Start reading in chapter 3 in
verse 20 and My subject is the book of
life names in the book of life The Apostle said here in Philippians
3 20 for our conversation that means our manner of life That's
what that means the life. We live a manner of life. I And our life, our manner of life,
our life itself, and all our conversation and manner of life
is in heaven, from where also we also look for the Savior. Christ, he said, I'll descend
from heaven in clouds, from whence also we look for the Savior,
the Lord Jesus Christ. And when He appears, He's going
to change our vile bodies. That's what these bodies are,
vile. And we know that, our hearts, everything about us, we sometimes
feel so vile. And who shall change our vile
body that it may be fashioned or made like unto His glorious
body? according to the working whereby
He is able even to subdue all things unto Himself. Therefore,
my brethren, dearly beloved," oh, you're my brethren and I
love you, "...longed for." You're my joy. When I think of you,
you're my joy. And when I think about a crown,
you're my crown. So stand fast in the Lord, dearly
beloved. I beseech you, Odius, and beseech
Shintichi, that they be of the same mind in the Lord. And I
entreat thee also, true yokefella, in the same yoke with me, we'll
yoke together in the gospel of Christ. 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. Let's pray together. Our Father, O our Father, in
the blessed, blessed, blessed name of the Lord Jesus Christ,
we come with joy in our hearts, joy in our hearts, rejoicing
in our hearts, that you woke us up this morning, clothed in
our right mind, healthy in our bodies, with the desire and the
will to come to worship the Lord God Himself and His blessed Son,
the Lord Jesus Christ. Lord, enable us to worship you
in heart, in spirit, in truth. Enable us to glorify your holy
name. enable us to be a blessing to
your people. May your saints be strengthened.
May they be encouraged. May they be edified. And Lord,
we pray for our nation again. God have mercy on it. Have mercy
upon this country, upon this nation. Save us as only you can
save. You do the work as only you can
do the work. Lord, we know that in your sovereign
will and purpose, things happen to humble us, to cause us to
call on you, to seek you. And so Lord, we know that this
is also of your will and doing. And Lord, we pray for those that
we love who are in a great fight of afflictions now, who are bound
in affliction. Brother Don and Shelby, Bruce
and Joe, Sandy, the Garretts, and if I forgot anyone, please
forgive me. Lord, meet with us today and
enable me to preach the gospel. We ask these things in Christ's
name. Amen. J. Ted Gary, appreciate it very
much. I know they did. Alright, let's
look back in God's Word. And let's look at verse 3 there. And I entreat thee also, true
yoke fellow. He had someone there in all the
people who labored with him in the gospel. That's what he called
them, dearly beloved. Yoke with him in the gospel.
Help those women. Help those women which labored
with me in the gospel. Evidently there were some women
there that needed some help. Needed some encouragement. And
with Clement also, and other my fellow laborers, whose names
are in the book of life." The apostle was a wise, wise master
builder. God called him a wise master
builder. He built upon the foundation
of Christ and no other foundation could be laid than the Lord Jesus
Christ. And he was also a man strong
in his convictions. Strong in his purpose. Strong
in the doctrine of Christ. Very strong in the doctrine of
Christ. Strong in the grace of God. You
know, most people misquote 1 Corinthians 15, 10. He said, I am what I
am by the grace of God. But Paul never started with himself.
He always started with grace. And with the Lord Jesus Christ.
He said, by the grace of God, I am what I am. He said, if it
wasn't for grace, I wouldn't be nothing. If it wasn't for
grace, I couldn't be an apostle. If it wasn't for grace, I couldn't
be a preacher. If it wasn't for grace, I wouldn't know anything
about the Bible. If it wasn't for grace, I'd still
be a Pharisee, still be a legalist. He said, if it wasn't for grace.
So, by the grace of God, I'm an apostle. By the grace of God,
I'm a safe sinner. By the grace of God, I obtain
mercy. And yet, as strong as he was,
he was very gentle. He told the Thessalonians, you
know, he was as gentle among them as a nurse with her children. He was gentle too. He was considerate
in his character. That's why he called them dearly
beloved. My joy, my crown, my rejoicing. He was considering his character
towards those who labored with him in the gospel. My true yoke
fellow, my fellow laborers. And he mentions those who he
calls his fellow laborers. And he called them by name. Called
so many of them by name. But he also comes to say this,
lest anybody be offended because I didn't mention their name.
He says this, your names are written in a much better book
than any letter I can write and mention your name in. I've mentioned
people's names in my letters, but your names is written in
a much, much more blessed book and a more precious place than
I could ever mention in five epistles in the book of life. written in the book of life you're
talking about a consolation for people who are obscure there
were people in Philippi that were obscure you know there's
people in the church that seem to be pretty obscure known only
and loved by very few people and in a few hearts but he says
but your names are inscribed in the book of life You know,
the book of life is mentioned so many places in the scriptures.
Exodus 32. Psalm 56, Psalm 68, 69 excuse
me, Psalm 139, Revelations 22, Daniel 1, and of course there's
Revelations 13 and 8 were called the Lamb's Book of Life which
is slain from the foundation of the world. So he's talking
about those names written in the Book of Life. And when you
talk about the Book of Life, or the Lamb's Book of Life, it's
equivalent, now listen to me, it's equivalent as being a child
of God. You know, if your name's in the
Book of Life, that means you're a child of God. That's what it
means. Huh? What does it mean to have
your name in the Book of Life? What does it mean? What does
it entail? What is its meaning to it? If you're in the Lamb's Book
of Life, that means you're a child of God. If you're in the Book
of Life, that means you're a child of God. And I tell you, what
does it mean? Well, I know the first thing
it means is this. It means you're a citizen. A citizen. And ain't that what
he says there in verse 20 of chapter 3? For our manner of
life, our conversation, our lifestyle is in heaven. That's where our
life is. That's where our heart's at.
That's where our affections are. That's where our desires are.
Our conversation's in heaven. Why? We're looking for a Savior.
Where's He going to come from? He's going to come from the same
place our heart is, from heaven. Where our manner of life is,
from heaven. Now, Israel kept a census. That's what the book
of Numbers was all about. Kept a census. Kept a genealogy. And they called it the book of
life. But only citizens were kept in that book. And I tell
you something beloved, there was a time we were citizens.
But look over here in Ephesians chapter 2 if you don't mind. Chapter 2 and verse 12. Look
what he says over here in Ephesians 2 and verse 12. We were not always
citizens. We were not always citizens.
Paul said here that at that time, You were without Christ, being
aliens from the commonwealth of Israel. We hear much about
being aliens, being strangers. Aliens from the commonwealth
of Israel. Strangers from the covenants
of promise. Having no hope and without God
in the world. But listen to this, but now,
but now in Christ Jesus, you who sometimes were far off, You
are made nigh by the blood of Christ. That all am I. And look down in verse 19 it
says this. Now therefore you are no more
strangers and foreigners but fellow citizens with the saints
and a household of God. Now we're citizens. You know,
when Paul said it in Hebrews 12, he says, you know, he says,
we are now come unto Mount Zion. Unto Mount Zion, the city of
the living God. Unto the church of the firstborn,
whose names are written in heaven, and to the spirits of just men
made perfect. I mean our names are written
in heaven already. Now we live in this world, We
live in America. We are citizens of America. I
have a passport. Surely I have a passport. I can
go in and out of this country and go to different countries
on that passport. But we are under its political
system. We are under its economic system. But our real citizenship, our
real citizenship is in heaven. That's our citizenship. That's where our hearts at. We
are already in the book. You know, they want a census
this year. Well, listen, they won't count everybody. God's
already counted us. Already put us in the book. We've already been in God's census.
And our real citizenship's in heaven. And I'll tell you, beloved,
we live and we act. as a citizen of heaven. Because
you know why? Our names are there. Our names
are there. We act like citizens of America.
We have the freedoms of America. We have the things of America.
We're citizens of America. But oh beloved, we're much more
than just a citizen. We're citizens of heaven itself.
Our names are already written there. And what if the world
doesn't like us? What if the world and its opinions
toward the grace of God, toward the free grace of God, the sovereign
grace of God, the doctrine of Christ, salvation by grace altogether
without any works of man, without the free will of man, without
the ability of man, without anything that the man can add to it, no
merit, no worth, no works, no law keeping. Oh, what if they
don't have an opinion about us? It's not good. Who cares? Who cares? Our names are already
written in the book. Who cares about their opinion?
That's what God says about it. Are we accepted in the beloved?
Because our name is written in heaven. Huh? And I tell you when
we talk about that, you know what? We have our names written
in the Chronicles of the Kings. You know in the Chronicles of
the Book of the Kings, in 1st and 2nd Chronicles, all that's
in those two books is the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel. Good
kings, bad kings. And they wrote down everything
those kings did. All the wars they fought and
all the things that they did. And they wrote all the things
down that the kings did. Well, we have a king. And this right here is the Chronicles
of the King of Israel. Excuse me. Our Lord Jesus Christ. You know, our Lord Jesus Christ
said in Psalm 40, I delight to do thy will. Oh God, I delight
to do thy will. In the volume of the book, It's
written of me. I delight to do thy will. And
what our king, the king of kings and lord of lords did is written
in the book. Right here in this blessed book.
And I tell you not only what he did is in this book. The works
that he did, the enemies he defeated, the works that he accomplished,
the wars that he fought, All written in that book. And
it's also written down who He did it for. We've sung it all. Thy bread of life. Thy bread of life. And I tell
you who He did it for is in this book. You know, He talks about
who He did it for. Thy people. Thy people. What a blessing. What an honor.
What a privilege. that all men here have what they
call honor. And there is, you know, the scripture
said honor them who deserve honor and give honor unto them their
due honor. But what an honor to be in God's
blessed book. What a privilege to be in the
book of the King. And all that men call honor here
are nothing, nothing, nothing compared to having our names
written in the book of life. You know, our Lord Jesus Christ
sent 70 men out to preach and he gave them power. over unclean
spirits and over all things. And they came back, those 70
men came back, oh, they was rejoicing. And they came to the Lord Jesus
Christ and said, Master, even the devils, excuse me, are subject
unto us through thy name. He said, oh, listen, don't rejoice
that the devils are subject unto you, but rather rejoice that
your names are written in heaven. Huh? What's the matter if the
devils have subject to you? Oh, you got preachers on TV all
the time. Casting out devils and healing
people and getting people out of wheelchairs and telling them
to throw away their crutches. But oh my. What is that about
too? That's why the Lord said it don't
make no difference if devils are subject unto you. I tell
you what to rejoice about. Rejoice that your names are written
in heaven. Now when Christ says your names
are written in heaven and rejoice about that, I believe he knows
what he's talking about. Rejoice that your names are written
in heaven. And let me tell you something
else about this book of life. You know why it's called a book
of life? Because those that are in it actually have life. They possess life right now. Not gonna possess it, they possess
it right now. That's why it's called the Book
of the Living. It's called the Book of Life. Why is it called
the Book of Life? Because those whose names are
written in it, they actually possess life and they possess
it right now. And I tell you it's the register
of those who truly live. You know when we're born, They
give a birth certificate. The day you was born, who your
mother and daddy was, how much, all everything, you know, give
you a birth certificate. Then when you die, they give you a death
certificate. Well, listen, I have a birth. It's called a new one. And I didn't get no certificate
for that. You know what I got? New heart, new will, new affections,
new mind, new desires. Everything you know God makes
all things new. We're new creatures in Christ.
We have this life from God. That's why it's called the book
of life. Because it's the life from God. Everybody whose name
was written in that book, God said, I'm going to give them
life. That's why it's called the book of life. Not called
the book of death. Oh, the book of life. And I tell
you, our Lord Jesus Christ said, except you be born again, you
can't see the kingdom of God. And except you be born again,
you can't enter into the kingdom of God. Well, how in the world
can a man be born again? I know one thing, that the Holy
Spirit of God comes and He takes the Word of God, which is the
seed of God. And our Lord says the word, the
seed that was sown in Matthew 13 is the word of God. And it
brings forth fruit. Now when that seed is sown in
that heart, God plows up that heart. He breaks up that heart. And He puts that seed in that
heart. And then the Holy Spirit comes and regenerates, generates
that life. And next thing you know, that
life comes forth in that person's heart and soul. And that's the
new birth. And you ain't got nothing to
do with it. Oh, no more than I had with my
first birth. And I tell you, our Lord Jesus
Christ said, He is you who were dead. Dead. And trespasses sin hath He quickened. That word quickened means given
life. I remember an old preacher years
and years ago. I was talking about being quickened.
He said, oh yeah. I said, when the Holy Spirit
comes, He quickens you. That means He makes you jump and holler
and scream and, you know, fall all over the place. That's what
I thought it meant. But it means to give life. Give
dead men life. It's quicken them. Quicken them. And our Lord Jesus said to as
many as received Him, to them, gave he the power to become the
sons of God, which were born, not of blood, nor the will of
man, nor the will of flesh, but of God. What good works can we
do that we might work the works of God? Our Lord Jesus said,
this is the work of God. This is God's work, that you
believe on him whom he sent. God does that work in you. He
puts that work in you. And I tell you what, beloved,
life is more than just being and existing. And that's what
a lot of people are doing. They just exist. They just have
a being. It's more than having a physical
existence. Our souls have the very life
of God in them. And we're conscious of Him. Surrender
to Him. desire Him, love Him, obey Him. And we're like the Apostle Paul,
we desire the excellency of the knowledge of Christ, and we're
pressing toward the mark of the prize of Christ, and we labor
that we may win Christ. I want to win Christ and be found
in Him. And we aspire to Him. All else is just death. Death. You know this, we can't deal
with this business of the life of God in a man's soul. You know
you hear people about being born again. I'm a born again Christian.
There's no other kind. And you don't have to run around
telling everybody I've been born again. You know whether God gave
you life or not. This is the record that God hath
given us of His Son, and this life is in His Son, and he that
hath the Son hath life. Not going to get it. Not going
to get it until the end of time. He has it right now. He has it right now. And when
a person goes home to do with the Lord Jesus Christ, I mean,
beloved, That's the best day of his. He starts a brand new
day with a brand new morning and that just starts eternity.
And everybody who gets there enters into eternity. And eternity,
how long is that? I know it's a long time. It's
a long time. And our dear, blessed Savior
come into this world. He came into this world. Left
His Father. He came into this world. And
by His glorious, blessed work, in His life of obedience, in
His sacrificial, sin-offering, substitutionary death, He breathes
in the dead bones. Very many dead bones. Very dry
dead bones. You know that is what Ezekiel
said. God said to Ezekiel. He took him to a valley. He said
look at this valley. Bones were all over the place.
He said son of man can these bones live? He didn't say, no, ain't no way.
He said, Lord, thou knowest. He said, I'll tell you what.
He said, stand up on your feet and preach to them. You want
me to preach to dead bones? Yep. The whole old Zekiel got
up and went to preaching. Went to preaching. He said, I tell you what to tell
them bones to live. Bone come to bone, bone come
to bone. And he says, now son of man,
speak to the wind. And say, oh let it come, give
life. And God, those bones come together,
and flesh come upon those bones, and then the breath come into
those bones, and all those dead bones lived. And we do exactly
the same thing every time we preach. Thou knowest, Lord. Thou
knowest. Thou knowest. Thou knowest. Oh
my. And that's what our Lord Jesus
says. The hour is coming and now is when the dead shall hear
the voice of the Son of God. And they that hear, what's going
to happen to them? They're going to live. They're
going to live. Oh my. That's what I'm talking
about. That's why it's called the Book of Life. And here's
something else about the Book of Life. That's why Paul talks
about people's names in it. The Book of Life tells us how
God knows each and every one of us. You know, God knows. Oh, you're talking about knowing
something. God's knowledge of each of us. And His care for
each of us. Oh my. You know, it tells us
of God's knowledge of us. It's called thy book. In the
Old Testament it's called thy book. In the New it's called
the Lamb's book. It's called the book of life.
One and the same book. And the Lamb saved all that are
in God's book. And they were in God's book because God knew each and every one of
them. You know, for whom Christ died, His name was already there. That's
what Christ died for. Their names wasn't put there
when Christ died. Their names wasn't put there
when they believed. You know, and you can't blot
your name out of the book of life. People say, well, if you
sin and don't live right, Block your own name out of the
book. Well you didn't put it there. I didn't put my name there. I
didn't even know I had a name there until God told me in his
word that there's a book of life. And it's called the Lamb's book
of life. So whom the Lamb represented,
whom the Lamb died for, all their names were already in the book
of life. That's the reason he died for. You know, he said, I know my
sheep and have known of mine and I
call them by name. You know what? He knows each
of us and he calls us by name. Zacchaeus! How did he know Zacchaeus
up that tree and how did he know Zacchaeus' name? How did that
happen? How do you know my name? Not
only did he say Zacchaeus come down, but he said this, today
I must abide at thy house for salvation is this day come to
you. You know why he knew his name?
Because it's in that book. That's the name God gave him,
put in his book. Huh? Oh my. For whom he foreknew. Jeremiah, before you was formed
in the belly, I knew you. Huh? Before Jacob was born, God said,
I loved you. Oh my. My name, and by God's
grace, your name, My individual being stands there. You know, He doesn't
deal with us as a crowd. He doesn't deal with us as a
crowd. He don't stand and fling out His blessings and we try
to reach up and grab some of them. No, no, no, no. He treats
all of us individually. All of us individually. Just
two, you and Him. That's why Paul said, I'm crucified
with Christ. Nevertheless, I live. Yet not
I, but Christ liveth in me. And the life I now live, I live
by the faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave himself
for me. He said, when it pleased God
who separated me, when? From my mother's womb. Oh my! I tell you what he told
Jacob, he said, Jacob I've called thee by name. Called thee by
name. You know, our Lord Jesus Christ,
one of the most blessed things in the Bible, to me is when Mary
was out looking for him, you know, she went to the tomb that
morning and he wasn't there. And she went back and told the
disciples, Peter and John, they'd run over and looked in there
and he wasn't there. And she was
out looking around in the garden, walking around in the garden. Where his tomb was, she's walking
around looking. And she saw a man, she thought
he was the gardener. And she said, Sir, tell me where you've taken him,
that I may go get him. And our Lord Jesus says, Mary? Mary? Oh my, can you imagine how she
felt? She recognized her master's voice. He knows his sheep. He calls
them by name. Mary and Martha. Lazarus. He said, Lazarus, come on out
of there. Come on out of there. Oh, he
calls Simon, Simon. Simeon. After he saw the Lord Jesus Christ,
he says, Now, Lord, now, Lord, oh, I've seen your salvation. Let me depart in peace. Our Lord
Jesus Christ calls the stars by their name. Calls them by name. And because
our names are written in the book of life, Our salvation and
our security are sure as God himself. Ain't that right? Oh my! Let me show you something
over here in Psalm 139 in verse 16, I believe it is. Look what it said here. Let's
look in verse 15 first. My substance, or my body, what
my existence was, was not hid from me. When I was made in secret,
when I was made in my mother's womb, before I even knowed, she
even know what was going on. And I was curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. Then he looked what he said,
thine eyes did see my substance. and all my substance being unperfect
and in thy book and in thy book all my members
all of them everything about me was written which in continuance
were fashioned When as yet there was none of them. You made me
when there was nothing there but imperfections. You made me. Oh my. And because our names
are written in the book of life. Our salvation and security is
sure. Like when Daniel was in the lion's
den. I want you to turn to Daniel chapter 1 too. You know Daniel
chapter 12, excuse me. Daniel chapter 12. You know Daniel
in the lion's den. That shows you how secure salvation
is. You know God gave us these things to teach us. Daniel in
the lion's den. Paul said you know I was among
the lions, no man stood with me. He knew what it was to stand
among lions, and he says and no man stood with me Daniel chapter
12 and verse 1 and with Shadrach and Meshach and Abednego I'll
get that right in a minute And I tell you what The Son of God
was in there with him, but look here in Daniel 12 wine and at
that time shall Michael stand up the great prince which standeth
up for the children of thy people and there shall be a time of
trouble such was never since there was a nation even to that
same time now listen to this and at that time thy people shall
be delivered every war that shall be found written in the book And all this trouble going on,
He said, Thy name, oh listen, all our people are going to be
saved. All of them are going to be saved. By who? Those names that are written
in the book. Written in the book. And you know, the scripture Psalm,
I don't know exactly where it's at. But our Lord neither slumbers
nor sleeps. So just go on to sleep. He's
going to watch for you. He's going to take care of you.
Just go ahead and sleep. And I'll tell you something else,
that high priest bore on his breastplate, we've been going
through that, deal with a few more of it tonight, on his breastplate,
and named the children of Israel on his shoulders. Had the twelve
names of the children of Israel when he went into the tabernacle,
into the presence of God. And Isaiah asks this question,
He said, can a woman forget her sucking child? Can a woman forsake
her sucking child? Yeah, they may. But God said,
I'll never forget you and I'll never forsake you. Why not? I'm
graving you in my hands. I tell you, when I look at my
hands, there's evidence. Graving you in my hands. And
there's been lots of women forsaken their children. Left them on doorsteps. Killed
them. Murdered them. Done some awful
things to the children. But God said, I'm not that way.
I'll never leave you. I'll never forsake you. Because
I've got you graven in my hands. Your names are not only in the
book of life but they are in my hands. Oh my! He is talking about security. And if our names are in the book
of life, we shall someday go to the land
of the living into the city of the great great
king look within revelations revelations chapter 20 oh what
a blessing what a blessing oh to be in the book to be in the
book to be in the book You know, they got books in America called
the who's who. They got the who's who's in medicine,
the who's who in literature, and the who's who in economics,
and the who's who in education, the who's who in this and who's
who in that. People really get proud having
their name in the book of who's who. But there's three who's
in the scriptures. Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? Who shall condemn? I can't forget the other one.
But it don't make no difference. We know this. Why shall separate
us from the love of God in Christ? Nothing. But look here in Revelations
20 in verse 12. Who is he that condemneth? That's
it. Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? Who
is it that can condemneth? And who? I don't know. Who shall
say? I know that's three of them.
I'll get them right in a minute. Alright. You got to forgive an
old man. Sometimes his mind slips gears. But look what I said here, verse
12. And I saw the dead, small, people that didn't amount to
anything, and great people who were really somebody, stand before
God, and the books were open. Notice that, books. books I believe
that's the Bible that he's talking about and another book just one
singular was opened the book of life and the judge 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 death and hell delivered up the dead 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.
Now listen to this. And whosoever was not found written
in the book of life was cast into the lake. See that book
is singular. Books, the Bible. Singular, the
scriptures. When men are judged, which book will your name be
in? All in the Lamb's book are not judged by the books. They
already got their name in one book. So that means they've already
been judged. Just those whose names were not
written in the book of life, they were the only ones that
were judged. Nobody in the book of life was judged. Why not?
They're already judged. That's why it's called the book
of life. Everybody else was dead. Everybody
else that was judged was dead. The only people that weren't
judged were those in the Book of Life. I tell you, their names are there
as citizens. Their names are there in the
books of the Acts of the King. They have the life of Christ
in their very heart and soul. God knows each and every one
of them. Christ knows them and He calls them by name. He has
his marks in his hand. Marks of his love in them. And
they overcame. Look in Revelation 7 then. I
tell you, look in Revelation. You know how they overcame? Revelation
7, 13. You know how they overcame? Oh,
they overcome. How did they overcome? How did they overcome? Look in
verse 13 of Revelation 7. And one of the elders answered,
saying unto me, What are these which are arrayed in white robes?
Where did they come from? Where did they come from? How
did they get here? And I said unto him, Sir, thou
knowest. And he said to me, These are
they which came out of great tribulation. It is through much
tribulation that we enter into the kingdom of God. These are
they which came out of great tribulations, and have washed
their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore
are they before the throne of God, and serve him day and night
in the temple. And he that sitteth on the throne,
that is who they worship. Now listen to this, they shall
hunger no more, neither thirst any more, Neither shall the sun
light on them, nor any heat. For the Lamb which is in the
midst of the throne, He is going to feed them. The Lord is my
shepherd. He spreads the table for me in
the presence of my enemies. For the Lamb which is in the
midst of the throne shall feed them, and listen to this, shall
lead them unto living fountains of waters, And listen to this,
and God Himself shall wipe away all their tears. I tell you what, only those in
the Lamb's Book of Life are allowed in the New Heaven and the New
Earth. And I want to show you that in Revelation 21. I'll wind
this thing up. Let me show you that. Only those
in the Lamb's Book of Life are allowed in that new heaven and new earth. And I saw a new heaven and a
new earth. For the first heaven and the
first earth were passed away. And listen to this, there is
no more sea. You know it said over, he said he cast our sins
into the depth of the sea. Well he's not only going to wash
our sin into the depth of the sea, he's going to do away with
the sea. And I, John, saw the holy city
do Jerusalem. This is the church now coming
down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride, and the
church as his bride, adorned for her husband. And I heard
a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God
is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be
his people, and God himself shall be their God. with them and be their God now
look down verse 27 and thou shalt in no wise thou
shalt in no wise enter into it anything that defileth neither
whatsoever worketh abomination or maketh a lie but they which
are written in the Lamb's book of life Oh my, it's the only
one people's going to be allowed, that new heaven and that new
earth. And oh, how did Paul know these people's names were written
in the book of heaven? He hadn't seen the book. How did he know? Same way he
knew that the Thessalonians were beloved of God and the elect
of God. and loved of God, chosen of God
unto salvation. That's how he knew. He knew God's people when he
saw them. He knew the Lord's people when
he saw them. And that's one thing you cannot
hide. Well, run out and tell somebody Jesus just saved you.
Oh, you wait around. Folks will figure it out. People
will find out sooner or later on you won't they? It'll get
out on you if Christ done something for you. Won't it? It'll get
out on you. Our Father, oh our blessed Father,
thank you for your gospel, thank you for your word, thank you
for your book of life. Thank you for the blessed hope
we have in Christ. Thank you that he is able to
keep us from falling and to present us faultless before his glory
and his eternal presence. Oh, blessed be your name. God
bless these dear saints. Bless Dee and her family. We
thank you for them. And oh God, meet the needs of
all your people out there. Thank you for those who came
out today. We thank you for them in Christ's name. Amen. Amen. Thank you, Lord, for saving my
soul. Thank you, Lord, for making me
whole. See tonight six o'clock God willing