All right, Luke 10, chapter 10. After our Lord, it
says after these things, verse 1, the Lord appointed others
seventy also. After our Lord called and commissioned
twelve apostles, gave them power, commission, instruction, here
he appointed seventy. seventy men, the size of the
twelve, and sent them before him into the cities whether he
himself would visit. Much like John the Baptist came,
the forerunner, who cried, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make
his path straight. Our Lord intended to visit several
cities, and he sent these men beforehand two by two, to acquaint
the people of those places with his ministry, to prepare for
his visit, much like John the Baptist. Well, these men went
out, and I want to pick up in verse 17, where they came back,
the 70, Luke 10, 17, they finished their mission, they returned
to the Lord Jesus, And they gave an account of their journey and
of their success. And it says in verse 17, and
the 70 returned again with joy. Now notwithstanding the difficulties,
I know they encountered many difficulties. Our Lord told them
that. You remember as I read through,
he said, you're going to run into some problems, reproaches,
resentment, ill treatment. rejection, but in spite of all
these things that must have and did happen to them on this mission,
during this mission, they came back just happy. They returned
again with joy, exuberance. They came back saying, listen,
Lord, even the are subject unto us through your
name. This experience, seeing demons
subject to them in his name, preaching his name, using his
name, coming out of people, this experience had thrown them into
a state of astonishment, a state of joy. One writer said a sort
of a rapture at the power they had experienced. This is what
they came back with. Lord, first thing, first word,
the devils are subject to us through your name. And our Lord said in verse 18,
now watch this. And he said to them, I beheld,
I saw Satan as lightning fall from heaven. I saw the devil
and all his hosts fall from heaven. This was no news to him. that
Satan and the devils should fall before his name, they fell back
under before his name. This was no news to him that
devils should be cast out of people at the sound of his name,
or be in subjection to them in his name. He said, I saw, I beheld,
I was pleasant, and I saw him and his angels fall from their
first estate, from their habitation of bliss, down to the pits of
hell. I saw that. Let's read about
it. Isaiah chapter 14. Isaiah tells
us what our Lord is saying that he saw. He said in, Isaiah says
in chapter 14, verse 12, How have I fallen from heaven? O Lucifer, you were the sun of
the morning, you were mighty, great, and powerful. And how have I cut down to the
ground which did weaken the nations? For you said in your heart, I'll
ascend into heaven, I'll exalt my throne above the stars of
God, I will also, I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation. in the sides of the north, I
will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I'll be like the
most high, yet I shall be brought down to hell to the sides of
the pit." That's what I saw. I saw Satan and all those that
followed him, I saw them fall like lightning from heaven, just
gone. In verse 19 he says to these
disciples, he says, I give you power. You see, our Lord has
all power in heaven and earth. He has all power. He has all
power over all powers. He said, Father, you've given
me power over all flesh. He said to his disciples, I have
all power in heaven and earth. He has all power. All power over
the enemy. All power over all flesh. And
he said, now I give to you, my people, believers, power to tread
upon serpents. He's talking about Satan here
now. He's not talking about we're supposed to go out and walk among
snakes. I went to a zoo one time and
I saw these fellas, snakes everywhere, and they had these high boots
on. They were walking around among snakes and scorpions. He's saying here, I've given
you power over Satan. I've encompassed you and cared
for you, and you don't have to be afraid of him. You don't have
to be afraid of Satan. And I've given you power over
all the power of the enemy. And listen, and they're not going
to hurt you. Nothing, nothing shall by any
means hurt you. You're my people. I get the picture,
and they came back, and they said, the devils. The devils
are subject to us in your name. He said that's no news to me.
I saw Satan fall from heaven. It's no news to me that Satan
is in subjection to me. Or to you. You're mine. And I've given you power. I've given you deliverance. I've
given you a shield. You see, we wrestle not against
flesh and blood. Listen to this over in Ephesians
4. You need to look at this, Ephesians 4. Ephesians 6, verse
11. Put on the whole armor of God.
What's that? That's faith. That's truth. That's
the gospel. Down here it says your lawn's
a girt with the truth. You have the breastplate of righteousness,
your feet are shod with the gospel. So we wrestle against flesh and
blood. Put on the whole armor of God, you may be able to stand
against the serpents and scorpions of hell. We don't wrestle with
flesh and blood, but principalities, powers, rulers of the darkness,
spiritual wickedness in high places. So you take the whole
armor of God, you'll be able to withstand in that evil day,
and to stand. So I give you the power to stand,
to walk. Even among these enemies, serpents,
scorpions, they infest the whole universe, the whole world. But
they're not going to hurt you. They're not going to hurt you. They're not going to hurt you.
Nothing by any means shall hurt you or hinder your ministry and
your work. I hear them on TV, I know the
grace preachers don't, quit talking about Satan and Satan this, Satan
that, Satan the sage, old Satan, Satan comes and you know what? These fellas came back and that's
what they said, the devil's a subject to us. Well naturally they are.
You're mine. You're mine. I've given you the
power. I've delivered you from the enemy. I've delivered you
from his kingdom. You've been translated. You're
not in his kingdom. You've been translated out of
the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of God's Son. You've
got power to release this out of fear. It's not going to hurt
you. As far as I'm concerned, as far
as you're concerned, they don't even exist. I don't think of
the devil. You ever think of the devil?
I don't run around worried about him. Our Lord took care of him,
as far as I'm concerned. Now the world's got to worry
about him. Now here, they're under the power
of the prince of the power of the air, but not believers? Not
believers. You see that? I've given you
power over to tread, to walk upon serpents and scorpions and
the power of the enemy. They're not going to by any means
hurt you. They don't have any control over
you or power over you or authority. They don't even have a key to
your house. They're not coming in, that's
right. Notwithstanding, now watch this, notwithstanding, in this
rejoice, not that the devil is subject unto you, don't rejoice
at the fact that the devil is subject to you or even will come
out of me and at your command. Satan's always departed at the
command of Christ. Satan's always run from the name
of Christ, the blood of Christ, the gospel of Christ, the truth
of Christ, he's always run from that. He's not going to have
anything to do with that. But I'll tell you what to rejoice
in, but rather rejoice because your names are written, are written,
not will be written, not might be written, not could be written,
your names. Henry Mahan, think about this
now, Richard Penney, Bob Coffey, John Chapman, Carter Brown, Bill
Penney, your name is written in heaven. You want something
to rejoice in, don't rejoice over somebody got healed. You
know this happened, that happened, the devil, he ran. He's always
going to run when my Lord speaks. But I tell you what you rejoice
in, your name is are already, your names are written
particular persons. That's why he's talking to 70
million who've come back from a mission. Your name, Rob, is
written in heaven. That's something to rejoice in.
That's it. It's already written. By whom? By God. By God. You've been elected in Christ
by God. You've been redeemed in Christ
by the blood of the Son. You've been predestinated by
God to salvation and eternal glory. And you're named unchangeably,
immutably, just as sure and certain as God is in heaven, your name
is written in heaven. Now you can rejoice in that.
You want something to be happy about? But your names are written
in heaven. I went through the scriptures
and read and jotted down some scriptures that have to do with
this, names written in heaven. Now you just listen, I'm going
to read them. I want you to read this one with me though, Exodus
32. I want you to look at this one,
Exodus 32. Exodus 32, beginning with verse 31. You see that Exodus 32, 31, Israel
had offended God, greatly offended the Lord. He was angry. He told
Moses he was going to destroy him. And Moses, verse 31, returned
to the Lord and said, Oh, this people have sinned a great sin,
and made them gods of gold. Yet now, if thou wilt forgive
their sin, if not Blot me, I pray thee, out of thy book which thou
hast written." The Lord said, Moses, whosoever hath sinned
against me, him will I blot out of my book. Whose book is it?
God's book. Who wrote it? Moses tells us
who wrote it. God wrote it. God owned it. He said, it's my book. It's my
book. Moses said, you've written it.
He says, I brought out of it whom I will. I put it in whom
I will. I'll be merciful to whom I will.
So that's the first scripture. I know whose book it is, and
I know who wrote it, from way back there in the beginning.
Exodus. My book. God says it's my book. And I've written it. Now listen
to these scriptures. Psalm 139. David said, My body was not hid
from thee. Me, David. When I was made in
secret and curiously wrought in my mother's womb, your eyes
did see my substance, and yet being incomplete, in thy book
all my members were written when there weren't even any of them."
So I know whose book it is, it's his, and I know he wrote it,
and I know when he wrote it, before I was ever born. That song that you sing is a
new name written down in glory. God's not writing any new names.
What's written is written. The people are called whose name
are written. That's right. Listen to Daniel 12 verse 1. At that time of trouble, thy
people shall be delivered, every one of them, every one of them
that shall be found written in your book. they'll be delivered
in that day of judgment. Daniel talks about the judgment,
the end of the world, every one of them, Daniel 12.1. Revelation
13.8, and all that dwell on the earth shall worship the beast
whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb
slain from the foundation of the world. They're going to worship
the beast. Daniel said in the day of judgment, everybody that's written
in the book will be delivered. And John wrote in Revelation
13, everybody not written in the book will worship the beast.
Revelation 17, 8, they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, they'll
wonder at all this that's going on, whose names were not written
in the book of life from the foundation of the world. Christ
said to those in the judgment, I never knew you. I don't know you now, I never
knew you. Their names were not written in the book of life from
the foundation of the world. Revelation 21, 27. And there
shall in no wise, listen, there shall in no wise enter into that
city anything that defiles, that worketh abomination, that maketh
a lie. But they which are written in
the Lamb's book of life." How does a fellow know if his
name is written in the Lamb's book of life? Our Lord, these
fellows came back and he said, Rejoice that your names are written,
already written in the book of life. How do you know? Well,
let me ask some questions. Number one, it's God's book.
You believe in God? You believe God? He that cometh
to God must believe that he is. It's God's book. Abraham believed
God. I know Abraham's name's in the
book of life because he believed God. He didn't just believe there
was a God. He believed God. He believed
God's word. He believed God's truth. He believed God. He believed
what I just read. Because God said it. So if you
believe God, honestly, believe God in your heart. Believe his
word, believe him. Your name's in his book. Secondly,
it's called the Lamb's Book. Do you believe the lamb? Abel
brought a lamb. What is this lamb picture? Well,
you know what this lamb is. Abel brought a lamb, a substitute,
a sacrifice, a sin offering. And God had respect to Abel and
his offering, Abel and his lamb. Abraham going up the mountain
said to Isaac, his son, said God's going to provide himself
a lamb. God's the lamb. You believe that? Moses said
take the lamb without spot or blemish, test it, slay the lamb,
roast it with fire, put the blood on the door. I say the blood,
I'll pass over you. You believe that? That's the
lamb I'm talking about. It's a sacrificial lamb. It's
the lamb, God's lamb. It's the lamb provided. It's
the lamb slain. It's the Lamb's sacrifice. John
the Baptist said, Behold the Lamb of God. There he is. Jesus
of Nazareth. Do you believe that? Is my name
in the book? It's God's book. I believe God.
It's the book of the Lamb. It's Christ's book. Man, I believe
Christ. I embrace Christ. I rest in Christ. Christ is my all and in all.
Christ is all. Now wait a minute. God's book?
The Lamb's book? The lamb that was slain is not
just the baby in Mary's arms, Madonna, mother and baby, no
sir. It's not the cradle Jesus, it's the cradle Christ, it's
the crucified Christ. He died for my sins. He died
that God may be just and justify. That's the message of the lamb
slain. That God may be just and justify me. That God may be holy
and put away my sins in a righteous manner. I believe the Lamb was
slain for my sins. Do you? Your name is not in his
book if you don't believe that. Why would you want your name
in the book of a God you don't believe? I wouldn't want my name
in the book of a false God. But I believe God. My name is
in his book. I believe the Lamb. It's God's
Lamb. It's God himself. He'll provide
himself the lamb. And the lamb was sacrificed,
and the lamb was slain. Wait a minute now. God's book,
the lamb's book, the lamb that was slain before the foundation
of the world, identifies which lamb it is.
It's not just the lamb. It's not just any old lamb. It's
the lamb's purpose. How important is this gospel
of God's sovereign grace? It is the gospel. It's the Lamb of God in the everlasting
covenant of redemption. Before God ever formed the world,
before he ever hurled the sun, the moon, the stars into space,
before he ever made man and put him in the garden, before man
fell, God provided an everlasting covenant, an everlasting righteousness,
an everlasting charity, an everlasting redeemer who was lamb slain in
the purpose mind of God before the world began. And that's when
this book was written. When he was designed and decreed
and set forth as God's lamb slain before the foundation of the
world. You wouldn't want your name in
the book of somebody that God searched around and found lately,
would you? You know, an eternal God is the only kind of God you
can worship. Eternal God. These are the mercies of a covenant
God. David died in peace because David
said, God hath made with me an everlasting covenant. He's the
surety of the everlasting covenant. You believe that gospel, you
can be certain your name is in the book of life. Because if
your name wasn't there, you wouldn't believe this. Because look at
the next verse, verse 21. You see, these disciples came
back rejoicing that the devils were subject to them. And Christ
said, don't rejoice that the demons are subject to you. I
saw Satan follow his life. But you rejoice that your names
are written in heaven. And in that very hour, our Lord
rejoiced. Our Lord rejoiced. In what did
he rejoice? I thank you, Father. He rejoiced
not so much in the success of these disciples or because the
devils were subject to them. He rejoiced in the sovereign
mercy of God. He said, Father, I thank you,
Lord of heaven and earth. You have heard these things from
the wise and the prudent. And you revealed them to babes.
What are these things that God revealed? God's book, God's lamb,
God's lamb slain before the foundation of the world. The things that
pertain to salvation, eternal life, redemption, relation with
God, the person and work of Christ. These things are hidden from
the wise and the prudent, but you revealed them. Father, you
have revealed them. to these babes, to these little
ones, I thank you, because it seemed good in your sight. Where
are these things hid? They are in Christ. That's where
they are. The scripture says, In him dwelleth
all the fulness of the Godhead body. That's where God's purpose,
God's glory, God's attributes, God's character, everything is
in Christ. Well, why are they hid? They're
not hid to people who know Christ. They're hid because people are
looking for these things everywhere but in Christ. Anything's hid
to you if you're not looking where it is. If you're not aware,
if somebody hasn't told you where it is, it's hid from you. But when somebody tells you where
it is, it's no longer hid. If our gospel be hid, it's hid
to them that are lost. who are going about to establish
their own righteousness. But God hath revealed these things
unto us. He hath revealed unto us his
glory in the face of Christ Jesus. I thank you, Father. Where are
they hidden? In Christ. Why are they hidden? Because they are seeking them
everywhere but in Christ. Well, how is this knowledge attained?
Look at verse 22. All things are delivered to me
of my Father, all things. That's all things in heaven and
earth and under the earth. All angels, all principalities,
powers, beings, all the elect are delivered to Christ to be
redeemed by him, to be called by him, to be justified and kept
and glorified by him. All the blessings of grace, the
glory, happiness of his people are delivered unto me. And no
man knows who the Son is. They don't know the perfections
of his nature. They do not know the whole of his work. They do
not know the blessings of his covenant. They do not know all
that he did and suffered in his mediatorial capacity. And they
don't know who the Father is. That's what it says here. All
things that are delivered to me of my Father. They don't know
who the Son is. They don't know who the Father is. They don't
know his essence. His eternal glory, his mind, his will, his
purpose, his decrees, his counsels, his covenant, his grace, his
mercy, his righteousness, what he's prepared for them that love
him. They don't know that. I hadn't seen, you had not heard,
never in their heart. They don't know who the Son is. They don't know who the Father
is. But wait a minute. knows the Father, and the Father
knows the Son, and he to whom the Son will reveal him." That's
how we discover these things, they're revealed to us. They're
revealed to us. They're preached and they're
revealed. Revealed to us. You know, he
said this, Matthew records this same statement, Matthew 11, turn
over there I want you to look where Matthew
records this. In Matthew 11, verse 25, look at this. At that
time Jesus answered and said, I thank thee, Father, Lord of
heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things, all these
things from the wise and the prudent, and hast revealed them
unto babes. even so father it seemed good
in thy sight all things are delivered unto me of my father and no man
knoweth the son but the father neither knoweth any man the father
save the son and he to whom the son will reveal him so come to
me so come to me all these that labor and heavy laden come to
me here's where the mercies are here's where the redemption is
Here's where the grace is. Here's where life is in Christ.
Come to me. I'll give you rest. I'll give
you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Learn
of me. Seek Christ. Seek Christ. Study Christ. Receive Christ. Believe Christ. Trust Christ. Rest in Christ. Look to Christ. Learn of Christ. I'm meek and
lowly, but you'll find rest. in your souls, into your souls. That's how it's revealed. I'm going to wind this up now.
Let's look at this. Jesus rejoiced in spirit. Thank
you, Father. He hid these things from the
wise and prudent, the worldly wise and the crafty. The promoters,
the con men, the con artists, the folks that are seeking everything
but your glory, those who glory in appearance, these things are
here. Not that God takes them and hides
them to keep away. No, they put them in Christ and
they're looking everywhere else. They're in Christ. They've always
been in Christ. Moses found them there. Moses wrote of me, he
said. Abraham found them in Christ. Abraham saw my day and rejoiced. David, Job, my Redeemer lives. These men knew where they were,
and you will too if you come to Christ. Study Him, seek Him,
learn of Him, trust Him. Don't be turned aside. And then
he turned to his disciples privately, and he said, Oh, blessed are
the eyes which see the things which you see. He's talking about
you and me. He's talking about me and you.
We see what they saw. We see what they wrote. We see
what they preached. They saw his glory when he was
transfigured. I read it and I see it. They
saw the fullness of his mediatorial work. They saw that. Peter said,
well, to whom shall we go? You've got the words of life.
I see that. I see what they saw. They saw
his sufficiency as our Redeemer, complete sufficiency. They saw
the character of the Messiah fulfilled in him, the very character
of God fulfilled in Christ. They saw that, the art of Christ,
the Son of the living God. They saw that. Blessed are the eyes that see
the things you see. And I tell you, many prophets,
who's he talking about there? Well, Isaiah, Eli, those men,
they saw his promises afar off, but not literally actually fulfilled
in the person who came to this earth. Blessed are the eyes that
see what these apostles saw. Abraham saw my day, but oh, distantly. Moses wrote of my day, distantly. David, Solomon, these were kings.
Prophets and kings have searched and sought to see these things
that are so clear to us. So very, very clear. My generation
has a revelation that very few generations have had. We have
the writings of the old prophets, pictures and types and shadows
of Christ, all fulfilled in Christ. You've got the writings of these
men who John said, I touched him, I saw him, I heard him,
I handled him, the word of life. You've got the testimony of these
men who died as martyrs for what they believed, for whom they
believed. You've got the testimonies of the reformers, men through
the centuries, people who knew We've got the examples of those
who prayed with religion and departed. We've got the examples
of those who knew God and lived and died for what they believed,
martyrs. We've seen, O blessed are the
eyes which see the things that you've seen. I tell you, many
prophets and kings have desired to see those things which you
see, which are clearly preached to you this morning. They've
not seen them, and to hear these things which you hear, for they've
heard there's a Messiah coming. He's come. It's Jesus of Nazareth. He's fulfilled. Every jot and
tittle, there's not a place here that he hasn't fulfilled. You can't see and hear this if
you don't get acquainted with this record, the record God had
given concerning his Son. That's what I'm trying to do,
go with this congregation verse by verse through this book, that
you might hear these things and see these things. They're not
seen in the skies. They're not seen in people entertaining
you in the name of religion. They're seen in the Word. They're
heard in the Word. Though earth's foundations be
removed down to the lowest deep, though all the trembling universe
into destruction sweep, for ever God, for ever man, my Savior
shall endure, and fixed on him my hope remains eternally secure. Christ at all. Rejoice! Your
name's written in heaven. That's the title of this message.
Rejoice! Your name's written in heaven.