that I did choose thee Lord. Todd's Road Grace Church would
like to invite you to listen to a sermon by our pastor, Todd
Neiberg. We are located at 4137 Todd's
Road, two miles outside of Manowar Boulevard. Sunday services are
at 10.30 a.m. and 6 p.m. Bible study is at
9.45 a.m. Wednesday services are at 7 p.m. Nursery is provided for all services.
For more information, visit our website at toddsroadgracechurch.com.
Now here's our pastor, Todd Nibert. I've entitled the message for
this morning, Names Written in Heaven. In Luke chapter 10, verse
1, we read of the Lord Jesus sending the 70 out two by two
before him to announce his coming into certain villages. Verse
1, after these things the Lord appointed other 70 also, and
sent them two and two before his face into every city and
place, whether he himself would come. He sent them to preach
the gospel. Now, his last words before they
left him were in verse 16, he that heareth you, heareth me. And he that despises you despises
me, and he that despiseth me despiseth him that sent me. Now,
this is what is going on in true preaching. Now, most of what
goes on under the name of preaching is foolishness. It's not true
preaching. It's not according to the Scriptures.
But when someone is preaching the gospel, the Lord says, he
that heareth you heareth me, and he that despises you sets
aside what you say, he despises me. And then in verse 17, we
read of their return from this campaign of preaching. And the
70 returned, I don't know how long they had been gone, but
they returned with joy, saying, Lord, even the devils are subject
unto us through thy name. Now the Lord had seemingly granted
them great success and they were very encouraged because even
the devils were subject to them through his name. Devils had
to obey what they said and do what they told them to do. And
we know from the next verses that along with this rejoicing
that the devils were subject to us was a dangerous mix of
pride. And you know, anytime any man
says anything, there's a mix to it because he's a man with
a sinful nature. Now, I preach the gospel. I preach
the truth. But remember, it's a man speaking. God's man, I trust, but it's
a man speaking. And they come. Encourage, Lord,
even the demons are subject to us. And they felt very good about
themselves and how the Lord was using them and blessing them.
And the Lord gives an unusual answer to their return. When he hears them say, Lord,
even the devils are subject unto us through thy name. And he said
unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven. Now there is a being named Satan. He's called the God of this world.
He's called the prince of the power of the air. He's called
the accuser of the brethren, the devil, Satan. And the Lord
watched him fall. You see, Satan at one time was
an angel. He was an angel, perhaps the
head angel. And he tried to usurp God's authority. Now how he did that, I don't
know, but he did it. You can read about it in Isaiah
14, where he said, I'll be like the Most High. I'll ascend, I'll
make my throne above the stars of heaven. And he fell. The Lord
Jesus witnessed it. When did it take place? I have
no idea. I kind of tend to think that
it took place between Genesis 1-1 and Genesis 1-2, when it
says, In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. And
then verse 2 it says, And the earth was without form and void.
Now, God didn't create the earth and heavens without form and
void. I think this took place during the fall of Satan. Something
catastrophic took place. When the Lord sees His disciples
seemingly boasting to some extent, He says, I saw one from a very
high position fall. Speaking of the fall of Satan. You can read about it once again,
the great red dragon. Revelation chapter 12, where
he carried a third of the stars with him in this fall, which
some believe that means a third of the heavenly host fell with
Satan. And that's where all these demons
that we read of in the scripture comes from. And the ones who
did not fall, Paul calls the elect angels in first Timothy
5, 21. The only reason they didn't fall is because they were chosen
not to fall. So let's go on reading. The Lord
says to his disciples, 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. Now, the Lord has a
monopoly on power, and he said to his disciples, I give unto
you this special power to tread on scorpions and serpents. Nothing
can hurt you because my power is with you. But then he says
in verse 20, notwithstanding, in this rejoice not. Now, this is a command. In this
Rejoice not that the spirits are subject unto you, but rather
rejoice because your names are written in heaven. Even though I'm giving you this
power, do not rejoice in it. That kind of joy can so easily
degenerate into pride. And it's not necessarily an evidence
of grace in the heart if you have seeming success and great
gifts. Judas had that. Judas preached
the gospel. Judas performed miracles, but
he had no grace in his heart. Understand this. Success, outward
success, demons being subject to a man does not necessarily
mean grace in the heart. You know, what we're rejoicing
in may not be all it appears to be. Success doesn't mean more
grace. It could be that all of your
success can be attributed to God moving some unknown saint
to pray for you and him answering his or her prayers. Now, this
is a command. Do not rejoice in this power
I've given you. What I thought of immediately
was the Apostle Paul in Galatians chapter six, verse 14, when he
said, God forbid, that I should glory, that I should rejoice,
boast in anything but the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. Now
you think of who Paul was. Paul was the chief apostle. Paul
was taken into the third heaven, and he was taught the gospel
directly by the Lord Jesus Christ himself. Paul was used to write
scripture, at least 13 epistles in the New Testament. Paul founded
many churches. You can see where Paul might
have I haven't gloried in any of these things. But Paul said,
God forbid that I should glory in anything but the cross of
our Lord Jesus Christ, who He is and what He accomplished.
That's everything. What He did and God's response
to Him, I glory only in the cross. All my hope, all my hope of acceptance
by God is found only in the cross. Now the Lord says, Don't you
rejoice in this power I've given you, but rather rejoice because
your names are written in heaven. Now what a glorious thought. Your names are written in heaven. Now this is a reference to the
Lamb's Book of Life with the names of the elect. written in
that book. Now this is not some obscure
teaching. In Psalm 40 verse 7, the Lord Jesus said, Lo, I come
in the volume of the book. It's written of me. And when
he said that, the Bible had not yet been written. He was talking
about this book with the names of the elect written. The same
book that is spoken of in Revelation 5, sealed with seven seals, written
on the front side and the back side, nothing can be added to
it. The book of God's purposes and decrees with the names of
God's elect. The book of life. In Deuteronomy
32, 32. Moses said, if you won't forgive,
block me, I pray thee, out of the book that thou hast written. In Psalm 69 verse 28, we read
where David said, let them not be written with the righteous. In Psalm 139 verse 16, David
says, thine eye did see my substance being yet unperfect, and in thy
book, all my members were written. In Philippians chapter four,
Verse three, Paul spoke of my fellow laborers, whose names
are written in the book of life. In Daniel chapter 12, verse one,
we read, thy people shall be delivered. Everyone that shall
be found written in the book. In Hebrews 12, 23, we read of
the general assembly of the church of the firstborn, which are written
in heaven. We read in Revelation 13, 8,
of those whose names are not written in the book of life of
the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. And we read in
Revelation 17, 8, they shall go into perdition whose names
were not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from
the foundation of the world. Let me read a couple of passages
from Revelation 20 and Revelation 21. We read in Revelation 20,
verse 12, And 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. In Revelation
21 verse 27, 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. The Lord said don't rejoice that
the spirits are subject to you, but rather rejoice that your
names are written in heaven. Now, obviously from all these
scriptures I've read, this is no obscure doctrine. This is
the great, stupendous, glorious truth of God's electing grace. Names written with an eternal
pen, the number cannot be added to or taken from, and the Lord
tells us to rejoice in election. The name, my name being written
in heaven. Now, I realize that the natural
man, particularly the religious man, is not going to rejoice
in election. When he hears that God chose who would be saved,
He'll say, well, that's not fair, and what they're saying is, is
God owes me salvation. I've done this and I've done
this, and you're saying, oh, none of that counts. Well, yeah, that's exactly
what we're saying when we talk about God electing a people to
salvation. But I'll tell you who will rejoice
in election. The elect will. Everybody who
believes on Christ will rejoice in the great, holy doctrine of
election. You know, in the next verse,
in verse 21, in that hour, when our Lord said this in that hour,
Jesus rejoiced in spirit. He rejoiced in this. And so do
his people. Now election, what is election? You see it in the Bible, the
words there, it's many times. Elect, chosen, what is election? Election is God's ancient choice
of his people before time began. His elect, his chosen, his jewels,
his people, his sheep, What did he say regarding his sheep in
Matthew chapter 25? Come, ye blessed of my Father,
inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of
the world. Now in Ephesians chapter 1, Paul
said, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly
places in Christ, according as he hath chosen us in him before
the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without
blame before him. In love having predestinated
us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according
to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of the glory of
his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. Now,
that us is not all men without exception. If that were the case,
all men without exception would be saved. The us are the ones
he chose before time began. Now, what is election? Well,
who chose who? Did you choose God or did he
choose you? Very simple question. Paul said, he chose us. You know, the Lord said in John
chapter 15, verse 16, you did not choose me, but I chose you
and ordained you. Now, if you're one of God's people,
you know that that's so. Now, God chose us, that's election. When was this choice made? Somebody
says, well, he chose us when we believed. No, scripture says
he chose us before the foundation of the world. Before time began,
He chose His people. Matthew 121 says, Thou shalt
call His name Jesus, for He shall save His people from their sins,
His elect, those the Father gave Him. He said, All that the Father
giveth me shall come to me, and him that cometh to me I will
in no wise cast out. He chose us before the foundation
of the world. 2 Timothy 1.9, He saved us and
He called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but
according to His own purpose and grace, which was given us
in Christ Jesus before the world began. Now, why did He choose
us? We see He chose us, if we're
believers, He chose us We see when it happened before the foundation
of the world. Now, why did he do it? Somebody
said, well, he chose us because he foresaw we would have faith.
Well, if I have faith, he foresaw I'd have it because he determined
to give it to me. Of course he foresaw it, but
that's not the point. He didn't choose me. Because he foresaw
I would have faith, he chose me because he would. To the praise
of the glory of his grace. You see, when I'm brought into
glory, he's gonna have all the glory in my salvation. He did
it all. Election says God is God and
he gets all the glory and salvation for the children. Being not yet
born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose
of God according to election might stand, not of works. But of him that calleth, it was
said unto her, The elder shall serve the younger. As it's written,
God said, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated." And that's
God's Word, and that's why I'm chosen, why any of his chosen
are chosen, to the praise of the glory of his grace. Now somebody
says, well how did he make this choice? Did he just look through
the telescope of time and say, well I'm gonna pick this one
and save him and I'm gonna damn that one? Not in any way. The
scripture says, according as he hath chosen us in him, before
the foundation of the world. Now I don't understand this.
But I believe it. It's what the Scripture teaches.
God's elect have always been in Christ. And they've never
been viewed independently of the Lord Jesus Christ. Their
names are written in the Lamb's Book of Life of the Lamb slain
from the foundation of the world. And when God sees me, all he
sees is Jesus Christ. He chose Christ, now Christ is
the uncreated son of God, I realize that, but God called him mine
elect. Behold, mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth. The
songwriter said that Christ be my first elect, he said, and
then chose us in him, our living head. That is how God chooses
his people. He sees them in the Lord Jesus
Christ. Now I realize that men make all
kinds of horrible incriminations about the doctrine, saying, well,
it makes God unfair to choose one and not choose another, or
it kills missions. Why bother to preach and why
bother to send missionaries and why bother to witness if God's
going to elect people and only the elect will be saved? What's
the point in doing anything? Or it creates fatalism and indifference. Well, there's nothing I can do
to save myself, therefore I'll do nothing. I'll just wait and
see what happens. It just creates fatalism and
indifference and a stoic attitude about things. And some people
think it gives people a cushion in their sin. Well, if I'm chosen
to salvation, it doesn't matter how I live or how much I sin
or anything. And they'll think, well, election
will create that. Now listen to me real carefully.
Election does none of those things. That's just the objections of
a natural man who has no love for God. Election does none of
those things. And the Lord tells us to rejoice
that our names are written in heaven. Now let me say some things
regarding God's electing grace. These things of the names of
the elect being written in heaven. First, it's the truth. That's all. It's the truth. It's
what the Bible teaches. It teaches that God chose who
would be saved before time began. And it's a part of what we call
the gospel. If there were no election, there
wouldn't be anybody saved. There wouldn't be any good news.
You see, election doesn't keep people from being saved. Election
saves people by the sovereign choice of God and giving them
to His Son. If there were no election, we'd
have no gospel to preach. You see, election is essential
for the sinner's salvation. If God didn't choose you, you'd
never choose Him. You'd reject Him. Election is essential for
the sinner's salvation. And election is essential in
preaching the gospel. You cannot preach the gospel
and not preach election. Let me repeat that. You cannot
preach the gospel and not preach election. A man who doesn't preach
election doesn't believe the gospel. He doesn't believe salvation
is by grace. I wouldn't walk across the street
to hear a man who doesn't believe in election because I see he
has no respect for the Word of God. He doesn't bow to what God
says. He doesn't really believe salvation is by grace. You see,
election is essential for God giving all the glory and salvation.
I think of what Moses said when he said, Lord, show me your glory.
In Exodus 33 verse 18, Lord, show me your glory. And God replied,
I'll make all my goodness pass before you. And I'll proclaim
the name of the Lord before you. And I'll be gracious to whom
I will be gracious. And I'll show mercy on whom I
will show mercy. Now that is the glory of God. He gets all the glory in salvation. Now, election. says God is God. You know, the alternative is
a weak God, a God whose will cannot always be done, really
a non-existent God. The only alternative to divine
election in reality is atheism because a God whose will can
be thwarted is no God at all. election says God is God and
it's consistent with his character. You see, God is sovereign. His
will must be done. He can't want something to take
place and it not take place. He can't desire for somebody
to be saved and them not end up being saved because man's
will won't let his will operate. Why, that's foolishness. God
is God. He's sovereign. His will must
be done. God is eternal. He doesn't do
things in a sequence of events. He made time, but God is eternal.
And everything that He does, He did before the foundation
of the world. God's not like us. There's no
sequence of events with Him. He's always viewed His elect
in the Lord Jesus Christ. God is immutable. He can't change. He said, I am the Lord, I change
not, therefore you sons of Jacob are not consumed. If God chose
you, He can't un-choose you. If God loved you, He can't quit
loving you. If God paid for your sins, He's not going to cast
you into hell. God is immutable and election is consistent with
the character of God, God's love. God can't love you and then send
you to hell. Not if he loves you. Only election is consistent
with God's love and God's omnipotence. The Lord's will must be done. I love the way the Lord said,
all that the Father giveth me shall come to me. No doubt about it. And him that
cometh to me, I will in no wise cast out. Now election teaches
us that salvation really is all of grace. Now, if your name was
written in heaven before the foundation of the world, what
part did you have in that? Was it a response to some work
you would do or did do? No, you had no part in that. That was the work of God alone
and the Lord tells us to rejoice in that. We're to rejoice not
in what we see, but what we can't see. We can rejoice only in that
which is written. What is written is a whole lot
better than any experience you and I have. And we're told to
rejoice in that which we had no part of. are names being written
in the Lamb's Book of Life. What that means is salvation
is all of grace. I've already quoted this, let
me quote it again. For the children, being not yet
born, neither having done any good or evil, good works can't
recommend them, their bad works can't disqualify them if they're
chosen of God. For the children, being not yet
born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose
of God according to election might stand, not of works, But
of him that calleth, it was said unto her, The elder shall serve
the younger, as it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau
have I hated." You know, we can't really understand the redeeming
work of Christ on the cross without some understanding of election.
Now, this religious world teaches that Jesus Christ died for everybody
and paid for everybody's sins, but as to whether or not you'll
be in heaven, it's not dependent upon him dying for you, but it's
on something you do to make what he did work for you. Beloved,
that's salvation by works. Oh, I wish we'd see that. That's
salvation by works. I understand that when Christ
Jesus said, It is finished, He had saved His people from their
sins. He didn't do a half a job. He
did the whole thing. He by Himself purged, put away,
cleansed, made purification for our sins so that now I have no
sin. That's what Christ did on the
cross. He didn't just make salvation available. He didn't just take
a roll of the dice and hope people would end up believing on Him.
No. Thou shalt call His name Jesus, for He shall save His
people from their sins. Now, election completely shuts
the door to salvation by works. but it opens up the door wide
to any sinner who will come to Christ and ask for mercy. Now,
you don't need to worry. What if I'm not elect? What if
I ask for mercy? He says, no, you're not elect. I'm not gonna
do anything for you. That never happened. That never happened. The only people who truly ask
for mercy are the elect anyway. There's never been anybody who
asked for mercy that God refused to save. If you come to Christ
as an empty-handed sinner, pleading nothing but His mercy, Lord,
have mercy on me, be gracious to me, Lord, forgive me. You
come to Him like that, He will. You see, the Lord said, all that
the Father giveth me shall come to me. There's election, the
Father giving, the sinner coming, but I love this, Him that cometh
to me. I will in no wise for no reason
cast out. If you come to Christ, he will
receive you. You don't come to Christ because
you know you're one of the elect. You come to Christ because you
need him, because you need his mercy, because you need his grace.
And when you come to Christ, you'll find out it's because
he first came to you. Election is the great stripping
doctrine. It's so humbling. But let me
tell you this, it never kept a sinner from the Savior. Oh,
how I thank God for election. Paul put it this way in Second
Thessalonians 2 13. But we're bound to thank God always for
you, brethren, beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the
beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the
Spirit and belief of the truth. Thank God for election. Now, we have this message on
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