Is My Name Written In Heaven?

Q: What does the Bible say about having my name written in heaven?

The Bible speaks of names being written in the Book of Life, which signifies eternal security for the elect. Scripture assures us that those whose names are written in the Book of Life are granted eternal life and fellowship with God. This concept is seen in texts such as Revelation 20:15, which states that those not found in the Book of Life are cast into the lake of fire. The assurance of having one's name written in heaven is a significant aspect of the believer’s hope and security, reflecting God's sovereign grace and purpose from before the foundation of the world (Revelation 13:8). It emphasizes the importance of making our calling and election sure, as taught in 2 Peter 1:10.

Q: How do we know if our names are written in the Book of Life?

While we cannot see the Book of Life, we can identify the evidence of faith and obedience in our lives. We cannot intrinsically know if our names are written in the Book of Life because the book is closed to human curiosity, but God provides indicators through our relationship with Christ. 1 Thessalonians 1:4-10 offers marks of those who are God's elect, such as hearing the gospel with conviction, following Christ, and turning from idols to serve the living God. The transformation and characteristics exhibited in our lives—such as faith, love, and hope—serve as evidence of our inclusion in the Book of Life. Therefore, while direct knowledge is beyond us, our response to the gospel and the fruit of the Spirit in our lives give us confidence.

Q: Why is knowing if my name is written in heaven important for Christians?

Knowing if our name is written in heaven provides assurance, hope, and direction in our Christian walk. For Christians, understanding whether their names are written in the Book of Life is foundational for growing in faith and experiencing peace. The Apostle Paul expresses this concern for the believers in 1 Thessalonians 1, highlighting that we can have assurance of our election through the power of the gospel at work within us. This knowledge motivates believers to pursue a life of holiness, witness, and service, knowing they are secure in Christ. Moreover, it fosters a spirit of hope and confidence as we await our ultimate redemption and the coming of the Lord (1 Thessalonians 1:10). It encourages us to boldly proclaim the gospel and to reject the false idols of this world.

The Apostle Peter wrote in 2
Peter 1, verse 10, these words. He said, Wherefore the rather
brethren give diligence to make your calling and election sure. For if you do these things, that
is, make your calling and election sure, you shall never fail. For so an entrance shall be ministered
unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord
and Savior Jesus Christ. Brethren, give diligence to make
your calling and election sure. If you do these things, you'll
never fail. And an abundant entrance will
be open for you into the kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ. Now,
here's our subject today. Is my name written in heaven
is my name written in heaven." Now, Almighty God has a book.
He calls it my book. In the book of Exodus chapter
32, Moses speaking in defense of the rebellious children of
Israel stood before God. I don't understand these words.
I do know that Moses said them. He said, Lord, if you won't forgive
the people then blot me out of the book that you've written.
And this was the Lord's reply to Moses when Moses said that.
God said to Moses in chapter 32 of Exodus, verse 33, whosoever
has sinned against me, whosoever has sinned against me, him will
I blot out of my book, my book. God has a book. He calls it my
book. Now this book also is called
the book of life. In Revelation 20 verse 12 and
again verse 15 it says another book was opened which is the
book of life. God calls it my book and he calls
it the book of life. And verse 15 says whosoever was
not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake
of fire. God's book the book of life. And then in Revelation 21, that
book is called the Lamb's book. Who is the Lamb? The Lord Jesus
Christ is the Lamb. John the Baptist pointed to Him
and said, Behold, the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin
of the world. So Christ is the Lamb, the Lamb
slain from the foundation of the world. And this book, God's
book, the book of life, is called the Lamb's book of life. And
in Revelation 13, 8, it says, the book of life of the Lamb,
slain from the foundation of the world. Our Lord told his
disciples, one day they came back from preaching and they
were marveling. They said, Lord, even the demons
are subject to us. And this is what our Lord said
to them. He said, rejoice not. Rejoice not that the demons are
subject to you, but rather rejoice that your names are written in
heaven." Rejoice that your names are written in heaven. And then
in Hebrews 12, verse 23, the writer of Hebrews talks about
the church of the firstborn. That's the church of our Lord
Jesus Christ. He's firstborn from the dead,
first begotten. He says the church of the firstborn
whose names are written in heaven. So my subject today and my question
is, is my name written in heaven? Is your name written in heaven?
I know that God's book, he calls it my book, the book of God's
decrees, the book of God's purposes is closed to the curiosity of
men. I know that. No man's ever looked
there on. It will be open someday. That's
when he said that the Dead will stand before God, and the books
will be opened, and the dead shall be judged out of those
things written in the book." And then he said, then another
book will be opened, which is the book of life. And it's not
opened. It'll be opened someday. That
time will come in God's good pleasure. But I must be honest,
as I hope you will be too. I'd like to look at that book.
Wouldn't you? I'd love to look within the pages of God's book.
the book of life, the book of the Lamb of God. I'd like to
look in. I'll tell you, whose name would
you look for first? Whose name would you look for?
Why, you know, you'd look for your own. I would look for mine.
Secondly, you'd probably look for your wife or husband's name.
Then you'd look for all your children's names, and then your
loved ones, and then your friends, and you'd be interested. I'd
be interested in looking into that book. That's just being
honest. I would. Mrs. James L. Gray. 1843 wrote
these words. Am I called? Am I called? Can it be? Has the Savior chosen
me? Guilty, sinful as I am, will
He own my worthless name? Is my name written there? Vilest
of the vile, am I? Dare I raise my hope so high?
Am I called? Am I an heir of God, washed,
redeemed by His precious blood? A lot of people have talked about
this subject. Is my name written there? Charles Spurgeon, you're
familiar with Charles Spurgeon. I don't suppose there's been
in the last two or three hundred years a preacher as well known
and heard by so many people as Charles Haddon Spurgeon. And
I came across some comments he made about this book of life. Is my name written there? This
is what he said on the subject. How can I know whether I am elected
of God to everlasting life? How can I know if my name is
written in God's book of life? This is a question of vast importance
to me. My eternal interests are involved
in this matter. Am I among that unhappy number
who will hear the Lord say, depart from me, ye cursed into everlasting
fire? Or do I belong to that blessed
company who shall hear the Lord say, though they have sinned
and they're washed in his blood, but they shall hear the Lord
say in that day, enter ye blessed, enter ye blessed into the kingdom
prepared for you from the foundation of the world. Is my name written
in heaven?" Spurgeon continued. He said, until that question
is answered, at least to some extent for me, I can find no
rest. Until that question, at least
to some extent, is answered for me, I can find no rest because
my relationship with Christ concerns me more than all the affairs
of this life. If I cannot see the book of life,
how can I know if my name is written there? Well, here comes
the answer. While God has not published the
names of those who have been written in the book of life,
and no man knows whose name is in that book of certainty, yet
God has a lot to say about those people whose names are written
in the book of life. He has a lot to say about those
people. He has a lot to say about their calling. He has a lot to
say about their character. He has a lot to say about their
conduct. Our children, when we used to travel a lot, our children
would play a game called Who Am I? And they would give clues. They would be thinking of a person's
name. The other people wouldn't know who they were thinking about.
They had a name on their hearts or minds and they'd be, and then
they'd start giving clues. They'd start telling how old
this person is, what color his hair is, what male or female,
what kind of car they drove, where they lived, things like
that. And the other children would try to guess, who am I,
by the character and conduct and personalities and characteristics
of that person. And God, let me repeat that now,
while God has not published the names of His people and those
whose names are written in the book of life, He has a lot to
say about their character and a lot to say about their conduct.
and a lot to say about their attitude and a lot to say about
their calling and their conversation. Let's see if we can find out
something about these people. Turn with me to II Thessalonians
chapter 1, or I Thessalonians, I'm sorry, I Thessalonians chapter
1. Now, this church at Thessalonica
was special to the apostle Paul. Paul came to Thessalonica on
one of his missionary trips, and he preached to this church
for three solid weeks. And the foundation of the church
was laid. Many of these people were converted. They were brought
to a knowledge of Christ. Paul preached to them, and a
church was born. People were saved. Foundation
laid for a ministry there. And then Paul left. And Timothy
came back. to Thessalonica. And Timothy
preached to them and established them in the faith of Christ Jesus. And then Timothy returned to
Paul and told Paul about these people, about their, you'll find
it in verse 3 there of I Timothy 1. He told Paul about their works
of faith, their labor of love, and their patience of hope, their
faith, hope, and love. And Paul wrote this epistle,
1 Thessalonians, to that church when Timothy came to him and
told him about their work of faith, labor of love, and patience
of hope. Now, 1 Thessalonians 1, verse
4, what follows here are the reasons why Paul believes these
people belong to God. He said in verse 4, listen, I
know brethren, I know brethren," talking to the church now, brethren.
This is not written indiscriminately to the whole world. It's written
to the brethren. I know brethren, beloved of God. I know brethren,
beloved, your election of God. And then Paul gives the reasons
why he knows that they're God's elect, why he knows that their
names are written in heaven, why he knows that they'll be
among those people who will be conformed to the image of Christ.
He gives several reasons why he knows they're God's sheep
and why he knows they're God's elect. He said, brethren, I know
that you are elect of God. Verse 5, look at it. You have
your Bible open? I Thessalonians 1, verse 5. For,
he said, I know you're God's elect, for our gospel didn't
come to you in word only, in doctrine. and creed only. But our gospel, this gospel of
the Lord Jesus Christ came to you in power. It's not just a
theory. It's not just a creed. It's not
just a doctrine to you. This gospel of the Son of God
who loved us and gave Himself for us came to you in power. It came to you in the Holy Spirit,
the regenerating, convicting, converting work of the Holy Spirit,
and it came to you in much assurance. In other words, this is the first
characteristic or calling of the people of God. Those whose
names are written in heaven hear the gospel. They hear it in heart. They hear it in conviction of
sin. They hear it in regeneration of the Holy Spirit. They hear
it in conversion. Not very awful long ago, a man
came up to me and he said, you know, I heard you preach a long time
before I really heard you. Do you know what he was saying?
I heard you preach a long time before I really heard you. And
that's what I'm saying. I'm saying that people hear preachers
and they hear scripture read, then one day, The Spirit of God
takes that gospel and sends it deeper than the mental faculties,
sends it to the heart, and that person is regenerated, convicted
of sin, brought to hear that gospel, to believe it, to love
it, to receive it. Saul of Tarsus was a very religious
man. Then one day he heard the gospel
of Christ on the road to Damascus. God arrested him. God stopped
him. God revealed himself to him.
He heard. So that's the first mark of those
whose names are written in the Lamb's Book of Life. They've
heard the gospel. They've heard it in power, in
the Holy Ghost and much assurance. Look at verse 6. The second reason
Paul gives for believing these people are elect of God and their
names are written in the Book of Life, he said, you became
followers of the Lord. and of us. Those whose names
are written in heaven hear the gospel. They hear it in power
in the Holy Ghost and they confess Christ as their Lord and they
follow Him. They follow Him. Christ said,
My sheep hear My voice and they follow Me. And another shepherd
they will not follow. They follow Me. They identify
with the Lord's people. They love the Lord. They follow
Him in obedience, in worship, in godliness. in truth. They love the house of God and
the people of God and they seek the company and fellowship of
God's people. You became followers of us and
of the Lord. They receive the Word. He said
you receive the Word, you receive it in much affliction, but you
receive it in the joy of the Holy Spirit. Do you love the
Word of God? Do you love the house of God?
Do you love the people of God? Do you follow the Lord? There
was a man in the Old Testament whose name was Caleb. Caleb. Actually, the meaning of the
name is a faithful dog. And it says every time the name
of Caleb is mentioned in the Old Testament, it follows with
this word. He followed the Lord fully. Caleb,
he followed the Lord fully. That's the mark of a man whose
name's in the book of life. He follows the Lord. And then
look at verse 3, so that you were examples. Or verse 7, here's
the third reason. Paul said, I know you're God's
elect, so you were examples to all who believe in Macedonia
and Achaia, in your area and outside your area. You were examples. Now, let me pause here a moment. Of course, no believer claims
to be perfect. No believer claims to be a pattern
for other people. No believer would say, be like
me, walk like me, talk like me, do like I do, say what I say.
No, not for a moment. Christ is our pattern. Christ
is our example. Christ our Lord is perfect. He's
the only one who is. He's the only one who is to be
followed fully. Caleb followed the Lord. Christ
our Lord is our pattern. We long to be like Him. But how
then are we, whose names are in the book of life, how are
we examples? Well, here's the way we're examples.
Those whose names are written in the book of life have heard
the gospel. They believe God. They follow the Lord. In this,
they're examples. They have left the old way and
the old walk and the old world, and they're following the Lord.
In this, they're examples. They're identified with the people
of God in worship, in fellowship, in faithfulness. In this, they're
examples. They've heard the Word of God
and believe the Word of God and love the Word of God even in
affliction and trial. In this, they're examples. They
love one another and they help one another and they seek to
glorify God in their lives. And in this, they're examples.
All that I've read thus far in this Scripture, that's an example. I know you're God's elect. You've
heard the Gospel and believed it and followed the Lord and
us. and receive the word in much
affliction, but with much joy. And in this, your examples, examples. All right, look at verse 8. Here's
the fourth reason why Paul believed these people's names were in
the book of life. From you, from you sounded out
the word of the Lord. Not only in Macedonia where you
live, but all around the world, your faith in God is known and
spoken of. My friends, Those who have heard
the gospel in power want others to hear it the same way. They
don't want others just to get religion or to reform their lives. They want them to hear the gospel,
the true gospel, the gospel of God's grace, the gospel of God's
mercy, the gospel of God's peace in Christ Jesus. They want other
people to hear this gospel. It's not just a matter of going
to church on Sunday. they want others to hear this
gospel. And those who know the Lord and
follow the Lord, they want others to know Him and to follow Him.
And those who have found peace, the peace of God and a hope,
a good hope through grace and love in Christ, they want others
to find that same peace and joy and hope and love, not just to
get religion, but to know God and Jesus Christ whom he has
sent. These people witness and they speak a word in due season
and they support true pastors and true missionaries and they're
faithful to the house of God because from them sounds out
the word of God. God opens for them an effectual
door to tell others what he's done for them. That's the best
witnessing in the world. I heard a definition of witnessing
one time, the very best witnessing is one beggar telling another
beggar where he got a good meal, where he found bread. That's
right. Back in depression days, I go back that far, and I remember
the hobos and beggars coming by our house, and mother would
feed them, mother would feed them, and then another bunch
would come by, and another bunch. Those fellas told the others
about my mother and about her meals and about her kindness. And wherever they'd go out there
on the streets, they'd say, I'll tell you where you can get a
good meal. I'll tell you where you can get some bread. I'll
tell you where you can get a handout. I'll tell you for sure where
you can get some nourishment. And that's witnessing. You can't
tell what you haven't learned and haven't experienced. You
can't tell what you don't know anymore, and you can come back
where you hadn't been. But if you know Him, you can tell about
it. If He's visited you in grace,
you can tell about it, and from you. sounded out the word of
the Lord. Now look at verse 9. I'll tell you why I believe you're
God's elect. The last line, he said, you turn
from your idols to serve the living God. You actually turned
from your idols. I looked up that word in the
dictionary, an idol. What is an idol? Well, this is
the definition, standard definition. An idol is an object of worship. other than the true and living
God, an object of worship. An idol is an object of excessive
devotion and admiration other than Christ the Lord. That can
be self, a self can be an idol, self-love, self-righteousness,
family, fame, applause, popularity, An idol is an object of excessive
devotion and admiration. It's what a person clamors after. You know, the Apostle Paul said,
Oh, that I may win Christ and be found in Him. He said, I count
all things but loss. He talked about his heritage.
He talked about his learning. He talked about his accomplishments.
He talked about his successes. He talked about his religion.
He said, I count these things but dumb. These were idols. These were things in which I
trusted, that which I considered gain. I turned from these idols
to the living God. I tell you, an idol is material
obsession, obsession with riches, jewelry, clothes, houses, land,
a better job, automobiles, idols. An idol, here's the best definition,
an idol is an imposter. It cannot do for you what you
need to have done. It's an imposter. That's right. Christ can. He's able to save
to the uttermost. He's able to keep you from falling. He's able to translate you from
the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of His dear Son. He's
able to do all things. Riches, wealth, glory, fame,
world, materialism, can't do any of the things that it promises.
All it can do is crumble like the little sandcastle you built
on the beach when the tide comes in. When years pass, when old
age takes over and death, it crumbles. But he ever lives. An idol. An idol is an excessive
devotion. An idol is an imposter. An idol is a material obsession.
An idol is anything you put before Christ. It's an idol. And he says, I know your name's
in the book of life. You turn from your idols deliberately
and willingly to serve the living God. And then verse 10 is the
sixth reason. And he says, And you're waiting
for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even
Jesus, who delivered us from the wrath to come. We're waiting.
We're waiting. Our Lord Jesus Christ was talking
to His disciples one day and He said, Now let not your heart
be troubled. You believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father's
house are many mansions. If it were not so, I would have
told you. Now I go, go to the cross and to the tomb and to
the right hand of God to prepare you for the place and to prepare
the place for you. And if I go and prepare a place
for you, I will come again. I will come again and receive
you unto myself, that where I am there you may be also." And the
disciples said, Lord, we don't know where you're going. We don't
know where you're going. We've never been there. I've
never seen heaven. I've never seen the gates of
glory. I've never seen the streets of gold. I've never seen the
mansions in glory. I don't know where you're going.
That's what they said. We don't know where you are.
How can we know the way? He said to them, I'm the way.
I am the way, I am the truth, and I am the light. No man cometh
to the Father but by me. And I'll tell you, those whose
names are written in heaven, they've heard the gospel of Christ
and believed it. And they're following that Lord
Jesus Christ. They're obsessed with Him and
with His Word. They're following Him. And they're
fellowshipping with one another. And I'll tell you, they're examples,
examples of faith, hope, and love. And from them, from them,
from their hearts and from their fellowships goes forth to others
this glorious gospel. They're telling beggars where
to find bread. They're telling other hobos where
to get help. The Lamb of God, the Lord Jesus
Christ. And they have laid down their
idols. They've turned from their idols.
Idols are impostors. You know, I hear people talk
about what they gave up when they came to the Lord. I didn't
give up anything. I received a whole lot. Everything
that I laid down wasn't fit to have. Everything that I turned
away from wasn't fit to associate with. Everything that everybody
I turned away from wasn't fit to associate with. I gave up
nothing. I received everything. Turn from
the imposters, turn from the idols to the living God, and
I tell you, We're waiting for his son. And the angel said this
same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, will so
come and like mine. Is my name written in heaven?
I believe it is. And I believe many of you, your
name's in the book of life. If you want this message, send
$2 right for it. We'll mail it to you with the
message on the other side. Till next week, may God bless
you, everyone.

Is My Name Written In Heaven?

What does the Bible say about having my name written in heaven?

How do we know if our names are written in the Book of Life?

Why is knowing if my name is written in heaven important for Christians?

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About Henry Mahan

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Is My Name Written In Heaven?

What does the Bible say about having my name written in heaven?

How do we know if our names are written in the Book of Life?

Why is knowing if my name is written in heaven important for Christians?

Sermon Transcript

About Henry Mahan

Comments

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