were
to conduct themselves, what manner of men they were. Their message
was to be, according to verse 9, the kingdom of God is come
nigh unto you." Now, this is not to be confused with that
similar commission that was given to the twelve back under in chapter
9 and verses 1 through 6. To them also He gave authority
and power. over unclean spirits, over demons,
over diseases, to cure the sick and to preach the kingdom of
God. Now both bands of servants were
given similar instruction as they were sent out. They were
to do great wonders by Christ's commission. They were to preach.
We learn in our text that they were to travel light. We learn
that they were to shake the dust to their feet against those who
obstinately set aside and rejected and refused the message of the
kingdom of God. And in the case of the 70, they
were to warn them that the mighty works and those that had heard
great divine truth, their end would be worse than the end of
Sodom. The Lord warns them. Now, we
note In Luke 10 and verse 1, those that were sent out were
not the 12, not this time, but as in Luke 9-1. There were 70
of these men in Luke chapter 10. None of their names are given,
though I guarantee you in John Gill's commentary, he has listed
all 70 names according to what the Jews had to say. Also notice
that this was a temporary commission under these men, under these
70, whereas that of the 12 was not temporary at all. They were
to hold their apostolic commission through the Lord's death, through
His resurrection, and Ascension and all the days of their life. But these 70, chosen by the Lord,
sent by the Lord, chosen out of that number of people who
evidently were faithful followers and disciples of the Lord. Now
the question may pop up in our mind, why 70? Why fix upon the
number 70? Is there any significance in
the fact that our Lord chose 70 men? There were at one time
70 elders in the nation of Israel, Exodus 24 verse 1 and also verse
9. Some say this also was the number
of members that sat on the Sanhedrin Jewish court. But for us, now
the number is insignificant. They went out by pairs, two by
two, partnering up, and were to concentrate on the areas where
the Lord Himself intended to go, making His way toward Jerusalem. We might quickly notice the instruction
by which they were to be bound. We notice here the Lord gives
them the rules of their engagement, as some would say. And in verse
2, a great harvest lay before them that they might go and preach
the kingdom of God. In verse 3, they were as sheep,
or lambs as it is, sent out in the midst of wolves. They would
face danger. They would encounter violent
men and resistance. in verse 4 through verse 9. They
were to be received well. And where they were received
well, they were to wish or convey peace upon that house. They were
to abide there all the time of their stay in that city. They
were to eat and drink from the hospitality of the people, such
as the host sat before them to eat and drink. Because the Lord
said, the gospel laborer is worthy of his hire and is worthy to
be compensated by his labors for those that he labors among. And they were to preach and they
were to do mighty works in the name of Christ and of God. Now in verse 10 through 16 contains
their instruction when they came into a particular city or into
a particular village that rejected them and turned a deaf ear toward
the message of the kingdom. They were to leave right back
out the very same day. They were to shake the dust of
that city off of their feet as a testimony against them. They
were to warn that city of the bad end, of apostates when they
had cast away the great truth of God. That such as heard the
word of God and had seen the wonderful works of God, do and
rejected, do increase their judgment and their damnation according
unto our Lord. Now verse 16 makes the connection
between the messengers and He that sent them forth. They that
hear their message, they are hearing Christ and vice versa. And he that despises Christ and
rejects the Word of Christ, rejects the Word of Him that sent me,
Him that would be God the Father. In verse 17, the 70 come back
forth off of their mission. probably likely at a set time,
probably a time had been set, an appointed day. We do not know
how long they were gone upon their journey, but they come
back and they come back filled with joy and with exuberance. and pouring out reports of great
success in the places where they had ministered. No doubt a good
many had believed their report concerning the kingdom of God. Others there were who had been
healed of long-time sicknesses and diseases of every kind. The power of God was made manifest
through them. And they take particular note
of the success, or rather, the degree of their success. Listen, even the devils were
subject unto us in your name. Not only did some believe, not
only did some heal, not only did some get up off of their
sick bed and lose their afflictions and that such a thing, but even
the demons or devils, those spiritual evil spirits, even they submitted
unto us in your name and in your power. It would seem that their
success greatly exceeded their expectation, that it was better
than they had imagined. More was done than they perhaps
thought would be done. That's seen here by the words,
even the devils, in addition to all else that was done to
good and to glory, even the devils. And I would almost describe these
70 when they got back as if they were giddy with joy over the
victories that they had seen in the name of the Lord. And
in verse 18, does the Lord's response seem to be a surprise
to them as well as it might be unto us? Or would they expect
the Lord to say unto them, well, that's good. Well done, my true
and faithful servant. Thou hast been good and faithful. Instead, the Lord answers a strange
answer. I saw, I behold, Satan as lightning
fall down from heaven. Now as to the meaning of these
words, there are two views that you'll find in the various most
popular and reliable expositors. First of all, there's that view
that some take the Lord to be saying this, yes, I saw, I was
watching, I was following the success of your ministry. I saw the success of your ministry
and I saw Satan, as it were, fall down before you. But secondly,
others take it as a reference to the fall of Satan yonder out
of heaven in a much earlier time. It has been by some supported
this view, but when we see the power or authority the Lord had
given them, I lean to give that it is most likely the second
view that is the more appropriate one in that place. But be that
as it may, let us consider verse 20. Our main focus in this study
is the 20th verse again. notwithstanding in this, rejoice
not, that the spirits are subject unto you, but rather rejoice
because your names are written in heaven." Now they rejoiced
that the devils gave submission unto them. In the Lord's great
name, not in their name, they didn't steal the Lord's glory
in that way, but in the Lord's name, even wicked devils were
subject unto them. Their ministry had been crowned
with what they would term a great success. And it no doubt gave
them fame and credit among the people among whom they ministered. Perhaps it gave them a measure
of personal satisfaction. Perhaps it even built up their
ego a bit to have been so successful against the wicked one, somewhat
swell them up with pride. as if they were now demon slayers
par excellence. So the Lord said in verse 19,
I gave you that power to tread on serpents and on scorpions,
and I gave you power over the enemy, and that nothing will
cause you any harm. I personally protected you, notwithstanding
Or we might say, however. Or we might say, nevertheless,
rejoice not in these things. Rejoice not even that the devils
are subject unto you and obey you. But let your rejoicing be
because your names are inscribed in the book of life, in the presence
of God in heaven. Now, it's not that there is no
cause for rejoicing in the success and the advancement of the kingdom
of God. How often we read the saints
rejoiced at the work of God and that many believe, at the victories
of God over sin and over the wicked ones. There was great
rejoicing like at the Red Sea when they crossed over. But the
thought is in comparison. The greatest, the highest, the
most sensible form or cause of rejoicing is that one has their
name on the heavenly roll in the book of God. In Hebrews chapter
12 and verse 23, there's an interesting passage or verse. It says, the
church of the firstborn which are written, and the margin there
in the King James has it, enrolled, which are written or enrolled
in heaven. Now in this passage from Hebrews
chapter 12, the author is clearly contrasting the two economies,
the old and the new, the Jewish and the Christian. And in verse
18, notice what he said, in coming to the gospel worship, You are
not come to a mount that might be touched and so forth. But look at verse 22. Ye are
come to Mount Zion. You are not come to that mountain
that smoked and thundered and fire and great noise and terrified
the people, but worshiping in and under and by the gospel You
are come to Mount Zion, and so forth. John Brown summed up the
apostles' meaning like this, and I quote, In becoming Christians,
you have joined a holy and happy society. You are brought into
a permanent fellowship with Jehovah and are connected to all of the
faithful in Christ," words of John Brown. The head being God
in the heaven, the mediator of the covenant being the Lord Jesus
Christ by whom we are brought into fellowship. Note how he
describes the Christian ones there in that passage. A, they are the church of the
firstborn. And in Hebrews 12 again, they
are children or rather the church of the firstborn. Now we know
that the term firstborn had great significance under the Old Economy
or under the First Testament, meaning those who were firstborn
but also who were dedicated and who were redeemed unto the Lord
and they belonged to Him. Israel is my firstborn and so
were many that were firstborn. So firstborn, the church of the
firstborn. And then B, notice something
else, the spirits of just men justified in Hebrews chapter
12. But notice then C, which are
written in heaven. enrolled in heaven, in the book
of God, in the Lamb's book of life as it is identified in the
New Testament. Not only is this a very, very
precious truth, but the author may also intend a contrast which
a Jew would be familiar with. A contrast like that one in Numbers
chapter 3. and verses 40 through verse 42. In that particular place, God
commanded Moses to make an enrollment of all of the firstborn males
in the wilderness, that all firstborn males were to be enrolled in
a book or a record. Their number and their names
were then taken. They were written in a secular
book upon the earth while Hebrew speaks of those who are numbered
among the spiritual firstborn which are written in heaven. And could there be a contrast
between such as are written in some honorable institution upon
the earth? Even a church role, for heaven
only knows how many enrolled in churches there are whose names
are not enrolled in heaven. The earthly church roles do not
exactly correspond with the enrollment of the church of the firstborn
in heaven. One is kept on earth, the other
is kept in heaven. And our names may be on some
roles on earth. when some are not in heaven. Hear again the words of Hebrews
12 and verse 23, the church of the firstborn which are written
in heaven. Now there is a question in connection
with this that we might not be able to answer fully or in great
detail. That is whether by the church
of the firstborn is meant Number one, Jesus. Is Jesus the firstborn
here? Or number two, does it refer
to the saints of God? Or consider, Jesus is called
in Romans 8 and verse 29, the firstborn among many brethren."
In Colossians 1 and verse 15, the firstborn of every creature. Also Colossians 1 and verse 18,
the firstborn from the dead. And there is no question about
it that in these texts the reference is to the Lord Jesus Christ. But when we look at the text
in Hebrews chapter 12 and verse 23, it very clearly seems to
refer to the saints of God, especially in saying that they are written
in heaven. They are, in this sense, the
firstborn. They are such as are enrolled
in heaven. Then again consider a passage
from the Apostle Paul, just simply a passage that he wrote in passing
in Philippians chapter 4 and verse 3, where he casually here
mentions the heavenly enrollment. Paul beseeches, verse 2, and
entreats, verse 3, I entreat, that is, I ask you, true yokefella,
help those women which labored with me in the gospel, with Clement
also, and other, my fellow laborers, whose names are in the book of
life. Paul's fellow laborers, Paul's
fellow Christian, their names are in the book of life. Now we notice that the apostle
names some, Clement, others by group, the women. and others,
literally the remaining, and then he sums them up as being
such as whose names are written in the Book of Life. Not just the role of the living,
as is the custom of men, to keep a record of all citizens and
of all that are alive, and then when they are deceased, to take
their names off of the roll, whether it be the voting roll,
maybe, maybe off of the tax rolls, maybe. These are written in the
halls of government and in secular places. But Paul speaks of such
as whose names are written in heaven. Now, is Paul being awful
presumptuous here in this particular place? Does Paul take too much
upon himself and too much for granted? How does he know? Does he claim to be privy to
the divine counsels of the Almighty God? Does he claim to be able
to intrude into the secret counsels and eternal counsels of God? How can a mere man, though it
be Paul, so rashly declare the eternal counsels of God, whose
names are in the book of life? Well, let's compare what he wrote
to the church in Thessalonica. 1 Thessalonians chapter 1 verse
4, you may remember the verse. He says to them, knowing brethren
beloved your election of God. Knowing as I do, brethren, your
election of God. Knowing as I do you to be the
elect of God. Paul is saying he knows them
to be elect. Now again, not that he has access
to the book of election to look for himself. This is no more
presumptuous, my brethren, sister, than when Paul calls them saints. and brethren, and beloved of
God, and children of God, and them that are called. All of
those are in the same category, are they not? For how can any
mere man infallibly know the spiritual state of others? Remember, none of the apostles
doubted Judas until the Lord had exposed him and he proved
himself to be a devil. However, the Lord knows them
that are his. 2 Timothy 2 and verse 19. The Lord knows them that are
his. And the Lord knows His sheep,
as we read in John chapter 10 and verse 14. Those that are
His, those that have come to Him, been given to Him by the
Father, are enrolled in heaven. Their names are in the Book of
Life in God's Book. And consider a familiar passage
from Revelation 13 and verse 8. All them that dwell upon the
earth shall worship Him whose names are not written in the
book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. There's another one like that
in Revelation 17 and verse 8. We read of some here whose names
were not written in the book of life from the foundation of
the world. We read in Revelation 21, 27,
only those will enter into that fair city and place whose names
are in the Lamb's book of life. See also Revelation chapter 3
and verse 5. Now from these and other like
texts, it is clear that there is a book of the divinely elected
ones. Now, not just a book of life
for physical life on the earth, but also a Lamb's book of life. And the Lamb, of course, is Christ,
the Lamb of God. Clearly it is stated in Revelation
17 and verse 8, that the names of some were omitted, were not
written, were not put in the book of life written before the
world ever began. Now, you know that the Armenian,
of course, rejects sovereign election, he rejects particular
redemption, he rejects efficacious grace and irresistible calling,
and so they hold to some rather peculiar views on the Book of
Life, such as I'll mention two. Number one, some have said, Armenians
I mean, evangelical Armenians, Some have said that everyone's
name is in the Lamb's Book of Life at the beginning and that
it is when they do not receive Christ and they do not believe
on Him as their Savior that their names are then removed from that
Book of Life. Secondly, there are others who
hold to this sentiment that the name is entered not until the
sinner believes and accepts Christ and is converted. They believe
that when the sinner comes to Christ, then, and I've heard
them talk about, quote, the recording angel, unquote, writes down a
name in glory. They even have a song about it.
There's a new name written down in glory, and it's mine, oh yes,
it's mine. Don't ever sing that in front
of me. Pardon a digression, but I still
remember something from 40 years ago. I was kind of new at the
pastoring then, but in the middle of the night, I got a call from
one of the families that were in the church. And the message
was, Larry is under conviction and wants to be saved and he
wants you to come over. So I go over to the house, the
whole family's up, whole family's in the living room waiting. When
I got there, Larry indeed was very, very emotional. And Larry said these words and
I haven't ever forgotten them. I saw the Lord write my name
in the book of life." Unquote. I have another story about that.
Can I tell it? Some preachers were together
one day, and one of those preachers preached. You know, preachers
get carried away. They say some silly things. And he said, Bless God, I saw
my name in the book of life. And so when we got through with
the service, I sidled up to him. I said, man, you did? Yeah? And I said, well, I'll
tell you what. If you ever get another look
at it, would you see mine's in there, too? He said, oh, Brother
Bill, go on. But let's go back to the original
text and the counsel of the Lord unto them. And that is to recognize
the highest blessing, to rejoice in the greatest value that they
have through Christ. And that is to have their priorities
straight. and in order to put first things
first, rejoice less in what they have accomplished in their life
and more in the spiritual blessing that are theirs through Christ
Jesus. Where have you rather have your
name, my brother or sister? Would you rather your name be
in who's who? A lot of people would, or in
the Lamb's Book of Life. Would you rather have your name
in the record book for some great feat that you had accomplished
are in the Lamb's Book of Life, which is the greatest cause of
rejoicing. I've been preaching 50 years
or my name is in the Lamb's Book of Life. What about it with a
megachurch pastor? Can he rejoice that he has the
biggest church in the city, the state, and maybe the country,
or that his name is in the Book of Life? Would you rather be
man or woman of the year, or to have your name in the Lamb's
Book of Life? Would you rather be a popular
socialite with your picture and stories about you in the paper
regularly, or would you rather have your name in the book of
life? Would you rejoice like the Jews that your name is in
the lineage of Abraham's book and descendancy, or that it's
in the Lamb's book of life? My, the Lamb's book of life is
a record of the elect. Put in that book are those who
are chosen in Christ, given unto him to save, redeemed by his
great death upon the cross. The Lamb's book of life is a
roll of the elect, those ones whom God has chosen in Christ. The Lamb's book of life. And let me say this, be clear.
It is written before the foundation of the world. Names are not put
in when one comes. Names. And you know, how about
those who believe in falling out of grace? You can be in grace,
you can fall out, you can be in, you can fall out. The recording
angel is putting in, taking out. You know, that just sounds silly,
does it not? The Lamb's Book of Life is a
blessing. Rejoice, said the Lord, that
your name is written in heaven. The greatest blessing that one
could have than to have a building named after you, than to have
a street named after you, than to have a freeway named after
you, or a car, whatever, a school. Better to have one's name written
down in heaven. If it's the only writing that
we ever have, it's better to have that one.