I did not know about Savannah.
Is she in the hospital right now? Which one? If there's one disadvantage to
not being on social media, I guess that's it. I didn't know anything
about it. Return back to Daniel chapter
12. I've entitled this message, Found
Written in the Book. Found Written in the Book. Now we've reached the 12th chapter
of Daniel. And in these first 11 chapters,
we've only had 12 sermons. Chapter 9, we devoted two sermons
to, but there's been a sermon from each chapter. Daniel in chapter 1, as a teenager,
went into Babylon, carried in. He was made a eunuch. And you
remember that he refused to eat of the king's dainties and ate
pulse and ended up faring better than the other eunuchs. And then in chapter
two, we read where he interpreted that dream Nebuchadnezzar had
of the four kingdoms. Chapter three is when the three
Hebrew children were cast into the fiery furnace because they
refused to worship Nebuchadnezzar's God and the Son of God was with
them and there was not even the smell of smoke on them. Then
in chapter 4 we read where Daniel once again interpreted the dream
of Nebuchadnezzar and Nebuchadnezzar was turned into a beast. He went
seven years And he went through this until he learned that the
most high rules in the kingdom of men, that he's in control
of everything. And in chapter five, we read
of his son, Belshazzar, and seeing the writing on the wall, thou
art weighed in the balances and found wanting. He was put to
death that very night. Chapter six is about Daniel in
the lion's den. and how he was delivered. Chapter
7 is the vision he had of all the history that would take place
between that time of Malachi and the coming of Christ, that
400-year period he was giving everything that would take place.
Chapter 8 was about the Antichrist. Chapter 9, his prayer, and what
Messiah would actually do. Chapter 10, we're given another
vision, that vision of Christ and what was going to take place.
And chapters 11 and 12 give the events of everything that will
take place, ending with the Antichrist. And then we read in chapter 12,
verse 1, and Lord willing, I'm going to spend several weeks
in this chapter. And at that time shall Michael
stand up. Now, this is not the created
angel, Michael. There is a created angel named
Michael. Michael means who is like God.
But this is not Michael. This is the same Michael spoken
of in Revelation chapter 12. And this is the Lord Jesus Christ,
God's angel, the uncreated angel who stands for his people. At
that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth. for the children of thy people.
Don't you want to have the Lord standing for you? I want him
to stand and answer for me when my name is called on judgment
day. And there shall be a time of trouble such as never was
since there was a nation even to the same time. And at that
time, when Michael stands for the people, thy people shall
be delivered. They shall be saved. Everyone
that shall be found written in the book. Now, who does he save? Who does he deliver? Those who
are found written in the book. And I want to consider tonight
the book we read of. I have wanted to bring a message
on this for many years, and I don't know why I haven't. But who was
saved? Those people who were found.
This book had already been written. Who was saved? Those people who
were found written in the book. Found written in the book. Now
when we think of the book generally, the first thing we think of is
the Bible. Word of God. I love what Peter
said. He said, holy men spake as they
were moved by the Holy Ghost. Turn with me for a moment. Keep
your finger in Daniel 12 and turn with me to 1st or 2nd Peter
chapter 1. I love this passage of scripture. 2nd Peter chapter 1 verse 16,
Peter says, for we've not followed cunningly devised fables, when
we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus
Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty. He's talking
about that time on the Mount of Transfiguration when the Lord
was transfigured before them. And literally, I don't know how
this works, but his deity burst through his humanity. The scripture
says his face shined like the sun and his clothing was white
as light. And they witnessed this. Can
you imagine seeing this? James, John, and Peter. For he received from God the
Father honor and glory when there came such a voice to him from
that excellent glory. This is my beloved son in whom
I'm well pleased. And this voice which came from
heaven, we heard, we experienced this. We heard the voice of God
speaking from heaven, testifying of his son when we were with
him in the Holy Mount. Now look what he says next. We
have also a more sure word of prophecy. And you know what that
means? That means what we have here
is more sure than that which they experienced there. The written word of God. Now you say, how can that be
more sure? Because we have it right now.
You know what I experienced yesterday? I can't really say I'm all that
sure about it. But I am sure of what is written. To the law and to the testimony,
if they speak not according to this word, it's because there's
no light in them. Now listen to this. Me and you
have something better than that experience they had on the man
of transfiguration. As wonderful as that might be,
this is better. I wonder how many of us believe
this. This is better. A more sure word
of prophecy, where do you do well that you take heed as into
a light that shineth in a dark place into the day dawn and the
day star rise in your hearts, knowing this first, this is what
comes first. That no prophecy of the scriptures
of any private interpretation. Whenever somebody says that's
your interpretation, remember this scripture. Whenever somebody
says this is what this scripture means to me, it doesn't matter
what it means to you. What's it say? That's all that
counts. What's it say? For the prophecy
came not in old time by the will of man, but holy men of God spake
as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. Now, like I said, when
we think of the book, the first thing we think of is this book
we're looking at right now. But did you know that there was
a book written before this book. A literal book? I don't know,
but there certainly was a book written before this book that
contained this book in it, that had the Lamb's Book of Life in
it, that had those two books that we read about in Revelation
20. Everything is contained in this
book. Turn with me to Revelation chapter
five. Now, I don't know if there's
a literal book. It could be that this is just
given to accommodate our human weakness, but the principle is
the same. Everything is in this book. Look in Revelation chapter five,
verse one. And I saw in the right hand of him that sat on the throne,
a book written Within and on the backside, front and back,
every word, every page filled. No room for anything else. Everything that was, is, and
will be is contained in this book. Sealed with seven seals. Now, this includes everything. Now, while you're in Revelation,
turn to Revelation 13. And all that dwell upon the earth
shall worship him, this beast. This is not talking about worshiping
the Lord, but the beast and the false prophet. And all 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. Now, this book of life is part
of this book we read of that's front page, back page, completely
filled that nothing can be added to. The names that are not written
in this book will worship the beast and perish eternally, but
not the ones whose names are written in the Lamb's book of
life. The Lamb slain from the foundation
of the world. Now I want you to think about that. This concept
goes so far beyond us. It's so glorious. Christ is the
Lamb slain before time began. In eternity past, the Lamb slain
was the subject of praise. God's purpose has always been
for His Son, God the Lamb, to be slain. Before there was ever
a sinner, there was a Savior who accomplished salvation before
time began. Now, from this verse of Scripture,
we see that the entire universe was created so the Lamb could
be slain. Now, chew on that for just a
second. I know we can't completely grasp it, but this universe created
to be the arena where the Lamb slain from the foundation of
the world would be slain in time. And God is manifesting who He
is through the Lamb slain. Look at Revelation chapter 17
verse 8, The beast that thou sawest was
and is not and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit and go
into precision 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. Everybody's going to go bad.
Everybody's going to worship this beast whose names are not
written in the book of life of the lamb slain from the foundation
of the world. Turn to Luke chapter 10. I want
you to look at these scriptures with me because I wanna see how
big this subject is in the scriptures. Luke chapter 10, verse 17. And the 70, the 70 the Lord sent
out to preach the gospel, returned again with joy saying, Lord,
even the devils are subject unto us through thy name. Now put
yourself in their place. They could see someone possessed
with the devil and they could tell him to get out and he would
have to leave. They were given such power. Now,
verse 18, and he said unto them, I beheld Satan as a 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. This is a command. In this, rejoice
not that the spirits are subject unto you, but rather rejoice.
Why? Because your names are written
in heaven, inscribed in the man's book of life. No, don't rejoice
in these things I'm enabling you to do. You rejoice in this,
that your names are written in heaven. When the writer to the
Hebrews is describing the church in heaven, he calls it the General
Assembly and the Church of the Firstborn, whose names are written
in heaven. Now here's the church role I
want to be on. You know, we don't have a quote,
church roll. I don't see any point in it.
I don't see where it's scriptural. If you believe, you're a member.
If you don't believe, you're not. It's that simple. But people have church rolls,
and I think it's interesting. These churches have these church
rolls, and every now and then, they'll have to clean them out.
remove members, get rid of them. They're not there anymore. They
don't live. So we, we have to adjust this church role. Sometimes
it gets bigger. Sometimes it gets smaller. This
one always stays the same. It always stays the same. You
know, one of the things I love about the church of the Lord
Jesus Christ, you know, you see churches advertise, come grow
with us. This is the church that never
grows. It's perfect. It can't be added to, it can't
be diminished. The general assembly and church
of the firstborn whose names are written in heaven. Paul, in writing to the Philippians,
said in Philippians 4, 3, of certain individuals, he said,
whose names are written in the book of life. Now, Paul, how
do you know? Do you have access to the book
of life? No, Paul never had access to the book of life, neither
do me or you. I've often thought I'd like to have access to it.
I know whose name I'd be looking for first, and you'd be the same.
We try to find out if we're in it, but Paul, this is very similar. Paul said to the church at Thessalonica,
knowing brethren beloved, your election of God. How, Paul, for
our gospel came not to you in word only, but in power, and
in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance." Now understand this,
that's not talking about assurance of your personal salvation. That's
talking about assurance that this is the gospel of God. Not assurance that you're saved,
but assurance that this is the gospel of God, and this is the
gospel that you believe. Another couple of scriptures
in Revelation, turn to Revelation 21. All of these books are contained
in the book we read about written on both sides of the page. Nothing
could be added. Nothing could be taken away.
Sealed with seven seals. Look in Revelation 21 verse 27. This is talking about entrance
into heaven. And there shall in no wise enter in anything
that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination. or maketh
a lie, but they which are written in the Lamb's book of life. Now turn back to Revelation 20,
and this is such a important and an interesting passage of
scripture. If you want to understand the
gospel, I believe this will be a blessing to you. Revelation
20 verse 11. And I saw a great white throne. It's speaking of judgment day. There is a day when God is going
to judge the world. That day is coming, this great
white throne. And I saw a great white throne
and Him that sat on it from whose face the earth and heaven fled
away. And there was found no place
for them. And I saw the dead, small and great. Those dead in
sins stand before God and the books, plural, were opened. And another book was opened,
which is the book of life. The dead won't be judged from
this book. The living will be judged from this book. 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. Now we read of books and the
book in this passage of scripture. Now the books have every work
of every unbeliever, every sin they've ever committed.
You say, how could there be a book that thick? I don't know. But
it is true that there is a somehow in heaven, a book that records
every sin ever committed. And everybody that's judged out
of these books shall be judged precisely according to their
works. With strict impartial justice. they will be given exactly what
they deserve. Quite often when people hear
the gospel of God's discriminating grace, and I use that word purposely.
That's a discrimination among men is awful. It's evil. It's
sinful. But the only way anybody would
be saved is if God discriminates, if God makes a difference. If
he gives all of us what we deserve, he'll send us all to hell. But
the only way any of us will be saved is for him to make us to
differ. Who makes you to differ from another and what do you
have that you didn't receive? Now, Lord, give me your discriminating
grace. Do something for me. I'm not
talking about being indifferent about what happens to everybody
else, but Lord, save me. Do something for me. Now when
people hear of God's discriminating grace, and I like using that
word, it's who distinguishes thee from another. That's what
the word means. Now, let me repeat, any kind
of discrimination that goes on between humans is evil. It's
wrong. It's sin. But the only hope you
and I have is for God to have discriminating grace for him
to do something for you that perhaps he hadn't done for everybody
else. Now, when people hear about that,
they bristle. They think my rights have been
violated. I mean, I'm not bidding. It's
not fair for God to do something for somebody who's not doing
for me. Please remember, fair is hell. If God sends this sinner talking
to you to hell, it will praise and glorify his justice. And the same is true of you. Fair is hell. What about this book? The books
were judged strictly according to our works. What about this
book? Remember, this is the book of the Lamb slain from the very
foundation of the world. Now, why was he slain? There's
only one reason he was slain, because of sin. The sin of God's
elect, all the sins of God's elect were made to meet on Him. He bore them and He did this
before the foundation of the world. God did this to glorify
Himself. Somehow God's glory is connected
with human sin and salvation from that sin. Now, that's what
the Scripture teaches. It's high, it's holy, it's glorious. It's true. Christ is the Lamb
slain from the foundation of the world and that sin became
His sin. If your name is written in that
book, the very sins you've committed this day, yesterday, became His
sin, so that He actually became guilty of it. And the justice
of God demanded His execution. It pleased the Lord to bruise
Him. He became guilty of The sins of all the elect. No, he
never committed a sin in his person. That's blasphemy. He never committed a sin. But
this is, can't understand it. It's worse. He was made sin.
And the wrath of God came down upon him. That's why he died.
God forsook him. But just as truly as my sin became
his personal sin. Somebody says, how can you use
language like that? Because the Psalms does. My sin. How often in the Psalms does
the Lord say, my sin as a heavy burden is too heavy for me. Mine
iniquities are more than the hairs of my head. That's the
Lord speaking as the representative of His people. My sin literally
became His sin. He died under God's wrath and
just as truly. as my sin became his personal
sin. Do I understand that? Can I bring all that together
to make it make sense? No. It's just what God has done
in the scripture. But just as truly as my sin became
his sin, his righteousness, his perfect obedience becomes my
personal righteousness. And listen real carefully. Two
books. One, you're judged according
to your works. And there's another book where
your works can be judged as perfect. Remember that scripture in John
chapter five where the Lord talked about they that have done good
under the resurrection of life and they that have done evil
under the resurrection of damnation? Talk about the same things, but
they literally, they that have done good. If Christ is your
righteousness before God, it doesn't say they that have Christ's
righteousness imputed to them. It says they that have done good.
If you're in this book, you've done good. You're perfect. You've never sinned. You're righteous
before God. You have perfection before God. Now, with regard to these two
books, listen to this. Which one would you rather be
judged by? God will meet you on the ground
that you want. I can say this to anybody. Somebody
says, can't you? How can you preach the gospel
to all men if not everybody's written in this book? How can
you honestly, sincerely, passionately, compassionately preach the gospel
to all men if everybody's not written in this book? I can say
this with complete honesty and sincerity and know it so, God
will meet you on the ground you want. If you want to be met on
the basis of this book of life, God will meet you there. If you
want to stand before God in your own works, God will meet you
there. Now, it's not going to be determined
on that day which book you want to be judged from, but right
now. Right now. Which book do you want to be
judged from? If you really believe that you don't have anything
but sin that you can call your own, it's a no brainer. You want to be judged from the
book of life. And if you think that you have any goodness whatsoever,
you're going to have to stand in the books that will be opened. Now, this is the gospel and God
will meet you wherever you want to meet. If you want to meet
him on this ground of your works, he'll meet you there. If you
want to meet him on the ground of the land slain from the foundation
of the world, he'll meet you there. Now, God's justice and
righteousness demands the condemnation of those judged in the books. Likewise, the justice and righteousness
of God demands the salvation of everybody in the book of life
because of the Lamb of God. Now, when Christ said, Lo, I come,
in the volume of the book, it's written to be, he's talking about
the book spoken of by John in Revelation 5. This was written
way before the scriptures were ever written. When he said, lo,
I come in the volume of the book, it's written of me, oh God. What
about Moses? Moses is praying for the children
of Israel and he's asking for their forgiveness. They've made
that golden calf and he's asking for the Lord's mercy on them
and to do something for them. And all of a sudden he stops
there in Genesis 32 and he says, if you won't forgive them, I
pray that you'll blot my name out of the book that you've written. Well, thank God that can't be
done. Moses loved these people, and
I admire him, and I wish me and you, I wish I would have the
same love for people where I would say something like that that
Moses did. You know, Moses really is a type. The Lord was willing
to be blotted out. Moses couldn't be. The Lord was
blotted out for his people. He did experience all the wrath
of God. Psalm 139 verse 16, Thine eyes
did see my substance, yet being unperfect. And in thy book were
my members written, when in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there
were none of them. Now that's the words of the Lord
Jesus Christ. I realize that. But that's us
too. Our names, our members, everything
about us, our DNA, everything about us was written in that
book. Now, without doubt, Daniel Says
everybody's gonna be delivered whose name is written in the
book. That book also includes all of God's decrees. And it's
summarized by this glorious statement. And we know that all things,
all things are already written in this book. All things. You know, every day we're just
gonna find out what God has decreed. I love that. Every day we're
just finding out what God has decreed. Everything that takes
place. And we know that all things work together for good. To them that love God, to them
who are thee called according to his purpose. It's all written
in the book. And how could we know this without
this book? The scriptures. How could we
know that there's a book of life of the lamb slain from the foundation
of the world. How could we know that everything's
working together for good to them that love God, to them who
are called according to his purpose. How could we know this without
this written book? And I'll have no doubt that every
word of this written book is contained in that book that no
man was worthy to open. But Christ came and took and
opened the seals thereof and made it known. Now turn with
me to this, 2 Timothy chapter 3. Paul's speaking to Timothy and
he says in verse 14, but continue thou in the things which thou
has learned and has been assured of, knowing of whom thou has
learned them. Verse 15, and that from a child thou has known the
Holy Scriptures. Now, what a blessing. Some of
us can say that from a child. We've known the Holy Scriptures.
That doesn't mean you were saved, but what a blessing this is from
a child. You were raised up hearing the
gospel, hearing the scriptures where the scriptures were honored.
I think of the honor the Lord put on the scriptures. When the
devil came to tempt him, he could have destroyed him. He could
have tortured him. He could have done anything with
him. But how did he handle the temptations of the devil? all
three times, it is written. That's the honor the Lord put
on the scriptures. It is written. Now let's go on reading. Second
Timothy chapter three, from a child thou has known the Holy scriptures,
which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith
which is in Christ Jesus. Now, this is the purpose of the
scripture, is to make you wise unto salvation. And what is that
wisdom of salvation? It's through faith in Christ,
believing Him, resting Him, relying on Him as your salvation before
God. Now, if you do that, you've been made wise in salvation.
And I love the way the scripture, right as soon as the fall, We're
given the story of Cain and Abel, and we find out what true wisdom
is. Abel comes into God's presence with the sacrifice that pointed
to the coming sacrifice that God would accept. There's wisdom. Cain comes on his own, bringing
as a sacrifice that God never commanded in the first place,
thinking God would accept this. I accept it. Surely God would.
No, he won't. He demonstrates foolishness. verse 16, all scripture is given
by inspiration of God, literally God breathed. Every word directly
inspired by God. Yes, 40 different men wrote the
Bible over a period of over 1,500 years. And you can see their
personality coming out. There's a big difference between
Peter and Paul in there. There's a big difference between
John and James. I mean, their personalities just
exude from everything that was written. Every word verbally
inspired by God. Said exactly as he would have
it said. The Old Testament Written in
Hebrew, the New Testament, written in Greek, is the full and final
revelation of God. I love what Paul said in 1 Corinthians
13, when that which is perfect is come. What do you got that's
perfect? The Bible. When that which is
perfect is come, that which is in part shall be done away with.
Now, if God has the power to create the universe from nothing,
He has the power to inspire men to write this book and keep it
preserved forever. It's not difficult for him. You
know, people struggle with the inspiration. You know, I don't
struggle with inspiration at all. I read this book and I know
God wrote it. A man couldn't write this book.
It's so glorious. It's so glorifying to God. It
gives a salvation that no man could come up with. How God can
be just and justify the ungodly. Now this written word has one
message. When Paul said, I determine not
to know anything among you, say Jesus Christ and Him crucified,
it wasn't that he determined I'm going to make this my goal
and I'm just going to overlook all these other things. He was
saying, this is the only message. This entire book has this one
message, Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Look at Luke chapter
24. Verse 25, then he said unto them, O fools,
and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken. Kind of sounds like me. Ought not Christ to have suffered
these things? Was there not a necessity of
it? He's the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
And to enter into His glory, and beginning at Moses and all
the prophets, He expounded unto them in all the Scriptures the
things concerning Himself. Look in verse 44, the same chapter,
and he says, And then these are the words which I spake unto
you while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled
which were written in the law of Moses and in the prophets
and the Psalms concerning me. And then opened he their understanding
that they might understand the scriptures. He is the meaning
of every scripture. And let me read this to you.
You don't have to turn there, but I want to read to you John 20, beginning
in verse 30. And many other signs truly did
Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written
in this book, but these are written. Everything
that was written was written for this purpose, that you might
believe that Jesus is the Christ. the Son of God. This is why this
was written that you might believe that Jesus is the Christ the
Son of God in the believing you might have life through His name. Now I want me and I want you
to have the attitude of the noble Bereans. Scripture says regarding
the Bereans these were more noble than they of Thessalonica in
that they received the Word with all readiness of mind, searching
the scriptures daily, whether these things be so. You know, I disagree with all
creeds. I disagree with all confessions.
Now, I know there's a lot of men who can bring a message and
say, well, that's foolish. You need creed. You need confessions.
You need documents to kind of protect the church and show what
we believe. We got the Bible. We got the
Bible, but the Bible is a big book. It has so much to say,
that's true, but it's only got one subject. One subject, the
Lord Jesus Christ. I disagree with all denominations. They're not found in the Bible.
With all denominational distinctives, we've got the book. We've got
the book. If somebody comes in with some
kind of radical message, like men are completely evil, radical,
completely evil. Well, we've got the book to find
out what they're saying. So it is written. It is written, there's
none righteous. No, not one. There's none that
understandeth. There is none that seeketh after
God. They've all gone out of the way.
They've together become an unprofitable. There's none that doeth good.
No, not one. We've got the Scripture to see
if someone's telling the truth. When I hear of a Christ that
doesn't line up with the Christ this book represents and pictures,
I know it's a false Christ. Aren't you thankful for this
book that tells us about the Lamb's Book of Life, that tells
us about being judged from that book? I wouldn't want it any
other way. Now, in closing, the book spoken
of in Daniel 12 and all these other scriptures lets us know
that God is God Everything that was, is, and will be has already
been done according to that book. God controls everything. When
we talk about the sovereignty of God, we're talking about absolute
sovereignty. Everything that happens in time,
I don't care what it is, everything that happens in time, everything
that happens in your life. Do you know the reason you're
here tonight? is because it was determined
by God in this book for you to be here. And there's no way you
wouldn't have been here. What if I got sick? If you're
here, it was determined you'd be here. God is God. And this book is a reminder to
us, this book of life, this written scriptures, the book sealed with
seven seals written on both sides, This book that the believer is
to be judged by, the one book as opposed to many books, it's
a reminder to us that salvation can't be by works in any way.
My salvation was accomplished in the lamb slain from the foundation
of the world. I've always been in Him, and
where do my works come in there? They don't at all. The universe,
this book reminds us that the universe was created to display
the lamb slain from the foundation of the world and the complete
salvation that's in him. And I pray that God will give
me and you the grace to be happy about this. The lamb slain. from the foundation
of the world. Let's pray together. Lord, how we thank you for the
book of life. Lord, we know that we would go
away from you and would have no interest in your son or your
salvation if our names were not written in this glorious book. How we thank you for the Lord
Jesus Christ and the complete salvation that is in the Lamb
slain from the foundation of the world. Lord, teach us to
glory in His cross. Enable us to Love him more. Love one another more. And Lord,
teach us and enable us to preach your gospel, the gospel of the
lamb in this generation. Bless us for the Lord's sake.
In his name we pray. Amen.